Understanding Career Decision-Making
Career decision-making is a process. The process, for many individuals, involves a series of decisions over time with the goal of finding and obtaining a career or employment that fits their needs. The decisions and needs that guide choices may be based on a number of factors. These factors can be both internal and external. Internal factors include: values, interests, skills, talents, personality, and ability to cope with uncertainty. External include: peer pressure, family expectations, resources available (time, money, education, training), employment opportunities, and societal and community standards.
The career decision-making process has no “right” way or gold standard. Individuals can start the career decision-making process with knowledge of where they are, but not where they are going or vice versa, where they are going but not knowing where they are.
The career decision-making process involves the cultivation of multiple skills and takes time and practice to develop. It is a lifelong endeavor and may take a different focus depending on the person’s age, location and career interests. An overall goal of career decision-making is to build a satisfying life through career fulfillment.
Importance of Career Decision-Making
Career development occurs overtime for an individual. It is a process involving the pursuit of meaningful work, often aligned with the individual’s values, interests and skills. Career development includes factors such as: awareness of career options; self-assessment of skills, interests, values, abilities; skills training and/or education; access to mentors and role models; setting goals.
Career decision-making is important for the career development process. Effective career development may be understood as the result of a process or according to specific outcomes. In terms of describing career development as a process, we consider that individuals may develop a stronger sense of confidence in their ability to making decisions about their career, handle uncertainty and anxiety around career decisions and be able to find support when needing to make a career decision. In describing career development based on outcomes, we consider that individuals may pursue work they feel a “calling” for, provides meaning, aligns with their skills and interests, or provides adequate compensation.
The process of career development can be overwhelming for individuals. In addition to having a number of choices and issues to consider, individuals may: lack clarity around what factors are important; lack knowledge about their self and the work world; attempt to cope with expectations and pressures from family and friends; fear of making a “wrong” choice or experiencing the sunk costs fallacy. The ability to cope with decisions that arise during career development can help to decrease general anxiety, improve low self-esteem and maladaptive perfectionism and help develop communication skills and sense of self.