Running Head: CAREER ASSESSMENT PROJECT
Career Assessment Project: Case Study Application
Sarah M Brothwell
The State University of New York
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Running Head: CAREER ASSESSMENT PROJECT
Career Assessment Project: Case Study Application
1) Identify Chris’s presenting problem(s)
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Currently Chris is experiencing a conflict between his personal characteristics and his work environment. Although Chris is able to meet the work demands from the engineering program, he feels that he does not fit in with the “studious” peers from the program. Chris values free time, social interactions and a relaxed atmosphere, but he is unsure of what career path to pursue, which will allow him these luxuries. In order for Chris to make an informed decision he requires more knowledge about the world of work and different career paths that are more congruent with his personal characteristics.
2) Identify Chris’s SDS codes
Chris’s SDS code is realistic, social and enterprising (RSE) or realistic enterprising and social (RES), because there is a difference of less than 8 on the SDS-Form between social and enterprising this difference should be regarded as trivial.
3) In order for Chris to explore his full range of options he should use all permutations and combinations of this 3-letter summary code. These include: RES, RSE, ESR, ERS, SER, and
SRE.
4) How congruent is Chris given his codes?
From the information provided about Chris, I would say that his current educational aspirations are incongruent with his summary code. Chemical Engineers fall under the investigative type. They enjoy working with math or science and are better at solving problems and working with ideas than working directly with people. Chris does not fit well in to this category, because he does have a need for working with people as well as tools or objects.
5) How consistent is Chris given his three letter codes?

Running Head: CAREER ASSESSMENT PROJECT
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Chris has low to medium consistency in his code. The first letter of his code is R-realistic, the second letter could be either S-social, which would make his code have low consistency, or his second letter could be E-enterprising, which would make his code have medium consistency.
It is less common for individuals to have codes of low consistency. In other words people who are interested in working with objects (R) do not usually enjoy working with people also (S).
6) How differentiated/distinct is Chris’s profile?
Chris is not highly differentiated. He scored a 42 in the realistic category and a 33 in the social category and a 31 in the enterprising category. These numbers are fairly close together, meaning that he may be able to fit comfortably in and career that contains any combination of his
3-letter code. For example, Chris may look for a career that is predominantly social even though the first letter of his code indicates that he has an affinity for a realistic career.
7) What theory of career development will you use to counsel Chris and why?
I believe that Brown’s Value-Based model would be the most beneficial theory to use when counseling Chris. It seems to me that because Chris’s code is not highly differentiated it is difficult for him to see what is important to him in his life. I believe that Chris needs to examine his values and be able to rank them in terms of importance. I would also recommend to Chris the use of a computer-assisted career guidance system (CACG). Using an occupational search would allow him to generate a list of occupations that may be of interest to him. He may also find it beneficial to explore specific information related to careers of interest (e.g. the nature of work, working conditions, number of employed, job outlook, education and training requirements etc.)
8) What are Chris’s values?
From what I have gathered about Chris I believe that he places high value on job security, monetary gain, a casual and social work environment. I also believe that he would be best suited

Running Head: CAREER ASSESSMENT PROJECT in a field that was challenging and required him to work with objects rather than numbers or
4 ideas.
9) Given Chris’s values what interpretations might you make?
I believe that Chris would an excellent chemistry or history teacher. Teaching provides both job stability as well as social interaction with students and colleagues. He wouldn’t be making a huge amount of money, but it would be enough for him to live securely and comfortably. It is ultimately up to Chris to decide what is important to him and to find a job that satisfies his needs.
10) What would be your strategy(ies) in counseling him?
I would first attempt to explain his Holland code to him, in order to his him an idea of where his strengths and weaknesses lie. It is important to communicate with him the fact that his code is incongruent with this current aspirations and that his code is also not highly differentiating, giving him many career options to explore. I would then have him describe to me what he considers to be most important and valuable to him at this point in his life. I may then use other techniques such as the card sort in order to help him begin exploring and crystalizing these values. I would also support him in making any necessary educational changes or if he wished to continue is education in chemical engineering I would recommend that he join a club or get a hobby which allowed him to fulfill his social needs.