Lecture # 505:
Vocational Choice

copyright 2008 Cheryl K. Hosken, BSN, MS Psych.

If we are to help a person find work even though he is handicapped, how do we know what is best for him? How can we help them make decisions about work and education? What kind of problems will they have to overcome to get work?

Early theories of occupational choice were based on an economic perspective and today that is also a large factor in determining the occupation a person chooses. However, there are psychological and sociological aspects of occupational choice. Many times persons are offered advice that does not take into account religious views, history of one's mother country, and attitudes about work based in the literature of one's home country.

Meditate Word By Word On These Verses:
1 Sam. 3:1-10.

There are several theories of occupational choice - that is, what job is right for a person with certain characteristics? The theories are based on the view of a normal person who progresses through stages of human development. Each theory emphasizes certain factors:

One of the most popular theories is trait-factor. This means that a person has certain distinct traits that are needed for success in a certain job. For example, a bookkeeper should be a person who likes accuracy, detail, mathematics, and quiet work area. If a person's traits can be measured, there is a direct way to predict success in certain job.

When this theory is applied to helping people find jobs, there are the following implications:

  1. Each person has traits that are for one or a few correct occupations.
  2. If left alone, a person should naturally make the correct occupational choice.
  3. Without assistance though, a person might choose the wrong occupation and waste his time.
  4. During the teen-age years, a person should learn what traits he has.
  5. When the person knows his traits and the jobs that correlate with his traits, his educational choices should be based on those traits.
  6. The choice of occupation and decisions that affect achieving that occupation should remain constant over a period of time. For example, if a young person decides to become a doctor, he will make decisions about his education (which medical institute is best, what specialty interests him the most, and what is necessary for him to know to pass entry exams) so that he will eventually be the doctor he wants to be.

Another theory is that a person has certain needs that drive him toward a certain job. The motivation to satisfy these needs may be logical or emotional, conscious or unconscious, and directly or indirectly expressed in words. It is said that work is a way to satisfy one's needs. For example, a person may have a need for stability so that he finds a job that pays him well, and he stays in that job all of his life. He is content to be in one place and have reliable pay every month. Some vocational scientists have developed six basic interests or needs that can be measured. They are:

  1. Theoretical - An overriding interest in the discovery of truth and an experimental, rational, and intellectual approach.
  2. Economic - This is an emphasis on practical values and doing business activities.
  3. Aesthetic - Placement of highest value on form and harmony; evaluating experience from its gracefulness, symmetry, or fitness.
  4. Social - Emphasizing altruism and philanthropy
  5. Political - An interest in personal power, influence, and renown.
  6. Religious - Interest in unity of experience and in attempting to understand people and the universe in a whole system.

Theory of Early Parent-Child Relationships
Ann Roe developed three types of psychological climates that affect the work children eventually choose. If a parent is focused on the emotional aspects of a child's growth, the result is an over-protecting or over-demanding atmosphere for the child. For example, the parent may be so concerned that the child has quiet, non-threatening life experiences as he grows, the child grows up in an over-protecting environment, not one that usually helps him adapt to different types of people and experiences. These children may choose occupations that have to do with emphasis on their own importance such as a political or governmental occupation.

The avoidance of a child results in his growing up in a neglectful or rejecting climate. Oftentimes these children have difficult behavior as babies and their parents try everything to satisfy them without being very successful. These children tend to choose those jobs that involve objects (technology), animals (outdoor life occupations), or ideas (science). The parent who is relaxed and accepting of his child tries to provide a loving atmosphere for growth, so these children tend to choose those professions that relate to people such a teachers, professors, doctors, social workers, and church workers.

Question:
1. Which theory of occupational choice is most reasonable to you? Are there other factors to consider when making an occupational choice?

 

 

Vocational Development
The main idea of all the theories of occupational choice is that one, several, or a group of factors influence the person and at some point in live each person chooses an occupation in association with these factors or as a reaction to them.

There is another group of theories that states that a person proceeds through various stages in life with vocation as only one part of his human development. For example, as people age and gain life experience, they may turn to another occupation. An engineer may become a teacher or pastor. A person does not choose an occupation for the whole of life, but chooses a series of occupations related to his life stage. People are not designated for a correct occupation - everyone can be satisfied with many jobs. These theories are known as theories of vocational development.

For example, each person goes through a course of development psychologically and socially. Through what he experiences, he grows in different ways. There are some basic assumptions about vocational development:

  1. Individual development is continuous, and there are distinct life stages.
  2. People in each stage of life have certain common traits.
  3. Most people in a specific culture pass through similar developmental periods.
  4. Society places certain demands on individuals and they are similar for all people in that society.
  5. Developmental crises occur when people become aware of the need to change current behavior and learn new coping skills.
  6. As individuals learn new skills, they become more mature.
  7. Preparations for overcoming a developmental crisis are made in the stage prior to next new crisis.
  8. The crisis must be met successfully before the individual can pass to another developmental stage.
  9. Learning required tasks gives the individual approval from society and helps a person pass through other crises successfully.

There may be a series of different tasks for a person to complete in society. An adolescent faces the task of choosing an occupation, but he must also master several other tasks concurrently:

Another theory is that occupational choice is a long-term process that becomes progressively irreversible. A final choice in occupations is the compromise of an ideal and the available realistic alternatives. For example, a person may want to become a doctor after having an illness from which he recovered. However, his age may limit him since medical study requires long preparation. Instead, he may become a laboratory researcher or help with funding a research group that is trying to conquer a certain disease.

Also, when an occupational choice is made, other choices are eliminated. As time goes by, the ability to change professions is limited. The responsibilities of family, finances, and use of one's energies limits choices. Other factors that affect occupational choice are role models, coping with reality of certain occupational environments, and if a person thinks of work as enjoyment or a task.

Question:
2. Think about the role model, occupational environments, and how you see work. Write an example for each.

 

 

Another theory is that a person develops an image of himself as he works. Through different work activities, people learn about their own unique style and similarity to others. Sensations, perceptions, and experiences all help a person to build an adult image of himself. People work to earn a living, to gain recognition as a person, to express themselves, and for satisfaction. So vocational development occurs in a social and economic sphere of work.

How Do These Theories Relate to Disabled Persons?
Disabilities affect a person's ability to do a certain type of work. Adjustment to disability affects how a person works. For example, a person who loses a leg may not have the ability to return to his former job assembling cars. He must find other work where he is not required to stand for long periods of time. Adjustment to a disability may be positive in that a person strives to work after the disability occurs. It may be negative because a person sees himself as unable to work and must sit at home for the rest of his life.

The vocational development of the person before his disability has a direct effect on how he sees himself after the disability happens. The rehabilitation specialist needs to know what residual abilities the person has after an accident and identify the disabled persons needs (independence, adequate income, care for family, etc.). By knowing these abilities and needs, the specialist can help a person find work that fits abilities and needs.

How do we know if a person is successful in a new job or in training? In a new job, we see that he is using his abilities and gaining some new ones. His work pleases him and he is a stable worker. If he decides on training, we verify that he attends classes, he finishes his course of training, and finds a job that gives him stability.

There are four potential problem areas for the individual with a disability as he begins his search for work.

  1. Most kinds of work are done away from home and require travel to the place of work
  2. Work is done in a public place, so that privacy from others is limited.
  3. The work situation is impersonal and work is done regardless of a person's personal characteristics.
  4. Work is bound by time commitments, that is, a person has to be on a job for so many hours per day or complete so many tasks per day.

Each work situation is special in that there are certain customs, rules, and traditions that come from the culture a person lives in and from the specific work place's history and place in society. For example, a car repairman has certain procedures he follows in fixing a car and there are certain prices paid for his knowledge and expertise. The car repairman's work place may be his own yard by his own home, which is not a high level place in society, or it may be with a dealer repairing BMW cars which is more prestigious.

3. What factors affect a person after his disability in getting work?
(Choose the best answer.)
a) depression and adjustment,
b) abilities and needs,
c) training and work situation.

 

 

How Do We Help a Person Understand How to Look for Different Work?
As we get to know the person, we are able to collect data about his medical history, his level of education, interest inventories, behavior descriptions of himself and what others think of him, his likes and dislikes, and his sense of values. From all this information, we have a picture of who the person is and help him understand himself.

The process of finding a good job or career is not exact, but then neither is the choice of a marriage partner. Both of these choices maybe emotionally influenced, based on inadequate sampling of what is available, and scientifically unsound, but they can produce happy outcomes.

In many developing countries in the world, types of work are constantly changing. Professions we never heard of 10 years ago are now established. Many older types of work are vanishing as machines now do them or there is not a need for this work anymore. People with or without disabilities need to think about the type of work they do because the world of work is always changing. It changes drastically after an accident. For example, a person who is injured as a builder may not be able to work at his former job anymore. Therefore, he needs to find a job that will use his skills from earlier jobs. He may become a building inspector or order supplies for a builder.

In the modern world, the idea of having a job for all of one's life is no longer an option. Persons may change jobs every few years since the needs of a country change. The types of jobs that may be practiced over a lifetime are those associated medicine and government. Most other jobs will change in form over the years. For example, many engineers and university researchers lost their jobs in Russia during the 1990's. Some of these people became drivers since they have a good work record and ability to learn new habits. Some of these people have gone on to other jobs, but others have remained in their work as drivers and make a good income.

4. Why does a person need to understand himself?
(Only one of the following answers is correct.)
a. Because he then knows better what his strengths are,
b. He knows what he wants and does not want in his life,
c. He avoids making mistakes in choosing a job.

 

 

How Do We Find Information About Jobs?
There are local information centers in each region that provide information about jobs available. The disadvantage about this system is that the information may be out of date and the bureaucracy is not willing to help you find the information you need. However, that may be the first place to begin looking for jobs for your client.

There is also local information in your towns. There maybe employers who list job needs in their offices of personnel. For example, Perekriostik, a grocery store chain in Moscow, lists needs for persons with disability near their manager's office. When looking at such a job, you must observe the workers in this job while they are at work, find out how much training is needed for the job, find out about the rate of pay, and hours of work. Sometimes people with disabilities are hired simply as a tax break for an employer. The disabled worker gets very little pay and very little time actually working.

Newspapers and television are also sources of information. For example, there are ads in newspapers for work and special newspapers about types of jobs that need workers. Sometimes special announcements are made on television or radio about new businesses or factories that are opening. If the business is legitimate, it is good to keep a file of each one, its location, and telephone number.

How can you help the client know about a specific job? Gathering information becomes specific when one needs to know about a specific job. There are:

Question:
5. How did you gather information about the job or profession you have? How many choices did you have?

 

 

How Does a Person Make a Choice of a Job or Occupation?
A person must be familiar with his own strengths and liabilities. He must know about the job he wants to do. His goals must fit with the job he wants to do. If a person is over the age of 35 years and enjoyed his former work, he can use the skills he has now and apply them to another job. For example, if he worked on a construction site, he may be able to use the skills he learned there in a store or market helping people estimate the quantity of materials needed for a certain remodeling job or he may simply work in a place that sells building materials.

There are several types of decision-making processes that can be taught to help a person make a decision. Here is one of them:

  1. The person must be willing to make a decision to solve a problem.
  2. The problem must be defined and the goals identified - for example, a problem could be "finding a job that is suitable for me" and the goal would be to find the job in 2 months.
  3. Alternatives to the decision are identified - for example, a person could say that actually working on a job is not his choice and he would rather take a government pension and play cards or watch television for the rest of his life.
  4. Information is collected about the decision through interviews with prospective employers, other workers in the same jobs, or written materials.
  5. The results of this data and the various possible choices are reviewed and compared.
  6. There is a comparison of the person's values, family situation, and practicality of a job with the choices. For example, a man may want to drive a truck for a living, but if he has children, what kind of driving will he choose: does he want to be away from his family for weeks or does he want to drive locally and be at home every night?
  7. The person makes a choice.
  8. The chosen alternative is tried and the person evaluates whether or not he needs to change his situation or stay with the job he chose.

6. You can provide vocational rehabilitation to a disabled person who only wants to receive a government pension.
true / false.