11: Work and Choosing a Career

Reading 1: Donald Super’s Five Career Development Stages

(“Donald Super Developmental Self-Concept by careersnz”)

Review Super’s theory about our typical progression through five stages of work life. Note that our “work” does not begin after the interview and we settle into our workspace, put on the uniform, or begin plugging away at our assigned duties. Long before we ever step into our formal career, we are building a self-concept and attitudes that shape our future. As you review the stages, think back to your childhood and the views you held about the world of work. How have your classroom experiences, hobbies, or participation in sports informed your passions and honed your unique skills? Consider where you are today and how your trajectory may look as you continue along Super’s pathways in later life.

Key Concepts: Growth, Exploration, Establishment, Maintenance, Decline

Reading 2: Holland’s Theory of Career Choice

(“Holland’s Theory of Career Choice and You” by CareerKey)

Young people are bombarded with messages about career pathways. There are numerous lists designed to steer you in a particular direction such as: Top 10 College Majors or 10 College Majors with the Highest Starting Salaries. For older individuals looking to make a career change, even more lists abound such as 10 Best Jobs for a Midlife Career Change. Pouring through these myriad suggestions can seem daunting. How can anyone know exactly which career is the right path when there are no guarantees? American psychologist, John L. Holland, offered another way to select a career that has more to do with individual personality and interests than cultural shifts. His Holland Codes have helped individuals identify their vocational personalities and the most congruent work environments. Review his six vocational personality types and some of the associated careers. Take your own vocational personality assessment to explore how Holland’s R-I-A-S-E-C theory fits with your career goals at the Georgia Department of Labor’s O*Net website. You can also use this site to match potential careers based on your profile.

Key Concepts: Interest Area, Career Interest Inventory, Interest Profile, Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional

Reading 3: Emotional Intelligence and Career Success

(“Why Emotionally Intelligent People are More Successful” by Fast Company)

“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.” -President Theodore Roosevelt

Work hard and you will do well in your career. Work even harder and you’ll zoom past your competition. This seems accurate and is certainly the mantra espoused by parents and teachers. But is it enough to earn the degree and get into the job you want? Is this mindset adequate to propel you up the professional ladder? According to psychologists, John Mayer and Peter Salovey, EI (for Emotional Intelligence) is the knowledge and awareness of one’s own emotional state and that of others – and the ability to use this understanding to guide behavior and adapt effectively. The current reading points to research out of the Carnegie Institute of Technology showing the bulk of financial success relates to what some may call soft skills (i.e. people skills, communication style, social intelligence, and common sense). As you review the importance of EI for your future career, consider how to reconcile the ideas of hard work, field preparation, and technical skill development in light of the purportedly small influence this has on financial success. To learn more about how you might you go about improving your own EI, visit The EI Institute (www.theeiinstitute.com). Take the EI test at MindTools.com to see how you stack up in this area.

Key Concepts: Emotional Intelligence, Self-Regulate Emotions, Empathy, Social Skills

Reading 4: Flow and Work

(“Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: All about Flow & Positive Psychology” by Positive Psychology Program)

Most enjoyable activities are not natural; they demand an effort that initially one is reluctant to make. But once the interaction starts to provide feedback to the person's skills, it usually begins to be intrinsically rewarding.” ― Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

In 1990, psychologist Mihaly Csiksczentmihalyi, introduced the concept of Flow – a state of being fully immersed in an engaging and challenging task in body, mind, and spirit. Flow serves as an energy spring that fuels one’s passion and ignites a feeling of joy. In many ways, reaching Flow helps to combat burnout (a growing disillusionment and state of emotional exhaustion associated with work stress). Review the eight characteristics of Flow and consider times when you may have experienced this sensation? How might you build a career that incorporated more Flow and less busy work?

Key Concepts: Autotelic Activity, Autotelic Personality, Optimal Experience, Intense Concentration, Loss of Reflective Self-consciousness, Distortion of Time, Intrinsic Reward

Reading 5: The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap

(“The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap by Kevin Miller for AAUW)

“It’s indisputable that there’s a real pay gap. People can argue about how big, but that’s almost besides the point. The point is that every woman, every girl deserves to get paid what they’re worth.” -Sheryl Sandberg

Are the occupational decks stacked differently depending on your gender and race? The statistics suggest that, overall, a ubiquitous wage gap persists and is tied to not only being a woman but one’s ethnic background. Knowing that the disparity is a reality across occupations and at all levels of education should give everyone pause when considering what has been taught about the road to success. But, particularly for women, this sobering fact may also inform career choice. For instance, the largest growing group of entrepreneurs in the United States is African American women (by an increased margin of 322% since 1997). One might draw the conclusion that limited mobility in traditional sectors has led many of these women to venture out on their own. Learn more about the gender and race wage gap in the article above. What factors do you think might bridge this gap in the future? What does the wage gap say about our cultural values?

Key Concepts: Fair Wages, Negotiation, Equal Pay Act, Age, Race, Location, Median Annual Earnings

Reflections

1. Consider Super’s five stages of occupational development. How might stagnation at a particular career stage impact other aspects of one’s life?
2. When you envision yourself progressing through Super’s stage of Establishment what career goals do you hope to accomplish? What steps could you put into motion today to ensure those goals are met?
3. In your observations of others in Super’s stage of Decline what changes have been orchestrated effectively, and what changes have caused unnecessary harm, in your opinion?
4. After taking the R-I-A-S-E-C vocational personality assessment, explore suggested careers and whether your current path is leading in the right direction. What changes might you have to make to get or stay on track?
5. To what extent are you willing to take stock in your vocational personality relative to other career selection factors (e.g. availability of jobs, financial compensation) when determining future goals?
6. Do you agree with the statement that if you find a job you love, you will never really have to work? Why or why not?
7. What kind of instructional program would you implement for a high school or college to better train students in soft skills and emotional intelligence?
8. After taking the emotional intelligence assessment, consider ways you could increase your own EI level to become more successful in your chosen career.
9. Do you believe Csiksczentmihalyi’s Flow can be achieved irrespective of one’s type of occupation? Why or why not?
10. What role do you think employers could take in bridging the wage gap in their own industries? What could women do independently to address unfair wages?