Career Counselling Interventions to Enhance Career Adaptabilities for Sustainable Employment

Abstract

Today’s world of work consists of a number of changes and challenges that create uncertainty and insecurity in workers. Namely, the increasing sophistication and use of technology in the workplace, outsourcing of labor, and other modern business practices that emphasize a smaller workforce and increased efficiency can account for some of these insecurities. These factors have made lifetime employability a central issue in the lives of many workers. As a result, it is necessary to prepare people to deal with inevitable change and have the resources to effectively cope and maintain employment. Accordingly, to cope with the volatility in the world of work and the need for lifetime employability, it is proposed that the enhancement of career adaptabilities may provide the necessary foundation to successfully manage one’s career in a fluid world of work. Career adaptabilities are rooted in career construction theory (Savickas in Career development and counselling: putting theory and practice to work. Wiley, Hoboken, pp. 147–186, 2013) and consists of four coping resources: concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. Concern refers to caring about one’s vocational future; control refers to one’s sense of agency; curiosity refers to one’s initiative to learn about self and opportunities; and confidence refers to one’s capacity to successfully face challenges and overcome obstacles. The coping behaviors exhibited by the dimensions of career adaptability help to explain factors related to how people may engage in activities such as career planning, networking, skill development, and job search behavior. Engagement in these activities improve the likelihood of maintaining employability. This chapter describes how career adaptabilities play a role in employability related behaviors and counselling interventions that enhance career adaptabilities.