EFFECTS OF HELPING HAND ON CAREER DECISIONS OF STUDENTS IN BESTLINK COLLEGE OF THE PHILIPPINES

Abstract

Making informed career decisions is a significant challenge for students, particularly in the field of psychology, where multiple specialized career paths are available. With the advancement of digital tools, psychometric assessments have become a valuable resource for aligning students’ interests and abilities with suitable career options. This study focuses on the impact of the digital tool Helping Hand in assisting students at Bestlink College of the Philippines in making more informed and confident career choices. By providing personalized insights based on individual preferences and competencies, Helping Hand aims to address the need for tailored guidance in career planning. The study utilizes a quasi-experimental research design, specifically a pre-test and post-test approach, to assess the effectiveness of the Helping Hand program in guiding students toward appropriate career paths. A total of 50 psychology students participated in the study. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the demand for digital support tools, especially those that contribute to academic and career development. Despite the accessibility of these tools, many students continue to struggle with career planning due to a lack of customized career counseling. The intervention was designed to bridge this gap by offering digital career assessments followed by individualized feedback. The results demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in students’ career assessment scores after using the Helping Hand program. The average score increased from 2.64 to 2.95, indicating enhanced career readiness. Additionally, a reduction in score variance suggested more uniform outcomes across participants. A t-statistic of 26.65 and a p-value of 0.00 confirmed the statistical significance of the findings (p < 0.05). These results support the rejection of the null hypothesis, confirming that the Helping Hand intervention had a positive and measurable impact on students' ability to make career-related decisions. The findings suggest that the Helping Hand digital tool effectively enhances students’ career assessment outcomes and supports better decision-making in career planning. This study highlights the value of integrating digital platforms into academic advising and career guidance, especially in psychology education. The researchers recommend further investigation into the long-term effects of such interventions and the psychological factors that influence students’ career decisions. Additionally, future studies may explore job market trends, salary expectations, and evolving industry demands to ensure that career guidance tools remain current and applicable to real-world scenarios.