Unit 4

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Athabasca University, Athabasca *

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Oct 30, 2023

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1 Unit 4 Reflection Assignment Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Athabasca University PSYC300: Theories of Career Development Tutor: Louis Svenningsen August 28, 2023

2 Part I: Activity Introduction: This reflection will focus on my chance meeting with a friend that led to the founding of a non-profit organization, and how that chance encounter impacted my career and life both in the short-term and long-term. Part I: Option II, Chance Event In and around 2014, I was well into my finance career. I just completed my “Chartered Professional Accountant” professional designation, spent three years at a prestigious consulting firm, and was exploring post-consulting career opportunities. While at the time I was living downtown Toronto, I accepted a role to work for BCE Inc (Bell Canada) in Mississauga. Stepping out with coworkers during lunch one day, I bumped into a classmate from University – Mark - whom I had not seen in approximately four years. That bump-in over lunch led to a coffee a week later where we got to chatting about careers. In passing, Mark told me that one of his friends had some personal issues that resulted in him abruptly closing his after-school sports business – where Mark also worked as an instructor. My curiosity was immediately piqued as in talking to Mark it seemed like this was an open market that was "low-hanging fruit," and as I previously taught children's sports programs myself. From here, I asked to meet again with Mark to explore the idea of starting a business that would service these same schools, leveraging Mark's intimate know-how of the former clients and their needs. We persisted in exploring the business idea, as we encountered various challenges of running a children's sports program – including issues related to insurance, liability, and processing payments. One of our

3 guiding principles was to operate the business as a federally-incorporated not-for-profit organization. Both Mark and I came from immigrant backgrounds, and found sports to be vital in our development – and we wanted this organization to funnel profits back to lower-income communities to fund free or subsidized programs. I found this rather rewarding and was very optimistic that setting up this organization would provide a level of personal fulfillment that I was missing in my "traditional" career. In hindsight, one of the key aspects of how I approached this chance event was having flexibility in seeing what this organization could become, and adjusting my attitude to what my career can look like – and that may not mean traditional employment. This was a rather consequential personal approach, as an immigrant, it was always instilled in me by my family to find solid, traditional, employment and to have a "good" salary. Part II: Critique / Reflection Client Perspective – Benefits & Insights This exercise was incredibly beneficial in that I was able to consider for the first time in a structured manner how chance events have shaped my career. As my career is a common topic in my therapy as a client, it was interesting to consider chance events and how this is also a topic that is not thoroughly discussed by therapists (Mitchell et al, 1999). It was also beneficial to then tie in the personal skills of curiosity, persistence, flexibility, open-mindedness, and risk- taking (Sharf, 2013) – and how my spectrum on these skills contributed to my willingness to consider these chance events led to material impacts to my career.

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4 Another benefit I gained was the need to be open-minded, both in the sense of recognizing an opportunity and what it may be; but also open-minded in the sense of actually considering an opportunity that may cause the career path to deviate from what may have been a particular path or plan I set. Practitioner Perspective – Advantages and Disadvantages In considering this exercise, I think a pro and con are the same. This exercise can help a practitioner encourage open-mindedness in the client, but this may come with the downside of having a lack of structure. That is, leveraging can be a useful tool, but can potentially lead to clients feeling a lack of structured career planning. That does not imply this exercise is not useful – quite the opposite. When taken as part of a more robust and structured approach to career planning, this can be a facet of the guidance that is provided to the client. Another potential downside is for the practitioner to be particularly considerate of the worldview of the client, their upbringing, and their values. For example, in many Eastern or Latin cultures, planning is critical (Brandes, 2016) – and a career is something that is not "just" left up to chance. As a result, the practitioner must be mindful of this, and stress that this type of exercise is but a facet of a complete approach to career planning. Practitioner Perspective – Theoretical Interpretation To apply theoretical constructs to my experience in Part I, I will leverage the four Steps of Happenstance Learning Theory in a fictional (but structured) conversation between a therapist and myself. The four Steps, as outlined by Sharf (2013) are: 1. Normalize Happenstance Learning Theory in the Client’s History, 2. Assist Clients to Transform Curiosity

5 into Opportunities for Learning and Exploration, 3. Teach clients to Produce Desirable Chance Events, and 4. Teach clients to Overcome Blocks to Action. As part of this section, I will hone in on Step 1, adding notes to provide context on how a counsellor can leverage this initial step to open dialogue, challenge the client, and promote appropriate risk-taking. The critical element here is to encourage positive action (Sharf, 2013), to identify blocks to beliefs and ultimately promote curiosity to take risks. Step 1: Normalize Happenstance Learning Theory in the Client’s History • Client (CL): So I bumped into an old friend from University, Mark, while on lunch with some colleagues the other day. He was telling me how his friend Ryan had to leave his business abruptly, and now there’s a gap in the market. • Counsellor (CO): You seemed to gravitate towards that. Is there an interest? [Note: The counsellor is looking to understand why that specifically was brought up as the one takeaway from the chance meeting with Mark.] • CL: Yeah, kind of. I like the idea of entrepreneurship and solving problems. But I can't leave my current job at Bell – things are finally settled with work, and I can’t leave just a few months in. • CO: It seems like you’re trying to balance what you like and want - with that of your current career where you previously told me you’re unfulfilled. [Note: The client's beliefs are directly challenged.] • CL: Well, yes. I worked so long through University and other courses and now I’m in a new job that pays well. To leave now would be silly.

6 • CO: A common theme we’ve explored with your current career is that you find it doesn’t suit your values and personality. You once told me you used to teach soccer in your youth – how was that as a fit? [Note: The counsellor is using an open-ended question to both once again challenge the client's belief, and to explore whether this chance encounter can tie back to his values.] • CL: That was great. I loved soccer, teaching it, and feeling like I was imparting knowledge and helping others. What's funny is I only started playing soccer because my dad bumped into a coach at a junior soccer league while at the mall. • CO: It sounds like what was just a random bump-in your dad had, led to something that brought you a lot of joy. [Note: The counsellor is setting up an opportunity to reinforce how chance ev may have impacted the client's life positively.] • CL: That's true. I didn't want to go to soccer initially because none of my friends from school went, but it turned out to be an activity I loved as a kid – and after a great part-time job as an instructor. • CO: You took something that was beyond your control – your dad's bump-in – and turned it into a positive thing. You learned a love for sport, health, and the joy of teaching. Maybe this is something you can consider in this instance where you bumped into Mark. These kinds of chance moments are uncontrollable, but they can be something that we explore further. [Note: The counsellor reinforces the chance event and normalizes how these may be a positive factor in one's life.]

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7 References Brandes, B. (Ed.) (2016). Introduction to counselling (2nd Custom edition). Toronto, ON: Athabasca University/Pearson Education Canada. Adapted from S. T. Gladding & K. G. Alderson. Mitchell, K. E., Levin, A. S., & Krumboltz, J. D. (1999). Planned Happenstance: Constructing Unexpected Career Opportunities. Journal of Counseling & Development , 77 (2), 115– 124. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1999.tb02431.x Sharf, R. S. (2013). Applying career development theory to counseling (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole / Cengage Learning. Marks Client Perspective 20/20 Description of benefits and insights or Description of why activity failed to generate benefits or insights Practitioner Perspective 17/20 Identification of relevant advantages and disadvantages of the activity • advantages (7) 7 • disadvantages (7) 7 Clear explanation of how it might be applied to address the needs of particular clients and/or issues (6) 3 • consideration of clients/issues, including taking into account gender, culture, life/work/career development stage, task approach, life/work context, readiness, etc. Answers should include a blend of references to the literature, as appropriate, and practical thinking based on the personal experience of completing the activity as a client. Practitioner Perspective 38/40 Genogram or chance events exercise included Use of the theoretical constructs discussed in Unit 4 to interpret the client’s circumstances or experiences Understanding demonstrated by applying special focus theories to explain findings

8 • description of the key theoretical constructs (20) 18 • identification and description of the overall theoretical underpinning (5) 2 • identification of each key construct (5) 5 • description of key constructs (10) 10 • application of each key theoretical construct (20) 20 • client results provided as examples of key theoretical constructs (10) 10 • demonstration of thought about the meaning of client results with regard to the theoretical constructs (10) 10 Application of key theoretical constructs based on client’s data may be integrated with the description of key theoretical constructs This section mandatorily cites relevant literature using APA style and a list of references is provided at the end of the paper. Tutor Discretion 17/20 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)2 • 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) 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) 5 • citations within the text (2) • references at the end of the text (2)