Career Construction Interview Research Articles

Career construction theory: tools, interventions, and future trends.

With the emergence of the borderless career era in the 21st century, career coaching has experienced a change from career guidance and career education to career counseling. Career construction theory has been widely used in career counseling and has substantial application value. Introducing career construct theory's assessment tools and intervention strategies is necessary and meaningful. In this mini-review, the qualitative assessment tools and intervention approaches of career construct theory are introduced and analyzed; the qualitative assessment tools include the Career Construction Interview and "My Career Story" workbook, and the intervention approaches include the Computer-Assisted Career Counseling System, workshops, group counseling, and individual counseling. Finally, future research directions are proposed, including an analysis of what kinds of career construction interventions are most effective for which groups and under what conditions, career intervention in the digital age, and the standardization of assessment tools. The novelty of this paper lies in the fact that it purposefully proposes future directions for career construction theory from the perspectives of assessment tools and intervention approaches and that research on the assessment tools and intervention approaches of career construction theory still needs further attention.

Online career construction for a trauma survivor with career choice ambivalence

This article reports on the online administration of career construction counselling for a trauma survivor who sought help in resolving her career-choice ambivalence (uncertainty). The participant was purposively selected from a group of people attending a workshop on career construction counselling. An intrinsic, descriptive, exploratory intervention case study based on career construction counselling (involving administering the Career Construction Interview (CCI) to elicit the participant’s micro-narratives qualitatively) was used to generate data and adapted thematic data analysis incorporating the analytic style proposed by Savickas was used to analyse the data reflexively. The intervention shed light on the participant’s conscious knowledge about herself and on her subconsciously regulated views on her preferred future career choices. The findings confirmed the value of career construction counselling in promoting the participant’s psychological self as an autobiographical author especially. They also underlined the importance of timely intervention for trauma survivors in pre-empting the occurrence of unmastered developmental tasks and repetition of trauma. Future research should involve diverse participants in individual as well as group contexts. Equally important is contextualising the intervention discussed here to meet the distinctive diversity needs of participants in individual and group contexts.

Graduate students’ perceptions of the career construction interview

ABSTRACT Counsellor Education programmes provide opportunities for students to engage in approaches grounded in theory and research, utilise appropriate interventions, and conceptualise career concerns using both objective and subjective methods. This phenomenological study examined 25 students’ perceptions of learning and conducting the Career Construction Interview. Analysis of the 25 interviews revealed four major themes: (a) Skills and Knowledge, (b) Client Experience, (c) Perspectives on Theory, and (d) Counsellor Views of Intervention. Findings of this study have the potential to inform counsellor education pedagogy regarding career counselling training and career theory development.

A narrative inquiry of the college entrance rejection experience using Career Construction Interview

A narrative inquiry of the college entrance rejection experience using Career Construction Interview

Career Construction with High School Girls: An Expressive Arts Group Intervention

ABSTRACT The Child and Adolescent Career Construction Interview (CACCI), adapted from the Career Construction Interview, is a low-cost, high-yield career counseling group intervention designed to address both career and social/emotional needs. Because of the scarcity of child and adolescent career development research, and potential benefits of a gender homogenous group intervention, this phenomenological study examined high school girls’ experiences participating in a CACCI group. Analysis of data yielded four major themes: a) group experience, (b) relationships, (c) insight and self-concept, and (d) resilience. This study could inform developmentally appropriate career counseling for adolescents. Through the CACCI, counselors can help adolescents explicate their conception of self even as they engage in career exploration.

고학력 경력단절 여성들을 대상으로 한 진로구성상담의 질적사례연구

Objectives The purposes of this study were to confirm through what process highly educated women with career interruption construct their careers in Career Construction Counseling using Career Construction Interview(CCI), and whether Career Construction Counseling is longitudinally effective.
 Methods To do this, two sessions of Career Construction Counseling were conducted for three highly educated career-interrupted women. In the first session, which was conducted after writing the Pre-Future Career Autobiography(FCA), exploration was conducted through CCI, and in the second session, a life portrait was constructed with the researcher. After about six months, a follow-up session was provided for a post-FCA, and the effects of Career Construction Counseling were analyzed through comparative analysis, and the career construction process and effects of the counseling were carried out according to the qualitative case study method.
 Results Participants went through eight stages of life portrait work, discovering career theme of each life and career constructing together. The changes in occupational narratives in the participants represented ‘change from hindered to hopeful’, ‘change from general fields and desires to specification and exploration’, ‘change from disregard to direction’, and ‘change from vagueness to focus’, and continued six months after Career Construction Counseling.
 Conclusions This study examined the career construction process through eight stages of a life portrait work in Career Construction Counseling using CCI and confirmed the longitudinal effectiveness of 2 sessions of Career Construction Counseling. Based on these research results, discussions and implications for Career Construction Counseling are included.

Trauma informed use of the career construction interview

AbstractThe utilization of the Career Construction Interview (CCI) is advancing throughout the career counseling field. The narrative social constructivist approach assists clients in accentuating and narrating a personal career story that highlights attitudes, skills, and behaviors for their career planning and development. The CCI is recommended for use across diverse cultures and groups. However, more insight is needed into how career counselors can use the CCI to implement a trauma‐informed approach and reduce the risk of re‐traumatization. This article presents an review of trauma in career counseling, the CCI, and trauma‐specific considerations for diverse populations that present for career counseling. Next, the authors present questions from the CCI and how trauma may affect the responses to these questions. Alternative prompts are provided that align with the original purposes of these questions and provide similar storied responses to aid the client in building a useful narrative for career development. Additionally, the authors present a brief case example implementing these alternative prompts and their effectiveness in application.

Career Transitions Caused by Chronic Illness: A Career Construction Perspective

Purpose:People living with chronic illness face significant challenges with employment. This study explores the impact of participating in the Career Construction Interview (CCI) on the career exploration of individuals facing a forced career transition due to the onset or exacerbation of a chronic illness.Method:An instrumental multiple case study design was used in this qualitative study. A purposeful, homogeneous sample of three female adults was used to gain multiple perspective of forced career transitions. The participants were within 2 years of their diagnosis or exacerbation of one or more chronic health conditions and had to change their career because of the impact of their condition(s).Results:Eight open codes and five axial codes were discovered through the process of constant comparative analysis. For this study one open code (CCI experience) and five axial codes will be discussed.Conclusions:This study found patterns related to chronic illness and career and that the Career Construction Interview was helpful to the participants in assisting them with making decisions about potential careers and options for employment. Implications for rehabilitation counseling practice and suggestions for future research.

Child and adolescent career construction: Lived experiences of an expressive arts group

AbstractThe Child and Adolescent Career Construction Interview (CACCI), adapted from the Career Construction Interview, is a comprehensive career counseling intervention tailored to meet the developmental needs of children and adolescents, and is especially designed to address preadolescent needs in career and social/emotional domains. Because of the dearth of child and adolescent career development research, unique career development needs of preadolescent girls, and potential benefits of a gender homogenous group intervention, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine preadolescent girls’ lived experiences of participating in a CACCI group. Findings of this study have the potential to inform developmentally appropriate career counseling for preadolescents. Through the CACCI, counselors can help preadolescents explore their conception of self and their approach to decision‐making and problem‐solving. By adopting a present‐focused approach, counselors facilitate preadolescents’ development of self‐awareness in the “here and now,” laying the foundation for future self‐exploration as they move through adolescent development.

Constructing Your Career Plays

The evolving landscape of job opportunities has led to increased concerns around life-career success of college student-athletes while and after they balance their academic and sport performance. At Kent State University (Division I) located in Kent, Ohio, Tracy Montgomery serves as the student-athlete career advisor liaison between Career Exploration & Development and the Department of Athletics. With more than 10 years of secondary education teaching experience and seven years of career advising/education, Tracy has identified and continues to apply Mark Savickas’s (2012, 2013) Career Construction Interview (CCI) as her most valuable tool in creating conversations around career development. In a sit-down interview with Tracy, she breaks down the life design technique (Savickas, 2015) so career practitioners and other intercollegiate athletic personnel may adopt the approach to support student-athletes to (a) identify what their intentions are toward life-career transitions; (b) realize why they perform their actions and closely hold their beliefs toward making life-career decisions ; and (c) move forward with how they can empower themselves to move in and out of “going pro.”

Using my career story to foster reflective capacity, hope, and narrative change

My Career Story (MCS) comprises a self-guided autobiographical workbook designed to assist individuals across life’s diverse spectrum to narrate and shape their career stories. We describe the development and use of the MCS and its relevance for all people, including individuals who may be at risk for. Results of a study using the MCS with 20 emerging adults in Northern Italy supported the validity of its use. Specifically, results indicated that individuals shift to more positive, clear, action-oriented language in the stories they tell at the end of the MCS workbook, after constructing their life portraits, as compared with the stories they tell at the opening of the workbook. Also, scores on measures of reflective capacity and hope increased following the MCS intervention. Results of the study further support use of the MCS in career intervention contexts. Keywords: Career construction counseling, My Career Story workbook, Narrative career counseling, Career construction interview, Career intervention

Using my career story to foster reflective capacity, hope, and narrative change

My Career Story (MCS) comprises a self-guided autobiographical workbook designed to assist individuals across life’s diverse spectrum to narrate and shape their career stories. We describe the development and use of the MCS and its relevance for all people, including individuals who may be at risk for. Results of a study using the MCS with 20 emerging adults in Northern Italy supported the validity of its use. Specifically, results indicated that individuals shift to more positive, clear, action-oriented language in the stories they tell at the end of the MCS workbook, after constructing their life portraits, as compared with the stories they tell at the opening of the workbook. Also, scores on measures of reflective capacity and hope increased following the MCS intervention. Results of the study further support use of the MCS in career intervention contexts. Keywords: Career construction counseling, My Career Story workbook, Narrative career counseling, Career construction interview, Career intervention

Kariyer Yapılandırma Görüşmesi ile Anlam Oluşturma: Bir Vaka Çalışması

This study examined (a) what changes career construction counseling used the Career Construction Interview (CCI), integrated with Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) brought about on the client (b) how the IPR uncovered insights and unspoken inner experiences during career counseling, and (c) how the CCI prompted the solutions for client’s career problem. The study based on a case study with 24 years-old, the fourth-year student in a private university. Findings revealed that (a) examining role models, early recollections and motto during the CCI uncovered self-awareness and insights about the self, career indecision and motivation needed for the vocational future, (b) the IPR revealed values, the role of significant people on career decision process of the client and the need for approval from them, and (c) the CCI contributed the client’s career decision making process, motivation and taking an action. The study verified the use of the CCI and the IPR in career counseling process, theoretically and brought new, dynamic and meaning making methods to career counseling practices in higher education.

Life themes of a slash worker in Hong Kong identified through a Career Construction Interview

ABSTRACT A new working model – having multiple careers during the same time period (slash careers) – is emerging despite the lack of official statistics. A slash worker in Hong Kong was interviewed based on Savickas’s Career Construction Interview procedure and three life themes were identified. The life themes are interconnected and provide meaningful life portraits of a slash worker. Life design counselling seems useful when it comes to helping a slash worker explore the enriching life themes of his/her life story.

Using the self-directed search in the career construction interview

Issues related to modern and post-modern approaches to career assessment and counseling are evident in the literature, as are ideas on how to build on and combine techniques. Although Holland’s theoretical interventions can appear to conflict with career construction counseling due to their bases in modern and post-modern philosophy, respectively, we examine how aspects of the Self-Directed Search (SDS), based on Holland’s RIASEC theory, can be operationalized in relation to the principal ideas and practices in the career construction interview. We discuss how SDS items can enable clients to tell their career story and practical applications to the life-design paradigm.

A Scoping Review of Life Design Intervention Research: Implications for Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice

The recently developed paradigm in career counselling known as life design has caused a proliferation of new interventions. A scoping study was performed to provide an overview of empirical support for the effectiveness of these interventions. Twelve articles that evaluate the efficacy of eight interventions were found. Interventions included individual and group forms of the Career Construction Interview and My Career Story. Others were group-based life design interventions, the Career Construction Genogram, an online-based life design intervention, and a classroom intervention designed for elementary children. Career adaptability was the most commonly evaluated outcome and participants were most commonly from Italy, with no study using North American participants. Experimental or quasi-experimental research designs were most frequently used, while several articles reported on case studies. The authors recommend that future research balance case studies and experimental designs and that further research should validate findings with Canadian populations. This article notes the synergistic potential of engaging with social constructionist approaches in the broader field of counselling and psychotherapy for developing new interventions.

Career counselling with life design in a collectivist cultural context: An action research study

Large-scale macro forces are restructuring forms of work in urban India creating the need for alternative methods of career counselling. This research explores the application of a US-based approach to constructing careers i.e. Life-Design Career Counseling (i. e., LDC) with two mid-career professionals in India. Data consisted of client responses to different narrative career counselling exercises such as a lifeline activity, a career construction interview and semi-structured feedback interviews. Action research's focus on reflexivity helped integrate theory with practice to contribute to knowledge production and meaningful innovations within practice. Findings from this research underscored the importance of relationship, reflection and sense-making and the need for India to utilise a culturally resonant career intervention. The study holds value for career professionals, in India and beyond where LDC is still unexplored. Moreover, LDC practitioners in non-Western countries and collectivist societies will benefit from a contextual adaptation that encourages focus on client learning.

Qualitative Content Analysis of Counselors and Clients’ IPR about Career Construction Interview Experience

Qualitative Content Analysis of Counselors and Clients’ IPR about Career Construction Interview Experience

Career adaptabilities of rural gifted adolescents in Turkey

This study examined career adaptability of gifted students within the Career Construction Theory. Using phenomenological qualitative research design, the study was conducted with 15 10th grade students (54% male) attended an Art and Science Centre, which is an after school program for gifted students, from a rural area of Turkey. The Career Construction Interview was used to collect data. The content analysis was employed by using MAXQDA 18 with a predetermined code list based on the relevant literature, retaining four dimensions of career adaptability: concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. The results indicated that curiosity dimension of career adaptability was frequently observed, yet confidence was seen to be lacking. Self-exploration, Investigative Attitude, and Taking Responsibility were prominent subthemes. On the other hand, the analysis did not produce richer content on career adaptability with gifted students. The results implied the need for practices to advocate social justice for rural gifted students to provide more environmental opportunities and role models to them.

Connecting conscious knowledge with subconscious advice through career construction counselling to resolve career choice indecision

In this article I report on how conscious knowledge could be connected with subconscious advice through career construction counselling to resolve the career choice indecision of a postgraduate psychology student. The participant was purposively selected from a number of people attending a course in narrative career counselling. An explanatory, single case study design was adopted, and a qualitative approach was employed as the research framework. A career construction counselling intervention was used to generate data that was analysed according to the analytic style recommended by Savickas. The findings demonstrate the value of this kind of intervention in enabling the participant to reflect critically on key facets of his career-life story. Doing so revealed the difference between his conscious view of a possible future career-life trajectory and his subconsciously regulated perspective on that trajectory. The findings also reveal the value of career construction counselling in helping the participant proceed from functioning as a social actor displaying motivated agency to furthering his career-life story as an autobiographical author. Future research should focus on larger groups of participants and include different assessment instruments to examine the longitudinal influence of the intervention described here, in group contexts with diverse groups of young people. Keywords: career choice indecision; career construction counselling; career construction interview; career interest profile; connecting conscious knowledge with subconscious advice