Theories providing a comprehensive and complimentary approach to careers counsellors advising clients. The three theories I have chosen are Holland’s, ‘Theory of Types’, Supers ‘Life Span Theory ‘and Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory. These three theories when used in conjunction with each other appear to provide the most comprehensive and complimentary approach for careers counsellors when advising clients.
Holland’s Theory of Types is based on the assumption that personality types are reflected in an Individuals choice of employment. Individuals have a natural inclination to gravitate towards like- minded people, who in turn reinforce their ideas and view of the world, and who see things from the same perspective. In the work environment this allows an Individual to play to his strengths and play down his weaknesses. This sense of belonging and acceptance of attitudes, values and aptitudes allows an Individual to feel comfortable, whether that is at home, socially or in the workplace. The degree of fit with the environment in which an Individual finds himself and his view of it, Holland terms congruence i.e. compatibility. Holland uses personality traits to identify an Individuals predisposition towards certain roles. Theory suggests socially adept people will naturally find it easier to work in face to face occupations where contact with the public is a necessity, while realist types who enjoy practical applications in their employment role may be happier behind the scenes, where job satisfaction could take a physical form, for example, in the shape of the completion of a piece of furniture. This is not to say that all realists lack social skills or that all social types are good at public speaking and Holland Identifies that certain people may not clearly identify with one personality type and may share attributes found in other groups. Holland uses this overlap, or differentiation to identify how reliably an adviser can interpret the data presented to advise clients. Where difference between one type and another is marked, i.e. - singling out one type over all others, it is reasonable to conclude that a careers adviser concentrate on roles in this section only. Where the results are more ambiguous and do not clearly identify with one particular grouping, two or more groups should be considered. This is when the use of Super’s Life Span Theory and Krumboltz’s, Social Learning Theory can aid the advisor in directing the client to the best possible career advice, not just to reinforce the findings of Holland’s test results but compare results and thus provide a more comprehensive approach to an Individuals career search. Holland also considers that whilst a person may take on a role that is not consistent with his code, other mitigating factors may compensate for this. A client may take on the role for monetary gain or personal reasons, that allow the individual either time or money, to undertake activities outside of the workplace that are more consistent with their code. Holland also identifies that certain codes work better together than others. Holland’s theory is a good basis for initial careers advice for young people with little or no experience in the workforce or as a basis for an adviser to ask relevant questions and thus assign a client to a group, (backed up by testing) as a starting point. Occupations within a code can then be explored through counselling. Holland’s theory provides a good starting point for a practitioner to organise a job search for a new client. Whereas Holland sees an Individual’s personality, as instrumental in career choice i.e. - a realist will not suddenly become an artist, Donald Super takes the view in which an Individuals self-concept is paramount in relation to occupational preferences. He asserts that as self-concept can change over a person’s lifetime as their circumstances change, so to, will occupational preference. Jobs are no longer for life, so career development should be viewed as a lifelong activity based on experience gathered along the way. Super identifies five stages of development in an Individual’s life, Growth, Exploration, Establishment, Maintenance and Decline. Within each of these stages an Individual will be exhibiting each of the sections in relation to separate aspects of their lives.
For example, an Early Adult 25-45 may exhibit a decline in sports undertaken in adolescence as social opportunities grow and they establish a career path exploring opportunities within a given field and maintaining a secure position in which to raise a family, whereas a Late adult 65+ will exhibit declining working hours as they look to retirement and maintaining hobbies, establishing goals such as travel with the newly found free time, exploring retirement options and possibly moving to a smaller dwelling whilst growing family links and non- vocational roles. It is important to note that Super recognises that not all Individual’s go through each stage consecutively or at the ages suggested. Rather, Super suggests that some stages are in fact recycled over a lifetime with Individuals revisiting some stages in order to take into account changes in their environment such as redundancy. At this point an Individual may re-evaluate previous experiences and start the exploration process again in order to change career path in response to changes in circumstances. Using Supers Model, counsellors can help clients to clarify their sense of self within the framework supplied. Through identifying what developmental stage they are at and identifying their needs, counsellors can direct resources and information to the client to aid them in making the best career decisions suitable for them. It could be seen as a realist approach, where a client’s current situation is examined and assimilated and the best course of action considered gaining the best result. Donald Super’s theory, when used in a career guidance setting, is primarily developmental but along with John Holland is also a theory of matching. A counsellor can look at a client’s interests, abilities and aptitudes and infer which roles would be most suited to the client’s developmental stage. In applying Supers Theory counsellors should also consider the client’s readiness to make career decisions and on what basis they are making these decisions. A client of fifteen with no knowledge of the employment market may decide to explore being an engineer with no real understanding of the time taken to achieve this goal and may make many detours along the way. The role of counsellor in this case would be to encourage the client in a positive way to achieve his goals at this stage whilst keeping his options open to allow him room to change and deviate if desired as a result of changes in life stage development. Along with Super, Krumboltz identifies career development as a lifelong process. Social Learning Theory advocated by Krumboltz suggests genetics are a determining factor when considering future career prospects and learning experience. John Holland’s Theory of Types also considers genetics as a mitigating factor in determining a client’s abilities and often families display similar traits and are of similar types. Krumboltz considers learning experience as paramount in considering an Individuals career selection. Like Super he suggests that experience over the life span of a career can determine choices made. At the core of Krumboltz Theory is the suggestion that despite personality and ability or aptitude it is a client’s ability to handle change in a positive way that determines whether or not he will consider himself successful and thus achieve satisfaction. The more experiences a client has the more chance of the client making a sound career decision. Krumboltz suggests that clients combine genetic ability with environment, learning experience and their approach to tasks to form beliefs about their own position or reality. An inaccurate depiction of an Individuals reality can lead the client to make poor career choices. Using Krumboltz Theory a careers adviser can aid clients in exploring new avenues to provide the client with the widest range of experiences on which to base future career decisions. This could be in the form of training courses, work experience or trial positions and reflect interests gleaned through past experience regardless of how limited. Careers advisers applying Krumboltz theory can also prepare clients for changes in the local labour market. Where changes could result in redundancy the role of adviser could be in retraining clients or learning new skills that enable the client to adapt to the changing situation in a positive way. Advisers also need to help clients who are struggling with negative responses during the career exploration process. For example a young man wishing to become a hairdresser may need support in handling his families’ reaction to this career choice, providing information and guidance as appropriate, to aid him In a positive way to reach his goal. Krumboltz advocates the use of assessment tests such as John Holland’s personality types and tests for aptitude, interests, and beliefs in order to identify areas for change and development and to create new learning opportunities. Although these tests give an indication for advisers, Krumboltz suggests that tests should direct learning not just match. Work environments are no longer static and success is measured more and more by results rather than process, so using matching alone in an ever changing work environment is no longer appropriate. Krumboltz as with Super considers career development a lifelong learning experience but expands this, counselling clients and advisers on the benefits of this changing face of employment and the opportunities it presents for clients.
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