A consensus of procedures in the career counseling models

Career Counseling

Read the attached case of Janine. Then address the following two prompts in a 2 two page, double spaced paper APA style with at least 1 reference.

1. Choose one of the five models described in Chapter 3 and apply it to Janine.

2. Describe the interplay of career and personal concerns as it relates to Janine.

THE CASE OF JANINE “BELOW is chapter #3 and all 5 models ”

THE CASE OF JANINE

Janine is a 22-year-old, biracial female who is self-identified as “queer.” She appears for her initial

appointment dressed casually, wearing a torn leather jacket, jeans and sneakers with four piercings –

ears and nose. Her hair is blond with orange streaks and somewhat disheveled. She is the youngest of

three from an intact Midwestern suburban family. She appears to be somewhat nervous and ill at ease.

She indicates that she is not currently employed, but is interested in coming to the community college

to take courses that will assist her in developing career-related skills. She is somewhat unclear about

her direction, but indicates a strong interest in art and graphic design.

A discussion of her high school experiences reveals that high school was an extremely difficult experience with the exception of art classes. She reports that she “had a lot of trouble paying attention and doing the work” which resulted in an extremely low GPA.

Janine left home in another state at 19 to escape a situation she felt was abusive and has very limited

contact with her parents. She currently is sharing living space with several friends. Further discussion

reveals two prior hospitalizations following suicide attempts. Janine was diagnosed with bipolar

disorder during her second hospitalization and is currently taking medication that has stabilized

her moods. She has participated in a computer-training program through the state rehabilitation program, but has failed to keep several positions obtained through a temporary service due to the slower pace of her work. She reports an immediate need to find work, as well as pursue an educational program that will allow her to obtain her objective of living independently.

Later, Janine revealed that her awareness of potential career directions is extremely limited. Although

expressing the desire to work in the art field, she has almost no realistic knowledge of what

types of careers might build on artistic interests and skill and is equally uninformed about the necessary

education or training required. When asked to imagine herself at work and then to describe what

she sees, she is only able to articulate “working in an office where the people are nice.” Based on her

prior, limited work experience, she knows that she does not want to work in food service settings and

expresses considerable doubt as to her ability to be successful at a “regular job.”

Although she feels strongly that additional education is important, she reports a high level of anxiety

about returning to school and is discouraged about the length of time that earning a degree will

take, since she feels she can attend only part time. She has been referred to a special program at the

community college that will support at-risk students with tutoring and other accommodations if required and has been scheduled for continuing contact with the counseling department to explore both

career and personal issues.

Chapter #3

Chapter Introduction
Chapter Highlights
· Trait-and-factor and person-environment-fit model

· Developmental model

· Learning theory model

· Cognitive information-processing approach model

· Multicultural career counseling model for ethnic women

· Model summary of counseling goals, intake interview techniques, use of assessment, diagnosis, and counseling process

In this chapter we shift from the theoretical foundations of career development theories to the practical application of theoretical concepts. Five career counseling models are introduced, discussed, and illustrated with case studies. Four of the career counseling models in this chapter have been developed over time to reflect what has been learned from career development theories discussed in the previous chapter. The background for the fifth career counseling model that addresses the special needs of multicultural groups is covered in chapter 9. It is most important to recognize that the career counseling models that follow are not career development theories but do represent an attempt to apply theoretical concepts in the form of interventions and counseling procedures. The step-by-step procedures illustrated in the five career counseling models provide the reader with a sequential overview of effective interventions.

It is most important to recognize that the career development research introduced in the preceding chapter has successfully produced guidelines for career counseling practice. The career counseling models discussed here present suggestions for building a repertoire of practical applications that can serve as a foundation for career counseling models of the future. First, I briefly discuss some basic issues and concepts that have emerged from model development. Next, five career counseling models are outlined and described. The major parameters of the five models are briefly discussed in the final section.

Five Career Counseling Models
Five career counseling models represent a broad spectrum of career counseling strategies that are directed toward a common goal of assisting clients make a career decision. Each of the following models is introduced with some brief comments about its origins: trait-and-factor and person-environment-fit ( PEF ); developmental; learning theory; cognitive information-processing ( CIP ) approach; and multicultural career counseling model for ethnic women. Model I, trait-and-factor and PEF, includes two different career development theories. Model II, the developmental model, was primarily drawn from Super’s (1957, 1980) work. Model III, the learning theory model, was structured from Mitchell and Krumboltz (1996), and Model IV, the CIP approach, from Peterson, Sampson, and Reardon (1991). The background information for Model V, a multicultural career counseling model, is contained in several chapters that follow. All the models are flexible enough to include occupational classification systems such as Holland’s classification system, assessment instruments discussed in chapter 6, and a variety of occupational information resources, including written materials, computer-generated materials, and multimedia aids.

The point here is that the career counseling models described in the following pages can use the very popular Holland typology approach and materials, some of which were described in chapter 2. All the models discussed endorse an individualized approach to career counseling. Individual needs, therefore, dictate the kind and type of assessment instruments used and the materials and procedures used in the counseling process.

Because occupational information is an important part of intervention strategies in the five counseling models described in this section, some suggestions for its effective use are summarized. The following recommendations for the effective acquisition of occupational information have been compiled from several sources.

1. When exploring occupations, counselors should urge clients to record both negative and positive reactions to each occupation. Both disconfirming and confirming reactions can suggest personal constructs that need further evaluation.

2. Counselors should have clients complete a list of occupations that are most congruent with their interests and abilities and those occupations that are rated as acceptable. Clients should begin with a broad-based exploration and follow it with a more focused, complete study. This process is considered most effective in confirming congruency.

3. Sources of occupational information can be information from parents or friends and job sites. Counselors should indeed prepare clients to focus their research efforts on more in-depth study of occupations from which more accurate information can be obtained.

4. Career exploration involves both behavioral and cognitive processes; however, a framework for processing information, such as a form that requires clients to record relevant information, allows clients to derive the most benefits. Counselors can most effectively present sources of information when clients indicate readiness and express an interest in the information (Reardon et al., 2000; Spokane, 1991).

Model I Trait-and-Factor and Person-Environment-Fit (PEF) Converge
During the last decade we have seen a gradual convergence of trait-and-factor methods and procedures with person-environment-fit constructs—also referred to as person-environment-correspondence in its early development. In general terms, some trait-and-factor methods have been adapted to determine person-environment-fit, but significant changes have also occurred:

· (1)

Both cognitive and affective processes are now involved;

· (2)

clinical information and qualitative data are included in the appraisal process; and

· (3)

the counselor’s role has shifted from a directive approach to one in which counselor and client negotiate and collaborate (Swanson & Fouad, 2010).

The following summary statements include some major counseling guidelines that can serve as a connection between theory and practice.

· Job satisfaction is a significant variable in determining productivity and career tenure.

· Measured abilities, interests, and values can facilitate the individual’s match to a work environment.

· Ideally, achievement needs can be satisfied in one’s work environment.

· Client problems are often the result of lack of fit between an individual and her or his work environment.

· Counselors are to focus on the individuality of their clients; individuals differ in their abilities, needs, values, and interests.

The following model includes seven stages (Dawis 1996; Swanson & Fouad, 2010; Walsh, 1990) which will be briefly described.

Stage 1. Intake Interview
1. Establish client–counselor collaboration relationship

2. Gather background information

3. Assess emotional status and cognitive clarity

4. Observe personality style

Stage 2. Identify Developmental Variables
1. Perception of self and environment

2. Environmental variables

3. Contextual interactions

4. Gender variables

5. Minority group status

Stage 3. Assessment
1. Ability patterns

2. Values

3. Reinforcer requirements

4. Interests

5. Information-processing skills

Stage 4. Identify and Solve Problems
1. Affective status

2. Self-knowledge needs

3. Level of information-processing skills

Stage 5. Generate PEF (Person-Environment-Fit) Analysis
1. Cognitive schema

2. Criteria on which to base choice

3. Optimal prediction system

Stage 6. Confirm, Explore, and Decide
1. Counselor and client confirm PEF analysis

2. Client explores potential work environments

3. Client makes a decision

Stage 7. Follow-Up
1. Evaluate progress

2. Recycle if necessary

The major goal of PEF is the enhancement of self-knowledge. It is most important to recognize that clients who have developed an adequate self-identity are better equipped to self-assess potential satisfaction and congruence with work environments. Therefore, the focus on self-knowledge emphasized in the PEF process is a major contribution to the career choice process and effective optimal career selection (Dawis, 1996). It can indeed be a tedious and most comprehensive step-by-step process. Within this model of career counseling, counselor and client form a partnership that endures numerous challenges and doubts on the pathway to an optimal career choice.

Stage 1, the Intake Interview, begins with the client and counselor forming a compatible working relationship. Counselors do not assume an authority-expert role; rather, they build a relationship in which they will share responsibility and negotiate options in a collaborative manner.

Background information includes a biographical history that can be obtained from a questionnaire and through discussion. Information about the client’s environmental influences is a high priority. During the interview, the counselor evaluates the emotional status of the client and the client’s cognitive clarity. Personality style and personality characteristics are also observed. The information obtained in the intake interview is used throughout the counseling process. For example, background variables are used to evaluate personality structure and style. Any problems that surfaced are further evaluated in the stages that follow.

Stage 2, Identify Developmental Variables, includes the information obtained in the intake interview that is reviewed to account for important elements that are involved in PEF counseling, such as perception. Perception in this context refers to perception of self, such as one’s identity, self-concept or self-image, and, in addition, perception of one’s environment or work environment including its requirements, reinforcers, and demands. What is suggested here is that counselors are to assist clients in observing the environment in which they work and the contextual interactions within it in order to evaluate and determine opportunities, relevant experiences, and limitations. Of particular interest are restrictions of developmental opportunities from environmental variables for women and minority groups.

Assessment, stage 3, involves a comprehensive evaluation of the client’s cognitive abilities, values, and interests. These measured traits are used with other variables to determine a client’s reinforcement needs found in occupational environments. Thus, the major purpose of this information is to match client needs with occupations or groups of occupations that are predicted to result in satisfaction (self-fulfillment) and satisfactoriness (achievement).

Information-processing skills are important for clients to appropriately process information presented to them in PEF counseling. Those clients who need assistance for processing information are assigned intervention strategies designed to improve these skills before PEF counseling continues. More details about information-processing skills can be found in stage 4.

In stage 4, Identify and Solve Problems, information gathered in the first three stages is used to identify any affective concerns, self-knowledge needs, and the client’s level of information processing. Clients who are identified as having serious emotional problems or dysfunctional thinking are referred for psychotherapy or for a complete psychological evaluation. Clients who have unrealistic or faulty beliefs about self-perceptions or perceptions of work environments or both are provided with tailored intervention strategies designed to assist them.

A most important point made here is that counselors are to evaluate each client’s ability to process information for optimal career decision making. Rounds and Tracey (1990) suggest that there are three types of knowledge bases: working (active, conscious thought), declarative (knowledge of facts), and procedural (processing the relationship between different pieces of knowledge). Beginners using a trial-and-error procedure tend to use declarative knowledge, whereas experts use procedural knowledge, that is, experts are able to process the relationship of different knowledge and information in decision making. This process in turn involves four steps of information processing: encoding (sorting out the information’s meaning), goal setting, plan development and pattern matching, and finally action. Each step is briefly described in Box 3.1

Box 3.1

Assessing Level of Information Processing
1. Encoding involves the client’s perception and interpretation of information. For example, client can recognize relevant advantages and limitations of an occupation.

2. Goal setting is best accomplished by concrete, realistic steps in an organized sequential process. For example, recognizing procedural requirements to reach goals.

3. Effective plan development and pattern matching involves establishing alternative solutions, several means of reaching goals, and considering the consequences of actions taken.

4. In the action step, the client selects an appropriate behavior to solve problems exposed in previous steps.

Rounds and Tracey (1990) also point out that effective information processing includes active and conscious deliberation, which is referred to as central processing rather than peripheral processing. The counselor’s rapport with a client and the counselor’s behavior in presenting information can negatively influence the client’s motivation to process information and is referred to as peripheral processing. Thus, if clients appear not to be motivated, the counselor should focus on persuasion cues that are related to counselor behavior of projecting warmth, trustworthiness, and competence.

In sum, treatment interventions are a function of the following:

1. Level of client information processing

2. Client motivation

3. “Relative progress in the counseling process.” (Rounds & Tracey, 1990, p. 30)

Client levels of information processing are rated as very high, high, medium, and low. Very high levels of information processing indicate clients who have demonstrated competence in the four stages (encoding, goal setting, pattern matching, and action selection) as described earlier. Clients at this level need little treatment and consideration; computer-assisted career guidance programs and self-help procedures are recommended.

Those with high levels of information processing generally lack pattern-matching knowledge but have mastered other steps. They should benefit from instruction on career decision-making skills. The focus should be on integrating information for a decision.

Clients rated as having medium-level information-processing skills usually have difficulty with encoding. They exhibit little insightful knowledge about the role and scope of an occupation or an academic major. The treatment should focus on encoding information and depth of insight through individual counseling or by taking a career course. In addition, a thorough analysis of coping and problem-solving skills is recommended.

Clients with low-level skills in information processing are characterized as having significant deficits in problem solving, that is, they are only able to encode and process a little of the information presented to them. These clients may require the counselor to assume a teaching role that directly provides needed skills in a step-by-step fashion. The counselor also assumes a very active role in guiding the client in the decision process.

In stage 5, Generate PEF Analysis, the counselor and client develop a cognitive schema or a conceptual framework to direct the search for PEF. In this context each client’s ability patterns are used to predict satisfactoriness in different occupations. Values and personality style are used to predict satisfaction with certain occupations and also to describe the client’s reinforcer requirements. An occupational classification system is used to locate occupations for abilities required and the reinforcers that are provided. The next step is to list occupations that correspond to the client’s satisfaction and satisfactoriness needs. Within this procedure, clients find congruent occupations and choose one that is the optimal fit. The prediction system is more accurate when the client’s dominant orientation (satisfactoriness or satisfaction) is known. An illustration of PEF analysis is given in Case 3.1

Case 3.1

The Undecided College Student
This is a counselor’s summary of the case of a 19-year-old female who was undecided about a career goal.

Lee presented a background from a stable home environment, and there were no indications of irrational thinking or faulty beliefs. She appeared to be stable and expressed a positive self-concept. There was no evidence that she felt she must limit her career options because she is female. She felt free to explore any career of interest and was fully aware that some careers are stereotyped as male and female. Lee mentioned that her mother was a Chinese American born in this country and that her father was also American, of Irish and German descent. She identified with the dominant society. She finished high school in the top 20% and was in her first semester of college. She was found to have a very high level of skills in information processing. The counselor concluded that Lee was now serious about making a career decision. During the assessment stage, Lee and the counselor collaborated on the tests that could be helpful.

Counselor:

Lee, earlier I explained the idea of career counseling based on PEF. Do you have any questions at this time?

Lee:

Not really, but I believe you mentioned that ability and values are used to help people like me find the right kind of job or as you said fit between person and work requirements.

Counselor:

Very good! I’ll review the procedure once more. First, we will measure your abilities, and values. Second, we will both assess work environments by not only observing work requirements, but also by whether you feel a particular occupation would be satisfying for you. We will do this by matching your traits with work reinforcers found in work environments. When we find a match, we refer to this as personal-environment-fit, or simply PEF.

The following tests were chosen after an introduction of the purpose and use of each test. The General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) (U.S. Department of Labor, 1970b) was chosen to measure nine specific abilities as shown in Lee’s score results. The Minnesota Importance Questionnaire ( MIQ ) (University of Minnesota, 1984) was chosen as a measure of needs based on values. Although these two instruments were developed decades ago, they have been periodically updated.

Test score results for Lee were grouped by high, moderate, or low for nine abilities and six values as follows:

The counselor presented assessment results to Lee by carefully explaining the meaning of each ability and value score. Counselor and client observed assessment scores in the order suggested in Figure 3.2. The ability scores as measured by the GATB present scores as high, moderate, and low. Lee was asked to react to the ability measures first. The counselor asked Lee to define the meaning of the subscale scores of each ability. Lee’s ability to express herself was outstanding and she also provided evidence of someone who is very interested in finding an optimal career.

Figure 3.2

Test Score Results for Lee
High

Moderate

Low

GATB

Intelligence

Motor coordination

Finger dexterity

Numerical aptitude

Spatial aptitude

Verbal aptitude

Clerical Perception

Form perception

Manual dexterity

Achievement

Status

MIQ

Comfort

Altruism

Safety

Autonomy

Counselor:

Lee, do you recall the meaning of verbal aptitude from our earlier discussion?

Lee:

Well, I think it is a measure of my ability to express myself and communicate with others.

Counselor:

That’s right! It was a vocabulary test that required you to identify words that have the same meaning or opposite meaning.

Lee:

Yes, that was a tough one!

Counselor:

You’re right—some people have a difficult time with it. But more important, how does this score link with finding a career?

Lee:

I was told by one of my high school teachers that a good vocabulary is important for so many things—like meeting people, making a speech, and even studying. It is also important in work—I will need to be able to communicate with other people, like a boss or a customer.

The counselor was impressed with Lee’s answers and continued explaining and discussing each of the ability measures. In each case counselor and client linked score results with career choice; the focus was on the decision process. The counselor also emphasized that occupations require a combination of abilities and skills that are listed in available references that describe job requirements for a variety of occupations.

After defining each value measured by the Minnesota Importance Questionaire (MIQ), the counselor turned to the MIQ report. See Figure 3.3. The individual’s responses on the MIQ that measures six values and 20 needs are compared with occupational reinforcer patterns (ORPs) for 90 representative occupations. Individual needs are matched with occupational reinforcers to determine an individual’s fit into a work environment. Some examples of occupational reinforcers are achievement, advancement, authority, coworkers, activity, security, social service, social status, and variety. ORPs and occupational ability patterns are given for more than 1700 careers in the Minnesota Occupational Classification System (Rounds, Henly, Dawis, Lofquist, & Weiss, 1981).

Figure 3.3

Values, Need Scales, and Statements from the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire
Value

Need Scale

Statement

Achievement

Ability utilization

I could do something that makes use of my abilities.

Achievement

The job could give me a feeling of accomplishment.

Comfort

Activity

I could be busy all the time.

Independence

I could work alone on the job.

Variety

I could do something different every day.

Compensation

My pay would compare well with that of other workers.

Security

The job would provide for steady employment.

Working conditions

The job would have good working conditions.

Status

Advancement

The job would provide an opportunity for advancement.

Recognition

I could get recognition for the work I do.

Authority

I could tell people what to do.

Social status

I could be “somebody” in the community.

Altruism

Co-workers

My co-workers would be easy to make friends with.

Moral values

I could do the work without feeling it is morally wrong.

Social service

I could do things for other people.

Safety

Company policies and practices

The company would administer its policies fairly.

Supervision–human relations

My boss would back up the workears (with top management).

Supervision-technical

My boss would train the workers well.

Autonomy

Creativity

I could try out some of my ideas.

Responsibility

I could make decisions on my own.

Enlarge Table

Source: From A Psychological Theory of Work Adjustment, by R.V. Dawis and L. H. Lofquist, p. 29. Copyright 1984 University of Minnesota Press. Reprinted by permission.

The counselor spent considerable time explaining how one is to interpret the MIQ report form and scores. On this report form a C value indicates the strength or importance of a need. For example, if a C value is greater than .49, then the occupation is considered satisfying or of value to you. If the C value is between .10 and .49, there is likely to be job satisfaction, but, if the C value is less than .10, it is likely that there would be no job satisfaction. See Figure 3.4.

Figure 3.4

Correspondence Report for Sample Report 06/04/93
The MIQ profile is compared with Occupational Reinforcer Patterns (ORPs) for 90 representative occupations. Correspondence is indicated by the C index. A prediction of Satisfied (S) results from C values greater than .49, Likely Satisfied (L) for C values between .10 and .49, and Not Satisfied (N) for C values less than .10. Occupations are clustered by similarity of Occupational Reinforcer Patterns.

C Index

Pred. Sat.

CLUSTER A (ACH-AUT-Alt)

.17

L

Architect

.11

L

Dentist

.11

L

Family Practitioner (M.D.)

.27

L

Interior Designer/Decorator

.24

L

Lawyer

.27

L

Minister

.11

L

Nurse, Occupational Health

.06

N

Occupational Therapist

.15

L

Optometrist

.33

L

Psychologist, Counseling

.08

N

Recreation Leader

.02

N

CLUSTER E (Com)

.47

L

Assembler, Production

.35

L

Baker

.56

S

Bookbinder

.58

S

Bookkeeper I

.55

S

Bus Driver

.23

L

Key-Punch Operator

.49

L

Meat Cutter

.49

L

Post Office Clerk

.43

L

Production Helper (Food)

.47

L

Punch-Press Operator

.44

L

Sales, General (Department Store)

.33

L

Speech Pathologist

.11

L

Teacher, Elementary School

.20

L

Teacher, Secondary School

.25

L

Vocational Evaluator

.06

N

CLUSTER C (ACH-Aut-Com)

.48

L

Alteration Tailor

.46

L

Automobile Mechanic

.43

L

Barber

.31

L

Beauty Operator

.23

L

Caseworker

.31

L

Claim Adjuster

.47

L

Commercial Artist, Illustrator

.51

S

Electronics Mechanic

.57

S

Locksmith

.45

L

Maintenance Repairer, Factory

.49

L

Mechanical-Engineering?Technician

.28

L

Office-Machine Servicer

.69

S

Photoengraver (Stripper)

.54

S

Sales Agent, Real Estate

.18

L

Salesperson, General Hardware

.35

L

CLUSTER D (ACH-STA-Com)

.64

S

Accountant, Certified Public

.51

S

Airplane Co-Pilot, Commercial

.60

S

Cook (Hotel-Restaurant)

.57

S

Department Head, Supermarket

.42

L

Drafter, Architectural

.48

L

Electrician

.66

S

Engineer, Civil

.35

L

Engineer, Time Study

.29

L

Farm-Equipment Mechanic I

.73

S

Line-Installer-Repairer (Telephone)

.50

S

Machinist

.67

S

Programmer (Business, Engineering Science)

.55

S

Sheet Metal Worker

.63

S

Statistical-Machine Servicer

.72

S

Writer, Technical Publication

.55

S

Sewing-Machine Operator?(Automatic)

.29

L

Solderer (Production Line)

.45

L

Telephone Operator

.42

L

Teller (Banking)

.38

L

CLUSTER B (ACN-Com)

.36

L

Bricklayer

.29

L

Carpenter

.44

L

Cement Mason

–.03

N

Elevator Repairer

.74

S

Heavy Equipment Operator

.37

L

Landscape Gardener

.07

N

Lather

.11

L

Millwright

.29

L

Painter/Paperhanger

.41

L

Patternmaker, Metal

.43

L

Pipefitter

.58

S

Plasterer

.07

N

Plumber

.40

L

Roofer

.01

N

Salesperson, Automobile

.51

S

CLUSTER F (Alt-Com)

.33

L

Airplane Flight Attendant

.09

N

Clerk, General Office, Civil Service

.32

L

Dietitian

.21

L

Fire Fighter

.33

L

Librarian

.21

L

Medical Technologist

.39

L

Nurse, Professional

.13

L

Orderly

–.01

N

Physical Therapist

.24

L

Police Officer

.23

L

Receptionist, Civil Service

.27

L

Secretary (General Office)

.30

L

Taxi Driver

–.02

N

Telephone Installer

.44

L

Waiter-Waitress

.26

L

Enlarge Table

Source: Minnesota Importance Questionnaire. Copyright 1984 Vocational Psychology Research, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota. Reprinted with permission

Lee:

That’s interesting. Let me see—I have a high value for achievement and autonomy. What does that mean?

Counselor:

Good point! Let’s look at the definition of each value we discussed earlier. After reading the description of the two values, Lee was able to summarize how they could be linked to a work environment.

Lee:

This means I would like a job that would give me the opportunity to use my skills and be creative. But how will I know if I have the ability to be a lawyer or an architect?

Counselor:

Good question, Lee! After you have developed a list of occupations that interest you, we can compare your ability scores with the requirements of each occupation. As you evaluate each occupation, we will discuss what you have found and I will refer you to individuals who work in some of the professions.

During the course of the semester, Lee was very diligent in pursuing some specific interests. She visited the university’s prelaw advisor and a local attorney. She also had a conference with a representative from the school of business and an accountant. Shortly before her sophomore year in college, Lee declared an accounting major. Her overall goal was to attend law school and become a tax attorney.

Stage 6, Confirm, Explore, and Decide, begins when counselor and client review test data and the prediction analysis to determine if the client is comfortable with the results. If the client does not agree with work environments that are predicted to be congruent, recycling in the model may be recommended. Clients who do agree should be directed to explore potential work environments that are predicted to be congruent. Finally, a decision is reached.

Stage 7, Follow-Up, involves an evaluation of the client’s progress and the procedures used to assist clients in finding a work environment in which they experience satisfaction. Counselors also assist clients in their job searches.

In sum, this model emphasizes fit-of-person with an optimal career. Standard assessment instruments are used to determine the client’s abilities, values, and interests. Subjective data (cognitive clarity, emotional status evaluations, and problem-solving processes) are used with assessment data in the counseling process. A significant part of this model involves the identification of information-processing skills. Intervention strategies that are matched to specific identified deficits in information processing are a major focus of the career counseling process. The basic assumption of person-environment-fit is that individuals seek to achieve and maintain a positive relationship with their work environments. Thus, counselors assist clients in finding some degree of congruence between themselves and work environments in the career decision process.

Generating a PEF Analysis
Figure 3.1 represents the PEF analysis schematic that is used for optimal career choice. Following the steps from left to right, the client is administered an abilities test and a values questionnaire. In the second step, ability and value patterns of occupations are compared with the client’s ability and values. This comparison is used to predict satisfactoriness, or the probability that the worker will satisfy the work requirements in a work environment and whether the worker will find satisfaction performing the work that is required. These predictions are based on comparing the individual’s abilities and values with the work environment requirements and reinforcers that are available. Finally, the individual selects specific occupations of interest and researches each one until an optimal choice is made. A PEF analysis stresses that career choice should be based on one’s fit with the requirements of a job and the satisfaction and feeling of well-being one receives for a job well done.

Figure 3.1Use of the Theory of Work Adjustment in Career Choice

Enlarge Image

Source: From “The Theory of Work Adjustment and Person-Environment-Correspondence Counseling,” by R. V. Dawis, in Career Choice and Development, 3rd ed., pp. 75–121, by D. Brown, L. Brooks, and Associates, Copyright © 1996 by Jossey-Bass, Inc. This material is used by permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

In Lee’s case the client’s needs and values became the central focus of discussion, which led to a better understanding of how these factors affect job satisfaction and adjustment. In PEF, job satisfaction is considered a significant variable in determining job involvement and career tenure. In sum, the PEF analysis stresses the use of occupational information to assist clients in matching needs and abilities with patterns and levels of different reinforcers in the work environment. As work environments change in the future, more research will be needed to maintain the effectiveness of the MIQ.

For more information on PEF counseling and the MIQ, see Dawis (1996, 2002), Osborn and Zunker (2012), Swanson and Fouad (2010), and Sharf (2013).

Model II Development Model
This developmental model has been built from the position that career development is a lifelong process and the career development needs of unique individuals must be met during all stages of life (Healy, 1982; Gelso & Fretz, 2001; Swanson & Fouad, 2010; Sharf, 2013). Goals, learning strategies, and timing of interventions in this model are guided by what was labeled as Super’s (1957, 1990) vocational developmental tasks and stages. Counselors are to focus on all barriers that may diminish one’s development of career maturity and self-concept. Ideally, clients should focus on the development of all life roles for a balanced lifestyle; an individual’s unique needs are emphasized. As you learned from chapter 2, Super’s career development theory is very extensive and inclusive. The following summary statements include some major counseling concerns that can serve as a connection between theory and practice:

· Career development is a lifelong process; individuals change during developmental stages as they adapt to changing life roles.

· There are five life stages—growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and disengagement. Each stage has a series of developmental tasks.

· Readiness (career maturity) is essential for optimal career decision making.

· Counselors focus on developmental tasks as key points for appropriate interventions.

· Unique individual needs are most important as guidelines for establishing counseling goals.

· Clients must be prepared to project self into the work world; a realistic self-concept is essential.

· The importance of adult concerns is highlighted; what happens in one life role affects other life roles.

· Clients are to not to restrict career alternatives; self-knowledge and exposure to compatible alternative career paths are essential.

The following counseling model includes five stages as follows:

1. Intake Interview

1. Establish client individuality.

2. Uncover barriers to career choice.

3. Evaluate affective concerns such as poor self-concept and self-awareness.

4. Establish level of occupational knowledge.

5. Identify work experiences.

2. Career Development Assessment and Counseling ( CDAC )

1. Life structure and work salience.

2. Career development status and resources.

3. Abilities, interests, and values.

4. Occupational self-concept and life themes.

3. Data Integration and Narrative Interpretation

1. Explanation of accumulated data.

4. Establish Counseling Goals

1. Develop an accurate portrait of self.

2. Project self-concept into work world.

5. Counseling Procedures and Process

1. Emphasize career development tasks.

2. Counseling process includes coaching and mentoring and, if necessary, recycling previous steps.

In the first stage of this model, as in most of the other models. The counseling relationship between counselor and client is of the utmost importance. The counselor makes tentative appraisals of the client that are to be verified or debunked during the assessment phases and discussions that follow. A good example is the tentative conclusion that a client is of average intelligence or more specifically able to learn more about occupations and self-concept through learning programs. The verification and specification of this tentative conclusion will be determined by ability tests and further discussions. The counselor employs interview skills that encourage clients to verbalize their past experiences as well as future goals and lifestyle issues.

The second stage of this model, known as career development assessment and counseling (CDAC), is very extensive and inclusive. There are four very important steps in this stage and each will be explained separately. During the first step in this stage, the client’s social development and role salience are assessed. The emphasis of assessment is on the client’s relative importance of life roles that involve education, work, family, community, and leisure.

The second step consists of an evaluation of the client’s perception of the work role, such as his or her current career status, as well as career concerns that are associated with growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and disengagement. In addition assessment includes measures of the client’s knowledge and attitudes about career choice, especially when one is involved in career planning and career exploration and gathering information about work and occupations. The client’s adaptability (making mature career decisions) and perception of current job market trends are also of utmost importance.

The third step includes the often used measures of abilities, interests, and values. A variety of instruments that measure these characteristics are available as described in chapter 6. In the developmental model, interest inventories that present results as estimates of realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional (RIASEC) types are preferred. Thus counselors would use the very popular and effective Holland (1992) typology as described in chapter 2. The overarching goal here is to present the client with valuable information concerning the relationship and connection of her or his abilities, interest, and values in the choice process.

The fourth and final step focuses on self-concepts and life themes. The procedures in this step are often referred to as subjective evaluations of the client’s view of self and dominant lifestyles and life themes expressed by clients in conversations or in an autobiography. Counselors guide and encourage clients to discuss their work and other life-role experiences, including how one has made decisions in the past and negotiated transitions. Another method is to ask clients to write about their life experiences and future projections. Salience of life-role indicators includes, the amount and quality of participation in different roles, the commitment one makes to life roles, and the opportunities provided by life roles for meeting numerous value needs. This concludes the assessment steps in stage two of this counseling model.

The third stage in this model is primarily devoted to an explanation and interpretation of the key measurement instruments and the counselor’s subjective information that was garnered from the interview and other discussions of life roles. Counselors often use profiles of score reports as a visual aid when discussing the significance of client scores. One advantage of using test data to get to know your client better is through score reports that usually encourage clients to self-assess and express agreement and disagreement with scores. Counselors have the opportunity to encourage clients to draw conclusions about their future from score results.

In this model’s fourth stage, counselor and client in a working consensus relationship are to establish future counseling goals. Counselors are to assist clients in conceptualizing an accurate self-concept. According to Super (Super, Starishesky, & Matlin, Jordan, 1963), self-concept development includes one’s ability to self-differentiate, role play, explore, and test reality. Over time other explanations of how self-concepts are developed and expressed have been suggested. In some of the following chapters I will discuss the importance and relationships of self-efficacy and self-concept. In the developmental model, self-concept is a most important factor in the choice process—one is to project one’s self-concept into the work world to find an optimal fit.

The fifth and final stage of this model emphasizes that counselors should include a careful analysis of the client’s progress in career development and maintenance of career. Counselors are encouraged to challenge clients to be aware of developmental tasks such as those for early adulthood: Strive to make your work position secure and a permanent position, but also find more opportunities for your work of choice. Such tasks are especially relevant when the economy is in recession and job loss does indeed happen. What is also suggested here is that workers may have to make multiple career choices over time.

Super (1990) suggests that counselors may need to use a variety of helping procedures in the career counseling process. Counselors may function as mentors, coaches, and teachers. Career coaching has received increasing attention; one is to offer task and advice giving as well as help clients develop solutions to their problems. In sum this model is designed to help clients “

· (1)

develop and accept an integrated and adequate picture of themselves and their life roles,

· (2)

test the concept against reality, and

· (3)

convert it into reality by making choices that implement the self-concept and lead to job success and satisfaction as well as benefit society” (Super, Savickas, & Super, 1996, pp. 158–159).

Excerpts from the following case study are examples of how a counselor can assist a client after a job loss because of a weak economy. The counselor uses Super’s CDAC model to introduce procedures for learning more about one’s self-concept, the world of work, and one’s current career development status.

Case 3.2

The Case of Job Loss and Family Concerns
Larry, a 26-year-old Caucasian male, has been married for six years and has fathered two children ages 2 and 4. He is currently a construction carpenter specializing in framing buildings. He and his wife both have a high school education. The counselor was impressed with Larry’s ability to express himself. He appeared to be very happy with his marriage and as he put it, “I married my high school sweetheart.” His wife is employed as a bank teller. His parents are in their mid-60s and his father is a licensed electrician. He has three siblings. His parents have both been very supportive and encouraged Larry to work hard to support his family.

Larry grew up in a small town near a large city. He has commuted to different job sites in the nearby city. Currently there has been a downturn in the construction industry because of a severe recession. Many of his fellow workers have not been able to find work and he is very concerned about being laid off and in addition is worried that his wife may also lose her job. As Larry put it, “We may lose everything we have worked for including our home! Somehow I will need to find other work to support my family.”

In the discussions that followed Larry informed the counselor that he became a carpenter because the pay was good and the work was steady. He added that he liked to work with his hands and had never considered going to college. He admitted that considering other jobs that required a higher education was not a part of what he had learned while growing up. As he said, “Most of my family and friends became workers like plumbers, carpenters, and electricians. I always thought I would end up in the building trades.”

Not surprisingly, the counselor realized that Larry’s knowledge of occupations was very limited and now might be the time to introduce skill development programs and technological advances that could offer Larry some opportunities for employment. The counselor concluded that Larry was sincere and highly motivated to learn more about occupations that could offer stability and security. It was also obvious that Larry was anxious about finding solutions to his current financial problems. In addition, Larry grew up with a strong family background in which the welfare of the family as a group was of utmost importance—thus the counselor was not surprised when Larry reacted very positively to the possibility of pursuing educational programs to improve his chances of getting a job. Larry agreed that a battery of tests could be used to learn more about his abilities, interests, and values as well as learning more about different kinds of work.

Counselor:

What other kind of work have you considered?

Larry:

The only kind of work that my wife and I have thought about is the building trades and that’s why I came to see you for help. This recession could get worse and new building projects have already shut down. The trouble is I don’t know a lot about other kinds of work. But I sure want to find something to support my family.

The counselor continued by asking Larry about his past education especially about his grades in school and if there was any particular subject he liked best.

Larry:

I made good grades in mathematics courses and I liked that subject better than English or history, but I never failed a course. My folks encouraged me to study for all my courses but never pushed us to go to college.

The counselor took this opportunity to point out that the job market today and in the future will require more education and skill development. She made a most relevant point that future workers will need to adopt the position that one must be willing to be a lifelong learner in order to stay employed.

Larry:

This recession has taught me a lot of lessons and one of them is that I need to improve my skills in order to find more permanent work. I am ready to do just that if I can find something interesting that offers me future opportunities.

The counselor cautioned that there are very few guarantees of a lifetime job in the current job market, but there is no question that if one improves their skills and develops multiskills the chances are better of finding and keeping a job.

Larry:

That makes sense to me, but where do we go from here?

The counselor used this opportunity to explain the purpose of tests and inventories used in the CDAC model. In a working consensus counseling relationship, every test that Larry was to take was explained in terms that he could understand, especially its purpose and, more importantly, how it could be helpful. Larry was to agree to take each test. Examples of how the counselor summarized the order of assessment in the CDAC model are contained in the next paragraph.

In the first phase of testing, the counselor emphasized the importance of the work role and its relationship to other life roles. The point was made that what happens in one life role can affect other roles; anger and unhappiness resulting from work dissatisfaction can spill over to family life. Thus the purpose for evaluating one’s commitment and participation in all life roles has a definite connection to future goals. In the second, assessment phase the purpose is to measure one’s career concerns and how they are related to career development tasks. Lack of occupational information, for instance, may be related to a lack of exploration skills needed to locate and process career information. Interests, values, and abilities will be measured in the third assessment phase in order to develop a better understanding of the kind of work one is interested in, values highly, and has the necessary ability to accomplish required tasks. In the final assessment phase, Larry was informed that discussions will focus on how he currently views himself and the world around him. Finally, Larry was told: “We will put all these data together and come up with some goals and plans for the future.” What follows is more information about the four assessment phases in the CDAC model.

Assessment of Life Roles and Work-Role Salience
The Salience Inventory (Nevill & Super, 1986) measures the relative importance of five life roles; Student, Worker, Homemaker, Leisurite, and Citizen. What we have here are measures of one’s involvement in educational activities such as studying, taking a course or developing skills, one’s work experiences and commitment, one’s role as a parent or family member, participation in leisure activities, and involvement in community activities and civic affairs. The indicators of salience of work roles are the quality and content of one’s participation, strength of commitment, and knowledge through experience, observation, and study. The rationale here is that individual development is a process that is multidimensional and multifaceted. Clients are to consider the position that one learns from life experiences while participating in different life roles. Thus there are opportunities to fulfill individual needs by one’s participation and commitment in a variety of activities. What is not to be overlooked is the suggestion that one is to participate, commit, and become involved for maximum benefits of a balanced lifestyle. Larry’s score on the Salience Inventory indicated high scores in Working, Home and Family, and Leisure and will be included in the data integration narrative stage.

Assessment of Career Development Status and Resources
The Adult Career Concerns Inventory (Super, Thompson, & Lindeman, 1988) measures one’s current career stage and current concerns with career developmental tasks. In Super’s approach to career decision making and maintenance, one should have good exploration skills in which one can crystallize or clarify what it is one wants to do in the future. One is able to specify desired work roles and develop the savvy to implement their plans. Or one may be struggling with establishing a career, especially getting started with one. Another may be attempting to consolidate their position and is looking forward to preparing for advancement. Yet another person is ready for retirement planning. By identifying one’s current career status, counselors are able to offer assistance with developmental tasks. Larry’s most pressing concerns were in exploration, followed by maintenance and establishment.

Another instrument used in this assessment phase is the Career Development Inventory (Super et al., 1971) which is designed to measure Larry’s resources (how to do career planning and exploration) and his procedures for making decisions. For example, the counselor wanted to know more about how Larry would go about career planning and obtain information about work and occupations. The results of the inventory indicate that Larry has serious concerns about career planning and exploration, knowledge of the world of work, and is also very concerned about decision-making skills. A subjective appraisal of Larry’s adaptability (career maturity), such as making mature decisions when exploring potential careers, was obtained in the interview and by listening carefully to discussions concerning initial and secondary appraisals of information. Both the score results and the interview indicate a general weakness in career planning, decision making, and exploration and knowledge of the work world. More about the meaning of these scores will be discussed in data integration.

Assessing Abilities, Interests, and Values
In chapter 6 there are a number of ability tests listed that can be used to match one’s abilities with job requirements. In the same chapter one can also find a number of interests and value inventories. In Larry’s case the following test and inventories have been selected: the Differential Aptitude Test (Bennett, Seashore, & Wesman, 1991), the Strong Interest Inventory (Strong, Hansen, & Campbell, 1994) and the Values Scale (Nevill & Super, 1989). On the aptitude test Larry scored highest in mechanical reasoning, numerical ability, and verbal reasoning. The interest inventory results indicated that Larry’s highest scores were in the realistic occupational environment. The Holland typology codes in order of preference were REC (Realistic, Enterprising, and Conventional). Larry’s highest scores on the Values Scales were Achievement, Lifestyle, Ability Utilization, and Autonomy.

Assessing Self-Concepts and Life Themes
Each person’s perception of self is indeed a most relevant concern for helpers, especially those who are assisting clients in making important life decisions such as career choice. One’s ability to project into a work environment and do a reality check concerning their ability to meet work requirements is certainly a complex process that is very inclusive. One of the important factors involved in the choice process is self-efficacy. Self-efficacious thinking suggests that one has expectations to succeed through their own initiative, skills, and knowledge. More than likely, clients who have experienced previous success and job satisfaction have developed confidence so they can succeed in other work roles. Counselors, therefore, are to be alert as to how clients approach making choices that may be primarily influenced by past experiences. One way to uncover self-efficacious thinking is through dialogue that encourages clients to express reasons why they feel comfortable with some work requirements and environments and why they dismiss considering others. One could also use card sorts to observe how clients react to work environments.

There are a variety of card sorts that are used in counseling, but for our purpose we select cards that have the occupational titles and Holland code titles on one side of the card and the occupational description on the other. Clients are instructed to sort the cards into three stacks: “Would Choose,” “Undecided,” and “Would Not Choose.” As clients respond verbally to their choices, the astute counselor listens carefully for clues that are related to self-concept development and self-efficacious thinking as well as clues to negative cognitions that may be the driving force behind one’s view of the world as well as the future. Larry responded “undecided” and “would not choose” to certain occupations because he knew very little about them. This reaction could be typical of individuals who have little exposure to occupational requirements and have focused only on those that are related to past experiences. Clearly Larry can benefit by increasing his knowledge of occupations through effective exploration. In addition, Larry’s future can be enhanced through his efforts to develop a more balanced lifestyle.

Data Integration and Goal Development
The counselor began the data integration stage by asking Larry to state the reasons given for coming to counseling. The counselor’s goal was to have Larry participate from the very beginning. After repeating his need for help in finding a job, Larry stated that he began to realize that even though finding work was now a necessity, he soon recognized he should have gone through this process long ago.

Larry:

I guess I just took the easy way out and thought things would work out, but now I have to admit I have been hoping for something better for quite some time.

Counselor:

Keep that observation in mind as you continue to learn more about accessing occupational information.

The counselor outlined the steps for assessment and made the point that discussions of score results should help develop some plans and goals for the future. A synopsis of score reports can be found in Box 3.2.

Box 3.2

Larry’s Score Report
Salience Inventory

High scores (relative importance of roles)

· Work role

· Home and family role

· Leisure

Adult Career Concerns Inventory

High self-rated concerns

· Tasks involved in exploration

· Maintenance

· Establishment

Career Development Inventory

Low scores

· Planning orientation

· Readiness for exploration

· Information about decision making

Differential Aptitude Tes

High scores

· Numerical ability

· Mechanical reasoning

· Verbal reasoning

Strong Interest Inventory

High scores

· REC (realistic, enterprising, conventional)

Values Scales

High scores

· Achievement

· Lifestyle

· Ability

· Utilization

· Autonomy

Counselor:

The results of the Salience Inventory indicate that you consider work to be the most important life role. You scores also indicates that home, family, and leisure roles are also important. Do you think this rank order of life roles is a correct one?

Larry:

That’s right! I grew up with the idea that work is one of the most important things a person can do. And yes, I want to have a happy family and enjoy the downtime. I couldn’t agree more with the results.

A discussion followed about how one life role affects other life roles. The spillover effect from one life role to other life roles was emphasized as well as benefits of a balance between life roles.

Larry:

Right now I think about my work and family roles most of the time—the recession has me worried. But even before the recession I often thought about finding a different job. It seems that I was not committed enough to do something about it.

The counselor asked Larry to explain the strategies he would now use in finding a “different job.” Larry explained that he has never had to look for work because his friends and family told him about the kind of work available. “I didn’t give much thought to other kinds of work, but yet I knew I didn’t want to do framing work the rest of my life.”

Counselor:

We can help you develop effective exploration skills, but we also need to find out what kind of skills you have and the kind of work you are interested in and value. When you learn more about other occupational requirements, you should be in a better position to expand your opportunities.

The next set of score results is from the Career Development Inventory (Super et al., 1971) that measures one’s ability to do career planning and the skills needed to learn more about occupations. It is also a measure of one’s decision-making skills. Not surprisingly Larry’s score report indicated low scores in career planning, exploration techniques, decision making, and knowledge of the world of work. Larry and the counselor both agreed that he would need to vastly improve his skills in all the areas measured by this inventory. The counselor offered support by informing Larry that not all his score results are negative and in fact he has some strong characteristics he can build on. She reminded him that these inventories are used to identify ways in which one can be helped.

The Adult Career Concerns Inventory (Super et al., 1988) is an instrument that can be used to identify one’s career concerns in terms of developmental tasks. Test takers are instructed to self-rate their concerns with developmental tasks. Score results include concerns with the developmental tasks associated with growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and decline. According to the score report, Larry’s greatest concerns were with the tasks of exploration, maintenance, and establishment.

Larry once again explained that he is very concerned about learning more about the world of work but admits he is not sure about the best way to do this. He added he is most interested in maintaining an occupational position so that he could have the possibility of advancing in a career. The counselor took this opportunity to once again make the point that lifelong learning is a good philosophy to adopt. She then informed Larry that one of his future goals can be to learn how to effectively access occupational information and to discuss ways in which one can make an occupational position secure.

The counselor then informed Larry that there were some positive signs in the next set of test scores, especially on the aptitude test. The overall results suggest that Larry is certainly capable of learning complicated tasks that are required in some occupations. He has good numerical and verbal reasoning skills and also has a high score in mechanical reasoning. In addition, he values achievement which suggests that he sets high standards and makes every attempt to utilize his abilities in a constructive way. Also, Larry prefers to make his own decisions about work procedures and planning lifestyle activities. He informed the counselor that his boss often praised some of his decisions he made concerning tasks in the workplace. It appears that Larry feels he can improve his decision-making abilities, but he has also been encouraged by accurate decisions he previously made at work. Thus, there are good indications of self-efficacy. The interest inventory score results of REC (Holland’s typology codes) suggest that Larry prefers skilled trades, and leadership roles and is rather conservative and practical.

Larry’s reaction: I have always attempted to do my best at work and I guess my independent feelings come from my parents who taught me to listen to all opinions about a subject and then make up my own mind.

This statement by Larry is a good example of someone who has developed a sense of self that is strong enough to make decisions based on both positive and negative information. This sense of self also suggests that Larry’s confidence is based on self-efficacious thinking. He gives the impression that he has confidence in his beliefs but also recognizes his deficiencies. His life theme suggests that he has a strong background of beliefs, especially of family values and community service. His strong career convictions suggest that he is willing to use alternative strategies when making decisions and he is most willing to negotiate transitions in the future.

Both Larry and the counselor recognized that the job market is very limited at this time because of a severe recession. They reached a consensus of opinion that Larry would select the best local job option available. Larry wanted to keep his home and remain in the community he and family enjoyed. Fortunately, there was an initiative program being developed in the nearby city that was designed to help people locate and train for jobs available. A foundation had given a grant to pay individuals a small amount per hour while in training. A company that was a part of the initiative program was offering an eight-week training program for learning the skills to build customized doors and other milled products. Larry entered the training program with the idea that he would do his best but would also continue to learn more about exploration skills and decision-making techniques; he would keep his options open for the future. In sum his goals included:

· (1)

developing effective methods of processing career information,

· (2)

enhancing efforts to develop a balanced lifestyle,

· (3)

developing career planning skills and decision-making techniques, and

· (4)

engaging in planning for a secure future which would include lifelong learning.

Larry’s career counseling was to continue to involve his career development needs over the life span. Larry expects to experience a series of up-and-down times in the future economy but vowed that he would be better prepared to face the challenges he may encounter. As he put it, “I want to be what you referred to as flexible and be able to adapt to changes that might occur.” In the meantime, he plans to make the best of the opportunity to learn how to work with milled products and will engage in exploring the possibility of learning new skills and more about the future trends in the job market. To no one’s surprise Larry will continue his strong commitment to family and home and his involvement in community affairs. In short Larry learned that career development is indeed a lifelong process.

dModel III a Learning Theory of Career Counseling (LTCC)
LTCC

A most comprehensive approach to career decision making has been carefully delineated by Krumboltz, Mitchell, and Gelatt (1975); Krumboltz and Hamel (1977); Krumboltz and Nichols (1990); Mitchell and Krumboltz (1990, 1996); and Krumboltz (1996). These authors emphasize that each individual’s unique learning experiences over the life span are most influential in the career choice process. Therefore, learning is a key ingredient in career counseling and career guidance, suggesting that a career counselor’s major task is to enhance learning opportunities for clients by using a wide array of effective methods that begin in childhood and endure throughout a lifetime.

The scope of the career counselor’s role is viewed as very complex and inclusive—suggesting a number of skills, knowledge, and methods to deal with all career and personal problems that act as barriers to goal attainment. Career counselors may take the role of mentor, coach, or educator and should be prepared to solve unique beliefs that hinder personal development. As Krumboltz (1996) sees it, the counselor as educator provides the environment for clients to develop interests, skills, values, work habits, and many other personal qualities. From this learning perspective, clients can be empowered to take actions that promote the creation of satisfying lives now and in the future. For future reference, counselors help clients identify elements of a satisfying life that could change over time and especially how to adapt to changing circumstances and constantly changing work environments.

In this model, the client is viewed as one who is exploring and experimenting with possibilities and tentative decisions. A client should not be condemned for abandoning a goal in the exploratory process of learning about self, workplaces, and careers. In fact, Krumboltz (1996) strongly suggests that clients do not need to make a career decision for the sake of deciding but, rather, should be encouraged to explore, eliminate, and make tentative tryouts in a learning process that makes progress toward accomplishing their personal goals. Within this perspective, indecision is viewed as what is expected from clients who seek assistance; indecision should not be viewed as a negative diagnosis, but as an existing condition of a client who is open to learning and exploration.

In sum, the following practical applications for counselors are paraphrased as follows:

· (1)

Assessment instruments are used to stimulate new learning by identifying needed new skills, cultivating new interests, and developing interpersonal competencies;

· (2)

educational interventions should be increased to provide more opportunities of learning about one’s abilities to meet career demands, the demands of the workplace, changing work habits, changing beliefs, and values;

· (3)

success criteria should be based on learning outcomes and not solely on whether a client has made a career decision—the focus is on new behaviors, attempts to learn, and revised thoughts; and

· (4)

counselors should integrate career and personal counseling; learning should focus on personal as well as career issues (Krumboltz, 1996).

The following career counseling model relies heavily on a decision-making model developed by Krumboltz and Sorenson (1974) and has been updated by more recent publications as noted in the beginning of this discussion and by Walsh (1990) and Savickas and Walsh (1996).

Stage 1. Interview
1. Establish client–counselor relationship.

2. Have client commit to time needed for counseling.

3. Reinforce insightful and positive client responses.

4. Focus on all career problems, family life, environmental influences, emotional instability, career beliefs and obstacles, and traditional career domains of skills, interests, values, and personality.

5. Help clients formulate tentative goals.

Stage 2. Assessment
1. Objective assessment instruments are used as a means of providing links to learning interventions.

2. Subjective assessment attempts to attain the accuracy and coherence of the client’s information system, identify client’s core goals, and faulty or unrealistic strategies to reach goals.

3. Beliefs and behaviors that typically cause problems are evaluated by using an inventory designed for this purpose.

Stage 3. Generate Activities
1. Clients are directed to individualized projects such as taking another assessment instrument, reviewing audiovisual materials, computer programs, or studying occupational literature.

2. Some clients may be directed to counseling programs that address personal problems and/or lack of cognitive clarity.

Stage 4. Collect Information
1. Intervention strategies are reviewed.

2. Individual goals, including newly developed ones, are discussed.

3. A format for previewing an occupation is presented.

4. Clients commit to information gathering by job-site visit or using job-experience kits.

Stage 5. Share Information and Estimate Consequences
1. Client and counselor discuss information gathered about occupations and together estimate the consequences of choosing each occupation.

2. Counselor evaluates client’s difficulty in processing information.

3. Counselor evaluates client’s faulty strategies in decision processing.

4. Counselor develops remedial interventions.

5. Clients can be directed to collect more information or recycle within the counseling model before moving to the next step.

Stage 6. Reevaluate, Decide Tentatively, or Recycle
1. Client and counselor discuss the possibilities of success in specific kinds of occupations.

2. Counselor provides the stimulus for firming up a decision for further exploration of a career, or changing direction and going back to previous steps in making a decision.

Stage 7. Job Search Strategies
1. Client intervention strategies can include using study materials, learning to do an interview or write a résumé, joining a job club, role playing, or doing simulation exercises designed to teach clients the consequences of making life decisions. Client and counselor reintroduce the concepts of career–life planning and, specifically, how the procedures of learning to make a career decision can be used with other major decisions in life.

The following paragraphs summarize and highlight additional information to make this model more user friendly.

In stage 1, Interview, client–counselor relationships are established and maintained throughout the counseling process. The client must be allotted the status of collaborator and allowed the freedom and given the encouragement to learn, explore, and experiment. A working partnership may best characterize an appropriate relationship.

Some techniques of interviewing discussed and illustrated in the next two chapters, can be used as examples for at least partially fulfilling the requirements of an intake interview. Counselors obtain more specific information of client learning experiences and environmental conditions that have significantly influenced the development of task approach skills.

In stage 2, Assessment, results are used in two ways:

· (1)

to suggest to clients how their preferences and skills match requirements found in educational and occupational environments and

· (2)

to develop new learning experiences for the client (Krumboltz, 1996).

Using test results as a method of identifying what a client may want to learn for the future, for example, encourages clients to identify learning intervention strategies that are needed for occupations of interest. In this context, career development is considered as a temporary state that can be improved to enhance a client’s potential for career exploration. One may also want to use criterion-referenced tests that evaluate what a client can or cannot do rather than norm-referenced tests that reveal what percentage of the population the client exceeds.

Assessments designed to measure interests, values, personality, and career beliefs are also used as points of reference for developing learning interventions. In essence, using assessment results for identifying learning needs to improve career decision making suggests that

· (1)

clients should not only base their decisions on existing capabilities and interests but also expand them and

· (2)

occupational requirements are not expected to remain stable—thus, clients need to prepare for changing work tasks and work environments.

Tailored and remedial intervention strategies designed to meet each client’s unique needs are most effective (Krumboltz, 1996).

Tentative goals formulated during the intake interview are further evaluated during stage 3, Generate Activities. Client and counselor determine steps necessary to reach goals. Some clients might want to confirm their goals by taking an interest inventory. Another client might want to evaluate abilities. Yet another client might be best served by personal problem counseling before making a goal commitment. Before completing this stage, clients select two or more occupations to explore.

The major objectives of stage 4, Collect Information, are to introduce clients to career information resources, their purpose, and use. Client and counselor also develop a format for evaluating occupations. Included in the format are opportunities for advancement, pay scales, worker associates, preparation time for certain occupations, and skills that are required. Clients are assigned individual projects involving career exploration and may be required to job shadow or use job-experience kits.

Client and counselor discuss the information gathered for each occupation evaluated in stage 5, Share Information and Estimate Consequences. Counselors assist clients in estimating their chances of success in a chosen occupation. During this process, the client is directed to state tentative conclusions, reasons for conclusions, and ideas for further exploration. Some clients may be directed to collect more information before conclusions can be reached.

In stage 6, Reevaluate, Decide Tentatively, or Recycle, client and counselor establish a firmer commitment to career direction. Some clients continue to the next step of job search whereas others recycle for more information or a change in direction. Counselors maintain the position that clients should not be judged harshly for changing their minds during this process of discovery. Some clients require more time and information before deciding tentatively. Counselors should support clients who make reasonable and realistic requests during this stage.

In the final stage, Job Search Strategies, clients become involved in the usual programs of interview training, preparing a résumé, or joining a job club. A unique feature of this model, however, is the emphasis on teaching clients the consequences of making a career decision. Client and counselor reintroduce the concepts of career life planning and, specifically, how the procedures of learning to make a career decision can be used with other major decisions in life.

In an attempt to understand how clients arrive at decisions, counselors view core goals as driving forces underlying an individual’s motivation toward certain activities and, as such, goals function as a fundamental sense of self. For example, one who has a core goal “to be in charge” might not be motivated to evaluate certain work environments and to complete an agreed-on activity. In this case, the counselor assists the client in clarifying core goals as underlying reasons for a lack of interest in pursuing certain activities. Counselors are to assist clients in resolving issues associated with core goals, especially those that influence decision making. This step in the career counseling process is considered a key role of the career counselor (Krumboltz & Nichols, 1990).

Two major goals of this model are to build an understanding of what motivates human behavior and how thought processes and actions influence career development and subsequent career decisions. According to the living systems framework (LSF) developed by Ford (1987) and Ford and Ford (1987) as discussed in Krumboltz and Nichols (1990, p. 175), the primary and most direct influences on decision making are

· (a)

one’s accumulated knowledge about the world and about one’s self (information processing and storage);

· (b)

one’s entire set of desired and undesired outcomes (directive cognitions);

· (c)

evaluative thought processes that determine what one can or should try to accomplish right now (regulatory evaluations); and

· (d)

thought processes that determine strategies for how to accomplish current objectives and coordinate action (control processes).

Krumboltz and Nichols’s explanation of decision making underscores the magnitude of extremely complex systems from cognitive science that are used as guidelines to understand what motivates human behavior and how information about self and environment is processed when one makes a career decision. See Case 3.3 for a case involving a reluctant decision maker.

Case 3.3

The Case of the Reluctant Decision Maker
Joe was accompanied to a community counseling center by a friend who was also a career counseling client. Joe needed a great deal of support and encouragement before he agreed to make an appointment. He reluctantly asked for help to find a better job.

Joe dropped out of high school when he was in the 10th grade to work in a fast-food establishment. He recently completed a high school equivalency course and received a diploma. Now 22, he continues to live with his parents. His father is a factory worker, his mother is a homemaker, and he has four siblings.

The counselor immediately recognized that Joe was very uncomfortable asking for help. He appeared to be very nervous and restless; the counselor attempted to help Joe feel more comfortable.

Counselor:

Joe, I am pleased to know you (shaking hands). Your buddy here has been telling me about what a nice guy you are and what a good friend you have been.

Joe:

Well, ah, thank you. He is a good friend too.

Counselor:

It’s great to have good friends, Joe. This reminds me of when a friend of mine helped me get started in college a few years ago.

The counselor continued to make small talk to help Joe feel more at ease. When it appeared that Joe was more relaxed, the counselor outlined his role as counselor and what is expected of a client during the career counseling process. Joe was receptive to suggestions and agreed to keep his appointments and complete work away from the counseling center that might be assigned during the course of counseling.

During the intake interview the counselor discovered that Joe had taken part in career counseling while in a high school equivalency program.

Joe: