Career Clients Research Articles

Psychological aspects of career counseling

Recent trends in career-related research and theory have led to increased recognition that issues related to work or vocation are extremely complex. The influx of ideas from different areas such as cognitive and family therapies has resulted in an flood of new strategies and procedures to be incorporated into old and familiar methods of career counseling (Gysbers & Moore, 1987). To this modern holistic approach to career counseling, techniques and theories commonly applied in the practice of psychotherapy make an invaluable contribution. This article will address four aspects of career counseling: client expectations, the scope of career counseling, client characteristics, and process variables. In all but the simplest of cases, these aspects require a psychological approach in order for clients to meet their goals in a timely and appropriate manner. The following discussion refers to clients whose problem clearly relates to career or work and who have the necessary resources (principally time and money) to begin career counseling.

Personal Versus Vocational Focus in Career Counseling: A Retrospective Outcome Study

In this archival study the authors sought to determine the relationship, if any, between counseling outcomes and the topical focus in career counseling. Twenty‐two counselors saw 46 adult clients at a community‐based clinic for an average of eight sessions. Counseling outcome and topical focus (the extent to which the actual content of counseling sessions reflected relatively more vocationally or personally focused topics) were assessed from follow‐up questionnaires to former career clients and from trained raters' evaluations of the counselors' written progress notes. Results showed that, from the counselors' perspective, outcomes were better when the focus of the sessions was relatively more vocational than personal and when relatively more interviews were held. Client satisfaction, on the other hand, was predictable only from the counselor's level of experience. Satisfaction with occupational status was not associated with any of the client, counselor, or treatment factors. Discussion focuses on the contribution of the results to career counseling practice and on the feasibility and validity of retrospective, archival research.

Effects of counselor gender and gender-role orientation on client career choice traditionality.

Effects of counselor gender and gender-role orientation on client career choice traditionality.

Effects of counselor gender and gender-role orientation on client career choice traditionality.

Effects of counselor gender and gender-role orientation on client career choice traditionality.

Problem solving by career assessment: Some issues clients need to consider

want to take the test that told my roommate what to do, My advisor said you have a test for undeclared students, and I need a major before I can register are familiar statements for most counselors. A problem solving model at first glance appears to be an ideal framework for career clients who request career assessment as an approach to career planning. After all, the client has sought out counseling (general orientation), states the need for career assessment (problem definition and formulation), wants to look at career options (generating alternatives), and intends to choose a career (decision making). This closely follows the process model of problem solving reviewed by Heppner (1978). Despite the fact that career assessment can do several positive things (confirm tentative choices, increase self-awareness, and generate alternatives), a second glance at career assessment raises some questions about its utility as a solution for the problem of career choice. What if career assessment is requested because the client feels a lack of confidence in his or her problem solving ability, has been avoiding career planning, or has little sense of personal control in the area of career choice? Heppner and Petersen (1982) found these factors to be important for effective problem solving. Career assessment is unlikely to be productive if the client requests it while poorly prepared to engage in subsequent problem solving. What if career assessment is the client's final effort at career planning and will lead to a premature choice that has not considered related issues? The client who requests a career assessment instrument

The scientist is appointed an editor: Adjusting the journal collection at stages in a client's career

A study of 66 biomedical scientists showed that few (four) maintained a level research output after being appointed to journal editorial boards. They were much more likely to have demonstrated a significant drop (− 31% average) or rise (+ 70% average) in the number of papers when three-year pre- and post-appointment periods were compared. Yet it is argued that these fluctuations do not justify either precipitous journal cancellations or freewheeling additions to the collection. In the 32 cases of declining output, editors maintained much (73%) of their original journal assortment even if this meant fewer repeat appearances in some journals. In the 30 cases of increasing output, the tendency to add new journals (+ 37%) with each new paper was tempered somewhat by repeat appearances in their original assortment. Nonetheless, for those times when the budget either demands or allows, most adjustments can be made involving two types of journals identified as swing outlets for these editor/authors.

The Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator as an Alternative in Career Counseling

A process is described for using the Myers‐Briggs Type indicator with career clients who are test aware and test expected or referred by colleagues.

Career maturity aspects of the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey

The Kuder Occupational Interest Survey (1979) (KOIS) is used in counseling services as an aid in career counseling, but the KOIS does not have a measure of career maturity. The purpose of this study was to determine if selected scores from the KOIS could be indicative of client career maturity. The data for each subject included three scores from the KOIS and one measure of career maturity. The three scores from the KOIS included the highest Occupation score, the highest College Major score, and either the Father score for male subjects or the Mother score for female subjects. Career maturity was assessed with the Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale (1973) (CMI). The three scores from the KOIS were correlated with the score from the CMI to determine the relationship between the KOIS and career maturity. t tests were used to test for significant differences between men and women on the four measures. Significant correlations were found between the KOIS scores and career maturity, supporting the statements in the KOIS manual regarding the relationship between high KOIS scores and maturity. There was no significant difference between females and males on the CMI, Occupation, or College Major scores, but females scored significantly higher on the Mother scale than males did on the Father scale. Implications for career counseling were discussed.

Sex of counselors and models: Effect on client career exploration.

Sex of counselors and models: Effect on client career exploration.