Vocational Career Counseling and Theories of Development Essay

Part I: Background

Introduction

A personal career case study combines a personal reflection with scholarly research on career development and motivational theories. During the process of compiling information for the case study, I will present my past educational and career choices, my personality types, and my goals for the future. After a brief introduction, I will discuss my personal and social history, and also the environmental factors that might have influenced my career choices. In the past I have applied different theories of career development to my case, including Holland’s type theory, Krumboltz’s social learning theory, social cognitive career theory, and Super’s career development stages. In this paper, I will focus on Holland’s type theory, which combines personality with career development. Finally, I will synthesize what I learned to better understand my past, present, and future.

My name is ____ and I was born and raised in ____. I am an African American woman who is single and thirty years of age. I now work in the Department of Family and Children Services as a Family Independence Case Manager. As much as I appreciate helping individuals and families access social services like day care or income assistance programs, I am currently exploring different career paths for personal and professional development. Career development theories will better help me understand why I have made the choices I did make until this point, and show me how to make future decisions that maximize my strengths.

Personal and Social History

I come from a small family, with just one sister and our parents. My father is a police officer, and his highest level of formal education was high school. My mother is a school teacher who graduated from college. In early childhood, I was happy and admired both my mother and my father. Although it was difficult at times having a dad as a police officer, ultimately we took pride in his work. He did come home stressed at times, as did my mom, but no more than the average person. We considered ourselves middle class, having enough money for all of life’s necessities but not too much more. Family vacations included local destinations like theme parks, the beach, and recreational areas.

We were a spiritual family, but did not attend church as religiously as some of our friends and family members. My parents had strong values and ethics that came from their sense of right and wrong. Dominant values were simple: do good things for other people, cause no harm to others, and strive to do the best we can always. Early on, my sister and I learned good manners, etiquette, and respect for elders. In fact, having a dad as a police officer helped impart a healthy respect for authority. There were times my sister and I would rebel and test our boundaries, but we were generally well behaved and did well in school. We were also taught to live a balanced life, by not focusing too much on material acquisitions and more on how we could dedicate our lives to helping others. I believe that the roles of police officer and teacher are both service-oriented positions, allowing both my sister and I to have strong role models. My goals in life were shaped partly by my parents, but also from an inner determination to succeed while also enjoying life.

Both my parents were moderately strict. Neither parent would tolerate bad behavior, and this helped me to develop good habits early on. I would say that both my parents have an authoritarian style, but have a good sense of humor as well. Their balanced approach to parenting allowed us to communicate freely in the household. We all strove for honesty and directness, and were not afraid of confrontation or directness. This led to my development of a strong and confident personality, as well as to my willingness to take risks. As most parents do, mine encouraged me to work as hard as I can and pursue my dreams first by achieving my educational goals and later by finding a secure but rewarding career. While I was not raised in an environment that gave us a false sense of bravado, such as “You can do anything!” we were never discouraged from dreaming. My parents wanted me to do the best I could, but also wanted me to choose a practical career path, rather than go out on a limb such as being an artist or an entrepreneur.

In addition to the good relationship I had with my parents, I also had strong social networks throughout childhood and adolescence. Even when we moved, I made friends easily. My friendship cliques changed, but I had strong ties with my female friends. A police officer and a teacher naturally become entrenched in the community, and are invited to countless social engagements. Therefore, we attended many events with members of the community. We had an active social life and a genuine sense of caring for other people.

Educational History

When I was in elementary school, and even through middle school, I wanted to be a police officer like my dad. Then I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, perhaps more to follow in my mom’s footsteps. I probably wished I could do both jobs at once when I was young. Later, I decided that psychology was a field that interested me in particular. I was fascinated by human behavior, and interested in helping people with their problems. Therefore, I received a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University, and am currently enrolled in a Master’s degree program to become a rehabilitation counselor. Whereas I initially went into the fields of child psychology and early childhood education, I later switched to rehabilitation counseling because I felt this would be a better fit for me. More importantly, my work in family and child services and being a case manager made me aware of the need to provide better rehabilitation counseling for underserved communities. As a case manager, I could only do so much. I decided to develop myself professionally with a Master’s degree in rehabilitative counseling. Guidance counselors and career counselors helped me to see what steps I needed to take and how to reach both short term and long term goals.

Physical, Socioeconomic, and Cultural Environment

I live in a suburban area, but attended college in an urban environment. Currently, I live alone. My environment has not had a major impact on my career…