Variables Affecting Readiness to Benefit From Career Interventions

an article by James P Sampson Jr, Mary-Catherine McClain, Elisabeth Musch and Robert C Reardon (Center for the Study of Technology in Counseling and Career Development, Florida State University) published in The Career Development Quarterly Volume 61 Issue 2 (June 2013)

Abstract

This article identifies and briefly describes the broad range of variables that may influence clients’ readiness to benefit from career interventions. The article also discusses consequences of low readiness for effective use of career interventions and addresses implications for practice as well as for future research.

Variables contributing to low readiness for effective use of career interventions include

• personal characteristics and circumstances;
• knowledge of self, options, and decision making; and
• prior experience with career interventions.

Consequences of low readiness for using career interventions include

• premature disengagement,
• negative perception of skills and interests,
• selective acquisition of incomplete information,
• premature choice foreclosure,
• protracted exploration,
• dependent decision-making style, and
• poor evaluation of options.

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