VOCATIONAL COUNSELLING FOR ADULTS AND PUPILS IN LITHUANIA
Lithuanian Labour Market Training Authority at the Ministry of Social Security and Labour (hereinafter referred to
as LLMTA) is the main vocational counselling service provider for adults and pupils of general education schools in
Lithuania (see LLMTA homepage www.darborinka.lt). Seven Territorial Counselling Offices and seven their local
divisions cover all regions of the country and provide counselling services to more than 60 000 persons per year.
The clients of LLMTA are employees, unemployed, pupils, their parents and teachers.
The main services provided by LLMTA are the following:
 Help to the unemployed to choose re-qualification or qualification upgrading programmes corresponding to
the person’s inclination, needs and possibilities and labour market demands
 Help to the unmotivated and unemployed for a long time to increase the degree of their self-determination
 Developing of the psychological and social competence of disadvantaged people (disabled, returnees
from imprisonment, drug addicts and etc.)
 Various consultations for teachers, pupils and their parents on the issues of choice of vocation, vocational
acquisition and integration into the labour market
 Career designing programmes to the employed people who pursue to change the direction of vocational
activity towards higher self-realization
According to the tasks counselling programmes are divided into three massive blocks:
 Programmes of vocational self-decision-making development, which include person’s need and
feeling of awareness, self-understanding and ability to help himself, development of person’s activity
abilities and strong qualities, cognition of the world of vocations and career planning
 Programmes for the development of employment abilities and skills to compete successfully on
the labour market. In these programmes people learn to overcome anxiety and stress caused by the
long-term unemployment, ability to make contacts, communicate freely, understand wishes and demands
of other people
 Programmes of self-confidence and adaptation to changes strengthen positive attitude to changes
and positive evaluation of one’s abilities, self-confidence, formulate the nearest objectives and farreaching goals and purposes
Counsellors work according to individual and group counselling programmes. Group work programmes are
especially efficient for the long-termed unemployed. For example, the programme of job possibilities for the longtermed unemployed that has been prepared in co-operation with partners from the Netherlands helps to find a job
for 50% of its participants and 22% of them choose vocational training and qualification upgrading programmes.
Target groups that were consulted in 2004 are displayed in the table.
Unemployed
Employed
Pupils
Pupils’ parents
Pupils’ teachers
49346
995
12047
536
1365
Seeking for better accessibility of LLMTA services the Internet Vocational Counselling Service (IVCS) has been
implemented at the end of 2004. The IVCS consists of:
 Tests on vocational choice and career planning.
 Real time interactive counselling.
 Interactive methodological course „Steps towards the job“
The IVCS is integrated into the website of LLMTA www.darborinka.lt.
Sigitas Zilionis, Deputy Director of Lithuanian Labour Market Training Authority, 2005