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Abstract

Job seekers often experience unique challenges in their quest for employment. Often they experience feelings of helplessness and a sense of lost direction. Particularly if they have faced unanticipated job loss. As we approach the twenty first century much of the structural unemployment that has plagued the global community will likely continue. Effective interventions will be needed to assist job seekers in this period of transition to a new post- industrial economy. In assisting those facing transition it is expected that supporting the job seeker to increase levels of self-efficacy and self esteem will allow them to make a more effective transition from unemployment to employment. Associated with this job transition is stress, which often accompanies job loss. It was anticipated that structured group counselling would be an efficient and productive method to assist in the acquisition of these constructs. The results of this study suggest that this particular group employment counselling intervention does facilitate the acquisition of self-efficacy and self-esteem. Although it is tentative and at the early stage of investigation, this intervention appears to assist those individuals experiencing some forms of stress related to job loss.