Measuring effective career guidance services offered by employment advisors within the public employment service in Malta

Abstract

This study evaluates the clients' perspective of career guidance services being offered by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC). It aims to assess the quality of career guidance services and determine whether services offered are available indiscriminately to all individuals regardless of whether they are registering for work or not. In a bid to improve quality and efficiency many of the ETC's reform initiatives have focused on the decentralization of the service given. However the lack of physical and human resources is affecting the service offered. It was taught that clients should be given the opportunity to participate in the assessment of the service ETC offers. The study adopted a quantitative approach whereby a telephone survey was carried out with 270 participants registering on Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 3B and Part 3C of the ETC Unemployment Register. The survey was designed to evaluate the career guidance services being offered by ETC. Results indicate that most clients are satisfied with the attention given to their needs and circumstances. However, they are not as satisfied with the information given on jobs and training opportunities. Clients who had the opportunity to meet an Employment Advisor (EA) are more satisfied with the service given than those who did not. Most clients on Part 3 and many on Part 2 have never met an EA and spoke instead with Job Centre Clerks. Most respondents also lack information about the labour market and do not understand the importance of linking this information to one's job search. It seems that the Personal Service Model and the principle of the decentralisation of services adopted by the ETC weakened ce1iain aspects of the service provided. The lack of physical and human resources have significantly affected the service being given. The ETC should consider closing down Job Centres with inadequate physical resources and open fewer but better equipped facilities and increase staff at outposts. Some of the EAs at Hal Far should move to Job Centre. The role of matching clients with vacancies should be reassigned to EAs.