Career Interview 1

Running head: THEORY OF CAREER CONSTRUCTION: CAREER INTERVIEW

Theory of Career Construction: CSI Career Interview

Case Study: Helen W

Christine Buckingham

Regent University

©2010 Christine E. Buckingham. All Rights reserved. www.CEBuckingham.com

 Career Interview 2

Section 1 - Client Case

Overview of Client

Helen is a 46 year old Caucasian female who raised her children as a single parent. She

has worked as a middle school and high school English teacher for most of her professional life

and is currently working on her Master‟s in Teaching to Students of Other Languages (TESOL),

She wants to move to Italy to teach. She left a permanent position in June to be able to pursue

her academic studies and is supporting herself by substitute teaching, tutoring, and other part

time work while she completes her studies.

The client has supported herself since her marital separation in 1990. While she has been

able to provide for her children, it has been hard financially because her ex-husband, although a

very successful attorney, has refused to pay court-ordered child support over the years.

Consequently, she has made career choices based on “utility and convention” rather than

pursuing her primary interests. Now, with both children grown, she is preparing for a career

change. Although her son is completely independent, her 19 year old daughter is still very

emotionally dependent upon her and the client has some doubts about being able to pursue her

career choices and the appropriate timing or such a change.

Helen‟s lifelong interests have been learning, reading, travel, photography and art.

Holland Code.

At the beginning of the interview session, Helen completed the online Self-Directed

Search (SDS) which assigns Holland codes and assesses career interest areas. The Self-Directed

Search Interpretive report (Reardon, R. & PAR Staff, 2008) assessment established her RIASEC

codes as Realistic = 20; Investigative = 17; Artistic = 21; Social = 30; Enterprising = 20, and

Conventional = 20, and assigned a final Holland summary code of SAE (Social-Artistic-

©2010 Christine E. Buckingham. All Rights reserved. www.CEBuckingham.com

 Career Interview 3

Enterprising) even though R, C, and E were all at 20. As I read through the report, it was not

clear to me why E was selected over R or C, but I approached the interview expecting that the

process would provide some clarity for us both.

Helen agreed with the ranking of Social as her first type. According to the SDS, Social

types are drawn to careers as teachers, counselors, and other helping roles. The S type is

described as convincing, cooperative, friendly, generous, helpful, responsible, social, and

sympathetic. Her second type, Artistic, is identified as creative and the traits that she agreed

with as apt descriptors were nonconforming, open, emotional, idealistic, imaginative and

independent. She said that she views herself as artistic which is one reason that photography is

such an important hobby. She said that it allows her to be creative and she considers it her

“artistic outlet.” She agreed with the E type in that she is adventurous.

The SAE occupation that Helen thought best suited her was that of teacher, whether

elementary, secondary, or preschool. Fields of study that interested her were all related to

teaching: art teacher, foreign language teacher and other teaching occupations. Finally, SA/AS

leisure activities that Helen found in line with her interests including music, dancing, and cultural

pursuits such as concerts, photography, Renaissance studies and wine tasting.

Career style interview

I began my Career Style Interview (Savickas, 2005) by thanking my friend for

participating in the process. Following the example of Dr. Savickas in his APA interview (2006),

I asked her how I could be useful to her today. She responded that she had three goals: “To be

sure about the career path I‟m on; to be sure that I‟m prepared for it; and, that I am suited for it.”

She expressed indecisiveness by saying that she is concerned about whether or not she is being

©2010 Christine E. Buckingham. All Rights reserved. www.CEBuckingham.com

 Career Interview 4

sensitive to God‟s leading about the timing: “Am I in His will or is this more just about what I

want? I‟m just not sure.”

I asked Helen to tell me three of her early role models. She replied that she admired

artists and authors, especially the sculptor, Rodin, the author Carolyn Keene, and Keene‟s

fictional heroine, Nancy Drew. She liked Rodin for his style and sculptures and admired him

because, “He was not the norm. He sculpted things he felt. His Gates of Hell was based on

something literal but with lots of feeling and emotion, interpretive. Not the norm, ahead of his

time and he was looked down on because of it.” Helen admired Carolyn Keene‟s style of writing.

Her heroine was adventurous but realistic, and “progressive for a girl, not typical of that time.”

And finally, she was drawn to Nancy Drew because “she evaluated things, was analytical; she

went through a process, she was smart, very intellectual.”

Helen reflected that she is like each of her role models in that she does not go with the

flow or the norm, and does not value “requiring the approval of the establishment.” She values

intelligence, education and says she just naturally looks at things from a different perspective.

She says, “I‟m not like normal people” and has received that message over her lifetime in both

positive and negative ways. She also sees herself as being different from her role models. Rodin

was very accomplished as an artist “and I‟m not”; Carolyn Keene was financially successful

“and I don‟t consider myself financially successful.”

The next set of questions concerned her preferred environments. The magazines she

enjoys reading are, Food & Wine, Gourmet, and Cooks’ Illustrated because “I love every aspect

of food”; she enjoys Digital Camera and Shutterbug because she enjoys photography and can

learn more about her craft; and she reads Budget Travel because she is limited in her ability to

©2010 Christine E. Buckingham. All Rights reserved. www.CEBuckingham.com

 Career Interview 5

travel right now. She said, “I read it for fun and because I enjoy the anecdotes.” She added, “I

read to expand my knowledge.”

Helen shared that she never has been much of a TV watcher, not even as a child, but the

shows she does watch are all police based. She enjoys “The Mentalist”. She said the hero is

“witty – smart and funny.” In response to questions about how she likes to spend her free time,

Helen enthused that she loves cooking, gardening, photography, and reading. She said that she

“loves food. I love to make it, eat it, and serve it. I love making other people happy by making

what they enjoy.” She considers photography her art, and enjoys color and composition. Finally,

she loves to read because it is an escape: “When you read, you don‟t have to think about your

life.”

Helen identified two favorite sayings. The first one, “Knowledge is power”, fits with her

love of learning, education, and feeling that intelligence is empowering. She added, “I really do

like learning”. Her second one, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phi.

4:13, NIV), speaks to her reliance on God‟s resources and her deep faith.

As we talked about her favorite subjects in school, she said she loved art because of the

use of different mediums, color, and textures; she loved history because she enjoyed learning

facts about places and people, and she loved all aspects of English: grammar, analyzing

literature, literary symbolism. She hated math though because she didn‟t understand it. Though

she enjoyed science, the sciences that had a lot of math were frustrating because she couldn‟t

figure out the formulae or systems.

What began to emerge consistently were her love of learning and education, her interest

in people and places, and her artistic nature. I was looking for indicators that she reflected the

©2010 Christine E. Buckingham. All Rights reserved. www.CEBuckingham.com

 Career Interview 6

Enterprising area as well, specifically in ways that would demonstrate the impulsive, self-

confident, adventurous traits.

Early Childhood Memories

As we approached the end of the interview, I asked Helen to relate three stories from

early childhood, and to give each story a title or heading. She commented, “All my stories end

with me getting into trouble!” Her stories were:

#1 Girl runs amok in art museum

“My mother would take me and my two brothers to the art museum nearly every Monday and

she especially loved to sit for hours before Renoir‟s painting, “The Bathers”. My brothers and I

were supposed to sit quietly on the bench with my mother. One time we slipped out and went

next door into the Van Gogh room and a guard found us and sent us back to my mother. She was

not happy with us.”

#2 Girl learns a lesson

“We used to live near a farm that belonged to Mrs. Ivy and we loved to run in the cornfields

which would get us into trouble. Mrs. Ivy had throat cancer and had a microphone on her throat.

She told us a story about a boy getting hit in the head with a baseball. My father would umpire

games and I remember being pretty afraid about me getting hit in the head. I remember thinking,

„I‟d better not get hit in the head.‟”

#3 Girl’s worst fears not realized

“It was Christmas Eve. As a child I always had a hard time sleeping and I was up late that night.

My mom came into my room to get my doll, Penny Bright. Mom thought I was asleep and so I

pretended to be asleep. She came in and got my doll and I was very afraid it was because I had

been bad. She took my doll and I was afraid I would not get her back. My doll was the one girlie

©2010 Christine E. Buckingham. All Rights reserved. www.CEBuckingham.com

 Career Interview 7

thing I had and I loved her. In the morning, under the Christmas tree, I had new doll clothes that

Mom had made for my doll.”

I reflected on verbs that she used (runs, learns, fears) and the themes that connected each

of the stories: being adventurous but reprimanded, conscientiously learning her lessons, and

being fearful about the consequences of not being the good little girl. She agreed with a wry

smile.

Career adaptability

Helen‟s primary dimension of concern was “Who owns my future?” We discussed her

fear that she will be blocked from moving to Italy for the simple reason, that this is what she

wants to do. In the past her responsibilities have gotten in the way of her doing what she wanted

and she is afraid that will happen again. She said that while she truly is independent, her

independent spirit has not been valued by other people, in fact, she said that her parents “had

drilled into me, that I have to be able to support herself in a conventional manner.” She looked at

me and asked, “Can I do this?”

Success formula

The next step was to use Helen‟s RIACEC score to compose a success formula. I

proposed, “I feel happy when I am adventurous, able to be independent, and can support myself

by taking pictures.” Helen enthusiastically agreed and added that helping others is important to

her. She said, “Maybe I can take wedding pictures!” We modified her formula to state, “I feel

happy when I can help others in a way that allows me the freedom to be independent and act

with enthusiasm.” She said that while she has always been adventurous and has traveled

extensively, she has never attempted to support herself with photography. Instead, teaching has

always been the conventional, acceptable career option she has used.

©2010 Christine E. Buckingham. All Rights reserved. www.CEBuckingham.com

 Career Interview 8

Life Themes

Helen‟s life themes surfaced through her stated goals, through her role models, her

preferred environment and her stories. As we closed the session we talked about whether her

goals for the interview had been realized. She said she felt reassured that she is on the right path

and that her choices have value and are deserving of support. She said that for the first time she

had stated her desire of living abroad as a photographer. She found that exciting and we talked

about how that career path expresses the adventurous, unconventional and artistic nature that she

found attractive in the role models she adopted from an early age. She reiterated that she values

education and learning, she really is adventurous, and she does not like to be forced into a

traditional mold. She recognized that this is juxtaposed against her fears of being chastised for

not being conventional, and that her independent, adventurous spirit has always been met with a

lack of support. She still struggles with the question of whether or not she owns her own future

and she frames it now in the context of whether or not God approves of her career aspirations.

Will the girl run amok? Will the girl learn her lesson? Will her worst fears be realized?

Section 2

Assessment of the Model for Helen W.

Throughout the interview process I began to understand more about the features of the

Conventional component, especially the aspects of having a set routine, knowing what is

expected, and carrying out orders. These features all indicate a strong need for order and

predictability, and imply needing approval, or cooperating with authority that is in place. It is

also easier to understand how Helen‟s Enterprising aspect is somewhat at odds with Conforming.

The Enterprising aspects of making decisions, using power, and acting enthusiasm are parts that

©2010 Christine E. Buckingham. All Rights reserved. www.CEBuckingham.com

 Career Interview 9

she claims for herself and wants the freedom to express but she also feels the constraint of the

expectations of others.

This model was a good fit for Helen. While it did not reveal new information to her about

her strengths or interests, it reinforced her identity as a complex, conforming non-conformist, an

artist who has spent her professional life in a classroom with little creative autonomy or

authority, and as a free spirit who loves travel and experiencing new cultures but who doesn‟t

believe she has permission to forge ahead on a path of her own choosing. At the same time, the

interview structure provided the safety that allowed us to stay focused on career rather than

moving into underlying issues. At the conclusion of our interview, Helen felt affirmed but sad.

She said that this process has clarified part off her dilemma. She has realized that is equipped and

prepared for the career direction she desires, and believes she can act independently, but now

realizes that the primary obstacle in moving forward is that she had thought she was finished

parenting but now she doesn‟t think her daughter is ready to live independently, and so for now,

she doesn‟t think that she can make career decisions that are only focused on her own desires. So

she is still not sure who owns her future.

Assessment of model for counselor

I think Savickas developed a wonderful, simple to use model. Though it appears straight

forward in the way it accesses identity formation especially through early heroes and childhood

memories, what emerges has a strong psychodynamic feel. As a clinical counselor, I think the

career interview can present many opportunities to explore deeper themes. In Helen‟s case,

additional themes were revealed but not discussed: how girls were not valued in her family of

origin, how the traits of being adventurous, of being independent and non-conforming appeal to

her, yet how her early training has caused her to doubt the wisdom of expressing those in her

©2010 Christine E. Buckingham. All Rights reserved. www.CEBuckingham.com

 Career Interview 10

career choices. She doesn‟t value needing approval yet can‟t help but seek it from significant

others. The ambivalence continues to surface in her indecisiveness.

In this instance, I found that the construction of career offered a doorway into

constructing meaning of a whole life including the future trajectory. Helping a client construct

meaning of their life is part of what drew me to counseling and I think Savickas‟ tool has real

value to my work. I recognize that through counseling I am able to help clients look for the

calling of God on their life, to find purpose in all their experiences, and to help build hope that

they are involved in a redemptive process that can give coherence to their life. This is very

rewarding to me as I continue to construct my own career story.

©2010 Christine E. Buckingham. All Rights reserved. www.CEBuckingham.com

 Career Interview 11

References

Holland, J.L. (1994) SDS Form R Assessment Booklet, Psychological Assessment Resources

(2001) , retrieved October 26, 2008 from http://www.self-directed-search.com/

Reardon, R.C. & PAR Staff (2008). The Self-Directed search© Interprestive report [Electronic

version] . Retrieved October 25, 2008 from http://www.self-directed-search.com/ cgi-

bin/getReport.cgi?TestID=SDS_SDSR_1224953796

Savickas, M. L. (2005). Career construction theory and practice [Electronic Version]. Paper

presented at the annual meeting of the American Counseling Association, Atlanta, GA.

Savickas, M. L. (2006). Career Counseling. APA Psychotherapy Videotape Series: Specific

Treatments for Specific Populations, Retrieved October 24, 2008 from Regent University

Library, Regent University,

https://digitallibrary.regent.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=246&Ite

mid=264

©2010 Christine E. Buckingham. All Rights reserved. www.CEBuckingham.com