How do people choose and build careers? - Writersblok1.org

How do people choose and build careers?
Below is a brief outline of some major theories
concerning career choice and development. This
sheet, of course, is not a definitive listing of the
many different ways “career” has been written
about in disciplines such as sociology,
psychology, and management. Having a better
awareness of careers theory can help you if you
apply this knowledge to your own situation– and
begin the process of choosing and building your
own Career.
1) Person- environment fit theories (also
known as “trait and factor” or differentialist
theory).
The most longstanding approach to career is
based on the belief that individuals have particular
attributes (such as skills, motivations and personal
attitudes) and that particular careers also require
people with particular attributes- the aim is to
“match” the person to the career. It is also the
common sense theory of career (square hole to
square plug).
This approach stresses the need for reliable dataanalysing
the skill and interest requirements of
particular jobs, and also of the individuals
capability and competence. Hence the
development of a multitude of aptitude tests,
skills inventories and other instruments designed
to build up an accurate picture of a persons
qualities and motivations. The purpose of such
data is then to identify occupations where there is
a good fit between the individual and that
occupation or occupations. A contemporary
example of this approach to career decision
making is the computer based guidance tool,
Prospects Planner (http://www.prospects.ac.uk/
links/pplanner).
Differentialists often also believe that people are
more likely to be successful in a career field that
is reflective of their personality. John Holland, for
instance, developed a theory of six different
personality types and work environments (see
diagram) and believed that the closer the match of
personality to work environment type, the greater
the job satisfaction was likely to be.
At one time it was often felt that the careers
adviser was best placed, as a result of discussion
with the client and sometimes through the use of
tests of aptitude, personality and ability, to
identify and suggest careers best “matched” to
that person. Today, most advisers believe that
their role is to help the client to learn how to do
this for themselves- the client knows themselves
far better than the adviser, and with help can
develop the ability to identify “suitable” career
fields and make career decisions for themselves.
One possible implication of this approach: Your
goal should be to have good self-awareness (of
the person you are, and may want to become),
then identify occupations which match your
individual characteristics and then move into a
suitable occupation)
Differentialist approaches are also, of course,
what employers often explicitly use in
recruitment. They identify the competences,
skills and personal behaviours that they believe
are appropriate to their company and the job role
selected, and then assess and select candidates
according to their congruence to these. Those
seeking work, are though, often aware of this and
so there is also evidence that what some
jobseekers do is present an image of themselves
that fits the criteria set by employers whether or
not that is really their true self- and using this
strategy succeed in getting recruited (The
Mismanagement of Talent, Brown and Hesketh,
2004).
2) Developmental theories (life-span theories)
Whereas the previous approach deals with career
issues at particular points of transition (i.e. those
times when people have to, or chose to make

career decisions) life span theories take a longer
term developmental perspective.
Life span theorists argue that there are distinct
stages which people go through in the course of
their lives (Donald Super, a prominent stage
theorist, proposed that the stages comprised
Growth, Exploration, Establishment, Maintenance
and Decline). How we negotiate these stages, and
how we reflect on them has a major impact on the
success of our life. During our lives we also play
a variety of different roles (often at the same time)
such as worker, partner, parent and leisurite (see
the simple version of Supers life career rainbow
below). How much time we chose, or have to,
devote to these different roles will vary dependant
on our own inclination and other influences.
Those advocating a lifespan approach stress
ongoing career development, rather than career
choice. Quite often, individuals thinking about
career only focus on the present and near future
(getting a job/beginning a career) and don’t
consider what type of “career” in its wider sense
that they wish to pursue and the possible
consequences of particular career choices for their
wider life.
Good career decisions involve thinking about the
immediate but also taking a longer term view
and considering the wider situation, and being
aware that career is a continuous process that
requires frequent re-evaluation and renewal.
Another implication of this approach is that
people can often experiment with different jobs
before finding the right “fit” for them, and that
what might be the right “fit” may change
significantly during ones life.
3) Structural theories.
Whereas the previous approaches stress the role
of the individual, structural theories of career
focus on the influence of the environment on
careers choice. Individual career decisions are, it
is argued, mostly determined by the labour market
situation (ones own situation in it, the state of the
labour market at the time one has to make
choices, etc). Other factors over which the
individual has little, if any, control include the
potential discriminatory effects of class
background, of ethnicity, gender and disability,
and the location that the candidate wants or needs
to get employment in or near.
Popular careers books and articles also often write
about “career choice” as if it were solely the
prerogative of the individual making his or her
choice or choices. But this approach can ignore
the fact that it is not solely the individual that is
making choices but that a career is also
determined by choices made by others. While an
individual may identify a particular career and try
to get into it- others (most particularly the people
selecting candidates for roles) will determine
whether that person does get a chance to begin
their career in that field. Think back to your own
situation prior to coming to Oxford- while you
made the choice to apply to study here, a tutor
chose to have you!
Being aware of structural factors that influence
our own career paths can encourage a fatalistic
approach to planning a career, just taking what
is on offer. But it can also lead to an awareness
that because the individual is not in sole control
of their future, it may be easier to remain
motivated when facing problems (for example, if
initially unsuccessful moving into a particular
career field, the individual doesn’t need to feel
that the problem is simply themselves).
But in a sense it is more than simply that ones
access to opportunities and hence career is often
determined by others. Because of our
environment and upbringing we may also
ourselves begin to limit what we think is possible
(our horizons for action are limited). Various
sociologists have noted how young people often
internalise the values and behaviours that others
in their communities have, thereby ensuring that
they themselves lead very similar lives to their
peers. In an Oxford situation, some students
similarly adopt an approach whereby the careers
they are willing to consider are those which they
think others will value (“I’d be letting myself and
my family down if I didn’t go into a typical

Oxbridge career”) rather than what they might
otherwise choose and which could actually suit
them better and hence lead to a successful and
satisfying career.
It is important not to limit what we choose to do,
by what we think others will think of us, but to
make career decisions based on an
understanding of what we value and decide is
right for us. Another implication of this
approach is that it is possible to move into a role
that isn't usually considered a graduate job, but
to identify and implement ways of “growing” the
role to a graduate level post.
4) Happenstance- how important is chance in a
career?
Happenstance, the final theoretical approach
discussed here, stresses chance in individual
career development. Studies conducted of people
who have built successful careers often show that
they had not developed their careers in ways
suggested by theorists. Rather than spending time
carefully weighing up their skills and qualities
and then choosing suitable occupations this often
doesn’t happen. Instead many people start in a
career as a result of some or all of luck, a whim,
some other unplanned event, family or other
connection, etc. And even for those who have
planned their career in a structured and systematic
way it is often the case that a later chance event
leads to career change into a more satisfying and
rewarding career. Whereas traditional career
theory doesn’t allow for this, or is often
disparaging about careers built without conscious
career planning, this theoretical approach
recognises unplanned, serendipitous events as
both inevitable and desirable.
It is not always necessary to plan a career in the
conventional sense. Instead it is important to
prepare for happenstance. Developing skills and
attributes that could be useful in all sorts of
situations is key. And then it is important to be
curious (finding out about things related to
work) and always to look on chance events as
opportunities that could lead to action- the point
is to transform unplanned events into career
opportunities.
Questions you could consider
• Do any of these career theories seem
particularly relevant to you?
• Or perhaps you could suggest an
alternative approach to career based
on your own experience, or course?
• What structural factors do you feel
could impact on your career decisions?
• Have you considered the longer term
consequences of your choices/
decisions (in 3,5 or even 10 years
time)?

Further reading
Available for loan from the careers service
A good starting point is Chapter One “Theories of career decision making” in Jennifer M Kidd, Understanding
Career Counselling (2006) which covers Person-Environment and Structural Theories (and
some other approaches not mentioned above).
Brown and Hesketh, The Mismanagement of Talent (2004). They have also produced a more populist
book for jobseekers based on their research, How to get the best Graduate Job (2005).
Kerr Inkson, Understanding Careers (2007). A very good, readable and comprehensive book aimed at
students interested in career studies, and how they can apply this knowledge to their own situation.
Leonie Sugarman, Life-Span Development, Frameworks, Accounts and Strategies (2001).
Useful articles available on-line include:
The National Guidance Research Forum has a section on Careers Theory with a number of useful articles.
http://www.guidance-research.org/EG/impprac/ImpP2/
Helen Colley, Do we choose careers or do they choose us? (2004), Vejleder Forum No 4 http://
www.vejlederforum.dk/page3.apsx?recordid3=228
Wikipedia contains profiles of various prominent career theorists including John L Holland, Frank Parsons
(sometimes known as the “father of vocational guidance”) and brief articles on career, career development
and career management http://wikipedia.org
Our website has a section considering the career decision making process, called Planning your Career
http://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/homepage/pyc
Useful articles available on-line from OULS include:
Kathleen Mitchell, Al Levin, John Krumboltz (1999) Planned Happenstance: Constructing Unexpected
Career Opportunities, Journal of Counseling and Development, Volume 77.
Donald E. Super (1980), A life-span, life-space approach to career development
Journal of Vocational Behavior, Volume 16, Issue 3.
Books available within the Oxford Libraries scheme include:
Irving, BA and Malik, B, Critical reflections on Careers Education and Guidance: Promoting social justice
within a global economy (2005) available in the Social Science Library- see particularly the chapter by
Ken Roberts for a challenging structuralist view of career choice and decision making.
This handout has been funded from a grant given by the Centre for Careers Management Skills (CCMS), based at the University
of Reading (http://www.reading.ac.uk/ccms/), and written by Angus McKendrick, a careers adviser at Oxford University
Careers Service and a partner fellow of the CCMS.