Jared Smith
Kim Gilliam
Career Counseling
3/22/15
Career Assessment
CLIENT DEMOGRAPHIC
Name: CK DOB: Removed
for privacy Gender Identity(ies): Male Racial Identity(ies): White
Education Level: Currently Completing
12th grade and some college classes.
Relationship: Removed for client
privacy
Client was approached for this project because of age and associated
career transitions common with the end of high school/ the beginning of
continuing education.
SESSSION ONE: Clients (CK and KH)
had asked to participate in sessions together.
After consulting Dr. Gilliam to assure that this was alright student
allowed the clients to begin their first session together. The session began with an explanation of
confidentiality and the exchange of signed consent forms (Appendix D). Because two clients would be present extra
explanation was added that complete confidentiality was impossible due to the
extra person in the room.
Confidentiality on my part was assured and the contact information for
whom to contact in case of my breach of confidence was discussed. Upon finishing confidentiality conversation
student went over the goals and structure of what the three sessions would be,
asked if clarity was needed or desired.
Upon finishing describing the three sessions student asked the clients
if they were ready to begin, and for a final time made sure that they wanted to
continue with a joint session.
Session one with CK took
place on 2/12/15 at 1:00pm. Client came in well groomed, seemingly comfortable,
telling jokes to the other client. He
sat in the chair attentively and announced his excitement to begin. After initial discussion of background data,
confidentiality and description of session structure, we began with a career
and interest background. Client
described job experience as starting early mentioning working for his Father’s
construction company as early as 10 years old, and working a combination of
yard work and dog walking when 15 to save up to buy his first car. Client was very vocally enthused and excited
in body language when reporting that he bought his first car himself. He later revealed it to be a huge
accomplishment, and personal pride of his. Client describes his only “real job”
as his current job at (removed for client privacy). When asked for clarity client extrapolated
that because his previous experience was under-the-table and not through an official
company he felt that his current job was more legitimate. When asked to
overview his work experience client felt that all of his jobs had in some way
been positive, citing making money, working with hands, working with close
friends and family, and working outside as intense positives that he found in
his work experience. He ended his
discussion of his current job situation by saying that he was content with the
company he works currently works for but felt that it would not be sufficient
as a job for his adult life. He then
added that he was looking forward to having a better job. After asking for further detail client
described a “better job” as one where he could feel like he makes a difference,
makes more money, gets to help people support his family, and would get to love
his work.
At this point we began
to discuss the client’s future career aspirations. The client said that for several months he
had been looking into becoming a firefighter, and that one of the reasons he
had agreed to the three free sessions is that he wanted to “make sure it was
going to be a good fit”. Client described that he became interested when his
brother, and his brother’s friend whom is a firefighter told him he would be a
good firefighter. He then talked to his father
about it and decided that he felt it would be a good fit. Client has further
researched firefighting as a future career path, has engaged in ride-alongs,
gone to several events at the local firehouse, and spoken with current
firefighters regarding state requirements for becoming a state
requirement. It is client’s current plan
to begin pursuing academic path toward becoming a firefighter this upcoming autumn.
When asked if client had interest in any other fields, client responded that he
used to be really interested in being a teacher but as he began to fall behind
and struggle academically he no longer felt that he would be equipped to be a
good teacher. He said he still has a lot of admiration for educators.
At this point we began
to discuss academics as they currently applied to him and as they would apply
to the future. Client began by
expressing that his current work sometimes gets in the way of his
academics. He then posited whether
people should have to finish high school in order to get into college, claiming
that he did not like that he had to learn so many things that would never be
useful. He said he was not worried about
failing out of school and that he knew he would get his high school diploma but
that he wished he would only need to learn things congruent to what he wanted
to do. He then expressed that he was
happy that firefighting would be a shorter program based on information he
considered to have real world utility. He also described that he would be able
to do more hands on learning in college which he “needs to understand things”.
As he seemed a bit unenthused at this point with his current academic situation
student asked the client if he would still go to school if he did not have to,
and did not need to in order to become a firefighter. Client replied that he enjoys learning new
things and he thinks he would still go to school, just that he would want to
have more choice over the requirements of his program. Client then reiterated that he was excited to
potentially have that in college.
To round out the session
we had a brief discussion about hobbies and interests. Client began by describing that he loves
animals, especially dogs. He then said
he loves being outdoors, doing things with his family and friends, watching
Netflix (especially conspiracy or mythology based shows), he also loves sports
with the caveat that he does not like to play competitively only for fun, and
that he really likes fishing because he has had many good trips fishing with
his dad.
As the session began to
wind down student called attention to a few patterns noticed during our time
together. The first was: client likes working with his hands and stated that he
“needs” to work with his hands to understand things. Another pattern we discussed was the clients
disinterest with information he felt was not of practical utility. The final pattern we brought up was a deep
appreciation for family, and his father in particular. Client responded very strongly to this,
noting that his family meant the world to him.
He agreed with the assertion that he was very family oriented and asked
if he could share a little bit about his family to describe why he was so
family oriented. Student told client that student would be happy to listen to
whatever he’d like to share. He then
described his family in greater detail noting that his parents had both been
adopted and that within his family there was a history of infidelity, substance
abuse issues and physical abuse. He
further stated that he grew up in a very small house with his family and he and
his 3 siblings were very close because they had grown up in such close
proximity. He stated that he was a caregiver figure in the family. He finished
by stating that because he had been through so many struggles with his family
he felt that they were very important, and that he believed that it was the
utility of family to be an unconditional support system. Student let the client
know his willing ness to share was appreciated.
Client thanked student for listening and after a moment asked what was
next.
The session closed
around me thanking both clients for again coming in and sharing. Student then gave a brief description of what
the next session would entail, how assessments would be administered and
assured that there would be no wrong answers and that the inventories were not
a test. Student checked for clarity with
the clients and made sure they both wanted to continue to participate. Student then asked if they had any final
thoughts, feelings, or questions for today. After they responded that they did
not, student escorted both clients to the door and scheduled the next
appointment with them.
SESSION 2
Session two took place
on 2/20/15 at 1:30 PM. Because session one went into deeper issues than the
student had originally anticipated session two was started by doing a check in
with both clients, as they again arrived together. Both clients remarked that
it had been a positive experience, client C.K. in particular resounded that it
“felt good to get things off of his chest”, “liked to get to open up to new
people”, and “was really excited for today’s session”. Student asked the clients if they wanted to
continue to have their sessions together or if they would prefer to split
up. After discussing, the clients
decided that they would prefer individual sessions today. Client K.H. was escorted upstairs into an
empty office/ guest room that was used as a waiting room for the
assignment. Student then continued my
session with client C.K. Student began client’s individual session by asking if
he had anything he wanted to add now that we were in private, he declined
stating that he didn’t have anything to add from earlier. We continued into the session by
re-establishing that the three assessments he would be taking were not
tests. We then discussed the validity,
and focus of the three instruments, what they would measure and how we would
use those results. Because client was so focused on being a firefighter, before
we took the measure student asked client what it would mean to him if the
results said that firefighter would not be a career of best fit for him. Client replied that although he would take
the assessment seriously and look at what the assessment offered as his best
fit career, he felt deeply that firefighter was a good fit for him and did not
feel that the instrument results would deter him from pursuing that
career. He then stated that he was
looking forward to seeing what other things he could be really good at too.
A mindful body scan was performed to help the client relax before the
instruments were administered. The client was told that if he had any questions
throughout any of the measures, needed to take a break, or had any concerns at
all that we could stop. The client was then administered three different
instruments.
1) Type
Focus Personality: This instrument was
given to find a Myers-Briggs personality type that would be used to assess
career congruence with personality.
2) Type
Focus Interests: This instrument was given to find a Holland code that would be
used to assess career congruence with client interests.
3) Work
Values Inventory: This instrument was given to find the top three and bottom
three values that client holds for career conditions. These will be used to
assess career congruence with client interests
PERSONALITY RESULTS
General Description:
ESFJs are friendly, organized helpers who want
to see the job get done. They are usually traditional in their beliefs and get
along easily with many groups. ESFJs are conscientious and cooperative,
honestly concerned about others' experiences and affairs.
Summary of Careers
ESFJs are best at jobs
where their friendly, organized and practical helping skills are used within
traditional settings. They want to be personally involved in their service, and
they want to be practical and personal. They are realistic caregivers; they
don't have much patience with theoretical approaches and detached analysis.
ESFJs find careers in teaching, sales, management, care giving and personal
services to be rewarding.
INTEREST RESULTS
Social
Social occupations
frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These
occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
Realistic
Realistic occupations
frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems
and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials
like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working
outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Artistic
Artistic occupations
frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require
self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of
rules.
WORK VALUES RESULTS *See Appendix a
Upon completion of all three measures, which
were taken under the supervision of student, the results were brought up and
discussed. Beginning with personality
client and student discussed the four letter myers-briggs code which was given
as a result of the personality measure. Client
was first reminded that this measure, although a standardized and reliable
measure was not the authentic myers-briggs instrument. Student then informed
client of the availability and cost of myers-briggs testing through the
client’s college. Client’s results were
ESFJ. Student began by working through each letter and contrasting the letter
with what the letter on the opposite side of the spectrum would be (I.e.
I:introvert vs E:extrovert.). This was done to ensure that results were
congruent with client’s self-assessment of personality. Client felt strongly that all four areas were
accurately representative of the client’s personality.
The second measure, which dealt with interests was the
next measure reviewed with the client.
The client received a score of SRA: Social, Realistic, and Artistic. Student reviewed these interest features with
the client to assure that the measure accurately captured the interests of the
client. Upon reaching “artistic” client
was a bit confused and didn’t see himself as an artistic person. However when client and student read through
the description of the result “artistic” together client felt that he was just
“thrown off by the word” and he actually did agree with the implications made
under the category of artistic. Client
voiced that he felt he was also highly enterprising. This was noted and would be used in the
future to help narrow clients’ job results in the next meeting.
The last measure was the Work Values Inventory Sheet,
which was completed by client under the supervision of student. The client’s results were that the highest
value was placed on Altruism, Achievement, and Security. The client’s lowest value was placed on
Intellectual Stimulation, Variety, and Aesthetics. Client and student reviewed each word on the
top three and bottom three as well as looked at the associated questions for
clarity and rationale. Client felt
strongly that this measure accurately represented his values.
As client had felt that all three measures had accurately
represented the client’s personality, interests, and values student felt that
no further measures needed to be taken. To
wind down the session client and student discussed the client’s feelings after
the measures which were “glad to know more about self” and “not looking forward
to closing at work”, when student asked for clarity on what about work tonight
the client was not looking forward too he stated simply that he thought it
would be busy and cause him to be exhausted.
Student asked client if there was any part of work this evening that he
was looking forward too. The client
stated that he will get to work around coworkers that he likes and whom he
feels do a good job. Client then said
“work probably won’t actually be that bad tonight”. Client ended session with a closing mindful
progressive relaxation to help alleviate any anxiety which might have been
associated with the measures. The last session was scheduled.
Final Session
The final session took place at 1:00pm on March
9th. The client again came
with the other client and both again opted to have separate sessions. Client came in a little disheveled from the
appearance set in previous sessions.
When inquiry was made client noted that he had just came from the gym,
and had woken up late. Client was asked
if he was ready to begin final session.
The client was enthusiastically reported that he had been looking
forward to this all week. To begin
student gave a layout of the session which would consist of going over job
results together, co-facilitating an action plan, delivery of applicable
resources for the client and then termination of meetings. Client had no questions regarding any of the
content of the session and was eager to begin.
The client’s type focus account was utilized during this session
and used in partnership with onetonline.org in order to widen and then narrow
career focus. The client immediately
picked up on that he did not find firefighter in the results. Student and client discussed that the results
list was a list of finite options and that firefighter may still be very
congruent with his results, but simply not represented in the shown
results. The client took comfort in that
paramedic and EMT, which were necessary stepping stones to becoming a
firefighter were in his results. After
doing some more research on the Holland code for firefighter we found that SRA
was a good fit embodying both the social helper aspect and hands on realistic
aspect of the clients’ interests. The
client then made a few notes on other careers which he said he would also be
interested in.
Student asked the client upon finishing reviewing careers where he
would like to go from here and the client said he would like to continue
focusing on firefighting. As student had
anticipated this response the liberty to pull resources regarding firefighting
had already been taken. The next part of the session involved discussing
resources and academic/state requirements for firefighting. The client was remarkably already current on
requirements to be a firefighter in the state of Ohio and new that his first
steps toward becoming a firefighter would involve EMT or Paramedic training
(dependent on requirements of individual firehouses). The client decided that beginning by looking
into those programs would be a good starting point. The client was given curricula requirements
for professional firefighting, EMT, and Paramedic via the Sinclair Community
College Emergency Medical Services Program website. Client was also given contact numbers for
enrollment and advising services at Sinclair Community College. At this point student and client began to
discuss the beginning steps of starting the client’s new career. Using SMART Goals as a starting point the
client and student began to co-facilitate an action plan based around the
desires of the client. The client felt
that the first step would be to sign up for classes in the fall. The client
felt that this goal would be easily attainable in that he was already enrolled
in both Sinclair and Wright State University.
The client felt that a realistic time-frame would involve being signed
up for classes by the end of August. He
decided another goal that could be a more short-term goal would be to contact
the department of Emergency Service to see if they had any advice for starting
the program. The client felt that this
goal could be completed within a week.
Once goals were set student asked the client if he would appreciate an
informal check-up to see if SMART goals were met on time. The client felt that would be helpful.
Student has already followed up with first round of SMART goals which had been
met by the client during the day of 3/10/15.
The session was wound down with some discussion of
termination. Client was reminded of
contact information available if he felt he needed to file a complaint of any
type against student. The client was
also given the contact information for the academic advising offices at both Sincliar
and Wright State which would be able to assist in further career development
should client feel that was needed. The
session was ended by asking the client if he had any questions left for the
student. The Client responded that he
did not. The session was closed and the
client-student relationship was terminated, with the exception of scheduled
informal follow-up.
APPENDIX A
Work Value Inventory
APPENDIX B
Resources for Client C.K
Client
expressed strongest interest in firefighting.
In order to assist in widening scope of possibilities client was
administered the Work Values Inventory (WVI) and was given Type Focus
inventories for the categories of Personality and Interests. The Clients results were such that a career
in firefighting and emergency response were complementary to both Personality,
Values, and Interests. Client was given
the following resources:
-
Results and copies of
all measures as explained to them by student, as well as continued access to
their account at www.typefocus.com
-
Specific information about the requirements of
being a firefighter in the state of Ohio including http://www.becomeafirefighterhow.com/become-firefighter-ohio-oh/
-
Community College
Curriculum for Paramedic
-
Community College
Emergency Medical Services Program contact information:
-
Community College
enrollment advisor contact information: 937-512-5338
-
Community College EMT
Curriculum
-
Community College
Professional Firefighter Curriculum
-
Co-facilitated Action
Plan
-
Cursory Information
about any other fields of interest
-
Academic advisor
contact for Community College and State University
-
SMART Goals Sheet
APPENDIX
C
Smart Goals Chart
APPENDIX
D
Consent
form
To:
______________________________________
From: Dr.
Kim Gilliam
University
of Dayton, Department of Counselor Education
300
College Park
Dayton,
Ohio 45469
kgilliam1@udayton.edu
__________________________________ is a
graduate student in counseling at the University of Dayton and currently
enrolled in a career counseling class.
One assignment for this class involves
the completion of a three-session career interview and assessment process with
a volunteer. An example (could be only two sessions due to the accelerated
summer course) of this process will be as follows:
Session
1: Discussion with you about your past and current career experience and your thoughts for the future.
Session
2: An orientation to and administration of at least two career assessments.
Session
3: A review of your assessment results and discussion of your future career plans.
Following your third session, the
graduate student will provide you with a brief report summarizing your discussion,
inventory results, and any recommendations made.
Please be aware that the information
from this three-session process will be confidential. Laws concerning
confidentiality apply to me as well as the Counseling Student. No one other
than the Counseling Student and me may have access to this information without
your written consent, with the following exceptions: 1) the client may be
dangerous to self or others; 2) as otherwise required by law (e.g. court order,
report of child or elder abuse).
We thank you for your assistance with
this assignment and hope your participation will be beneficial to you.
Detach and
return to the Counseling Student
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I, __________________________________,
understand the nature of this career interview and assessment process and agree
to freely participate or have my minor child participate. I also understand the
confidential nature of this process as well as the above-mentioned exceptions
to confidentiality.
_________________________________________ __________________
Signature Date
