How can MBCD be incorporated into the career counseling process?
This section is based on the actual experience of career counselors who have directed their counselees to use MBCD as part of the counseling process.
In many cases, MBCD may be most fruitful when used between the first and the second sessions of the counseling process, to facilitate the prescreening stage of the career decision-making process (see elaboration below). The client is asked to bring the printout summarizing the interaction with MBCD to the second session. Furthermore, MBCD can help a client who has already brought a short list of promising career options to the counseling sessions, by checking whether the options on that list are compatible with the client's career-related preferences.
Background - The PIC model (Prescreening, In-depth exploration, Choice) for career decision making.
To deal with the complexities involved in career decision making, Gati and Asher (2001) proposed a three-stage model for the career decision-making process -- the PIC model. This model is most suitable in decision situations where one is faced with a fairly large number of alternatives and needs to take a large number of factors into account, a situation which occurs in many career decisions.
The goal of the first stage -- the Prescreening stage -- is to locate a small number of "promising alternatives" which are compatible with the individual's preferences and thus worth further exploration.
The goal of the second stage -- the In-depth exploration stage -- is to gather extensive information about the promising alternatives. This information enables the career decision maker to find out whether the promising alternatives are indeed compatible with his or her preferences, and whether he or she meets the prerequisites for these alternatives.
The goal of the third stage -- the Choice stage -- is to locate the most suitable alternative.
Facilitating the first stage -- the Prescreening stage
To locate alternatives during the prescreening stage , a sequential elimination process is recommended (Gati, 1986) . In this procedure, individuals begin the search with the most important factor, first indicating the optimal level of their preferences in this factor (e.g., "always indoors" with respect to work environment) and then their willingness to compromise -- the additional levels they regard as acceptable (e.g., "mostly indoors" and "both indoors and outdoors"). Alternatives that are not compatible with the individual's preferences in the factor are eliminated, and the process continues with the factor next in importance. This process is repeated with each factor, in order of importance, until there is a small number of promising alternatives left.
The interaction with MBCD can facilitate the prescreening stage in the following ways:
- At the end of the interaction with MBCD the client receives a printout of the list of promising alternatives which were found compatible with his or her preferences, and a brief summary of the interaction, which includes the client's preferences in the factors that were used to find the promising alternatives. This printout can be used in the counseling process to see if the client's career-related preferences have been crystallized and if they are sensible.
- MBCD permits the client to go back and change his or her preferences in the career-related factors, if these were changed, clarified or focused during the counseling process.
- MBCD locates "almost promising" alternatives, allowing the counselor to use "quality control", followed by a discussion about occupations similar to the promising alternatives, and, if necessary, the need for compromise.
After the prescreening stage , but before the in-depth exploration stage , the counselor can carry out a "quality control" process with the list of promising alternatives, assessing their actual compatibility with the client's preferences by asking whether these alternatives deserve to be explored further. The counselor can add or delete occupations from the "promising alternatives" list, according to his or her judgment.
Focusing the search for the In-depth exploration stage
The goal of the in-depth exploration stage is a further examination of the promising alternatives. Specifically, the following questions should be explored for each occupation (Gati & Asher, 2001):
- Is the occupation indeed compatible with the individual's preferences, not only in the most important factors but also in the less important ones?
- Does the individual indeed fit the occupation? Taking into account the core factors of the occupations (Gati, Garty , & Fassa , 1996), the counselor should assist the client in finding out whether he or she actually possess the skills which are the basic conditions for working in a specific occupation (e.g., problem solving for a computer programmer) and whether the client is willing to accept the occupation's requirements (e.g., working in shifts for emergency medical technicians). In addition, the counselor should assist the client in finding out the chances for being accepted for the higher-education studies, training courses, or jobs relevant to the occupations, based on the client's abilities, skills, and previous experiences and achievements. If these chances are low, the counselor can help the client find ways to increase the chances for actualization.