Running head: CASE STUDY REPORT
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Dasha Harris
SAA 6630: Career Development and Skills Application
Dr. Kim Gilliam
November 15, 2013
CASE STUDY REPORT
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Mary Ann’s ultimate career goal is lack of stability. Mary Ann is completely capable of
having employment and doing an exceptional job at what she does. However, Mary Ann has an
issue with remaining in a place of employment and this is due to her lack of motivation.
According to Holland, personality has a major influence on one’s career choice. He feels that job
choices are not chosen at random but that people are attracted to a specific occupation type
based upon their personality. He believes success will equate to the person’s satisfaction within
the job and how that aligns with their personality type. Mary Ann’s career problem, according
to Holland, is the fact that she continues to land in job’s that are not a good fit with her
personality type. Holland’s theory is composed of six personality types. Each of the types has
personality traits and occupations associated with it. Mary Ann has a GED and has completed
courses in bookkeeping. She has also had inventory and data entry jobs. In reviewing the
Holland types, Mary Ann seems to fit into the “Conventional” category. A conventional
individual is stable, efficient, dependable and controlled. These may be personality traits that
Mary Ann may not convey. It is a possibility that Mary Ann obtained this degree while she was
incarcerated because she needed something extra to do during her time in. Mary Ann does not
seem to be interested in this kind of work and I make this assumption based on her inability to
remain in a position for more than six months. Mary Ann may be bored with the work she is
doing causing her to look for the next best thing in her life.
According to Super’s Developmental Theory, individuals travel through stages in their
lifetime finding employment that revolves around their self-concept. As a person’s self-concept
becomes more realistic, so does the individuals behavior and career choice. Super believes that
people choose careers that permits them the ability to express their self-concepts which will
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ultimately evolve to work satisfaction. Based on what we k now about Mary Ann, within her
past occupations, she has not had the ability to express herself through her self-concept which
equates to her not having satisfaction within the work she is doing. Mary Ann’s issue is that she
has not reached her career maturity yet. Mary Ann is still in the explorations stage of Super’s
theory which major tasks include trying out different roles and narrowing choices that will
eventually lead to a career preference. At Mary Ann’s age, she should be moving into the
Establishment Stage where she is securing a position and acquiring seniority. Mary Ann’s
current development task, according to Super, is “Crystallization” because she is attempting to
form a general vocational goal.
Mary Ann’s career problem is caused by her recent lack of motivation. Mary Ann needs
help finding her motivation and figuring out which career field will be worth channeling a good
majority of her energy. She has been ordered to find meaningful work so it is my duty to assist
Mary Ann in the process of finding herself as it relates to work and figuring out where she will
be most happy and ultimately motivated to remain there.
The first thing I need to do with Mary Ann is sit down and have a conversation with her.
I want to be able to establish trust with her and get a good sense of what is going on in her life
and what assistant she wants from me in order to assist her through these problems. After we
have conversed and I had a chance to learn more about Mary Ann’s career issue, I would
implement a few Holland activities with Mary Ann. It is important, according to Holland, to
establish congruence between her personality type and the kind of employment she is looking
to pursue. I would first give Mary Ann the SDS Assessment Booklet and allow her to establish a
Holland Code. This would be the most strenuous activity dealing with this theory because it
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involves a series of questions. Once Mary Ann has completed that, it would be my goal to have
her complete one more activity in order to justify her Holland Code and personality type. I want
to make sure we are for sure about her code and able to look in the right direction for her
employment. Once we have her Holland’s Code, we would take a look at the differentiation,
incongruence and consistency. I would allow Mary Ann to look at these things and talk through
what she notices herself. I want her to have some learning through this process as well. Once
we have established a code, I would have a conversation with Mary Ann about the different
personality types and we could discuss the accuracy of our findings. I would go through the SDS
Exploring Career Options Booklet and then the Career Options Finder Booklet. I would save that
for last because I do not want to jump the gun and get Mary Ann too focused on a specific
career. Once we have done that, we can discuss some possible career options and begin doing
research into those careers.
In order to dig deeper into Mary Ann’s self-concept, as described by Super, I would
introduce Mary Ann to the Career Rainbow. I am a colorful and visual person so I would provide
Mary Ann with markers. I would explain to Mary Ann to fill in the different parts of the
rainbows with the different color markers. I would explain that she needs to fill in how much
time she spends in each of the different roles and if any roles stand out to her more to use
more vibrant colors. In order to get more information on Mary Ann’s situation, after I allow her
to explain her rainbow to me, I would give her another rainbow and tell her to complete it to
how she would like it to look in a perfect world. Once she is done, I would compare the two
rainbows with her and establish some goals with her in regards to her work and personal life.
What is important in this activity is allowing the client to express herself through the rainbow.
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Because I do not know a lot about Mary Ann’s situation, this rainbow will more than likely allow
her to open up to me in ways that she could not during the regular conversation. If Mary Ann
spends a lot of time raising her three children, it would allow me time to get to know more
about that part of her life. She may not spend a lot of time with her children but she may want
to. The comparison of the two rainbows will help me learn more about that situation as well. I
will also be able to find out if there is a significant other in her life that may be assisting with
financial burdens. The rainbow allows me to dig deeper than other activities would allow.
After completing all of the activities with Mary Ann, I will have a stronger knowledge
sense on where Mary Ann is right now and where she wants to be. Mary Ann needs help finding
her motivation and figuring out what exactly she wants to do and what will make her happy.
My time with Mary Ann would occur over a couple sessions and after each session we would
need to establish mini goal which will ultimately lead up to the larger goals toward the end.
After we have established the kind of career we are looking toward for Mary Ann, I would give
her some short terms and long term goals ranging from resume building to searching and
applying for different positions. Because Mary Ann has gaps in her employment history, I would
explain to Mary Ann what a functional resume is and assist her in enhancing her resume to best
market her skills. I would also be sure to provide Mary Ann with different job search tips and
interviewing skills if she so pleased.
My job is to make sure I assist Mary Ann in the best way possible. I want to provide
Mary Ann with the assistance she needs as well as try my hardest in assisting her in the help she
wants. She needs to find meaningful employment to keep herself out of jail so understanding
how important our time is together is vital. Mary Ann is going through difficult time with the
CASE STUDY REPORT
incarceration threat so I would also make sure that I am providing her with great listening and
advising skills so we can establish trust early. My main goal is to find Mary Ann employment
that she enjoys, matches her personality type and that will continue to motivate her while she
is there.
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