'Should I use a computer-assisted career guidance system?' It depends on where your career decision-making difficulties lie

The present study examined the pattern of career decision-making difficulties encountered by 417 young adults who used one or more of the computer-assisted career guidance systems (CACGSs) available at one of the Israeli Veteran Administration's counselling centres, and assessed the effectiveness of these CACGSs in reducing their career decision-making difficulties. Career decision-making difficulties were found to be highest for individuals who were prior to the pre-screening stage of the career decision-making process and lowest for those who were at the choice stage. The reduction in difficulties after using the CACGSs was statistically significant in seven of the 10 difficulty categories examined: an especially marked reduction was found for difficulties related to lack of information. No such reduction was observed for difficulties related to external conflicts. Participants' perception of having been assisted through the dialogue with the CACGSs was highest for individuals who used all three systems, and lowest for those who accessed only one of the three CACGSs.