Strength‐Based Narrative Résumé Counseling: Constructing Positive Career Identities From Difficult Employment Histories

Abstract

The résumé is a fixture within employment counseling, often viewed as a necessary product for securing employment. Résumés can also be a powerful vehicle for facilitating the development of positive career identities. The complex interplay of negative societal narratives with personal narratives can make the development of a positive identity, and the execution of an employment search, difficult for clients who have work histories complicated by personal and economic challenges (e.g., homelessness, intimate partner violence, histories of incarceration). The authors present résumé counseling as an opportunity for clients to develop stories of strength, reveal stories of difficulty, solidify a positive career identity, and rewrite positive future narratives. This article describes the strength‐based narrative approach to résumé and employment counseling, illustrates its application with a hypothetical case, and offers practice recommendations.