This article is directed toward career development practitioners. Provided first is an historical perspective on the use of computers in support of career development as well as a brief history of the Internet and the World Wide Web (Web). This is offered to provide the reader with a context for the relevancy of using the Web in career planning and job search assisting. Next is presented an overview of the top uses of the Web and their particular utility for career development practitioners. The remainder of this paper provides a detailed look at specific career-related Web applications, including the practice of Web counseling, online training, and a special focus on assessment. Additionally, the references provided may prove useful to practitioners, their clients, and researchers.

The authors look back more than 30 years to those who introduced the use of the computer as an important new tool to assist students in the area of career development. To what extent have dreams been realized and concerns allayed? Rapid advances in technology, not included in the authors' vision, have transformed the world into a different place. How have these advances affected the use of computers in counseling? The article concludes with a list of current concerns, along with recommendations for further action and research.

The authors review the trends in the use of computers in the delivery and support of career guidance and counseling identified at the symposium International Perspectives on Career Development. The papers presented emphasized that 20th-century computer-based systems continue to be used, mainly delivered via the World Wide Web. These systems are enhanced through audio, video, graphics, strategies to provide needs assessment, and support by cybercounselors or expert system design. The papers also revealed a new trend: the use of elegant Web sites to store and search immense libraries of resources needed by professionals and clients and to facilitate communication and collaboration among professionals in cyberspace. Concerns, issues, and resources related to many areas, including the readiness of clients to use computer-based systems, were also raised; existing sources of guidelines are noted.A discussion group of approximately 20 participants considered the topic of the use of computer technology in delivering and supporting career guidance services worldwide. The purposes of these discussions were to (a) establish a benchmark concerning the current state of the art by learning about applications worldwide, (b) identify promising new applications and trends, and (c) highlight problems and needs. This article summarizes these proceedings by addressing these three topics. Historical PerspectiveComputer-based career guidance systems had their genesis in the late 1960s shortly after the invention of the cathode ray tube, a device that allowed a system user to be physically separated from a computer and to respond to scripted messages, thus simulating an interview. Early developers-Donald E. Super, Martin Katz, and David Tiedemanviewed this technology as a means to operationalize their theories of career development, choice, and decision making. In other words, it was their dream that users, through interaction with the system, would learn the concepts of their theoretical positions, practice them as they made choices, and even incorporate them into their understanding so that future choices might be made without the support of the machine.

The first computer‐assisted career planning systems were developed in the late 1960s and were based soundly on the best of career development and decision‐making theory. Over the years, this tradition has continued as the technology that delivers these systems’ content has improved dramatically and as they have been universally accepted as effective tools for career guidance practice. Although their widespread use in the United States is currently affected by financial conditions, the potential for using these systems in developing countries as a part of their implementation of career guidance services is promising.

Chapter 1 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON COMPUTER-BASED GUIDANCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS By the mid-sixties, the computer had proven its effec tiveness in business and government and was begin ning to do so in education. Early conceptualization of its use in career development was independently pursued by three career guidance theorists. Donald E. Super, in collaboration with Frank Minor of IBM, designed and implemented the Education and Career Exploration System (ECES), which used student grades, ability measures, and interest assessments to suggest occupations for exploration. It helped students do this exploration by providing printed occupational descriptions and work task simulations on slides under computer control.