Career Development and Planning: A Comprehensive Approach by Robert C. Reardon, Janet G. Lenz, Gary W. Peterson etal

Abstract

Reviewed by: Career Development and Planning: A Comprehensive Approachby Robert C. Reardon, Janet G. Lenz, Gary W. Peterson etal Seth C. W. Hayden Career Development and Planning: A Comprehensive Approach( 6thedition) Robert C. Reardon, Janet G. Lenz, Gary W. Peterson, and James P. Sampson Jr. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt, 2019, 316 pages, ( $88 hard copy, $44 eBook) Many college campuses are utilizing career planning and development courses to facilitate positive career exploration and decision-making. Desired outcomes include psychological wellbeing, increasing the rates of retention to graduation, increasing the economic efficiency by reducing the number of course and university withdrawals, and leveraging the benefits of group interventions for students' growth (Hansen, Jackson, & Pedersen, 2017). There have been positive outcomes related to these career courses in vocational identity, career maturity, career decision-making, and cognitive development (Reardon, Folsom, Lee, & Clark, 2011). With the positive outcomes attributed to undergraduate career courses, specific resources are needed to guide career exploration and planning in this form of a career intervention. To help facilitate this process, Career Development and Planningwas designed around cognitive information processing theory (CIP; Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, & Lenz, 2004). This career development theory examines the domains of knowledge and process related to effective decision-making and problem-solving. The text uses CIP as a foundational structure that guides the content of the resource. This infusion of theory into a text designed for an undergraduate career course is unique. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 (chapters 1–5) focuses on the elements of CIP theory such as self-knowledge, options knowledge, and decision-making with an emphasis on the application in typical career situations. Part 2 (chapters 6–10) offers a multidisciplinary overlay of issues that affect career decisions such as economic trends, organizational culture, new work styles, and dual careers. Part 3 (chapters 11–15) provides information on concrete steps for executing a strategic career plan and seeking employment. Common elements of career-seeking behavior covered in this section include interviewing, writing résumés, negotiating, and work adjustment. Though CIP is the primary theoretical basis, additional established career theories, such Holland's RIASEC theory (Holland, 1997), are integrated into the comprehensive approach to career decision-making and problem-solving. The first edition was released in the year 2000; the sixth edition contains updates to sources and new information about occupations and employment as well as revisions to several chapters in which content was removed due to the density of the material that made it difficult for students and teachers to cover within an academic semester. This text is unique as it is designed specifically for use in an undergraduate career development and planning course. It is also situated around a well-researched career theory which adds credibility to the presented information. The information is logically sequenced with broader concepts of self-knowledge and occupational knowledge at the beginning and more specific discussions of job-seeking elements occurring later in the book. This format leads students through processes of selfexploration and occupational exploration prior [End Page 400]to focusing on enhancing specific tasks such as résumé writing, networking, interviewing, and negotiation. A benefit of this text is the attention on the thoughts associated with engagement in career exploration and planning that can, at times, hinder progress. The metacognitive skills of self-talk, self-awareness, monitoring and control, and ways to improve them are examined at length in chapter 5, "Thinking About My Career Decisions." This attention to the holistic dimensions of career development for an undergraduate audience is novel in its execution in the context of an undergraduate career course. The insight of the authors to examine existing research in their analysis of narratives of perceived trends in work is extremely valuable. One example is the discussion of the gig economy in chapter 9, "Alternative Ways to Work." The authors use information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to shed light on the reality of the gig economy. Contrary to what is often portrayed in popular media and in the professional development resources for career practitioners, the proportion of those working in the gig economy has not substantially increased in the US job market: 6...