industrial systems. She admired Elon Musk and the design work in his SpaceX company and other initiatives. Karen had to focus on supporting her family but throughout this period, she stayed well informed on the latest global developments in her field. She often felt like resigning and applying for a design position overseas where her passion would be appreciated or starting her own engineering design consulting practice at home, however, her dreams did not come to fruition. Eventually, the organisation she worked for had to downsize and she was offered a severance package. They gave her because they felt she had not progressed; she was not engaged in her work, and they assumed they could not offer her a satisfying work experience. Karen was surprised and angry as she had often requested and applied for promotion to a design position. Karen currently feels that she's in trouble - she is 42, it is the 2020s and these are difficult economic times with limited employment opportunities. However, the technology industry is booming and there are many advertisements for virtual/remote working positions in various technology fields across the globe. Most of these positions are related to Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technology, all of which she is unfamiliar with. Karen is interested in jobs aimed at designing and creating robots, and digital and other automated resources for industrial and public use. She knows she needs to act immediately and find employment. She is also concerned about maintaining a work-life balance while working from home. Questions: 1. What is your view of Karen's adolescence and young adult life concerning career development? Explain your answer. 2. What factors do you think most influenced Karen's career development across her lifespan? 3. Identify the various career phases that Karen experienced and indicate applicable career development tasks. CASE STUDY Karen is a 42-year-old woman who has recently lost her permanent job of 15 years as a futuristic design engineer in the government state-owned enterprise (SOE). She was an only child, whose parents completed Grade 12 in high school under difficult financial and family circumstances and received no further education. They continue to work past their retirement age and still support Karen's elderly grandfather. Her parents work in the same traditional jobs - her father as a lift operator in an iron and steel manufacturing company, and her mother as a personnel clerk. Karen enjoyed a strict but happy upbringing. Her parents gave her limited freedom to do other things outside school; they expected her to stay out of trouble. At school, Karen was a top achiever in her class but did not participate in sports or cultural activities. However, her good grades won her bursaries for a four-year degree in mechanical engineering, and a two-year specialist design and operational training course in a private company in Germany. Her study period away from home was lonely and stressful at times. Although Karen was not a professional artist, she spent a lot of time creating 2D and 3D drawings of objects in her childhood. This occupied much of her time, and her parents wondered if she shouldn't become an architect. They were very concerned about our studies and wanted her to have a good job and earn well. However, Karen had planned her future well and she was determined to work in design. She remained focused on achieving her goals. From an early age, she read technical publications on global power generation issues and was particularly encouraged by one of her teachers. She also obtained information from the Internet. Initially, engineering design positions were not easy to find, but once large fossil fuel and nuclear power-generated units were operational and interest in renewal energy systems started, there was planning, designing and operational work available. Karen initially held a few routine mechanical engineering positions, but she was dissatisfied. She felt like a mechanical operator and was often covered in dust while overseeing the construction of bridges and buildings. She often wondered about the value and meaning of her study, work and her future. Unfortunately, she was mostly overlooked for promotion as a designer in her positions. The organisations she worked for valued her as a manager, wanting her to work overseas, something Karen didn't want to do. All she ever wanted was to be an expert, well-known designer of power