Career Transitions A Lifecycle Psychological Perspective BY THIERRY

Career Transitions: A Lifecycle Psychological Perspective BY THIERRY GUEDJ, PH. D.

OBJECTIVES • Briefly review historical and sociological context for evolving approach to career transitions. • Describe changing role of career counselor in helping different types of clients make a change. • Describe how cognitive and mindfulness techniques can enhance career transition effectiveness. • Practice skills through case studies. • Share resources for future use and practice.

WORK AS SERVITUDE God put Adam and the woman out of the garden. He said to Adam, "Because you ate of the tree, the land will be cursed. You will have to work hard to make it produce food. " The First Labors of Adam and Eve Alonso Cano (1601– 1667)

WORK AS LIBERATION

HOW DID WE GET HERE? • Renaissance: End of theocratic and agriculturecentric societies. • Industry and services become principal structuring forces of human activity. • Empirical science replaces sacred texts as the ultimate source of truth and decision-making. • Humanism places Man--and subsequently mankind– at center of the universe. • Work replaces prayer and religious practices as central means of personal growth and meaning creation.

WORK: THE CENTER OF GRAVITY OF MODERN EXISTENCE • As the function of work moved from punishment to a key source of personal fulfillment, finding satisfaction with work has become the new moral imperative. • Lack of satisfaction in the professional realm is seen as a serious problem and a personal failure that needs addressing. • Remedying this problem satisfactorily becomes a key objective of the contemporary human (de Botton, 2009) 6

CAREER COUNSELOR AS LIBERATOR? • Moving from career guidance to career counseling and coaching. • Shifting expectations. • Career counselors are expected to help clients find • greater happiness • meaning in life • their true calling • Philosopher Alain de Botton calls Career Counseling “possibly the most important profession in the world. ”

MEET PAUL Paul is a 35 year-old ordained minister who has been working full-time as a social studies teacher at an independent religious school for several years. By the time he comes to see this career counselor, he has completely given up on ever finding a full-time position as a minister. He explains that his religious denomination very rarely has openings nationwide and that, since the completion of his studies, he has not been able to secure a paying full-time position anywhere--all the offers he has ever received have been very low-paying and only parttime. Paul is married with three children. His wife works part-time for a non-profit and the family barely makes ends meet on their current income. He has thought of going back to school to acquire more marketable skills, but is not sure what he would like to do next. At this point, he has mainly considered attending Law School, but is not convinced this would be such a wise choice.

WHY IS THE CLIENT CALLING ME NOW? • Psychological or Lifecycle Considerations • Heightened anxiety. • Boredom. • Lack of meaning. • A sense of loss. • Lack of direction, feeling aimless? • Loss of self? “I don’t’ recognize myself. ” “I cant’ be who I want to be. ” • Is there a precipitating event or some kind of crisis? • Poor performance evaluation, layoff or firing? • Financial problems? • Existential crisis? • Insight or Realization. • • Significant mismatch? Skills? Values? Life stage?

CLIENT’S REACHING OUT IS CRUCIAL FIRST STEP • Public acknowledgment that something needs to change. • Recognition that client cannot do it on their own (though most have tried, sometimes for years). • Taking a huge gamble that the counselor will be able to guide him or her to destination. • Committing significant resources to help with change process.

CAREER TRANSITIONS AND LIFE STAGE • Many of our clients have chosen their careers either blindly or for the wrong reasons. • Social influence: Parents, peers and teachers. • Chance opportunity (it was there!). • Evidence vocational interests are stable over time (Stoll & Ringer, et al. , 2016). Poor match means dissatisfaction. • With maturity, self knowledge tends to increase and may lead to insights. • Always ask client how the original choice of career occurred.

CAREER TRANSITION AND IDENTITY • Realization and admission that what I do does not match who I am. • Creates an identity crisis in individual. • Often leads to the question: “Who am I, really. ” • This type of questioning is anxiety-provoking for both client and counselor. • Study by Wille and de Fruyt (2013). • Shows mutual influence of choice of profession on personality. Can create cognitive dissonance.

THE CHALLENGE OF TRANSITIONING OUT OF COLLEGE • Earning a living: Threat, opportunity or challenge? • Parental influence can be overpowering when combined with limited self-knowledge. • Limited understanding of the world of work. • Career choices can be limited by indebtedness (a growing problem). • Social pressure to conform (I’ll do what my peers are doing!). • Unrealistic expectations (too high or too low).

THE MID-CAREER PROFESSIONAL • The sunk cost fallacy (Kahnemann, 2011). • Biggest obstacle to change. • Why should I leave my job after having invested so much of myself in my current profession, company, industry? • How to address this common client bias effectively? • Have them imagine the next 20 years in same post. • The “two chair technique. ”

LATE CAREER TRANSITIONS • Most anxiety-provoking of all. • Often seen as last chance to make a contribution. • Lead to questions of legacy: “What will I be remembered for? ” • Client confronted with potential ageism and its accompanying prejudices. • Economic and health considerations become foremost. • Retirement planning.

COMMONALITIES AMONG AGE GROUPS • Deep-seated fear of networking (subset of social anxiety). • What will people think? • What do I tell them? • Why would people talk to me, I have nothing to give? • Help client focus on curiosity, research, intelligence gathering. • Others do want to help.

MONEY’S ROLE IN CAREER TRANSITIONS: THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM? • Remains taboo subject for many clients. • A source of shame. • Clients often reluctant to bring subject up. • As counselor, must face own discomfort. • Things are rarely as they seem. • Ask how much money individual must earn to live comfortably. • Ask about spouses’ and partners’ incomes and debt level • Ask about college debt, credit cards, mortgage • 401 K, 403 b

HELPFUL QUESTIONS TO ASSESS CLIENT’S WORK MOTIVATION • A good understanding of the client’s innate motivation is key to help them make a transition that will be satisfactory and durable. • When do you feel the most and least alive at work? • What’s the task or tasks you like and dislike the most about your current job? • Who is the best boss you ever had? Why do you think she or is was such a great boss? • What kind of people do you most and least like to work with?

ASSESSING PERSONALITY STYLE INCREASES CHANCE OF SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION • The stories we tell ourselves and others are one of the most powerful indicators of our personality. • Do you perceive a strong pattern in client’s storytelling about her or his career? • Constantly passed over for promotion. • Recurring conflict with boss or colleagues. • Failure to speak up at crucial times. • Repeated complaints about multiple workplace issues. • Difficulty with taking a stand on issues? • Poor listening.

ASSESSING PERSONALITY (CONT’D) personality: Five things to watch out for potential career mismatches Coping skills: Proneness to feeling stressed out vs. high tolerance Trust: Generally trusting vs. distrust of authority, argumentativeness, mild paranoia Need for affiliation, agreeableness Ambition Sense of entitlement

CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS ARE GREAT SOURCE OF INFORMATION • How a client communicates and works with you reveals a great deal about who they are as a professional. • Do they come to the meeting prepared? Do they take charge? • Do they write emails with correct grammar, spelling and punctuation? • How do they respond to frustration? • Are they interested in feedback? How do they respond to it? • Do they ask for what they need when scheduling appointments?

THE USE OF MINDFULNESS APPROACHES IN CAREER TRANSITIONS Many clients have led harried lives prior to meeting with their counselor. They have been on autopilot, sometimes for many years. • Important to make meetings a place for unrushed and nonjudgmental reflection. • Counselor does best by spending most of first meeting listening and asking for probing questions. Must refrain from giving advice too quickly. • Reducing client’s anxiety and self-critical stance should be an important goal of the first meeting. • By end of the first meeting, client should feel more grounded and hopeful than when they came in. 22

WHAT IS THE CORE OF MINDFULNESS? A method of mental training (fitness for the brain) Promotes cultivation of mindful understanding and attitudes and utilizes mindful practices including formal and informal focusing exercises Helps develop self-awareness and the ability to deliberately pay attention in non-judgmental fashion, in the present moment 23

ACCEPTING FEELING STATES Unpleasant feelings are plentiful Sadness, guilt, embarrassment, shame, anger. Make us uncomfortable. We want to escape the discomfort. What should I do with them? Stuff them away? Push them out of consciousness? Get distracted with something else? Shut down. Medicate them? Eat junk food, go shopping, smoke something Experience them fully & accept them Clients can make different choices. Embarrassment: Run away vs. confront risk head-on Disappointment: Bury it vs. acknowledge it and try again. 24

THE USE OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL TECHNIQUES IN CAREER TRANSITIONS Changing careers requires a high level of motivation which can easily be undermined by self-doubt. 1. Reduce high levels of anxiety commonly experienced in times of change. 2. Help alleviate constant or recurring negative thoughts.

THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF MINDFULNESS Mindfulness approaches can help our clients with many of the challenges involve in transitioning careers. • Recognize, slow down or stop automatic and habitual reactions. • Respond more effectively to complex or difficult situations. • See situations more clearly. • Become more creative. • Achieve improved resilience at work and at home. 26

WHAT TO DO IF YOU NOTICEABLE CLIENT DISTRESS If your client appears to have difficulty managing the day-to-day aspects of engaging in the counseling, you might want to consider probing what may be getting in the way by asking any of the following questions: • Has something happened recently that is causing you distress? • Have there been significant changes in your eating or sleeping pattern in the last couple months? • Do you sometimes find yourself crying or losing your temper for no good reason? • Do you worry a lot about the future?

DOES YOUR CLIENT NEED A REFERRAL TO A MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN? There are times when a career counselor realizes that progress is severely hindered by the client’s mental state or personality as exhibited by: • Clinically significant insomnia. • Major depression. • Social anxiety, panic disorder, generalized anxiety. • Personality disorders (narcissistic, borderline, paranoid, etc. ). • Substance abuse.

THANK YOU FOR COMING! Thierry Guedj, Ph. D. 857. 225. 0242 thierry. guedj@Boston. Job. Doctor. com