Gender differences in the family-relatedness of relocation decisions

Using a dyadic study design, the present study draws on research into the family-relatedness of work decisions to examine the impact of the spouse's characteristics on an employee's willingness to engage in job-related relocation. With a sample of 1234 employees, the results show that spousal willingness to relocate mediates (a) the negative effect of the spouse's community ties and (b) the positive effect of the spouse's job alternatives on an employee's willingness to relocate. The indirect effect of the spouse's job alternatives was stronger among female than among male employees. To validate employees' perceptions, this study uses matched data from a subsample of 207 employees and their spouses to test a multi-source model, which revealed several notable inconsistencies. Our exploration of discrepancies between employee and spousal ratings helps explain these differences between single-source and multi-source models. Overall, findings suggest that employees consider various spousal factors in their career decision-making, and the family-relatedness of relocation decisions is particularly strong among female employees.     

A culture-sensitive approach in the development of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale in Iceland: Theoretical and operational considerations

The aim of this study was to develop a culturally sensitive version of the Career Adapt-Ability Scale (CAAS) in Iceland. First the translated international version of the 55-item CAAI designed to measure the four dimensions of career adaptability (concern, curiosity, control, and confidence) plus additional dimension called co-operation was administered to a sample of 491 secondary school students. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that both the four- and five-dimensional model show an adequate fit in the sample. An emic evaluation of the international model indicated that new facets tentatively called fatalism and contribution might be relevant in Iceland. New contextualized Icelandic items were written resulting in a combined 89-item measure of international and indigenous items administered to a sample of 1249 university students. Exploratory factor analysis supported contribution as a separate dimension and was used to create Icelandic scales measuring six dimensions: co-operation, contribution, and the four original dimensions. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the fit of three alternative 4–6-dimensional international and Icelandic models and measures of career adaptability in Iceland. An emic approach is needed to understand the cultural specificity and universal aspects of career adaptability and to develop culturally sensitive measures for use in career counseling. Further research on co-operation and contribution as relational constructs is suggested.     

Career decision-making profiles and career decision-making difficulties: A cross-cultural comparison among US,Israeli, and Chinese samples

Assessing individuals' career decision-making difficulties and career decision-making profile (style) allows counselors to help them make better career decisions. The present study focused on the associations between the Career Decision-Making Profiles (CDMP) questionnaire and the Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) in four large samples: American adults (N = 601), Israeli young adults (N = 623), American students (N = 915), and Chinese students (N = 929). The pattern of associations between the 12 CDMP dimensions and the 10 CDDQ scales was generally replicated across the four samples, and indicated that certain CDMP dimensions were associated with career decision-making difficulties. Additionally, in all four samples, the higher an individual's career decision-making adaptability, as derived from the CDMP, the fewer difficulties he or she encountered prior to and during the career decision-making process. However, a few unique patterns of associations between the CDMP and the CDDQ emerged in some samples.     

Career construction counseling: A thematic analysis of outcomes for four clients

Thematic analysis was used in this study of career construction counseling with four diverse, purposively-selected participants. After the intervention, the participants who sought and received career construction counseling were interviewed to determine their experience of the intervention. The results showed the value of career construction counseling in bringing about change in the participants' career-life stories.     

Comparing two career adaptability measures for career construction theory: Relations with boundaryless mindset and protean career attitudes

We examined the constructs underlying the Career Maturity Inventory-Adaptability Form (CMI-C) and the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS). Data from 852 university students indicated that the second-order factors for both scales correlate .43, suggesting that they measure different yet related constructs. All three subscales of the CMI-C correlate most with the “concern” subscale of the CAAS rather than with the corresponding subscale. It appears that the CMI-C is a measure of particular career adaptability for choosing a career whereas the CAAS is a global measure of career adaptability for dealing with all of the tasks of vocational development across the life span. Regression analyses show that the CMI-C does not add to the prediction of boundaryless mindset and protean career attitudes over the CAAS. Relationships between the CMI-C and CAAS with entrepreneurial, professional, and leadership career motivation profiles showed that the CAAS is more strongly related to boundaryless mindset and protean career attitudes, while the CMI-C appears to relate to more traditional (professional and leadership) career motivations.     

Le bilan de compétences : effets sur l’état émotionnel des bénéficiaires

Bilan de compétences (BC)’ effects on workers’ emotional states remain little explored. BC may reduce work-related negative emotional states and enhance positive ones. This was tested using a two-study design. In the first study, 38 respondents filled in the POMS-f, a questionnaire on emotional states, at the beginning or/and at the end of their BC. Six of them were also interviewed one week after the end of their BC. In the second study, 59 respondents filled in the same questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of their BC. In both studies, BC significantly reduced most of negative emotional states and increased positive ones.     

Integrating motivational interviewing in career counseling: A case study

Motivational interviewing (MI) is receiving increasing attention in the field of career counseling. However, none of the previous studies have concretely presented how this method could and why it should be integrated in career counseling. Through the use of a single case study design, this paper illustrates how a brief MI (BMI) intervention can be integrated into career counseling interventions to help resolve career dilemmas. An analysis of the interactions between the client and his counselor using the Motivational Interviewing Skills Code 2.1 illustrates why this method can be useful for career counseling. Immediate and long-term effects of the global career counseling intervention on the client's career decision-making difficulties, as well as the specific impacts of the BMI intervention, are assessed. This case study shows that the BMI approach can be integrated in a career counseling intervention to help career counseling clients overcome career dilemmas and increase their readiness to make career choices.     

Career adaptability as a mediator between personality and career engagement

The current study examined the role of career adaptability as a mediator between personality dimensions and career engagement. This investigation was conducted using a sample of university students (N = 201) who completed the Zuckerman–Kuhlman–Aluja Personality Questionnaire, the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale-Persian Form, and the Career Engagement Scale. Career adaptability dimensions related positively with activity, negatively with neuroticism, and positively with career engagement. The results indicated that career adaptability dimensions partially mediated the relationships between activity (work compulsion, general activity, restlessness, and work energy) and career engagement, whereas they were a full mediator between neuroticism (anxiety, depression, dependency, and low self-esteem) and career engagement. Among career adaptability dimensions, curiosity fully mediated the effect of sensation seeking on career engagement. These findings suggest that career adaptability is a dynamic mechanism that helps to regulate the relationship between specific dispositional traits and career adapting behaviors.     

Career success criteria and locus of control as indicators of adaptive readiness in the career adaptation model

The present research had two goals. The first goal was to identify additional individual characteristics that may contribute to adaptive readiness. The second goal was to test if these characteristics fit the career adaptation model of readiness to resources to responses. We examined whether career success criteria (measured at Time 1) and career locus of control (measured at Time 1) would contribute to adaptivity and predict university students’ career decision-making self-efficacy (measured at Time 2) through the mediation of career adaptability (measured at Time 1). Results based on a two-wave survey among a sample of 437 Chinese university students showed that the criteria of intrinsic fulfillment and work-life balance, as well as internal career locus of control positively predicted Chinese university students' career adaptability, which in turn predicted career decision-making self-efficacy. These findings support the career adaption model and carry implications for career construction theory and university students' career development.     

Career counseling meets motivational interviewing: A sequential analysis of dynamic counselor–client interactions

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a client-centered communication style with the aim to resolve client ambivalence within a change-related counseling. Its potential benefit for career counseling has been discussed by several scholars but no empirical research has investigated MI in this context so far. The current study used process measures from MI to investigate dynamic interactions within a career counseling intervention. Overall, we analyzed two videotaped sessions of 14 unique counselor–client dyads. Verbal behavior of counselors and clients were coded with two observational coding schemes from MI (one for counselors and one for clients, respectively). Behavior profiles of counselors were compared with benchmarks of good MI. Furthermore, client verbal ambivalence was compared between sessions. Finally, we conducted lag sequential analyses to analyze temporal dynamics between counselor behavior and immediate client verbal responses across N = 6883 behavioral events. Our results showed, first, behavior profiles of career counselors did significantly differ from recommended counseling benchmarks of good MI practice. Second, as assumed on the basis of past studies, client ambivalence decreased across sessions. Third, MI consistent counselor behaviors showed a positive sequential association with client positive career talk, whereas MI inconsistent counselor behaviors showed the reverse pattern. Our results suggest that counseling behaviors recommended from MI are facilitating career interventions. We discuss how trainings in MI could amend career counseling interventions and provide ethical implications when integrating MI into career counseling programs.