CSP Ethics, Diversity & Professional Standards in Career Services 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A career services professional is asked to write a LinkedIn recommendation for a client whose work they have never directly observed. The ethical response is to:
- Write the recommendation based on what the client tells them about their accomplishments
- Decline to write the recommendation since they cannot honestly attest to the client's work (Correct answer)
- Write a general recommendation focused solely on the counseling relationship
- Ask another client to co-sign the recommendation
Correct answer: Decline to write the recommendation since they cannot honestly attest to the client's work
Writing a professional recommendation without direct knowledge of a client's work performance constitutes a misrepresentation.
Question 2: According to the ADA, which of the following represents a legally required accommodation for a qualified job seeker with a disability when receiving career services?
- Guaranteeing the client employment within 90 days
- Providing accessible formats for career assessment materials upon request (Correct answer)
- Assigning the client exclusively to senior-level counselors
- Waiving all fees for career coaching sessions
Correct answer: Providing accessible formats for career assessment materials upon request
The ADA requires reasonable accommodations, including accessible materials, to ensure equal access to services.
Question 3: Which of the following scenarios represents an appropriate dual relationship in career services?
- Hiring a current client to assist in the career center
- Providing career coaching to a close family member for a fee
- Serving on a professional panel alongside a former client who is now a colleague (Correct answer)
- Investing in a business started by an active client
Correct answer: Serving on a professional panel alongside a former client who is now a colleague
A former client becoming a professional peer is generally acceptable because the counseling relationship has concluded and no exploitation is involved.
Question 4: When a career counselor notices they are consistently steering clients of certain backgrounds away from high-level executive positions, this is BEST described as:
- Realistic occupational guidance
- Implicit bias affecting professional practice (Correct answer)
- Appropriate labor market contextualization
- Culturally responsive counseling
Correct answer: Implicit bias affecting professional practice
Consistently limiting aspirational guidance for clients based on background characteristics reflects implicit bias, not labor market reality.
Question 5: The NCDA's ethical standard on professional competence requires that career practitioners:
- Only serve clients whose career fields the counselor has personally worked in
- Practice within the boundaries of their training and seek supervision or referral outside those limits (Correct answer)
- Obtain a new certification every two years regardless of continuing education
- Limit their caseload to no more than 20 active clients
Correct answer: Practice within the boundaries of their training and seek supervision or referral outside those limits
Ethical competence requires self-awareness about one's limits and seeking supervision or referral when those limits are reached.
Question 6: A client from a collectivist cultural background insists on making career decisions only after consulting with extended family. An ethically and culturally responsive CSP should:
- Educate the client that career decisions should be individually driven
- Respect and incorporate the family consultation process into the career planning timeline (Correct answer)
- Diagnose the client with dependency issues and refer to therapy
- Limit sessions until the client can decide independently
Correct answer: Respect and incorporate the family consultation process into the career planning timeline
Culturally responsive practice means respecting clients' cultural values, including collectivist decision-making frameworks.
Question 7: A career services provider who charges clients a percentage of their first year's salary as a fee must, according to ethical guidelines, FIRST:
- Obtain written consent from the employer
- Fully disclose the fee structure in writing before services begin (Correct answer)
- Confirm the arrangement with the state labor board
- Limit the practice to executive-level placements only
Correct answer: Fully disclose the fee structure in writing before services begin
Full written disclosure of all fee arrangements must occur before services commence to ensure informed client consent.
CSP Ethics, Diversity & Professional Standards in Career Services 3
A career services professional is asked to write a LinkedIn recommendation for a client whose work they have never directly observed.
The ethical response is to: