Blog 3

Chapter 3:

            After taking the Holland code test, I was shocked to see how social was last in my coding.  I know for a fact that I have chosen the career that suits me the best, so in my opinion this test was somewhat invalid and unreliable.  Now getting into the Duffy article, I can say that I am a huge advocate and believer in spirituality.  I am not a religious person at heart, but rather spiritual in the way that I believe in some form of higher power.  Duffy points out that, “Through strong, supportive spiritual and religious relationships, an individual appears better equipped to cope with life challenges and attain a more positive life outlook” (Duffy 2006).  According to career development research, it seems like spirituality and religion have a high correlation with job satisfaction.  I would agree with this because of my first-hand knowledge and experience in my occupations thus far. 

Results of a recent study indicated how, “People who believed that they were called to certain careers were more likely to work in settings that emphasized social interaction, promoting better job satisfaction and security” (Duffy 2006).  I honestly can say that I feel like I was meant for this career because of some higher power leading me to choose this through various signs presented to me in one way or another.  An individual’s career plays a very large role in their lifespan; therefore, if spirituality can promote a sense of purpose and meaning in life, incorporating this into your career should help provoke a high amount of job satisfaction.  The problem with spirituality is that it takes a certain type of person to “buy” into or believe that this certain way of thinking can produce positive outcomes.    

            After reading the Brown chapter, I felt extremely overwhelmed with all the different theories and counseling techniques being applied today.  In my opinion, it just seems like there will never be a single overall theory that can depict why an individual chooses a career.  According to the postmodern theories, “To understand an event, one must start with the event, determine the individual’s view of it, and proceed from that point” (Brown 2012).  It seems like these theories can pertain to a variety of ethnicities, because values and behaviors are not the target.  The individual has the control in this scenario to pick apart events from his or her life and create a future career representation.  The one theory that I became curious about was the chaos theory.  It definitely sounded chaotic, “Everything in the world is connected and nonpredictable” (Brown 2012).  This sounds very spiritual, nature-oriented, and I’m sure for a majority of people, sounds crazy.  I definitely am fascinated with this theory and hope to learn more about it.       

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

Duffy, R.D. (2006). Spirituality, Religion, and Career Development: Current Status and Future Directions. The Career Development Quarterly, 55, p. 52-63.