Unit 1

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Athabasca University, Athabasca *

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Oct 30, 2023

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1 Unit 1 Reflection Assignment Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Athabasca Unive PSYC300: Theories of Career Development Tutor: Louis Svenningsen August 8, 2023

2 Part I: Activity Q1: What influences operated on my career development as a young person? Two immediate influences come to mind when considering this, firstly my immediate family and secondly the impacts of immigrating to Canada (from Ukraine) as a child in the mid-1990s. In the case of my family, there were traditional career values in a sense – that is the cliché “engineer, doctor, or accountant.” My parents left little room for discussion of pursuing a career path outside of these avenues. For example, music was a big part of my life and I enjoyed playing both guitar and piano – however, even the discussion of these as a career choice was never even allowed. This was further cemented by my sister, who is 9 years my senior, who pursued a career as an actuary. In a likely intertwined impact, immigrating to Canada was very influential. Seeing my parents' previous careers (my father with a chemistry and logistics background, and my mother as a teacher) decimated upon immigrating to Canada also set up an underlying air of choosing a career path that was conservative, stable, and ultimately resulting in a "good" job. Q2: How have I integrated these influences? Truthfully, the above were major drivers and influences through high school, into University, and ultimately my initial career in finance and consulting. There was very little regard for what I enjoyed on a personal level, and how my career can be a complement to that. The above influences fully drove my choosing to pursue a Bachelor of Commerce and subsequent path into consulting and finance. The "conservatism" I

3 described above, without a doubt, was almost the sole driver for how my initial career path unfolded. Q3: What is my career narrative? The initial part of my career has been all about following the above path – one that in a sense was fully laid out for me. This was the driving force for University choices in terms of education, resulting in my initial career at EY Canada (a major global consulting firm), and subsequent career pursuits. After getting what I thought was my "dream job," the next few years would be about continuing in the finance path, feeling unfulfilled all the while, and not understanding why every day seemed so empty and dreadful. The next chapter of my career was a stint in entrepreneurship, which gave me a taste of pursuing something I enjoyed, and after a few years – my current career path has been about transitioning to a new career path as a psychologist or psychotherapist. Ultimately, this last chapter has been about balancing my “old” career as a way to simply pay the bills and maintain a standard of life, while pursuing school in a field I find enjoyable (psychology), and all the while planning for that as the next chapter – one that is of my choosing, and something that aligns with my values and personality. Q4: What are the patterns and themes of my career development? The key pattern has been trying to unravel why my career path, one that externally may seem "successful", has been so personally unfulfilling. This lack of fulfillment drove my initial career choices, subsequent employment changes, and ultimately a decision to change my career path in my 30s. This quest for meaning in my work, and a sense of personal fulfillment has always been an underlying driver – and yet this took time (and psychotherapy) to understand, and ultimately put into action.

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4 Q5: What is the role of work in my life? Transparently, work is currently simply a way to "pay the bills," and enjoy the standard of life that I need. In its current iteration, I take no personal value or stock in my work. This doesn’t mean that I don’t put in a good effort or am not successful with my work, but it simply isn’t anything more than a paycheque. I think at times corporations are great at tying in their staff into some sort of broader purpose, and this simply does not resonate with me currently. Where I am hoping to take my work through a career change is to tie it back to my values, gain a sense of actually helping people, and not have it be such an external aspect of my life that is almost entirely monetarily driven. Q6: What other life roles do I hold, and what are my priorities? There are currently three other life roles I hold - husband, Master's student, and uncle to two nieces ranked in order of priority. As a husband, my connection with my wife is the single most important priority in life. The connection I have with my wife is without a doubt the biggest priority and one that drives most other choices about how I work, where I work, where my time is spent, etc. I also find the unique opportunity to be a large part of another's life something that is deeply fulfilling and provides a strong purpose. As a Master’s student in psychology, this is all about aligning my work and career with my values and traits. This aspect of my life brings me intellectual stimulation and a sense of personal fulfillment. Lastly, as an Uncle to two nieces, I take very seriously the support, mentorship, and perspective I can bring. Being an uncle is so unique from parents and grandparents, and I love the compliment that this role can bring – and not having had any uncles/aunts growing up, this was a family connection I always yearned for, and is something that I ultimately want to ensure that my nieces have.

5 Q7: What conflicts are there among my life roles, and how do I resolve them? Simply put – time constraints. At times, I find it challenging to balance all the above roles and work and ensure there's ample time for all. The way I've learned to resolve these is by both understanding that I can't do everything all at once, and then being as present as possible in each role. That is when I have moments with my wife – being present for those, not checking the work phone etc. When there's time with my nieces, being similarly present and there with them in the moment. This helps me understand that I might not always have time for everything, but when I do – whether it's school, family, etc – that this is the sole focus and being very intentional with that time. Q8: What values and attitudes do I hold about the following: a) employment status: necessary, a source of money that enables the rest of life, not a driver of any personal pleasure or fulfillment. b) differences in educational attainment: I do not see “formal” education as critical, especially when it comes to staff and colleagues. To me, the important factor is attitude and personality. In my opinion, anything in terms of education can be taught…what I can’t teach is attitude. c) socio-economic background: not relevant. I’ve met people from a wide spectrum of socio-economic backgrounds, and I find there is no correlation with how those people are to connect with. There are difficult people from all on the spectrum, just as there are fantastic people from all along the spectrum.

6 d) personal lifestyle choices: a wonderful thing. In my opinion, it would be terrible if everyone was just like me, or “one-way.” I love people that are different from me and learning from them and their life experiences. e) Multiculturalism: similar to the answer above, this is a wonderful thing in my opinion. Meeting and being with folks from different cultural backgrounds has been a joy in my life – as it often means learning new ways of thinking, approaching life, new flavours, and sounds. f) wellness: mental and physical health : extremely important, and something that people often take for granted. Both mental and physical health are critically important, and as soon as something else (ie. Work), starts to inhibit these – in my opinion, it is never more important than health. g) the impact of technology: both good and bad, just like any tool. Particularly phones and the internet are something that I view as competing for my attention, and I actively work to suppress these impacts. While I recognize and love new technology, especially when it makes my life easier – it's never worth the loss of attention or loss in privacy. h) women/youth in the workplace: similar to my answers in D and E, these demographics provide new voices, opinions, and views on the world and are incredible in creating a well-rounded worldview. i) achievement in the workplace: again, in my opinion, the workplace is all about a paycheque and how that paycheque balances with life. Achievement for achievement’s sake, and often at the expense of other aspects of life is not worth it. Part II: Critique / Reflection

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7 Client Perspective The questions around influences, how these were integrated, and the patterns and themes were insightful questions. I found it very useful to start by considering some of my early life influences, and with hindsight – how these linked to how my career unfolded. It was important to look back at this to also identify how they led to a fitting career (or lack of), and how this resulted in initial dissatisfaction with my career, but also how that subsequent understanding led me to where my career is going today. I did not find that any questions raised disturbing answers, but in my opinion, the question of my "career narrative" is an odd one as that could be an entire 10-12 page paper, versus just one of a series of questions – I found there to be little value in glazing over an entire 13-year career in just a paragraph or two. Professional Practitioner Perspective These questions are vital to a practitioner, particularly the career influences as a young person, the integration of influences, and the role of work and how it balances with other roles. This approach allows a practitioner to not only understand a bit of background about the client but allows then tie it into how a client's career fits into their broader life. The questions around other roles and priorities would also help me as a potential practitioner to frame counselling to understand a holistic view of the client and then ultimately help the client in resolving these conflicts. Additionally, understanding the role of work in a client’s life would be beneficial in helping navigate conflicts that exist, and could help me as a practitioner better understand how work fits into the whole person. Marks

8 Completion of Activity: Questions 1–8 /20 Client Perspective /20 Description of benefits and insights or Description of why activity failed to generate benefits or insights Practitioner Perspective /40 Discussion of how insights might affect professional practice/enhance future self-awareness Tutor Discretion /20 Paper is clear, concise, of required length, in academic format APA style: title page, header and page numbering, citations, and references Title Page, Introduction, and Conclusion (5) • Title page includes • page header with abbreviated title and page number in upper right-hand corner (running head is optional for this paper) • paper name (include course number, unit number, and assignment name) • student name • course number and institution name • Introduction includes • lead-in sentence related to the overall theoretical construct • 1–2 sentences identifying the thesis/purpose of the paper (the nature of the assignment) • 1–2 sentences describing the approach you will take to the assignment • Conclusion Clear, Cohesive Writing (10) • logical sequence: one section builds on the others, with transitions in between • appropriate use of quotations and paraphrasing • written in complete sentences, free from grammatical and stylistic errors • academic in tone APA Style: Technical Correctness (5) • citations within the text (2) • references at the end of the text (2) • double-spaced, 12-point font, 2.5 cm (or 1 inch) margins (1) Total /100