Guide to Decision-Making
Tutorial
Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!
• You’ve come to the point where you have to
make some choices.
• You’ve learned more about yourself: what you
like, what you’re good at, and what your values
are.
• You’ve found some occupations that seem to
match your personality.
• You’ve done the research and learned more about
these occupations.
• The next step is to evaluate your options and
make a choice.
Your Goal….
• Your goal
should be to
find the most
appropriate
occupation, not
the “right” one.
This tutorial will introduce you to a five step
decision-making module and guide you in
applying the principles as you make career
and education training choices.
Laying the Groundwork
Making a decision can be very easy or
difficult depending on the amount of
information you have about your choices.
In choosing a career path, it is important to
think about many factors, like the kind of
decision-maker you are, what decisionmaking style you use, and things that can
interfere with the decision-making process.
What Kind of Decision Maker Are You?
Decided
people who independently integrate knowledge
about self and options that enable them to develop
a satisfying and beneficial career plan
Undecided
people who have not made a commitment to an occupational
choice
Indecisive
people who are unable to make a career decision and often
find it difficult to make plans in all areas of life, and
generally focus on outside events or people when making
decisions
Decision-Making Styles
• Planning: Weighing
the facts
• Impulsive: Don’t look
before you leap
• Intuitive: It feels right
• Compliant: Anything
you say
• Fatalistic: Leave it up
to fate
• Agonizing: What if? I
don’t know what to
do
• Paralytic: Can’t face
up to it
• Delaying: I’ll cross
that bridge later
Things that Interfere with
Decision Making
•
Personal
Being tired, run down, stressed, anxious, and unable to focus and concentrate on the
decision-making activity will not ensure good performance.
•
Family (e.g., parents, spouses, children.)
People who are highly interconnected with another family member can have difficulty
separating themselves emotionally and psychologically in decision making. They may
lack a distinction between what they want and what the family member thinks they
should have. A lack of agreement among family members also present problems.
•
Society
Age, gender, ethnic prejudice and discrimination are factors that can affect your
decisions, as well as, economic recessions (i.e., job demand for a particular occupation
is low) and job growth.
The CASVE Cycle
• A cycle can be used to show the steps in making
a career choice
• Pronounced ca-sa-vee
• Adapted from:
Sampson, J.P., Jr., Peterson, G.W., Lenz, J.G., & Reardon, R.C. (1992). A
cognitive approach to career services: Translating concepts into practice.
Career Development Quarterly, 41. 67-74
“Common Difficulties in Decision Making” developed by Ontario Women’s
Directorate and Times Change and from
www.langara.bc.ca/counseling/career/decision.html
CASVE Cycle
C
E
A
V
S
CASVE Cycle
Communication
Execution
Analysis
Valuing
Synthesis
CASVE Cycle
Step #1: Communication
Knowing I need to make a choice
Before you begin to gather
information, you will need to
define what it is you are trying
to decide.
CASVE Cycle
Step #2: Analysis
Understanding myself and my options
To make an informed career decision and prior to any exploration of the world
of work, it is important to have a good understanding of your own personal
attributes.
Take steps to improve self knowledge (e.g., skills, interests, values) via career
assessments.
Take steps to improve knowledge about options with regards to occupations,
college majors, work organizations and job industries.
Ask yourself:
What motivates me?
What are my skills and values?
What do I enjoy doing?
Where do I envision myself working?
CASVE Cycle
Step #3: Synthesis
Expanding and narrowing my list of options
Identify occupations, majors, or jobs that match your values, interests, and
skills.
Read books, search the Internet, and talk to individuals in the field to learn
more about the occupation.
Explore issues such as salary, duties and responsibilities, job outlook, and
educational requirements.
Obtain internship or cooperative education positions.
Seek additional assistance from a career counselor or through the career
services website.
Narrow your list of options to three or five.
CASVE Cycle
Step #4: Valuing
Choosing an occupation, major or job
Consider each alternative in terms of costs (consequences) and benefits to
yourself, your family, your community, and your cultural group.
Rank or Prioritize your options from the Synthesis stage.
Make a choice.
Make back-up choice (s) in case you have a problem with your first choice.
CASVE Cycle
Step #5: Execution
Implementing my choice
Design a plan of action and implement the decision.
Reframe your 1st alternative as a goal and then focus on the concrete, active
things that will lead you to accomplishing the goal.
Identify when to begin and end each step in the action plan.
Be realistic
Consider life circumstances (family, work, etc.)
Consider potential obstacles and how you can handle them.
Determine what resources and information are needed to complete each step in
the action plan.
Evaluate your progress from time to time. Change your decision if necessary.
Remember!
• Career problems are continuous…they tend to
build upon one another.
• Using the CASVE cycle to solve one problem
will lead to using it again to solve the next
problem.
e.g. choosing a college leads to how to pay for it,
which leads to when to start.
Where are you in the CASVE cycle?
Good Luck with Making Your
Career Decision!
If you have questions,
please contact
Career Services via the
“Talk to a Career
Counselor” link on our
website or give us a call
at 410-871-3305.