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Running head: THEORY AND CAREER HISTORY

Theory and Career History

Veronica L. Becerra

Department of Counseling School Psychology and Special Education, Edinboro University of

Pennsylvania

COUN 715: Career Development and Life Planning

Mr. Larry S. Dickson

June 25, 2020

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Theory and Career History

After experiencing career counseling within numerous settings, I strongly believe that

each of the career theories that were discussed within this course have assisted me in selecting

occupations that best suit me and my individualized needs. Since every individual has different

personalities, cultural backgrounds, and moral values, the various theoretical perspectives allow

counselors to be able to incorporate different approaches and techniques to better assist their

clients. Through the combined approaches, I was able to self-reflect and gain a better

understanding of my interests, and values so that I can select a career that would allow me to

achieve work satisfaction.

1. Evaluate how each theory may contribute to a greater understanding of your own

career history. What insights have you gained about your own career history from

each of the theories?

Holland

After evaluating my own career history, I realize that my career counselors had

incorporated many different theories into their approaches while working with me. While

receiving career counseling from my counselor in college, my advisor had me take Holland’s

RIASEC assessment to gain a better understanding of my personality type and see which

environment of work I would be satisfied in. My results showed that I would find enjoyment in

investigative, artistic, and social settings. This theory is “focused on finding congruence between

an individual’s vocational personality type and their work environment” (Swanson, 2020). The

insight that I gathered from this approach allowed me to develop a list of work environments that

would be best for me based on my personality. 

Theory of Work Adjustment 

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The insight that I gathered from this approach is that “Dissatisfaction occurs because of

discorrespondence between an individual’s needs, abilities, and environmental rewards”

(Swanson, 2020).  It was important to understand that everyone’s life situations are different, and

some individuals are physically incapable of performing certain tasks. For example, even though

I wanted to be a police officer, at the time I was physically incapable of being able to meet the

ability requirements to fulfill the position. Although the RIASEC scores recommended this

career to me based on my personality, and the career aligned with my personal values; I was

unable to meet the job ability requirements which could potentially make it very difficult for me

to find satisfaction within that career. 

Developmental 

The insight that I gathered from this approach is it is important to acknowledge an

individual's vocational choices and take into consideration their life roles when researching or

selecting occupations. According to Super’s developmental tasks, I am consolidating and

advancing my career while also taking my life roles into consideration. Eventually, I want to

have a family and children so after doing research on my desired occupation, I realized that this

career will allow me to find a balance in my vocational choices and life roles. 

Gottfredson

The insight that I gathered from this approach is more focused on an individual’s

childhood development and how concepts such as power, sex differences, prestige, and

compromises all influence an individual’s vocational choices. I believe that this theory applied to

my own decision making because as a female I was discouraged from pursuing certain careers

based on my gender. These factors influenced my zone of acceptable alternatives and caused me
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to compromise for other careers instead of pursuing a career as a mechanic or law enforcement

officer. 

Social Cognitive Career Theory 

According to the Social Cognitive Career Theory, this perspective focuses on how an

individual’s “interests and choices develop, in relation to their own beliefs about their

competence, abilities, and their position's expected outcomes” (Swanson, 2020).  As a Graphic

designer I enjoyed my interactions with my clients; however, I felt that my self-efficacy beliefs

about my abilities were put under pressure when clients would request design revisions.

However, as I spent more time as a graphic designer, I realized that it is a very common

occurrence for clients to request revisions. If my self-efficacy relating to my design abilities

continued to decline, it would have impacted my satisfaction within my career. Luckily, as I

realized that this was a frequent and common occurrence, my self-efficacy improved, and I

continued to work as a designer. 

Career Construction and Life Designing

According to the Career Construction and Life Designing theory, this approach focused

on having “individuals construct themselves, impose direction on their vocational behavior, and

make meaning of their careers” (Savickas, 2013, p. 1). Through the My Career Story assessment,

I was able to utilize my role models, mottos, favorite television shows, favorite stories, and

earliest recollections to reconstruct a macro-narrative. I also learned how to conceptualize my

career history through the four Cs, concern, curiosity, control, and confidence.  By writing my

own life portrait I was able to self-reflect as an actor within my own story and better understand

my occupational goals and make future career decisions. 

Psychology of Working Theory 

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Psychology of Working Theory “emphasizes how economic constraints and the

marginalization that stems from social identities (such as sexism or racism) help to shape

perceptions of the freedom to make individual career decisions, which is work volition”

(Swanson, 2020, p. 245). The insight that I gathered from this approach is that marginalization,

economic constraints, and other factors can play a major role in finding fulfillment within one’s

work. Some of the economic constraints that I faced were the financial burden that I had while

going to school. If I had not received multiple scholarships to attend, I would not have been able

to go to college and earn my bachelor’s degree. Additionally, the marginalization of sexism had

influenced me to not pursue male-dominated careers such as business, mechanics, HVAC, law

enforcement, or engineering. 

2. Is one theory more applicable to your career decision making than others?

Out of all of the theories, I believe that Holland's Theory was most applicable and

influential within my decision-making processes.  Although other theories and approaches were

incorporated into my counseling sessions, I primarily based my career decisions on my results

from Holland’s RIASEC assessment. As a young high schooler, I felt that this approach was the

easiest to understand and apply to my own career decisions. By having a deeper understanding of

my own personality, I was able to determine what occupations and environments were best for

me. I also found that the O*Net was an incredibly helpful resource since it helped me determine

educational requirements, required skills, annual salary, and predicted employment growth. All

in all, through Holland’s approach, I was able to create a list of potential occupations that fit my

personality, and then utilize occupational information to learn more about different careers which

ultimately enabled me to make informed career decisions.  

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3. What aspects of your career history and decision making are not explained by the

theories?

Personally, I strongly believe that these theories covered many different aspects

pertaining to an individual’s life roles and career decisions. It focused on an individual’s physical

abilities, mental health, and family expectations relating to their decision-making processes.

Although it covered many different factors that go into making a decision, I do not believe that it

explores how an individual can take on a life role that were not necessarily theirs to take on in

the first place. Although these factors are not necessarily their life roles, they are roles that are

adopted which can influence an individual’s career decisions. For example, while I was going for

my undergraduate degree my family was in financial need. Although I was not expected or asked

to, I chose to leave school temporarily to help out my family. In some situations, an older sibling

may become the primary caretaker of their younger siblings, which can also impact their choices

as well. Situations like this happen frequently in many people’s lives but I feel that these

unexpected life circumstances were not addressed within the theories or taken into consideration

when discussing the decision-making process. 

Conclusion

After learning about the various theoretical perspectives within this course, I realized that

my counselor was applying many of these techniques during my own counseling sessions.

Depending on the theoretical approach that she was utilizing, it would impact the types of

questions being asked during the therapy sessions. All in all, each theory helped me gain more

knowledge about myself which ultimately helped me narrow down my occupation search and

select a career that will allow me to obtain work satisfaction.

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References

Savickas, M. L. (2013). Career construction theory and practice. In S. D. Brown & R.

W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling handbook: Putting theory and research

to work (2nd ed., pp. 147–183). New York, NY: Wiley.

Swanson, J. L., & Fouad, N. A. (2020). Career theory and practice: Learning through case

studies (Fourth Edition ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.