Week 10

            When reading chapter 11 I was taken back to the Career Development course.  I find Holland’s theory interesting and relevant.  It seems that for every category I am able to identify someone who strongly fits.  I remember when taking Career Development I gave my husband the Self-Directed Search to complete, predicting ahead of time that his code would be RIA, just from knowing his skills, personality, and interests.  After taking the test, I realized that my hypothesis was correct.  Either the test is extremely valid or I very accurately know my husband, or both!

            I find it good to know that a Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) exists.  I have had a little experience with the O*Net, the online version of the DOT.  It is helpful that it is coded to show how much education and training are needed for each of the 12,000+ occupations. This could be a very helpful tool even now for me with transition planning for my students’ IEPs.  I can see how this will be an imperative tool for high school counselors.  Reading through the section on career assessment, I was surprised to see that nothing was mentioned about the program that my school uses, Career Cruising.  I wonder what the validity and reliability data are on this assessment.

            The work value inventory is something that I have no experience with.  It seems like a great idea, but is there a corresponding list of careers that most closely match a person’s top three or four work values?  And if there is, it seems as though one would need to proceed with caution, as a job in one particular workplace may have very different working conditions than the same job in a different workplace, most notably in the areas of co-workers, income, security, supervision, and workplace.

            I did not realize that there was validity and reliability data for interviews.  I did have a very structured interview once. I remember that there were many questions and some of them seemed rather arbitrary.  For example, I remember them asking me something to the extent of, “What is an idea that you’ve had recently?”  I have heard many times before that interviewers decide whether they like the interviewee early on in the interview, and that nonverbal cues are weighed more heavily than verbal.  In other words, it isn’t always what you say; it’s how you present yourself.  It is slightly troubling that negatives tend to be weighed more heavily than the positives, but I suppose that is how employers need to more efficiently narrow their choices.

            Overall I can see how this chapter will be a valuable resource if I become a secondary counselor or do anything related with career counseling.

Drummond, R. J. & Jones, K. (2010). Assessment procedures for counselors and helping

professionals. (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:Pearson.