Choosing at 18 Career DecisionMaking and FirstYear Student

Choosing at 18: Career Decision-Making and First-Year Student Development Career Counseling and Support Services Younkin Success Center, 2 nd Floor (614) 688 -3898 | ccss. osu. edu

Career Counseling and. Career Support Services Connection Career Counseling and Support Services • Individual Career Counseling (appointments and walk-ins) • Career Assessments • Career Planning & Decision-Making • Resumes, Cover Letters & Interviewing Skills • Applying to Graduate School 2

Career Counseling and Support Services Why does this matter? Context: Some relevant theories One theory to rule them all: Planned Happenstance A career planning model Common decision-making pitfalls and strategies for avoiding them A word on anxiety Resources on campus 3

Career Counseling and. Career Support Services Connection Why does this matter? • Students are most at risk for attrition during their first year • Students in majors congruent with their personalities and interests are more likely to: • • persist in their majors receive higher grades graduate on time be happy and satisfied in their careers • Career decision-making is occurring earlier and more students are directly enrolling in specific colleges from high school 4

Career Counseling and. Career Support Services Connection Why does this matter? • Academic Advisors • Academic Success • Financial Aid • Disability Services • Career Counseling • Mental Health 5

Career Counseling and Support Services Why does this matter? Context: Some relevant theories One theory to rule them all: Planned Happenstance A career planning model Common decision-making pitfalls and strategies for avoiding them A word on anxiety Resources on campus 6

Career Counseling and. Career Support Services Connection Developmental Theories • Psychosocial (Erikson) • Ego Identity vs Role Confusion (12 -18; fidelity); Intimacy vs Isolation (18 -40; love) • Cognitive-Structural (Perry) • Dualism, Multiplicity, Contextual Relativism, Commitment within Contextual Relativism • Learning Development (Chickering) • developing confidence, managing emotions, moving through autonomy toward interdependence, developing mature interpersonal relationships, establishing identity, developing purpose, developing integrity 7

Career Counseling and Support Services Developmental Theories • Experiential Learning (Kolb) • Moral Development (Kohlberg, Gilligan) • Preconventional, Conventional, Postconventional • Non-dominant Identity Development (Cross, Cass) • Pre-encounter, Encounter, Immersion, Internalization • First Awareness, Identity Acceptance, Identity Integration 8

Career Counseling and. Career Support Services Connection Developmental Theories • Humanistic-Existential (Rogers, Frankl, Yalom) • Self-actualizing tendency • 3 Conditions: Congruence, Unconditional Positive Regard, Accurate Empathy • 4 Givens: Death (physical), Freedom/Responsibility (personal), Isolation (social), Meaninglessness/meaning not yet discovered (spiritual) • Career development (Ginzberg and Super) • Fantasy, Tentative, Realistic • Growth, Exploration, Establishment, Maintenance, Disengagement • Person-Environment (Holland) • 6 types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional 9

Career Counseling and. Career Support Services Connection Also… • Personal Preferences – MBTI, Values • Cultural context 10

Career Counseling and Support Services Why does this matter? Context: Some relevant theories One theory to rule them all: Planned Happenstance A career planning model Common decision-making pitfalls and strategies for avoiding them A word on anxiety Resources on campus 11

Career Connection Planned Happenstance “Careers are now forged, not foretold. They are based on a long series of iterative decisions made throughout our lives” –A. G. Watts 12

Planned Happenstance vs. The Traditional Approach to Career Planning Traditional Approach • Makes clear decisions • Process is logical and systematic, planned • Identifies an ideal job by matching skills and interests to job • Narrows down choices Planned Happenstance • Embraces indecision • Recognizes that the future is unpredictable and uncertain • Unexpected events offer opportunities • Curiosity-driven • Adopts a flexible attitude to changes in life 13

Career Connection Careers are both ordered and disordered “The career destiny of each individual cannot be predicted in advance but is a function of countless planned and unplanned learning experiences beginning at birth. ” J. Krumboltz 14

Career Connection Happenstance Approach Five critical skills: • Curiosity - explore learning opportunities • Persistence – a way of dealing with obstacles = resilience (bouncing back) • Flexibility – learn to address a variety of circumstances • Optimism – positive attitude when pursuing new opportunities • Risk-taking – necessary in the face of uncertainty 15

Career Counseling and Support Services Why does this matter? Context: Some relevant theories One theory to rule them all: Planned Happenstance A career planning model Common decision-making pitfalls and strategies for avoiding them A word on anxiety Resources on campus 16

Career Counseling and Support Services Decision-Making Model Awareness and Commitment Evaluating the Choice Implementing the Choice Gathering Info Making a Choice

Career Connection Decision-Making Styles

Career Counseling and Support Services Career Planning Model Self Assessment Learn about interests, abilities, values, and personality to find your mission in life and identify career and academic possibilities Evaluating/Balancing Assessing your effectiveness in reaching your goals, making changes to achieve balance, between work, leisure, and education. Career Exploration Reality-Testing Gathering information about occupational fields, and academic areas of study to make informed decision Trying out a career idea to learn if it fits with what you know about yourself (i. e. , does it support your personal mission) Implementing Taking actions to achieve your career objective, e. g. conducting job search, selecting an academic path, applying to graduate or professional school Focusing & Goal Setting Establishing long and shortterm goals that are consistent with your personal mission

Career Counseling and Support Services Planned Information Gathering • Self-Assessment • • • Reality Testing RIASEC Values Past/Genogram Onpace. osu. edu • Career Options • Onetonline. org • whatcanidowiththismajor. com/majors/ • exploration. osu. edu/curr ent-students/what-can-ido-with-a-major-in • Informational Interviews & Shadowing • Volunteering and Internships • Buckeye Careers • Part-Time Work Experience • Seek advice of career counselors, advisors, teachers, mentors, and faculty members.

Career Counseling and Support Services Why does this matter? Context: Some relevant theories One theory to rule them all: Planned Happenstance A career planning model Common decision-making pitfalls and strategies for avoiding them A word on anxiety Resources on campus 21

Career Counseling and Support Services Common Decision Making Pitfalls Early Foreclosure • Choosing without full consideration of other options Unconflicted Adherence • Sticking to a choice that no longer fits or isn’t working Unconflicted change • Changing your mind too much Defensive Avoidance • Avoiding serious discussion by denying that a decision must be made, shifting the responsibility for the choice or overstating the positives of one option Hypervigilance • Deciding under too much stress due to lack of time • Becoming overwhelmed and paralyzed by the decision

Career Counseling and Support Services Questions to consider • • • Have you used multiple methods to generate a wide range of options? Have you researched each option? (Activities, necessary skills & abilities, match with values, etc. ) Have you considered positive and negative consequences/outcomes for each option? Have you honestly taken into account information about options? Have you considered what it will take to implement your choice?

Career Counseling and Support Services How can you help? • Curiosity – Take a wide lens, ask questions • Persistence – Remind students of the long view, encourage students! • Flexibility – Encourage reframing • Optimism – Avoid assumptions, model optimism, refer for deeper counseling work as needed • Risk-taking – Encourage pursuing expanding experiences (study abroad, service, research, networking, etc. )

Career Counseling and Support Services Decision Making Tools • • • Intuition! Silhouette Talk with trusted support people/mentors MAUT Matrix CDDQ (http: //kivunim. huji. ac. il/cddq/)

Career Counseling and Support Services Why does this matter? Context: Some relevant theories One theory to rule them all: Planned Happenstance A career planning model Common decision-making pitfalls and strategies for avoiding them A word on anxiety Resources on campus 26

Career Counseling and Support Services A word on Anxiety • What it does in decision making

Career Counseling and Support Services Tools for Combatting Stress • • • Breathe! List your priorities Find a support system Exercise Talk about your concerns with someone you trust or respect • Take a break (read, watch TV, take a bath, listen to music, etc. ) • Take advantage of campus services (i. e. CCSS, CCS, Wellness Coaching, etc. )

Career Counseling and Support Services Avoid Perfectionism! • There is no perfect solution! • Encourage students to do the best they can with the information they have • Remind them they can always choose differently in the future • Perfectionism will wear students out and may negatively impact their decisions • Encourage them to aim for good enough

Career Counseling and Support Services Encourage student to celebrate their decision!

Career Counseling and Support Services Why does this matter? Context: Some relevant theories One theory to rule them all: Planned Happenstance A career planning model Common decision-making pitfalls and strategies for avoiding them A word on anxiety Resources on campus 31

Career Counseling and. Career Support Services Connection Resources on Campus • • • Career Counseling and Support Services College Career Services Buckeye Careers Counseling and Consultation Service Student Advocacy Disability Services Wellness Coaching Undergraduate Research Education Abroad

Career Connection Questions? Hoke. 39 Career Counseling and Support Services Younkin Success Center, 2 nd Floor 688 -3898 www. ccss. osu. edu

Career Counseling and. Career Support Services Connection References • http: //www. simplypsychology. org/Erikson. html • http: //perrynetwork. org/? page_id=2 • Encyclopedia of Counseling • Taking Charge of Your Career Direction • Assessment in Counseling • “Planned Happenstance: Constructing Unexpected Career Opportunities”