The Voice of CCNU On the afternoon of November 4, the 17th Counselor Salon of Central China Normal University in 2025 themed "Reshape Yourself to Navigate an Uncertain Environment" was held in Conference Room 8016 of the Nanhu Complex Building. Organized by the Department of Student Affairs of the University Party Committee and undertaken by the School of Psychology, the salon featured Wang Zhongjun as the keynote speaker. He is a professor, doctoral supervisor, and director of the MAP Education Center at the School of Psychology of Central China Normal University. Participants included Xiao Wei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Public Administration, as well as representatives of full-time and part-time counselors from various schools. Ding Yubin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Psychology, presided over the event.
Professor Wang Zhongjun took "the great changes unseen in a century" as the starting point, analyzing the current era’s characteristics of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. He pointed out that pressure stems from multi-layered transmission, ranging from the macro environment down to individual cognition. Faced with this dilemma, he introduced the cutting-edge theory of "job crafting", emphasizing that individuals should make proactive minor adjustments through three core strategies—"task crafting, relational crafting, and cognitive crafting". This enables them to seize the initiative in career development rather than passively adapting to the environment. He also systematically shared a complete "career reshaping" path—from strength exploration to action planning—along with visual tools. Through real student cases, he demonstrated the remarkable effectiveness of these methods in enhancing students’ learning motivation and planning capabilities, providing a scientific methodology for counselors’ student work and personal professional growth.
During the free exchange session, participating counselors combined real cases encountered in their work to discuss practical challenges such as "activating motivation for students with rigid career orientations" and "the urgent need for change among introverted students approaching graduation". Professor Wang Zhongjun suggested that counselors should guide students to establish career planning awareness at an early stage, help them correctly recognize their personal traits, avoid simplistically equating personality characteristics with ability shortcomings, and instead learn to design development paths based on their strengths.
In his summary, Ding Yubin pointed out that Professor Wang's sharing combines theoretical depth with practical empathy, providing a systematic methodology for counselors to enhance the professionalism of their career guidance. He encouraged participants to integrate the concepts of "job crafting" and "career construction" into daily ideological and political work, accompany students through growth challenges from a more scientific perspective, and achieve self-empowerment and value sublimation in the practice of educating people.
The salon drew to a close in a passionate and engaging discussion atmosphere. Participating teachers unanimously stated that the content of the salon profoundly addressed the real pain points in current counselors' work and students' growth, opening up new horizons for building a more resilient and proactive career support system.
Source: The Voice of CCNU
Author: Yang Huixin
Translator: Ding Songbin
Date: November 11, 2025
