Chapter 5

            I enjoyed reading chapter five and about Krumboltz’s Theory of Happenstance and Decision Making. Many of my favorite courses that I had in undergraduate school were developmental courses. I enjoy learning about how individuals develop during crucial years. I liked the fact that Krumboltz knew the importance of the developmental years and used this as a key part of his theory. Krumboltz believes we are constantly encountering learning experiences, each are followed by a reward or punishment that in turn makes us all unique (Brown, 2016). This learned behavior, due to what is experienced by the individual, helps to make up a person’s personality. These experiences, combined with the genetic make up of the individual, define how that individual thinks and what they believe. For example, if a dog bites an individual when he/she is younger, that individual may grow up with a fear of dogs. This learned behavior helps make up the individual and will be a factor in altering his/her experiences in the future. This includes career decisions. This individual that had a bad experience with a dog and in turn has a fear of dogs will never become a veterinarian. His/her experiences helped to decide that individual’s career choice.

            Krumboltz also goes on to discuss his theory of how to go about career counseling. He believes we should not choose and occupation based on personal traits, but rather facilitates the acquisition of self-knowledge and the skills needed to negotiate an ever-changing world filled with uncertainty (Brown, 2016). Krumboltz knew how the world is constantly changing. Individuals do not simply learn one task or trait and end their career developing there. Many jobs require constant education throughout the career in order to maintain how well the job can be done. He also knew that in order to find the right direction to take your career you must first understand yourself. By learning about yourself and the traits you have, due to your past experiences, you can then choose the logical career path that will fit you. You must understand yourself, and where you have came from, to ultimately understand where you must go in the future. This aspect of self-knowledge in career development is also found in Savackas’ article that we had to read and discuss (Savackas, 1995). This new form of career counseling is rapidly becoming recognized as a better way of thinking about career development. Through future studies and observations, one day there will be a set of standard that when followed will help lead all individuals to the correct career field.

Refernece

Savickas, M. L. (1995). Constructivist Counseling for Career Indecision. The Career Development Quarterly, 43(4), 363-373. doi:10.1002/j.2161-0045.1995.tb00441.x 

Brown, D.  (2016).  Career information, career counseling, and career development (11th edition). Boston, MA: Pearson.