MHS 5340
Foundations of Career Development
Use of Theory in Designing and
Delivering Career Services
James P. Sampson, Jr.
Florida State University
1
Benefits of Theory for Counselors
• Explain causal factors in behavior and
guide needs assessment and diagnosis
• Plan interventions and treatment plans as
well as homework assignments
• Foundation for developing assessments
and information / instructional resources
• Evaluate counseling outcomes
2
Benefits of Theory for Clients
• Better understand the nature of their
problems
• Better understand the value and use of
counseling interventions and homework
assignments
• Better understand their assessment
results and information / instructional
resources
• Evaluate success in changing behaviors
3
Career Theory
• Emphasis in this course
– CIP Theory (Peterson, Sampson,
Reardon, & Lenz)
– John Holland
– Donald Super
– John Krumboltz
4
Other Useful Career Theory
• Work-Adjustment (Lofquist & Dawis)
• Social-Cognitive (Lent, Brown & Hackett)
• Circumscription and Compromise
(Linda Gotfredson)
• Constructivist
– Contextual (Young, Valach, & Collin)
– SocioDynamic (Peavy)
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Values (Brown)
Sociological (Borow)
Career Decision Making (Gati)
DOTS Model (Watts & Law )
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CIP Theory
• Refer to CIP Approach presentations
www.career.fsu.edu/techcenter/designi
ngcareerservices.html
6
John Holland
• RIASEC Typology of interests
(also includes values and abilities)
• Secondary constructs
• Application of the theory
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RIASEC Typology
• Classification of individuals and
environments by personality - Hexagon
– Realistic
– Investigative
– Artistic
– Social
– Enterprising
– Conventional
8
Secondary Constructs
• Congruence
• Coherence of aspirations or work
history
• Vocational identity
• Consistency
• Differentiation
• Commonness
9
Application of the Theory
• Self-help resources
– Self-Directed Search and Occupations Finder
• High school students and adults (Form R),
Middle school students (Career Explorer),
Employed adults (Form CP),
Low reading adults (Form E)
• Paper and Pencil, Mail-in scoring, Computer, and
Internet versions available for Form R
– Educational Opportunities Finder, Leisure
Activities Finder also available
– You and Your Career
10
Application of the Theory
• Counselor-mediated resources
– My Vocational Situation
– Position Classification Inventory
– Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory
– Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes
– Vocational Preference Inventory
– Vocational Exploration and Insight Kit (VEIK)
• Schema for organizing occupations,
programs of study, positions, leisure
activities
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Donald Super
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Developmental process
Readiness for decision making
Life-Career Rainbow
Application of the theory
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Developmental Process
• Longitudinal, developmental
approach instead of a single
choice, matching approach
• Implementation of self-concept
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Life Stages and Substages
• Growth
– Fantasy
– Interest
– Capacity
• Exploration
– Tentative
– Transition
– Trail-Little Commitment
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Life Stages and Substages
• Establishment
– Trial-Commitment and Stabilization
– Advancement
• Maintenance
• Decline
– Deceleration
– Retirement
15
Readiness for Decision Making
• Career maturity (adolescents)
• Career adaptability (adults)
• Work salience
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Life-Career Rainbow
Major life-career roles
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9.
Child (son / daughter
Student
Worker
Spouse
Parent
Homemaker
Citizen
Leisurite
Annuitant (pensioner / retiree)
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Life-Career Rainbow
• Roles change
– Specific beginnings and endings
– Changes in relative importance
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Application of the Theory
• Creation of standards and the
comprehensive design of career
programs
• Assessment of career maturity,
values, work salience, adult career
concerns
• Renegotiation of life roles
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John Krumboltz
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Influences on career decision making
Consequences in decision making
Career beliefs
Application of the theory
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Influences
• Genetic endowment and special
abilities
• Environmental conditions and events
• Learning experiences
– Associative (classical conditioning)
– Instrumental (operant conditioning)
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Consequences
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Self-observation generalizations
World-view generalizations
Task –approach skills
Actions
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Consequences
• Self-observation generalizations
– Overt or covert self statements evaluating
one’s own actual or vicarious performance
in relation to learned standards
• World-view generalizations
– Observations about the environment used
to predict what will occur in the future and
other environment
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Consequences
Task-approach skills
– Value clarifying
– Goal setting
– Predicting future
events
– Generating
alternatives
– Information seeking
– Estimating
– Re-interpreting past
events
– Eliminating and
selecting alternatives
– Planning
– Generalizing
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Consequences
• Actions – Entry behaviors that
represent overt steps in career
progression, e.g.
– Selecting a program of study
– Applying for a job
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Career Beliefs
Problematic self-observation and
world-view generalizations
1. Faulty generalizations
2. Self-comparisons with a single standard
3. Exaggerated estimate of the emotional
impact of an outcome
4. False casual relationships
5. Ignorance of relevant facts
6. Undue weight to low-probability events
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Challenging Problematic Beliefs
Challenging the validity of key beliefs
1. How do you know this is true?
2. What steps could you take to find out
if it is true?
3. What evidence would convince you
that the opposite is true?
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Application of the Theory
• Detailed explanation of causal factors in
career development
• Readiness assessment –
the Career Beliefs Inventory
• Modeling and reinforcement in
occupational exploration
• Simulated work environments for career
exploration
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For Additional Information
www.career.fsu.edu/techcenter/
Thank You