CPCE Career Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A counselor helps a recently laid-off client reframe the experience as a chance to explore new fields. This intervention best reflects which career development concept?
- Occupational information seeking
- Planned happenstance (Correct answer)
- Work adjustment theory
- Trait-factor matching
Correct answer: Planned happenstance
Planned happenstance reframes unexpected events like job loss as opportunities for exploration and growth rather than setbacks.
Question 2: In Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), 'outcome expectations' are best defined as:
- Beliefs about one's ability to perform specific tasks successfully
- Personal beliefs about the results that will follow a particular behavior (Correct answer)
- External reinforcers provided by employers
- Realistic assessments of labor market demand
Correct answer: Personal beliefs about the results that will follow a particular behavior
Outcome expectations in SCCT reflect what individuals believe will happen as a result of performing a career-related behavior.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes the 'maintenance' stage in Super's developmental model?
- Trying out various occupations without commitment
- Settling into a chosen career and advancing within it
- Preserving one's position and updating skills while resisting obsolescence (Correct answer)
- Planning for retirement and reducing work commitments
Correct answer: Preserving one's position and updating skills while resisting obsolescence
During maintenance (ages 45–65), workers focus on holding their position, innovating to stay relevant, or stagnating if they stop growing.
Question 4: A school counselor notices a student avoids math-related activities due to past failure. According to SCCT, the counselor should target which factor first?
- Holland code alignment
- Math-related self-efficacy beliefs (Correct answer)
- Parental occupational influence
- Labor market information
Correct answer: Math-related self-efficacy beliefs
Low self-efficacy from negative learning experiences is a primary SCCT barrier; improving it can expand the student's career consideration set.
Question 5: The Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA) holds that job satisfaction and satisfactoriness are both necessary for:
- Completing a vocational interest inventory
- Achieving tenure and long-term job retention (Correct answer)
- Passing licensure examinations
- Qualifying for employee assistance programs
Correct answer: Achieving tenure and long-term job retention
TWA posits that correspondence between worker needs and job reinforcers (satisfaction) and between worker abilities and job requirements (satisfactoriness) predicts tenure.
Question 6: Which ethical issue is MOST relevant when a career counselor uses computer-based career guidance systems with clients?
- Dual relationship risk
- Informed consent and appropriate interpretation of results (Correct answer)
- Mandatory reporting obligations
- Group counseling dynamics
Correct answer: Informed consent and appropriate interpretation of results
Counselors must ensure clients understand the purpose, limitations, and proper interpretation of computer-generated career profiles.
Question 7: A career counselor uses narrative techniques to help a client author a 'life story.' This approach is MOST consistent with:
- Trait-Factor Theory
- Career Construction Theory (Savickas) (Correct answer)
- Holland's Typology
- Person-in-Environment Perspective
Correct answer: Career Construction Theory (Savickas)
Savickas's Career Construction Theory uses narrative methods—including the Career Style Interview—to help clients construct meaning from their career stories.
CPCE Career Development 3
A counselor helps a recently laid-off client reframe the experience as a chance to explore new fields.
This intervention best reflects which career development concept?