A Case Study on the Employment Experience of Non-Regular Contract Counselors and the Catalyst for Career Transition to Other Occupations

Objectives This study is a qualitative case study conducted to explore the employment experience of non-regular contract counselors and the catalyst for career transition to other occupations Methods To achieve this, in-depth interviews and additional data collection were conducted from October 2022 to November 2023 with four cases who hold a master's degree or higher in counseling from graduate school, possess counseling qualifications of grade 2 or higher, and have been employed as non-regular contract counselors Results Through this, the employment experience of non-regular contract counselors and the catalyst for career transition to other occupations were derived as follows: First, it emerged as a desire for a job that could fulfill basic needs. Second, it appeared as difficulties in a work environment where one had to figure things out alone. Third, it manifested as a decision to give up counseling as a career. Fourth, it surfaced as a realization of the need to quit exhausting tasks Conclusions This study examines the factors influencing non-regular contract counselors' employment experiences and their transition to other occupations. By doing so, it identifies the challenges faced by counselors who enter the labor market as non-regular workers and the reasons for their departure from the labor market. The significance lies in proposing the need for efforts at the individual, institutional, and organizational levels to address these issues and derive solutions