Student Interviews

1. How is career counseling/development part of your job description?
1. I am the Founder and CEO of a corporate psychology firm. We provide career counseling services as part of our work in the firm. 
2. -What are the common issues faced by clients that specifically relate to career development?
1. Career Discovery
2. Career Advancement / Upward Career Mobility
3. Conflicts at Work 
4. Professional Development 
5. Mental Health 
3. -What career theories or interventions do you usually use with clients?

• I don’t. I am vaguely familiar with the textbook theories. Much of what I do is help people make decisions, develop skills, and build confidence, develop strategies for upward career mobility and advancement and navigating work situations.  

1. Mostly use Holland Codes for Career Discovery. Good for early careerists and people in career / existential crisis
2. MBTI for personality preferences as a self awareness tool. 
3. I do not put a lot of weight on the assessments for helping people navigate change.; I use it as a data point to help people zero in on their highest career interests. 
1. How do you apply career theory to your practice with clients? 
   See above 
2. -What trends are most likely to have a significant impact on the field?
1. Globalization = more competition, automated and evolving workforces, and rapidly evolving technology, forcing us to adapt quickly
2. Remote Workforce - advanced technology allows more people to work remotely
3. Economic and Industry Vagaries - How to deal with shifts in the economy, industries, and careers
3. What career assessments do you usually use with clients?
1. Holland Codes (ONET) and MBTI’s, 
2. I do not put a lot of weight on the assessments for helping people navigate change.  They are simply data points to use to inform us and help us make more informed decisions. 
4. -What career resources do you use with clients?
1. Assessments, Job market data, lessons.
2. There are too many to name. Depends on the need.  
5. How do you evaluate the career process that you use with clients?
1. Their achievement of their desired outcomes. They get the job, they figure out the career trajectory.  

• Do they have a preference for a certain theory(s)? 

1. No preference or allegiance to a particular theory. I lean on psychoanalytic, humanistic, and cognitive-behavioral psychology theories to help people with decision-making and managing "maladaptive thinking and behaviors" that get them stuck. Use a lot of leadership development theory and practice/models. Strategic, systems, and performance coaching.  

• Has using a particular theory(s) helped them in their work? 

1. I cannot remember the theories and had to google them. Most of the work and theory I use comes from my Organizational Leadership education and background. Organizational and work psychology. 
2. Bandura’s social cognitive theory. Re: Self efficacy. Motivation, drive, inspiration, confidence, accountability, 
1. Many times helping people develop the skills helps them to take more risk and develop confidence. I do not believe the confidence comes first. 

• I believe much of confidence comes with experience. What do you think? 

1. Recognize patterns: I do find that people engaged in magical thinking / low efficacy have the hardest time making decisions. Victim consciousness, low accountability, high procrastination, sabotage, leave fate to make decisions for them, stay stuck longer, blame, low risk/failure threshold and tolerance
1. I am hoping that the student session with you can also give me more of an idea or a model for great mentorship
1. Tied to goals and interests. Where would you like to be in 1 year? 

“Bandura’s social cognitive theory

Choices regarding behavior-People will be more inclined to take on a task if they believe they can succeed. People generally avoid tasks where their self efficacy is low, but engage when it is high. Self efficacy significantly higher than ability can lead to psychological damage. Significantly low self efficacy leads to an inability to grow and expand skills. Optimum levels of self efficacy are a little above ability, which encourages people to tackle challenging tasks and gain valuable experience. 

Motivation- People with higher self efficacy in a task are likely to expend more effort and persist longer than with low efficacy. On the other hand, low self efficacy may provide an incentive to learn more and prepare better than a person with higher self efficacy

Thought Patterns and Responses- Low self efficacy can lead people to believe tasks are harder than they actually are. This leads to poor planning and stress. A person with higher self efficacy will attribute a failure to external factors, whereas a person with lower self efficacy will attribute it to low ability. (Example: Math Test) 

The Destiny Idea- Bandura successfully showed that people with differing self-efficacy perceive the world in fundamentally different ways. People with a high self efficacy are generally of the opinion that they are in control of their own lives: that their own actions and decisions shape their lives. On the other hand, people with low self-efficacy may see their lives as somewhat out of their hands and with fate.” 

How did you end up becoming a career counselor?

Very early on in my career, I was interested in career development. I started studying I/O psychology in as an undergrad and was hooked. My doctorate is in Organizational Leadership (workforce development) 

How much have you changed from when you first started practicing?

What are some of the challenges do you find yourself in counseling your clients about their careers?

Do you have a certain demographic in your clientele?

What is the typical contributing factor(s) do you typically see in your clients?

Was there a time when you felt that you couldn’t help a client succeed a career goal?

What are the characteristics of a person with high candidacy for career success?

What is your favorite part about career counseling?

What are some of the kind of jobs do you usually prepare your clients for?

What was your most challenging case?

Is there a theory that you practice in career counseling? If so, what?

What kind of progressions do you wish to see in the future in career counseling?

What kind of resources do you recommend for a therapist to utilize if they find themselves to have a client in need of help in his career?

What kind of resources do you recommend for a school counselor to utilize if they find themselves to have a student in need of help in his career path?

Do you ever need to collaborate with other kinds of professionals? If so, whom?

Are there any new findings in career counseling you are particularly interested in right now?

Can you recommend me any favorite research topics that I may research more upon in career counseling?

What are some of the community work you have contributed to in career counseling that you are most proud of in the history of your profession?