Developing qualitative career assessment processes. (Articles).

Small steps that flow logically from one to the next provide a sense of direction when the qualitative career assessment process is used. In addition, small tasks that are achievable can promote a sense of hope in clients. Clients may work through the assessment process on their own or in collaboration with a counselor. Again, flexibility is desirable if the client wants to include other information or to explore more meaningful areas.

Provide a Focused and Flexible Process

Although this point may sound like a contradiction, it represents a critical difference between assessment that is conducted using the traditional worldview and assessment that is conducted using the constructivist worldview. Within the traditional worldview, there is no opportunity to deviate from the process outlined in the assessment manual. When the constructivist worldview is used, clients may spend a longer time on meaningful elements of the assessment, or they may choose to move tangentially into meaningful areas. In other words, clients need to be able to choose to move on or not complete the assessment if they do not find that it is personally meaningful.

Encourage Cooperative involvement of Counselor and Client

The emphasis of the constructivist worldview on the counseling relationship is the active involvement of the counselor and the client in the assessment process (see Brott, 2001). The boundaries between assessment and counseling are less clearly defined (Dowd, 1995; Goldman, 1990). The successful use of constructivist assessment, as with other interventions in counseling, requires that the assessment process is designed to be sensitive to the needs of the client and to be appropriately timed (Neimeyer & Neimeyer, 1993b). Furthermore, these authors suggested that a "seamless blend" of constructivist assessment with counseling skills can "augment, deepen, and direct" (Neimeyer & Neimeyer, 1993a, p. 222) counseling practice.

Include a Debriefing Process

Qualitative career assessment processes may be viewed as experiential learning activities (Patton & McMahon, 1999). Although some learning and meaning will result from the activity itself; much more learning and meaning will result from a carefully structured and thoughtful debriefing process after the activity (Kolb, 1984). The instructions that accompany the qualitative career assessment process may provide examples of such questions for clients who are working through the process on their own. When counselors are working with clients, the process that facilitates learning and generates new meaning may be more flexible and spontaneous.

Conclusion

With the increasing influence of the constructivist philosophy in career counseling and career development, it is timely that counseling professionals have begun deliberating the influence of this worldview on the development of qualitative career assessment instruments. As Peavy (1996) observed, many career counselors incorporate constructivist thinking into their work without being able to articulate it. As more qualitative career assessment instruments become commercially available and more counselors incorporate them into their work, it is important that some of the fundamental underpinnings of qualitative career assessment are considered and articulated. Whether the instruments are being developed for commercial distribution or for single use in counseling sessions, being aware of what informs practice can only serve to strengthen it. It is hoped that these suggestions will encourage further interest in qualitative career assessment and stimulate further thought about what guides the development of quali tative career assessment instruments.

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Marry McMahon and Wendy Patton, School of Learning and Professional Studies, Queensland University of Technology; Mark Watson, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Port Elizabeth. Correspondence concerning this article should he addressed to Mary McMahon, School of Learning and Development, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove Campus, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Australia 4059 (e-mail: marylmcmahon@bigpond.com).