More Self-Reflection (perhaps a future blog?)
Holland Code....what does it all mean?
I got two different results on the three Holland Code tests I took: AIC, SAC/ACS. I took 3 tests to try and determine a pattern.
One test portrayed me as artistic and analytical rather than social, and the others had the social component. While I do have an artistic background, I hold a very social job, and really enjoy the social aspect of connecting with students and helping make choices that are practical and feel right. I think the social ranked lower in some cases, because of the nature of the particular “social work” choices that were presented to me (e.g., helping children, elderly or homeless people, versus career advising). In that regard, I found these tests to be skewed. I am also an opera singer and jewelry designer, so naturally, artistic would rank higher. I would certainly choose anything artistic over construction when those options are presented in the same picture or set of checkboxes.
However, I do take an artistic approach to working with clients. I named my side business “Artful Resume Service” because, to me, every resume is its own blank canvas, and every individual is his/her own unique work of art.
Working in a business or within an academic construct, one has to be meticulous with records, so it makes sense that I am conventional, and in order to be an effective career facilitator, I find I have to be investigative and always thinking and using intuition to read what students are NOT telling me. I am also inquisitive as a trained librarian and having spent 14 years in the field of “knowledge management”, I love to find ways to make things, better, cheaper, faster, and more pleasant for students, parents, faculty and employers, and love to learn new things in my industry. I go on knowledge quests for something in this industry or just life in general several times a day.
Also, I find myself in fields that require me to justify the existence of what I do, and my value, so I have to be analytical and be able to quantify and qualify our existence to upper management and trustees, especially because this department just started in October 2011. That doesn’t mean I wish to do pivot tables all day long, these outputs to me are just communication vehicles in the universal language of business to make what I do as a career advisor credible.
When I can prove that our knowledge and wisdom to present the right information at the right time and MAKE our department money (in my for-profit days) or help a student make a personal realization, land a good job or internship that leads to a fruitful career path that is a banner day. My job is to quantify it and bring a sense of order to the data we collect and present to and from students. That’s where the “C” comes in. I see why Realist is last, being an idealist INFJ.
I got two different results on the three Holland Code tests I took: AIC, SAC/ACS. I took 3 tests to try and determine a pattern.
One test portrayed me as artistic and analytical rather than social, and the others had the social component. While I do have an artistic background, I hold a very social job, and really enjoy the social aspect of connecting with students and helping make choices that are practical and feel right. I think the social ranked lower in some cases, because of the nature of the particular “social work” choices that were presented to me (e.g., helping children, elderly or homeless people, versus career advising). In that regard, I found these tests to be skewed. I am also an opera singer and jewelry designer, so naturally, artistic would rank higher. I would certainly choose anything artistic over construction when those options are presented in the same picture or set of checkboxes.
However, I do take an artistic approach to working with clients. I named my side business “Artful Resume Service” because, to me, every resume is its own blank canvas, and every individual is his/her own unique work of art.
Working in a business or within an academic construct, one has to be meticulous with records, so it makes sense that I am conventional, and in order to be an effective career facilitator, I find I have to be investigative and always thinking and using intuition to read what students are NOT telling me. I am also inquisitive as a trained librarian and having spent 14 years in the field of “knowledge management”, I love to find ways to make things, better, cheaper, faster, and more pleasant for students, parents, faculty and employers, and love to learn new things in my industry. I go on knowledge quests for something in this industry or just life in general several times a day.
Also, I find myself in fields that require me to justify the existence of what I do, and my value, so I have to be analytical and be able to quantify and qualify our existence to upper management and trustees, especially because this department just started in October 2011. That doesn’t mean I wish to do pivot tables all day long, these outputs to me are just communication vehicles in the universal language of business to make what I do as a career advisor credible.
When I can prove that our knowledge and wisdom to present the right information at the right time and MAKE our department money (in my for-profit days) or help a student make a personal realization, land a good job or internship that leads to a fruitful career path that is a banner day. My job is to quantify it and bring a sense of order to the data we collect and present to and from students. That’s where the “C” comes in. I see why Realist is last, being an idealist INFJ.
The Role of Career Development Theory
I find it a paradox that with some assessments and theories, you can stay the same, while others seeking to identify career choices are more mutable depending on a snapshot of one's life at the time or level of self-esteem, or environmental factors.
I have seen this happen with a friend/client who had a near-death experience. She is seeking to change course of her career path after her heart attack, so if I were to administer a Holland code test before and after, I am willing to bet her results would would be similar, even if her daily job is about to vastly differ, because she has put a different lens on how she views her life. Her core nature is putting natural parameters on what she wants to and how she wants to do it.
So, in her case, her career development is very much a life long journey. She is more of a holistic type. I think there is a lot of evidence to embrace that journey concept, with the notion of "moonlight" or "encore" careers. Seems healthier and less limiting.
In my case, I am willing to bet my Holland Code would differ back when I was in junior high/high school, because I grew personally and socially years after taking those initial vocational tests. Otherwise, according to my results back then, I would have become an undertaker.
Another example, I have met people in the who fell into (instrumental learning) careers because they were praised and made lots of money, and then they reached middle age and felt they have lost their identity and self worth, due to economic conditions. I grew up in this scenario, so I speak from a personal level. Their whole career foundation and self identify was built on a "fault" - that is on the perception of others. I can see combining the theory of Krumboltz to help a client learn to create a more satisfying LIFE, rather than dictate an occupation and combine that with Super's theories of having the client take a hard look at their particular stage of life, and how THEIR values will now play into their next career choice, not the values of others. This is a big journey...no easy task.
Theories can help to find understanding, but I like that we are not using theories and assessments in such a black and white way like those vocational tests we did in elementary/junior school days to dictate what you should do for the rest of your life. I guess we have to choose the right tools and theories that resonate for each personality and let the client run with them to make interpretations and choices as they see fit, with our information and guidance. My inclination is to tailor a combination of theories to formulate a baseline and identify trends and patters, AND consider environmental/personal factors.
I find it a paradox that with some assessments and theories, you can stay the same, while others seeking to identify career choices are more mutable depending on a snapshot of one's life at the time or level of self-esteem, or environmental factors.
I have seen this happen with a friend/client who had a near-death experience. She is seeking to change course of her career path after her heart attack, so if I were to administer a Holland code test before and after, I am willing to bet her results would would be similar, even if her daily job is about to vastly differ, because she has put a different lens on how she views her life. Her core nature is putting natural parameters on what she wants to and how she wants to do it.
So, in her case, her career development is very much a life long journey. She is more of a holistic type. I think there is a lot of evidence to embrace that journey concept, with the notion of "moonlight" or "encore" careers. Seems healthier and less limiting.
In my case, I am willing to bet my Holland Code would differ back when I was in junior high/high school, because I grew personally and socially years after taking those initial vocational tests. Otherwise, according to my results back then, I would have become an undertaker.
Another example, I have met people in the who fell into (instrumental learning) careers because they were praised and made lots of money, and then they reached middle age and felt they have lost their identity and self worth, due to economic conditions. I grew up in this scenario, so I speak from a personal level. Their whole career foundation and self identify was built on a "fault" - that is on the perception of others. I can see combining the theory of Krumboltz to help a client learn to create a more satisfying LIFE, rather than dictate an occupation and combine that with Super's theories of having the client take a hard look at their particular stage of life, and how THEIR values will now play into their next career choice, not the values of others. This is a big journey...no easy task.
Theories can help to find understanding, but I like that we are not using theories and assessments in such a black and white way like those vocational tests we did in elementary/junior school days to dictate what you should do for the rest of your life. I guess we have to choose the right tools and theories that resonate for each personality and let the client run with them to make interpretations and choices as they see fit, with our information and guidance. My inclination is to tailor a combination of theories to formulate a baseline and identify trends and patters, AND consider environmental/personal factors.
Still learning for life!
I am a learning junkie. That is what will make me a stronger career facilitator. I am fairly new to the formal training part of the profession, having been in it for 3 years part-time and 5 years full time, but I don't have a traditional Higher Ed degree. I am very new to Higher Ed advising. Everything I am learning on my path to being a Career Development Facilitator gets added to my toolbox of skills and resources. Here are some of my recent reflections:
- More information is not better. The RIGHT information is.
- Don't dwell on the intake process to get to the good stuff and that "aha" moment. But, ask the right questions, let them talk, like I would in a library reference interview to find out what the REALLY need, not what the client asks for in the first place.
- Don't be afraid to elicit information from clients, but let them do the solution discovery and self-reflection.
- There is no one right answer.
- There is no one right answer (it bears repeating).
- The issue doesn't have to be solved in one session. Oftentimes, it won't. It's ok.
- Oftentimes, students don't come back if they feel get what they need. It's ok.
- Social media is the Autobahn of the higher ed career services super highway. Fortunately, I like that!
- Reinforce tools and concepts in several ways to appeal to all learning styles.
A Geek Reflects on Technology in Career Services
Technology is so important in assisting the client with career decisions, but it is not the driver. I have had to learn (and am still learning) over time which technology works for each individual and audience. It was helpful to assess my own information literacy and competencies.
In my previous work with a technical school working with underserved and diverse clients of all ages and backgrounds, the appetite for using or understanding career resources was pretty low. Any technology having to do with professional networking was off the table for many of my clients, so LinkedIn was out for 98% of them. I ended up creating 2 sections of a Job Search Class every Friday to supplement this need, one for ESOL and one for native speakers. I wish the O*Net Spanish language and easier findability options were available back then.
Working with undergraduate students, I find they are embracing career related technology a bit more, but it takes a lot of reinforcement, as we are at the beginning of launching our career center. One example is that we offered a LinkedIn webinar with a leading expert who works with college students after classes, but the students didn’t prefer the live delivery method. They wanted to listen to it later at their convenience. On a side note, students are slowly adopting LinkedIn more when I present it with a “what’s in it for me” slant toward finding alumni, data mining for contacts at biotech/pharma companies, etc. I found this to be a different concept, as a LinkedIn user since 2004, so I really had to step into their shoes to understand this concept and demonstrate what LinkedIn can do to enhance their career knowledge and network in a professional way. I am just starting to use it to ask other CDFs and experts for advice.
As a library type, I have been guilty of giving a ton of resources and overwhelming students at times because I get excited about finding what I think is the right information which will give them that “aha” moment. And then I would load them up with all kinds of cool stuff, which might never be looked it. So, I scored myself lower there in the chapter.
Dave Snowden, a knowledge management expert says “you don’t know what you know until you need to know it”. Well, that certainly applies here. In other words, I am learning to use more of my CDF skills to take a step back, assess their comfort with technology, question more to find out what they already KNOW about themselves first and asking what efforts they have taken first. This gives students the time and space to really reach within themselves on what they already have deduced, because they ALWAYS know more than we (or they) think, and this self-knowledge adds to the value of a session or a workshop.
Then, I can tailor my resources to just a couple that will better meet their immediate need, and ask them to review it through their own lens, and not take the empirical data at face value as gospel, but as one data point in the career decision process. For example, many students tell me their parents want them to become a pharmacist because of the pay. Then, invite them to examine the information on the pharmacy field and compare it with THEIR personal values, interests, goals and motivators.
Lastly, the lesson I am learning to make a giant mass of career information resources accessible and more digestible using the favored delivery channel (Facebook) of our students and appealing to their sensibilities and preferences (at their convenience, pictures over a ton of words, consistent form of delivery on Facebook, video and Pinterest versus long articles). This is a shift I am personally making from the corporate world to higher education.
In my previous work with a technical school working with underserved and diverse clients of all ages and backgrounds, the appetite for using or understanding career resources was pretty low. Any technology having to do with professional networking was off the table for many of my clients, so LinkedIn was out for 98% of them. I ended up creating 2 sections of a Job Search Class every Friday to supplement this need, one for ESOL and one for native speakers. I wish the O*Net Spanish language and easier findability options were available back then.
Working with undergraduate students, I find they are embracing career related technology a bit more, but it takes a lot of reinforcement, as we are at the beginning of launching our career center. One example is that we offered a LinkedIn webinar with a leading expert who works with college students after classes, but the students didn’t prefer the live delivery method. They wanted to listen to it later at their convenience. On a side note, students are slowly adopting LinkedIn more when I present it with a “what’s in it for me” slant toward finding alumni, data mining for contacts at biotech/pharma companies, etc. I found this to be a different concept, as a LinkedIn user since 2004, so I really had to step into their shoes to understand this concept and demonstrate what LinkedIn can do to enhance their career knowledge and network in a professional way. I am just starting to use it to ask other CDFs and experts for advice.
As a library type, I have been guilty of giving a ton of resources and overwhelming students at times because I get excited about finding what I think is the right information which will give them that “aha” moment. And then I would load them up with all kinds of cool stuff, which might never be looked it. So, I scored myself lower there in the chapter.
Dave Snowden, a knowledge management expert says “you don’t know what you know until you need to know it”. Well, that certainly applies here. In other words, I am learning to use more of my CDF skills to take a step back, assess their comfort with technology, question more to find out what they already KNOW about themselves first and asking what efforts they have taken first. This gives students the time and space to really reach within themselves on what they already have deduced, because they ALWAYS know more than we (or they) think, and this self-knowledge adds to the value of a session or a workshop.
Then, I can tailor my resources to just a couple that will better meet their immediate need, and ask them to review it through their own lens, and not take the empirical data at face value as gospel, but as one data point in the career decision process. For example, many students tell me their parents want them to become a pharmacist because of the pay. Then, invite them to examine the information on the pharmacy field and compare it with THEIR personal values, interests, goals and motivators.
Lastly, the lesson I am learning to make a giant mass of career information resources accessible and more digestible using the favored delivery channel (Facebook) of our students and appealing to their sensibilities and preferences (at their convenience, pictures over a ton of words, consistent form of delivery on Facebook, video and Pinterest versus long articles). This is a shift I am personally making from the corporate world to higher education.