Q&A: Using the SDS Throughout the Career Life Span

During the session, they were flooded with questions about how to use the Self-Directed Search (SDS) with individuals in many different stages of career development. The following are two questions they answered during the live session.

JL: We would say there is generally a need to do some screening from a readiness perspective. [Is the student] upset? Did they just fail organic chemistry? Were they just told they’re never getting into the music school? So, we suggest you deal with any emotional state or negative thinking first. In our case, we use the Career Thoughts Inventory to measure that. See where they are, whether it’s through an intake interview or through some kind of readiness measure.

The SDS is not going to harm [students]; it’s probably always going to benefit them. But if they go into it in a negative or emotionally charged state, it may cloud their ability to effectively use it. Also, if their scores are really low, they may be in a depressed state.

We very quickly go to the SDS if we see a gap in students’ knowledge about themselves and how they think about options, barring any factors that would make us concerned about their ability to process that type of information effectively. But I would just say check on readiness before you engage.

Maybe they know [their Holland code] and they just have too many choices. The SDS is not going to fix that. They likely need help with the decision-making schema to narrow down the options. If they are anxious or overwhelmed, those feelings need to be addressed. You can introduce them to the [RIASEC] hexagon or the Occupations Finder just to see how they react to that. And then you can decide if the full intervention of the SDS might be most appropriate.

Do you see any difference in people’s SDS codes from when they are young and don’t know as much about the world of work to those who are midcareer and may be changing jobs?

RR: One of the issues early on with the theory was the belief that people change and their interests change.

The early research that John Holland and Gary Gottfredson and others did indicated that personality is actually relatively stable, and it doesn’t change that much. 

There may be particular issues in the way if, for example, in order to pursue the occupation I’m interested in, I need to go to graduate school and I don’t have money right now to go to graduate school. But the interest area in terms of RIASEC is probably not going to change that much over time.

JL: We’ve also seen cases, because our center is open to adult career changers, where people will say, well, here’s my work history, I’ve just been all over the place and done all kinds of things. But then if you code the work history using Holland codes, it’s not as messy as you think. It actually hangs together.

I always talk about John Grisham. He’s an author, but what was he before that? And then you look at the Holland codes for his occupations, and they are not that different.

So if you are dealing with adults, I would ask you to think about—and code—their work history. If you look over time at what the person has done well at in school and the part-time jobs they have had and then compare that to their aspirations, you can see the trajectory. How do you take this collection of interests and skills and move in that direction? It’s not as worrisome if you use the full SDS and all the components in the way they were designed.