Description:

Chaos has always been an element of career development, though it has never been quite as salient as during a pandemic, with economic and social turmoil roiling the world. Campuses still reinforce the notion that academic majors have 1-to-1 correspondence to careers, despite the rise in the gig economy and unpredictability of the future of work. Debt-saddled students are grappling with a contracting labor force and widespread uncertainty. The solution for students, colleges, and employers is not to reject or lament this chaos, but to embrace it. Chaos Theory of Careers is a relatively new career development theory that expects unpredictability, uncertainty, and non-linearity in careers, making it a perfect match for our times. Rather than prescribing specific interventions, this framework focuses more on mindset and receptivity to the reality of the workforce. Participants in this session will learn how to combine both convergent and emergent approaches in career development facilitation, prioritizing holistic approaches toward working with clients. Chaos Theory permits unique emphasis on the combination of individual circumstances and the variability of the workforce. Participants will experience activities created for both individual and small group advising to reinforce and develop adaptability and open-mindedness towards uncertainty and unpredictability. These activities have been tested in classrooms with students in a career readiness curriculum and support career exploration, professional identity development, goal setting, and networking. Space will be given for the generation and/or sharing of activities that complement Chaos Theory. Along with potential interventions, participants will learn strategies for promoting chaos-friendly thinking, such as: · Reframe the pejorative “undecided” as “open-minded” · Learn to prepare, not plan · Emphasize adaptation over deciding (de-emphasize the finality of choices) · Try “fuzzy goals,” which are flexible and short-term · Grow self-awareness and build transferrable skills To supplement these strategies, different platforms and technologies will be shared to allow for both in-person and virtual career advising, such as Padlet for creating wandering maps. If possible within the conference platform, participants will also be able to adopt a resource and practice role-playing in small groups to test out efficacy. Besides the supporting research provided by Bright and Pryor in their seminal text "The Chaos Theory of Careers," this theory has strong intuitive appeal, though full adoption requires reconsidering how we prepare college students for the workforce transition. Rather than filtering individuals into buckets and limiting possibilities, we should be emphasizing the broader applicability of their skills and experiences. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the average American will hold about 12 jobs in their lifetime[1], and while they cannot estimate how many times we might change careers, this does point to the need for students to understand how to both make their initial transition and also many potential transitions thereafter. Aside from learning strategies and practicing interventions, participants will also be given a resource guide with a collection of literature and tools to continue the work beyond the session. [1] https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/nlsoy.pdf

Audience:

Career Services

Level:

Intermediate

Track:

Coaching & Advising

Type:

Traditional

Main Speaker:

Christopher Mesaros, The Washington Center

Additional Speakers: