The world of the Counselor An introduction to the counseling profession 5e chapter 11

Career Development:
The Counselor
and the World of Work

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Avocation
Career
Career Awareness
Career Development
Career Counseling
Career Guidance

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Career path
Jobs
Leisure
Occupation
Work

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The 3-year-old who plays house or hammers a peg into a hole.
The 5-year-old who joins a T-ball league.
The 10-year-old inner city youth who has few role models.
The 12-year-old who begins to examine her abilities and likes and dislikes.
The 14-year-old who discovers that her parents are getting divorced.

The 17-year-old who considers what college to go to.
The 17-year-old who ponders what job to take after high school.
The 25-year-old who takes a new job and also leads an aerobics class.
The 30-year-old who gives up a full-time job to do childcare.
The 37-year-old who is promoted and is vice-president of the local PTA.
The 45-year-old who hates her job but loves and makes $ with her hobby.
The 50-year-old who wonders, “Is this all there is?”
The 60-year-old who ponders whether he should retire in a couple of years.
The 70-year-old who never worked, raised a family, and became a great
tournament bridge player.
The 85-year-old who reflects back on his or her various life roles.

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Lifelong process
Involves many life roles
Involves psychological, economic, and social aspects of
the person
 See Table 11.1, p. 362

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 Early part of 20th Century
▪ Counseling profession started with vocational guidance
▪ Frank Parsons

▪ Founder of vocational guidance
▪ “True Reasoning”--Three step process
 Know oneself
 Know job characteristics
 Match knowledge of self with job characteristics
▪ Establishment of Guidance Services in the schools: Jesse
Davis, Eli Weaver, Anna Reed
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1930’s
 Wagner O’Day Act (1932) U.S. Employment Services
 Dictionary of Occupational Titles

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1950s: Explosion of Career Development Theories
 Ann Roe’s classification system relying on childhood
development
 Ginzberg’s Theory and Super’s Theory—developmental

 NDEA: Stressed career guidance in schools

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1970s:
New comprehensive models of career guidance
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Lifelong patterns of career development
Making choices that reflect sense of self
Examining leisure and avocations
Viewing the career process as flexible and changeable
John Holland’s personality “fit” theory

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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1980s and 1990s:
 Expansion of former career models
 New models
▪ Social Cognitive Career Theory
▪ Constructivist Career

 Technology and Career Counseling
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Today
 Expansion and refinement of theories
 CACREP includes career counseling as one of its content
areas

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Trait-and-factor Approach (pp.366-367)
 Individuals have unique traits that can be measured, discussed,
and examined.
 Occupations necessitate that individuals have certain traits
 The better the ability of the individual to match his or her traits to
occupations, the greater the likelihood the individual will have
success and feel satisfied.
 The interaction between client and therapist is a dynamic process

that includes both affective and cognitive components.
 The ability of an individual to match his or her traits with
occupations is a conscious process that can occur in a deliberate
fashion.

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Ann Roe’s Psychodynamic Theory
 Career choice based on type of parenting received
(Protective, Demanding, Rejecting, Neglecting, Causal, or
Loving)
 Type of parenting results in one of eight orientations
toward the world of work
▪ See Figure 11.1, p. 368
▪ Research on her theory has shown mixed results.
 Although not a theory in wide use today, it is important

because it focuses on the impact of early childhood

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Holland's Personality Theory
 5 Personality and Work Types
▪ RIASEC (See box 11.1; and Figure 11.2, p. 368)

 Better the match, the more satisfaction at the job
 Hexagon model: Traits closer to one another, more like

one another
 Find your Holland Code (Figure 11.3, p. 369)

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Super's Lifespan Approach (See pp. 370)
 Career development is an ongoing, continuous, and orderly
 People’s abilities, personality traits, and self-concepts differ
 Occupations tend to be specific for certain kinds of qualities
 Self-concept is function and result of career development
 Change in occupational levels influenced by many factors
 Career development assisted by helping individuals
understand and develop their abilities and interests
 By understanding development, counselors can pick
interventions that assist individuals in their career
development process
 Career development is developmental, generally

irreversible, although people can “recycle”
 See Figure 11.4, p. 371

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT)
 Dynamic interplay between environment and beliefs
 Anchored in Self-efficacy Theory: Choices we make are based on our
beliefs about whether we can do. Related to:
▪ Family experiences (placement in family, what we’re told we’re good
at, etc.)
▪ Sociological influences (discrimination, the economy, mobility, etc.)
▪ Abilities, aptitudes, interests, personality
 People are affected by:
▪ Objective factors: economic hardship, educational experiences,
societal factors
▪ Perceived environmental factors: how we experience objective
factors

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Constructivist Career Counseling: A Post-Modern Approach
 Related to how people make meaning out of the world of work
 Try to understand client’s narrative, or life story
▪ Dominant narratives often drive a person’s life story

 Counselors ask questions to understand the client’ s narrative,

show respectful curiosity, focus on new narratives
 Help client’s deconstruct their dominant narratives
 Help clients construct new narratives
 Sometimes, counselor helps client understand how some
narratives are a function of language and influences from larger
system (culture, society)

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Many counselors today try to integrate the various models
 Read Box 11.2, p. 374
▪ Discuss how you might integrate the following theories with
“Angela”
▪ Trait-and Factor
▪ Holland’s Personality Theory
▪ Developmental Theory
▪ Psychodynamic Theory (e.g., Roe)

▪ Social Cognitive Career Theory
▪ Constructive Development Theory

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Occupational Classification Systems
 O*NET Online and O*NET Dictionary of Occupational
Titles
▪ Provides large array of worker attributes and job
characteristics for 1000 occupations
▪ See Box 11.5, p, 377
▪ See Box 11.3, p. 378 for O*Net description of school and
mental health counselors

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Guide for Occupational Exploration
 16 interest areas (see Box 11.4, p. 379)
 , 100 work groups
 Lists about 900 occupations

▪ Cross referenced with interest areas and work groups

 Includes information job, interests, values, etc.
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Occupational Outlook Handbook
 Online “handoobk”
 Offers a broad range of information on jobs and job outlook
 See counselor info at: www.bls.gov/oco/ocos067.htm

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Assessment Instruments
 Interest Inventories. Some Examples:
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Strong Interest Inventory
Career Decision-Making System
Career Assessment Inventory
Self-Directed Search

 Assessment of Aptitude. Some Examples:

▪ Differential Aptitude Test (DAT)
▪ Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)
 Personality Assessment. Some Examples:
▪ Myers-Briggs
▪ California Personality Inventory (CPI) (see Box 11.5, p. 380)

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Computer-assisted Career Guidance
 Comprehensive Computer-Based Programs. Some
Examples:

▪ Discover
▪ System of Interactive Guidance and Information-Plus (SIGIPlus)

 Testing on computer
 The Internet. Some Examples
▪ O*NET
▪ Occupational Outlook Handbook

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Can help counselor gain important information
Operationalizes our career development theories
Can examine family-of-origin’s impact on career decisions
Helps us and the client understand the client’s meaningmaking system
Can help client see how emotional issues impacts career
decision0making

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Ten steps (see pp. 383 for steps in detail)
1. Conduct a thorough clinical interview (see p. 381)
2. Assess abilities, interests, and personality characteristics
3. Devise treatment strategies in collaboration
4. Make available appropriate informational resources
5. Assist client in understanding the world of work and factors
6. Have client make tentative career decisions
7. Explore practicality of choices and begin to crystallize a choice
8. Have client take preliminary steps (e.g., informational interviews)
9. Follow up with the client

10.Recycle if necessary.

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Multicultural Theory of Career Development
 See 12 steps to consider in cross-cultural career counseling (pp. 382383)
 Multicultural Career Counseling & Development Competencies (NCDA,
2009)
 Minimum competencies for career counseling in:
1. Career development theory Coaching and consultation
2. Counseling skills
6. Supervision
3. Assessment
7. Ethical and legal issues
4. Information technology
8. Research and Evaluation
5. Program Development
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© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Social Justice Focus: Reshaping Clients’ Stories

 Relational Constructionist Approach
 Assumes change does not reside “within” the person, but is a
function of interactions with people (including counselor)
 Assumes individuals can see how biases, racism, and
discrimination has affected them
 Counselors are increasingly called on having clients look at their
narratives and see how certain beliefs systems have affected them
 Counselors need to be a good listener of clients’ stories and be an
advocate for oppressed groups

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Ethical Issues
 Ethical Standards for the Practice of Career Counseling and
Consultation
▪ Developed by NCDA—used with ACA ethical code
 NCDA Competency Guidelines for Career Development

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Professional Issues
 Professional Associations: NCDA and NECA
▪ Publications: Career Development Quarterly (NCDA) and Journal
of Employment Counseling (NECA)

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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Professional Issues (Cont’d)
 Optimizing Career Development: Career counselors should
broaden choices and raise consciousness, not limit choices
and discourage people
Legal Issues
 Carl Perkins Act: Career guidance for individuals with special
needs
 Americans with Disabilities Act: Cannot be discriminated
against in job application procedures
 PL94-142 (Education of All Handicapped Children Act):
Requires students in occupational education programs be
given vocational assessment

© 2007 Thomson Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning

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