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Chapter - 6 Career Counselling PDF
Chapter - 6 Career Counselling PDF
6
CAREER COUNSELING
JENNIFER M. KIDD
A
s other chapters in this volume show, demands of a job. The aim of vocational guidance
the study of careers draws on a range of was to encourage this. Current “person-environ-
diverse areas of literature. This is also ment-fit” approaches to career counseling (e.g.,
the case with career counseling. One main influ- Holland, 1997) evolved directly from Parsons’
ence is vocational psychology, which is largely work, and it is remarkable how they have endured
concerned with theory and research relating over time.
to occupational choice and early career deci- However, in the context of more flexible and
sion making. Another is therapeutic counseling diverse career patterns, the view of career coun-
theory, ideas from which are increasingly inform- seling as a process of helping people make wise
ing career-counseling practice. A third area of career decisions that set them on a particular
literature focuses on organizational careers, and career pathway for life is increasingly inappro-
this in turn has been influenced by organiza- priate. Career counselors work with clients of
tional psychology, sociology, and management any age and at any stage in their careers, helping
studies. Unfortunately, there has been little inter- individuals with a wide range of career-related
action between researchers and writers in these concerns. Although work and educational
areas, and one purpose of this chapter is to show choices are likely to be important issues, many
how theories and concepts from each can inform clients will also need help in dealing with
career-counseling practice. broader concerns, such as coping with the frus-
The first career-counseling services appeared trations of redundancy and unemployment,
at the turn of the 20th century. Parsons (1909) is deciding whether to return to study or work, and
generally acknowledged to have been the origina- finding ways to balance different life roles. In
tor of career counseling (Moore, Gunz, and Hall, addition, the problems clients voice in the early
Chapter 2), a process that was then called “voca- stages of career counseling may mask deeper
tional guidance.” His work focused on the early emotional issues that will not become apparent
career decision-making process, with the central until later in the counseling process. Career
proposition that individuals should engage in a counseling can therefore be seen as a process
process of “true reasoning” to achieve a good that helps individuals not only make career-
match between their own characteristics and the related decisions but also effectively manage
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their careers over the life course and develop the century are discussed. We begin by considering
emotional resilience to cope with the challenges person-environment-fit theories, which were
that arise as their working lives progress. More the backbone of career counseling for many
specifically, the definition of career counseling years. Developmental and cognitive-behavioral
offered here is as follows: approaches are then discussed. This is followed
by a brief review of some of the emerging
A one-to-one interaction between practitioner and theories of career development, focusing partic-
client, usually ongoing, involving the application of ularly on postmodern perspectives, embodied
psychological theory and a recognised set of com- by narrative models and action theory. Last,
munication skills. The primary focus is on helping some of the challenges highlighted by these
the client make career-related decisions and deal approaches for theory, research, and practice are
with career-related issues. (Kidd, 2006, p. 1) identified.
Furthermore, some writers have questioned the interaction, and contemporary versions see the
validity of the six-dimensional model of inter- client as an active participant in the career-
ests. Prediger (2000), for example, has argued counseling process (Swanson, 1996).
that two dimensions of “people” versus “things”
and “data” versus “ideas” should be incorpo-
rated into the model. Developmental Theories
Nevertheless, Holland’s model has provided
Developmental orientations to careers and
an important theoretical rationale for a person-
career counseling have two basic features in
environment-fit, diagnostic approach to career
common. First, they take the view that choosing
counseling. According to the theory, the career
a career and managing one’s career develop-
counselor’s primary activity is the assessment of
ment involve a continuous process that carries
occupational interests and the identification of
on through life. Second, they use concepts from
occupations that match the client’s interest profile.
developmental psychology, such as develop-
A range of instruments is available for assessing
mental stages and tasks and career maturity,
interests, including the Strong Interests Inventory
to describe and explain the process of career
(Harmon, Hansen, Borgen, & Hammer, 1994) and
development.
the Self-Directed Search (Holland, 1985; avail-
The writer most commonly associated with the
able at www.self-directed-search.com).
developmental approach is Donald Super. He pro-
Until recently, person-environment-fit ap-
posed that career development proceeds through
proaches have given little attention to the role of
stages as the individual seeks to “implement a
attributes other than interests in the assessment of
self-concept” in an occupation. Super’s original
fit. Further development of fit models should take
stage theory (1957) portrayed career development
account of the links between interests, personality
as involving five stages: growth, exploration,
and values (Tinsley, 2000), and abilities. Ackerman
establishment, maintenance, and decline. In a later
and Heggestad (1997), for example, in a review of
formulation (Super, Thompson, Lindeman, Myers,
studies that assessed the relationships between
& Jordaan, 1988), four stages were incorporated,
abilities, interests, and personality, found four
and within each, three substages:
clusters of traits across these three domains: social,
clerical/conventional, science/maths, and intellec-
1. Exploration. Crystallization, specification,
tual/cultural. Apart from the social cluster, all the
implementation
clusters included traits across the three domains.
Ackerman and Heggestad argue that “abilities, 2. Establishment. Stabilizing, consolidating,
interests and personality develop in tandem, such advancing
that ability levels and personal dispositions deter-
3. Maintenance. Holding, updating, innovating
mine the probability of success in a particular task
domain and interests determine the motivation to 4. Disengagement. Deceleration, retirement plan-
attempt the task” (p. 239). This suggests that career ning, retirement living
counselors should use frameworks of fit that inte-
grate various attributes, including abilities, inter- These stages, as well as research on Super’s
ests, and personality. theory, are discussed in detail in Chapter 15
The person-environment-fit approach to career by Sullivan and Crocitto. It is worth noting here
counseling has often been characterized as assum- though that in this model, individuals are
ing that the career counselor’s role is simply to acknowledged to “recycle”: People experienc-
offer “expert” advice based on knowledge of the ing mid-career transitions, for example, may
client and of work opportunities. It has also been need to engage in some of the tasks of early
criticized for ignoring the processes leading up to working life.
a career decision and later career development and Career counselors who take a developmen-
focusing too much on initial occupational choices. tal approach attempt to form a comprehensive
But person-environment fit is now viewed as picture of their clients’ career development,
more of an ongoing process, where individuals encouraging them to move toward a greater
and work environments are in constant reciprocal awareness of themselves and their situations and
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model. Space does not permit coverage of these “action system” that derives meaning through
in this chapter, but good overviews are given in the social interaction between individuals and
Brown and Associates (2002) and Niles and others in their social environment. Individuals
Harris-Bowlsbey (2002). make sense of their lives and construct their
It is worth giving more attention to theories careers through action. Of particular importance
that depart from the positivist tradition that has are the goal-directed actions that individuals
dominated career research, however. The term take in career development. These actions are
postmodern has been used to describe these viewed from three perspectives: manifest behav-
approaches, and they emphasize subjective expe- ior, conscious cognitions (including thoughts
rience and personal agency in career development. and feelings), and social meaning (the meaning
of the action to the self and to others). Career
counseling is seen as a project where counselor
Narrative Approaches
and client are involved in “joint action.” Social
Narrative approaches to career counseling meaning is particularly important in career
are in line with the postmodern shift away from counseling, where language and narrative help
broad systems of thought, such as Marxism people make sense of life events. It is also
or psychoanalysis, to more “local” truths and important to bring contextual information into
knowledge systems. Writers and practitioners the career-counseling process—for example, by
taking a narrative approach encourage clients to providing career counseling in settings where
tell stories about their lives and help them make “career action” occurs (e.g., the workplace) and
sense of these and identify key themes within by involving significant others in the process.
them. Establishing whether the experiences and As some of the emerging theories imply, so as
events described by clients actually occurred to better inform career-counseling practice over
is seen as irrelevant; rather, the aim is to help the life span, career theory needs to be more inter-
clients understand and explain their experiences active, taking account of relationships between
in a coherent way and retell or “re-author” their the individual, social environments, and economic
story or stories in a more satisfactory and “agen- institutions. It also needs to be dynamic, attending
tic” manner. The approach is not entirely new, to how individuals make sense of their unfold-
however. Many commonly accepted counseling ing careers over time. Furthermore, career theory
techniques and skills are consistent with a narra- needs to encompass not only how decisions are
tive approach. For example, empathic reflection made and how they might be better made but also
of the content and feeling of clients’ statements how people manage progression in their work and
can help them elucidate their stories, and chal- in their learning in the context of more diverse
lenging skills can be used to help identify incon- and unpredictable career patterns. Coping with
sistencies in their narratives. this unpredictability requires a degree of emo-
Cochran (1997) argues that career counseling tional resilience. Individuals who cope well are
can be distinguished from other forms of counsel- likely to view the future optimistically and wel-
ing by focusing particularly on narratives that deal come frequent changes of job and employer
with future career development. Cochran also (Watts & Kidd, 2000).
emphasizes the value of helping clients “actualize Kidd’s (2006) threefold framework of career
an ideal narrative,” achieving what they would development incorporates these aspects: career
ideally like to do. This involves “wholeness” decision making, career management, and
(constructing a coherent story), “harmony” among career resilience. Stronger theory is needed in
values and activities, a “sense of agency” (being all three to provide a sounder theoretical base
proactive and responsible for one’s actions), and for career counseling. With regard to decision
“fruitfulness” (progress in managing one’s career). making, we need to know more about how
career decisions are typically made, perhaps
moving away from the assumption that these
Action Theory
decisions are always, or indeed best, made in
Young, Valach, and Collin’s (1996) postmod- planful, goal-directed ways. Asking people how
ern approach views career development as an they made decisions is fraught with difficulties,
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and accounts of planful decision making may world of work. Third, we need to recognize that
merely reflect cultural expectations of rational career development is a social process. Career
discourse (Moir, 1993). Research that takes theory should acknowledge the help and support
account of language and discourse is needed to individuals receive from a range of other people.
inform the help that career counselors can Also, there may be a role for career practitioners
provide with career decision making. in providing training to givers of support. Last,
We may also need to reconsider the con- recognizing the emotional aspects of career
structs and frameworks of work available to management acknowledges the important con-
career counselors. Hirsh, Kidd, and Watts (1998) tribution of therapeutic counseling theories.
argue that some existing ways of grouping occu-
pations and work roles may be out of date and
that skills frameworks rather than occupational THERAPEUTIC COUNSELING THEORIES
classifications may be more robust ways of dis-
tinguishing different types of work. Several perspectives on therapeutic counsel-
In relation to individual career management, ing have been applied to career counseling, the
theory needs to take account of people’s attempts most important of which are the person-
to meet their changing needs within more bound- centered and psychodynamic approaches. These
aryless careers. It also needs to take more account are discussed in turn.
of the social context of careers. As Flum (2001)
has pointed out, “When boundaries become less
Person-Centered Theories
visible, interdependence becomes gradually more
apparent” (p. 266). There is a growing interest in The person-centered approach to therapeutic
relational approaches to careers; for example, the counseling was introduced by Carl Rogers, and
work of Higgins and Kram (2001) and Seibert, it is one of the most commonly practiced. It
Kraimer, and Liden (2001) suggests the impor- was originally described by Rogers (1942) as
tance of social relationships in career pro- “client-centered,” a term that implies that the
gression. Furthermore, Kidd, Jackson, and Hirsh focus of the counseling session is determined by
(2003) have shown how a diverse range of indi- the client. According to person-centered practi-
viduals, using basic helping skills, provide career tioners, the most important factor affecting the
support to employees. progress made in the counseling session is
Career counseling also needs a firmer knowl- the relationship between the counselor and the
edge base about career resilience—how indi- client. Rather than specific interview tech-
viduals cope with challenges and setbacks in niques, it is the attitudes and qualities of the
their careers. The role of emotion in career counselor that are the key to success.
development has received little attention until These attitudes and qualities are as follows:
recently. Feelings like anger, worry, and enthu-
siasm have rarely been discussed (Kidd, 1998), • Congruence (or genuineness), which involves
yet career counselors commonly have clients being integrated and real in the relationship
who are incapable of moving on in their careers • Unconditional positive regard, which requires
because of emotional difficulties. In these situa- the counselor to respect the client in a non-
tions, the broader theoretical perspectives judgmental way
provided by therapeutic counseling theories • Empathic understanding, by which the coun-
have much to offer practitioners. selor attempts to understand the client from his
These observations suggest several chal- or her own internal frame of reference and tries
lenges for career-counseling theory, research, to communicate this to the client
and practice. First, theories and counseling
methods need to take account of the ways Building on Patterson’s (1964) work, which
careers are constructed, individually and was an early attempt to explore how person-
socially. Second, we may need to review the centered principles could be applied in career
classification systems and descriptors used in counseling, Bozarth and Fisher (1990) have set
career counseling, to reflect changes in the out the main characteristics of a person-centered
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approach to career counseling. They describe • Moving down the hierarchy of constructs from
them as follows: superordinate ones to subordinate ones (e.g.,
by asking how things differ)
Person-centered career counseling is a relation- • Asking clients to complete a “grid” comparing
ship between a counselor and a client, arising elements (e.g., jobs) along certain constructs
from the client’s concerns, which creates a psy-
chological climate in which the client can evolve As applied to career counseling, PCP could
a personal identity, decide the vocational goal that be criticized for its lack of attention to objective
is fulfilment of that identity, determine a planned reality. For example, it is unclear how concrete
route to that goal, and implement the plan. The data about work are incorporated into the
person-centered career counselor relates with process.
genuineness, unconditional positive regard, and
empathy; the locus of control for decisions remains
Psychodynamic Theories
with the client out of the counselor’s trust in the
self-actualizing tendency of the individual. The Two main assumptions of the psychody-
focus in person-centered career counseling is that namic approach to psychotherapy and counsel-
of attitudes and beliefs that foster the natural actu- ing are, first, that individuals’ difficulties have
alizing process rather than on techniques and their origins in early experiences and, second,
goals. (p. 54) that individuals may not be consciously aware
of their motives.
It is surprising that ideas from personal con- Several concepts derived from psychodynamic
struct psychology (PCP) (Kelly, 1955) have not theories can be helpful in understanding career
had more of an influence on person-centered development. These include defense mechanisms,
counseling. PCP, a theory of personality that such as denial (e.g., where a person is unwilling to
emphasizes the unique ways in which people accept that he or she has been made redundant)
experience and make sense of the world, con- and repression (where a threatening memory of an
tributes to our understanding of individuals’ event becomes unavailable to the conscious
unique experiences of choices and transitions, mind). Psychodynamic approaches also recog-
and one would expect that person-centered nize various processes that occur in the inter-
career counselors would have incorporated action between the counselor and the client.
more ideas from this theory. Transference is the best-known example, where
According to PCP, individuals use bipolar the client relates to the counselor as if the coun-
constructs to understand the world. For example, selor was an important person in the client’s
a construct that an individual could use to development, such as the client’s mother.
describe jobs might be “creative/noncreative.” Watkins and Savickas (1990), discussing
Individuals are seen as constantly testing out the relevance of psychodynamic theory to
and elaborating their systems of constructs. The career counseling, have outlined some tech-
PCP approach to career counseling views the niques derived from this approach. They argue
career counselor as attempting to understand that career counselors using psychodynamic
how the client construes the world. Techniques approaches need to develop skills in assessing
include the following: life themes and sensing patterns in the life
course. A key activity will be “making intelligi-
• Eliciting constructs by asking clients to ble interconnections among the episodes of
describe ways in which certain “elements” the client’s life” (p. 108). Structured interviews,
(which might be jobs) are similar or different projective techniques, autobiographies, and
• “Laddering” up the hierarchy of constructs card sorts are examples of some of the tools that
from subordinate constructs (which may be can be used.
quite concrete) to superordinate constructs, Watkins and Savickas (1990) have also
which have a wider application (e.g., by prob- identified several types of clients who seem
ing why certain things are important to the to benefit particularly from a psychody-
client) namic approach. These include those who are
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indecisive and those who have misconceptions with working within a single theoretical model.
about themselves. First, taking what has been called a “common
factors” approach, they might identify the com-
mon features from various models that appear to
ECLECTIC AND INTEGRATIVE APPROACHES produce gains for the client. Second, they might
choose to be eclectic, teasing out specific meth-
The orientations described above may give ods and techniques from the models that appear
the reader the impression that career counseling to be helpful. Third, they might try to develop
operates from a range of clear theoretical princi- their own, unique, integrative model.
ples. However, the flow of knowledge between
theory and practice appears to be limited. The
career-counseling literature is more prescriptive EPISTEMOLOGICAL ISSUES
than analytic (Watts & Kidd, 2000), and career-
counseling practice is “often based on a loosely Traditional approaches to career counseling—
defined set of common practices. . . . without a for example, person-environment-fit approaches
theoretical foundation” (Whiston, 2003, p. 37). and developmental approaches—view career
Furthermore, unlike therapeutic counselors, planning and career management as ideally
career practitioners rarely adhere to one coherent rational processes. They are rooted in a positive
theoretical orientation, using particular methods epistemology, which assumes that objective
and techniques that suit their personal beliefs, reality exists and can be assessed through objec-
their clients, and the issues they bring to the tive observation and measurement. Positivist
session (Kidd, Killeen, Jarvis, & Offer, 1997; theories can be criticized for oversimplifying
Watson, 1994). Many describe themselves as relationships between phenomena, failing to
eclectic, but this seems often to happen by acknowledge the influence of social structure
default rather than being a deliberate way of and culture on people’s experiences, and assum-
working. One reason for the limited relationship ing that the structure of opportunities is set
between theory and practice is that the positivist (Watts & Kidd, 2000).
assumptions of much career research conflict In contrast, some of the newer orientations
with career counselors’ concern with encourag- to career counseling—for example, narrative
ing their clients to understand the subjective approaches—take the view that there are multi-
meanings of their career experiences through the ple realities, that individuals construct their own
therapeutic relationship (Collin & Young, 1992). reality, and that therefore there are many ver-
In contrast, the relative merits of approaches sions of people’s career experiences. Within this
that draw on a range of models and techniques perspective, it is possible to distinguish between
versus those that rely on theoretical purity are “constructivist” and “constructionist” paradigms
vigorously debated in the fields of therapeutic (although the two terms are often used inter-
counseling and psychotherapy. In particular, changeably). Practitioners and researchers work-
there has been much discussion of “technical ing within a constructivist paradigm emphasize
eclecticism” and “theoretical integration” (Norcross the accounts and descriptions individuals use to
& Grencavage, 1989). Technical eclecticism uses construct their worlds, while constructionists are
methods and techniques drawn from different more concerned with the ways these descriptions
sources without necessarily adhering to their and accounts are themselves socially constructed
parent theories, while theoretical integration (Kidd, 2004; Potter, 1996). As Savickas (1997)
involves attempts to synthesize conceptually argues, the constructivist paradigm, being more
diverse frameworks. Within therapeutic counsel- concerned with individual psychology, explores
ing practice, eclecticism and integrationism are the nature of “self-conceiving, self-organizing
seen as theoretical orientations in their own right, processes.” He suggests that applications of
although eclecticism seems to have dropped out constructivism to career counseling include
of favor recently (McLeod, 2003). PCP and narrative approaches. As we have seen,
There seems to be a range of options open to person-centered counseling (Rogers, 1942) is
career counselors, therefore, who are not satisfied also rooted in constructivism, since it emphasizes
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the importance of the client’s internal frame of career-counseling texts, irrespective of theoreti-
reference in the counseling process. cal orientation, organize their discussion of
The constructionist paradigm, on the other career-counseling practice within a stage model
hand, focuses on how accounts of social of career counseling. For example, Kidd’s (2003;
phenomena are socially produced (by the 2006) model of career-counseling stages and tasks
culture and by the parties involved in social views the career-counseling process as comprising
interactions) and the use of language in this four stages, with associated tasks. These stages are
process. Significantly, constructionism shows discussed in this section.
how the constructs describing individual differ- In the first stage, building the relationship,
ences in the careers literature (e.g., work values the main task is to establish the working
and occupational interests) are cultural con- alliance. In the second stage, enabling clients’
structions and not necessarily universal (Stead, self-understanding, helping clients assess their
2004). An example of a career theory within this attributes and their situation is the key task. The
perspective is the action theory of Young et al. third stage, exploring new perspectives, involves
(1996) (discussed earlier), which proposes that challenging and information giving. In the last
careers are socially constructed through joint stage, forming strategies and plans, reviewing
action or interactions with significant others. progress and goal setting are the main activities.
The important point here is that both Although the model is oversimplified (usually,
approaches assume that in any social interaction, sessions move back and forth between stages), it
participants “co-create” understandings (Denzin serves to illustrate the key activities.
& Lincoln, 2000). Therefore, there are con-
straints on how far clients’ accounts concerning
Stage 1: Building the Relationship
their careers can be seen as reflecting their inner
realities and therefore their agency. Edwards and The image of the career counselor as an
Potter (1992), for example, see conversation as “expert,” offering advice and recommenda-
constructed to perform interactional, commu- tions on suitable jobs, is an enduring one. Many
nicative work, to support or undermine versions clients expect career counseling to consist
of events. If this is so, there are implications mainly of information about occupations and
for career counseling. Various elements of the may be disappointed when they do not receive
career-counseling context could be explored this. Writers on career-counseling practice tend
to gain a better understanding of the client- to take the view, therefore, that it is important to
counselor interaction and clients’ accounts of help the client understand that career counsel-
their experiences. These include the framing of ing is a collaborative venture and that they
the situation by both parties, clients’ motives and themselves need to be active participants
means of impression management, perceptions throughout the process. Agreeing on a client-
of power relationships within the interaction, and counselor “contract” at an early stage is seen as
the use of language and cultural scripts. crucial, and this is asserted in a considerable
Exploring career-counseling interventions in body of literature. The contract may cover issues
these ways opens up possibilities for multiple of confidentiality; the number, length, and fre-
interpretations of the career-counseling process quency of meetings; and, more generally, the
and of clients’ accounts of their career develop- nature of the career-counseling process itself,
ment. They do not replace understandings based and it may need to be renegotiated at intervals.
on underlying cognitions and individual agency; Bordin (1979) used the term working alliance
rather, they offer additional lenses through to describe the quality of the relationship estab-
which to view the process. lished early on between the counselor and the
client. From a psychoanalytic perspective, he
saw the working alliance as arising out of the
THE CAREER-COUNSELING PROCESS transference relationship that the client develops
with the counselor. Although agreeing and rene-
We discussed earlier some of the basic compo- gotiating a contract may seem fairly straightfor-
nents of the career-counseling interaction. Many ward, research with practitioners in the United
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Kingdom suggests that there is some confusion Assessment tools used in career counseling
about what the contract should consist of and may be grouped into two broad categories:
concern that it could come to dominate the informal and formal. Informal tools and tech-
career-counseling session (Kidd et al., 1997). niques include graphic or written portrayals,
such as “life lines,” or written answers to ques-
tions such as “What do you seem to seek out, or
Stage 2: Enabling Clients’
avoid, in your life?” and checklists, card sorts,
Understanding and rating scales relating to work tasks, settings,
In the second stage, the main task is seen as values, or skills. One problem with the latter is
helping clients gain a deeper understanding of that they may have unknown psychometric
their situation and the issues that are concern- properties, and the onus is, therefore, on the
ing them. Many clients gain important insights practitioner to help the client interpret the
through the counseling process itself, but more results with caution. Structured interviews may
structured assessment techniques and tools are also be used involving “systematic reflection
often used at this stage. on experience” (Kidd, 1988), where clients are
encouraged to analyze their past experiences to
discover what can be learned from them. Some
Assessment Techniques
tools are designed to be used as part of an in-
One of the advantages of using assessment depth process of self-exploration. One example
techniques is that they help clients become is the Intelligent Career Card Sort (Arthur,
familiar with conceptual frameworks in order Amundson, & Parker, 2002), based on intelli-
to organize their knowledge of themselves gent career theory (Khapova, Arthur, and
and their situation (Holland, Magoon, & Spokane, Wilderom, Chapter 7), which encourages people
1981). From this point of view, simple self- to consider their values, skills, and relation-
assessment tools, as well as the knowledge ships and reflect on the implications of these
gained through the career-counseling process for career development and decision making.
itself, often produce insights that appear to be as Formal tools include psychometric tests and
useful as those gained from administering psy- inventories that assess occupational interests,
chometric tests and inventories. work values, aptitudes, and personality—for
Changes in career-counseling practice have example, the Strong Interest Inventory (Harmon
led to a substantial expansion in the purposes et al., 1994) and the Myers-Briggs Type
and use of assessment techniques. Person- Indicator (Myers & Briggs, 1993), a measure of
environment-fit approaches to career counseling personality. This category also includes instru-
necessitated robust means of assessing indivi- ments assessing career choice processes, such
duals’ psychological attributes to recommend as decision-making styles and skills, and career
career options. While this “test and tell” maturity (or the psychological readiness for
approach is still prevalent, it is less appropriate career development tasks). Examples of these
where the practitioner works within an orienta- types of instruments are the Career Beliefs
tion in which the client is an equal participant Inventory (Krumboltz, 1991) and the Career
in the career-counseling process. Practitioners Decision Scale (Osipow, Carney, Winer, Yanico,
using person-centered or narrative approaches, & Koschier, 1987).
for example, are likely to involve the client in
deciding whether assessment tools are needed
and, if so, which ones. They are also more likely Stage 3: Exploring New Perspectives
to use assessment for client self-understanding Challenging
and exploration rather than make predictions or
recommendations. In addition, the information Mitchell and Krumboltz (1990) see challeng-
produced from assessment is seen as something ing clients’ irrational thinking and inaccurate
to be shared, and clients may be encouraged to beliefs as key tasks in career counseling. They
express their feelings about its accuracy and suggest several guidelines for identifying “prob-
usefulness. lematic” beliefs—for example, “examine the
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THE USE OF INFORMATION AND 5. Decision Aids. Programs that help individuals
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY analyse the factors they use in decision making,
and apply these to a typical decision.
Computers are potentially a powerful resource 6. Dedicated Word Processors. Programs that
in career counseling. They can administer, provide support for CV writing or completing
score, and interpret tests; search databases; application forms.
teach career-planning concepts; and facilitate
interactive dialogue with users. In this section, 7. Computer-Based Training. Programs that teach
we discuss some of the issues arising from the job-seeking skills, for example, handling inter-
introduction of information and communica- views and making job applications.
tions technology in career counseling. 8. Psychometric Tests. Programs that administer
As Watts (1996) points out, computers offer psychological tests and inventories. These are
both opportunities and threats to career coun- mainly on-line adaptations of pencil-and-paper
selors. They provide opportunities in that they tests, measuring abilities, aptitudes, personality,
can improve the career support offered and its etc. (Offer, 1997, cited in Kidd, 2006, p. 122)
accessibility. The main threat, though, is that they
can be used to mechanize the human interaction
Some systems, sometimes described as “mini
that is at the heart of career counseling. Watts
systems,” incorporate only one or two of these
sees the challenge for career services as finding
functions. Others, often called “maxi systems,”
ways to use computer technology in ways that
include most of the functions and integrate them
“supplement and extend human potential rather
so that users can move flexibly between tasks.
than acting to restrict or replace it” (p. 269).
Maxi systems are more useful in modeling the
Computers first began to be used in career
career decision-making process so that individ-
education and counseling in the 1960s, with the
uals can learn decision-making skills.
introduction of computer-aided career guidance
CAGS vary in their theoretical rationale.
systems (CAGS). Three theorists played a key
For example, some take a person-environment-fit
role in their development—Katz, Super, and
approach, suggesting opportunities that match
Tiedeman all designed CAGS—and they saw
individual objectively assessed attributes. Others
the computer as a tool through which to teach
work in a more idiographic way, using the indi-
their theories to users (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey,
vidual’s own decision-making constructs.
2002). Apart from this objective, CAGS have var-
Although CAGS have transformed career
ious specific functions in career counseling. Offer
counseling in many ways, they have limitations.
has classified the systems into eight categories:
For example, it could be argued that they reduce
experience, knowledge, and wisdom to data; that
1. Self Assessment. Programs that help individuals
they simply manipulate these data according to
assess themselves and which provide a profile
strict logic; and that this logic is subordinated to
in terms that also describe work or educational
set purposes (Watts, 1996). This means that the
opportunities. These are commonly based on
more emotional and uniquely personal aspects of
occupational interests.
career development decision making cannot be
2. Matching Systems. Programs that match indi- adequately addressed by a computer. Even the
viduals to occupations or courses. These are the best systems can only mimic the core conditions
most commonly-used applications of comput- of the counseling relationship. Although CAGS
ers in career counseling. are frequently used on a stand-alone basis, a
combination of the computer and face-to-face
3. Information Retrieval. Databases of education
interaction with a counselor is likely to be more
and training opportunities, or of employers.
effective than either intervention on its own. In
4. Games and Simulations. Business, training or this way, both counselor and computer can be
other career education materials. These used to play to their distinctive strengths.
enable users to explore occupations in an There are now a large number of Web sites that
experiential way. offer help with career decision making, and many
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individuals find using the Internet, either as a With access to the Internet, the user may
stand-alone tool or with the support of a career come to career counseling with considerable
counselor, helpful in career planning. Many information about opportunities, just as doctors
CAGS now offer a parallel version on the Internet. have “expert patients.” Many career counselors
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other will welcome this, because they can spend more
Internet tools that are potentially helpful in career time on in-depth issues that require face-to-face
decision making and career management. These discussion, not simply on giving information.
differ considerably in their aims, however, as However, the lack of control over informa-
CAGS do. Some focus on assessment, others tion on the Internet means that users may be
focus on providing career information (there is obtaining out-of-date or inaccurate informa-
now a huge online labor market, for example, as tion. Ideally, therefore, users need to be edu-
discussed in Chapter 17 by Cappelli and Hamori), cated through the career-counseling process to
and still others concentrate on career planning. be more critical and demanding of Web sites.
With regard to assessing the quality of a site, Offer More general ethical guidelines for “cybercoun-
(2000) suggests a range of questions, as follows: seling” have been developed by several profes-
sional bodies. These are summarized in Niles
• Who produced this? What’s in it for them? and Harris-Bowlsbey (2002, pp. 222–223).
Could there be a conflict of interest? If so, is
that openly acknowledged and declared?
• Can I trust them? What are their credentials? THE EVALUATION OF THE
Are they relevant to the matter in hand? How EFFECTIVENESS OF CAREER COUNSELING
else can I contact them if I need to? (or, Why
have they not allowed me to do so?) We turn now to consider how career counseling
• Is it up to date? (And how do I tell?) When was has been evaluated. First, we discuss the kinds
it created, and when was it last amended? of outcomes that have been assessed in evalua-
What does it tell me? (What did I want to know tion studies of career counseling, and then we
that isn’t here? What could they have told me consider the evidence for its effectiveness.
that isn’t here? Why didn’t they?) As was shown earlier, the theoretical base for
• Is it credible? (If not entirely, why should career counseling during the early part of the
I believe this over another source that says 20th century was person-environment-fit theory.
something different?) Does it fit with what I Career practitioners viewed their main task as
already know about this subject? assessing individual differences and the charac-
• Can it be corroborated? (Where else can I get teristics of occupations to make appropriate
information about this? How valid and reliable recommendations about jobs. Accordingly, the
would that be—more than this?) Does the site earliest studies evaluating career counseling
itself offer relevant sources and indications as were concerned primarily with establishing how
to where its statements can be checked? far individuals who entered jobs that were in
• What signs are there, if any, of a lack of quality accord with the recommendations were satis-
control on this site? (Any signs of sloppy think- fied and successful in their work (e.g., Hunt &
ing or practice, even simple misspellings?) Smith, 1944). However, these studies were
• Who is this aimed at/intended for? Is the essentially assessing the predictive validity of
agenda persuasion, or a balanced summary of the careers adviser’s judgment; they did not
the arguments or available facts? Does it directly evaluate the impact of the career advice
acknowledge any alternative views? received. This means that it was impossible to
• What other sites does it link to, or what other assess whether clients would have been any less
sources does it suggest—and does that indicate likely to enter suitable occupations had they not
anything about the standpoint of this one? received career advice (Watts & Kidd, 1978).
• What other sources of this information, advice These initial studies of effectiveness were not
or guidance are there and how might they help at all concerned with how career decisions were
me? Would they be better for my purposes than made; indeed, clients’ job destinations were
what is offered here? (p. 40) essentially decided for them by career advisers.
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110– • –MAIN CURRENTS IN THE STUDY OF CAREER: CAREERS AND THE INDIVIDUAL
Furthermore, the outcome criteria used were treatment modalities used in career interventions,
subsequent career states. In contrast, more recent Whiston et al. (2003) carried out a meta-analysis
studies have virtually ignored these kinds of of 57 studies published between 1975 and 2000
“ultimate” outcome criteria, preferring instead and involving 4,732 participants. The most com-
to assess what have been called the “learning mon outcome measures used in the studies were
outcomes” of career interventions. Learning out- information seeking and career maturity. The
comes have been defined by Kidd and Killeen results showed that counselor-free interventions
(1992) as “the skills, knowledge and attitudes (e.g., the use of “stand-alone” CAGS) were less
which facilitate rational occupational and edu- effective than other treatments. The authors con-
cational decision making and the effective cluded that effective career interventions need to
implementation of occupational and educational include a counseling component.
decisions” (p. 221). Examples of learning out- Evidence exists, therefore, for the effective-
comes are accuracy of self-knowledge, decision- ness of career counseling, but our state of
making skills, career information seeking, and knowledge in this area is substantially less than
career decidedness. that within psychotherapy outcome research,
These kinds of outcome have come to be where there has been a considerable amount of
used in evaluation studies as a result of the shift work examining the processes that occur in psy-
toward a more developmental orientation to chotherapy sessions and assessing the compara-
career counseling. Qualitative reviews of studies tive efficacy of different theoretical approaches
evaluating the effectiveness of career counseling (Barkham, 2003). This most likely reflects the
have generally suggested that career interven- traditional view of career counseling as a ratio-
tions are effective in these terms (e.g., Holland nal approach with an emphasis on testing and
et al., 1981; Swanson, 1995). However, meta- information giving, and also the predominantly
analytic studies of career interventions vary in eclectic methods used by career counselors.
their conclusions about effectiveness. For It is worth noting that much research on the
example, Oliver and Spokane (1988), in a meta- effectiveness of career counseling uses students
analysis that analyzed studies published between and the unemployed and, to a lesser extent,
1950 and 1982, found an overall average effect managers. The reason for this focus is likely to
size of .82. Whiston, Sexton, and Lasoff (1998), be that students and the unemployed are more
using studies published between 1983 and 1995 accessible than other adults. However, the
and calculating effect size using a weighting pro- career-counseling needs of students may differ
cedure to take account of variance, showed a from those of the general adult population, and
considerably lower average effect size of .30, samples may be overrepresentative of higher
with individual career counseling producing the socioeconomic groups.
greatest effect (.75). The effect size in a third
meta-analysis, carried out by Brown and Ryan
Krane (2000), was similar (.34). As Whiston, CONCLUSION
Brecheisen, and Stephens (2003) argue, these
varying effect sizes suggest that the career inter- Many of the challenges that career counseling
ventions evaluated are, in fact, “a diverse set of faces in the 21st century are related to meet-
interventions with diverse outcomes” (p. 391), ing the needs of individuals following more
since the range of effect sizes may reflect varia- diverse and flexible career patterns. It seems
tion in effectiveness, with some interventions that careers are becoming different from the
being highly effective and others ineffective. past, but we should not exaggerate the changes
Many of the studies examined in these meta- that are taking place. Over the last few decades,
analyses are investigations into the effectiveness job tenure in the United Kingdom has been
of career interventions in general, not individual fairly stable. For example, statistics from the
career counseling. There have been few investi- Quarterly Labour Force Surveys demonstrate
gations into the effectiveness of individual career that the number of people who had worked for
counseling as compared with other treatment the same employer for 10 years was very simi-
modalities. In an attempt to compare the various lar in 1986 and in 2004, at around 29% of the
06-Gunz.qxd 6/26/2007 7:22 PM Page 111
workforce. In the United States, there has been Brown, D., & Associates (2002). Career choice and
only a modest decline in tenure, with a slight development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
increase for those employed in long-term posi- Brown, S. D., & Ryan Krane, N. E. (2000). Four (or
tions in the service industries (Jacoby, 1999). five) sessions and a cloud of dust: Old assump-
This chapter has attempted to provide a tions and new observations about career coun-
broad overview of the field of career counseling. seling. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.),
Many of the traditional theories, concepts, and Handbook of counseling psychology (3rd ed.,
techniques reviewed here are still relevant, and pp. 740–766). New York: Wiley.
the newer perspectives are best seen as adding to Cochran, L. (1997). Career counseling: A narrative
the considerable body of knowledge in the field approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
rather than replacing it. Collin, A., & Young, R. A. (1992). Constructing career
through narrative and context: An interpretive
perspective. In A. Collin and R. A. Young (Eds.),
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