CHAPTER 23

COUNSELING ADULTS FOR

CAREER TRANSITIONS

• PREPARED BY:
• NORLIA BINTI ABDUL JALIL
TOPIC
 CAREER TRANSITIONS: A
COMMON EXPERIENCE FOR
ADULTS
 Most adults can no longer expect lifetime employment within a
single organization or steady movement up a predetermined
career ladder.
 they will need more training or education to increase their skills
either to maintain or enhance their financial status during the
coming years. 36% of them believes it would be difficult to find job
with their current skills, given the current job market.
 The career transitions decisions are driven by personal choice, a
rapidly changing and unpredictable world of work, or some
combination of the two.
 individuals must be able to adapt effectively to the changing
nature of work to make successful career transitions.
Cont…

• Because of market forces, opportunity structures and technology

• Nearly 63% of projected jobs require education above a high school
diploma (Carnevale, smith & Strohl (2010).
• Organizational downsizing, rightsizing, outsourcing, fluctuating markets,
advances in technology, changes in opportunity structures and increase
job skill demand

4
3 TYPES OF ADULT CAREER
TRANSITIONS

5
1. ADULT WHO HAVE GRADUATED AND ARE
UNPREPARED FOR THE TRANSITION TO WORK.

• High school diploma -highest rates of unemployment and second is who

with less than a high school diploma. Only a third job available for them
-has lower wages and fewer opportunities for advancement.
• In a competitive job market, employers are more likely to hire workers
with more education and skills.
• High school graduates have unrealistic expectations. They think they have
unlimited work options and earning power, which can quickly lead to
unfulfilled expectations.
• Many did not recognize the need for additional training and better
developed skills until they start looking for jobs.
• Supposedly when they find employment, they must understand the
expectations of their coworkers and supervisors and learn about the
norms of the organizations in which they work.

6
2. EMPLOYED ADULTS WHO ARE SHIFTING
CAREER DIRECTION

• Employed adults have variety of career direction alternatives

into positions that better suit their current needs and
circumstances.
• E.g:
i. working adults wanting to advance into higher-level positions.
ii. Adults who are generally satisfied with their current positions may
still want to enrich their work experiences
iii. Adult in high stress, high demand positions, older workers with
shifting priorities, or adults in the midst of organizational
restructuring may want or need to explore options for moving down
the career ladder.

7
 3. UNEMPLOYED ADULTS WHO ASPIRE TO
WORK
Adults who are not employed and want to reenter the labor force, move from welfare to work, or
respond effectively to job loss generally face the most challenges.

Labor force reentry

-Women who are single mother motivated by vocational, family or financial factors.
-Veterans- military reentry programs to service members, preparation counseling and transition
assistance workshops.
-Culture shock, identifying transferable skills, lack of job preparation and job skills and financial
concerns (Simpson & Armstrong, 2009).

Welfare to work
-Moving from having fiscal dependency on state government to becoming economically self-sufficient
through work.
-Challenges: child care, transportation contributing to problems with absenteeism, and problems with
turnover and job performance (Holzer, 2000)

8
Cont…
Job loss
-Prolonged unemployment, fewer opportunities and decreased wages (Farber, 2005).
-Adults coping with job displacement due to organizational downsizing, restructuring or
relocation may have substantial periods of unemployment, sometimes lasting years (Brand, 2004)
-Participate less in social activities, which can reduce networks of people available to provide
information about potential employment possibilities (Brand & Burgard, 2008).
-Faced with the prospect of being unable to find a position of comparable status ( Aiken, 1998).
-Job loss is associated with increased anxiety, depression, feelings of isolation, feelings of failure
and rejection, lowered confidence and self-esteem and stress-related somatic complaints
(DeFrank & Ivancevich, 1986, Eby & Buch, 1994, Kelvin & Jarret, 1985).

9
 COMMON ISSUES ACROSS CAREER
TRANSITIONS
• Transition age (ages 18-25) just entering the workforce to mature adults (ages 45 and older)
• Common issues:
a) Conducting a realistic self-appraisal of existing skills
b) Recognizing the need for career adaptability
c) Dealing with the psychological effects related to financial difficulties and job
uncertainty.
• High school graduates not prepare for work (lacking basic skills-cognitive behave in work
setting).
• Mature adults with a wealth of work experience may not think about their skills until after
they have to search for new job after job loss.
• Need for career adaptability.
• Financial uncertainty.
• Insufficient savings
• Job uncertainty.
• Unclear or inadequate skills.

10
 THEORETICAL PERSEPECTIVE ON
CAREER TRANSITIONS
• Major task of counselor:
i. To organize the complex, multifaceted information they collect from
the client.
ii. Helps to identify the salient issues, desired outcomes and plan of
action.
• Career and adult development theories help to:
i. Identify the critical connection between a counselor’s worldview
and the actions taken to assist clients.
ii. Reinforce the need for conceptual and practical consistency in
action.
iii. Integrate career and personal issues in addressing the needs of
adults in transition.

11
12
 1. PERSON-ENVIRONMENT (P-E) FIT PERSPECTIVE

• Minnesota theory of work adjustment and Holland’s theory of vocational

types focus on the interrelationships between personal and work
environment characteristics that affect career satisfaction and work
productivity.
• Emphasizes the importance of identifying and matching key abilities,
values and interests with the attributes of potential work settings and
occupations.
• Used to help clients select potentially satisfying and satisfactory work
options by helping them identify their major interests, skills and values
and then consider occupational possibilities that match these
characteristic.
• Additional factors – client and work environment flexibility and the
consistency and differentiation of clients’ interest profiles.

13
 2. SUPER’S CAREER DEVELOPMENT THEORY
• Emphasis on the importance of the development of self-
concept, which changes over time and develops as a result of
experience
• this theory compliments the notion of lifelong career
transitions.
• Adult seeks career satisfaction through work roles so can
further develop their self-concept.
• Counselors- support client by helping them elaborate their
work self-concepts, exposing them to information and
opportunities for growth, and assisting them in developing
attitudes and behaviors associated with career adaptability.

14
 3. SOCIAL COGNITIVE CAREER THEORY
• Emphasizes motivational factors such as self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations
and goals to explain how vocational interests develop, choice are made and various
levels of works satisfaction and success are attained
• This theory gives 2 suggestion on how to work with adults in career transitions:
1. Career possibilities may be substantially truncated by inaccurate self-
efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations.
2. SCCT centers around the role that environmental barriers and supports
play in the interest development, choice and job attainment process.
• Counselor should help clients:
1. Gain a realistic appraisal of their skills and abilities.
2. Develop accurate occupational information
3. Learn how to overcome or manage barriers to their preferred
occupational choices
4. Build support for these choices

15
 4. ADULT DEVELOPMENT THEORIES
• 2 theories that address potential personal and career
issues are:
1. Baltes’s (1997) selective optimization with compensation
theory-people engage in lifelong processes of selection,
optimization and compensation (SOC) to maximize gains
and minimize losses, which are more likely to result in
successful development.
2. Atchley’s (1989) continuity theory of aging- observes that
older adults strive to maintain their same activities,
behaviors and relationships over time by adapting
strategies that are connected to past experiences.

16
IDENTIFYING EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS

• career based
training
• Ongoing social
support
• connections with
employers
• internships

17
Cont..

18
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

19
TAKE HOME MESSAGES

20
 IMPORTANCE FOR COUNSELORS
• Action orientation. Counselors should reinforce the connections between concrete
activities and behaviors and clients’ transition issues and goals throughout the
process.
• Wide-ranging interventions and supports . Counselors must remain up-to-date on
the range of services available to assist with specific types of career transition
issues.
• Work context. Counselors need to understand the characteristics of the current
economy and the world of work at all levels.
• Cue up for adaptability. counselors need to promote career adaptability in their
clients and provide the with tools, skills and knowledge for dealing with career
change.
• The whole person. The multifaceted issues that often surface during counseling
often demand varied interventions that go beyond career tasks and involve other
parts of life. E.g: psychology symptoms, relationship demands).

21
REFERENCES

1. Steven D. Brown, R. W. (2013). Career Development and Counseling. US: Wiley.

22
TERIMA KASIH / THANK YOU
www.upm.edu.my