Using the Intelligent Careers Card Sort with university students. (Effective Techniques).

The authors describe the experiences of university students who completed the Intelligent Careers Card Sort[R] (ICCS), a career exploration exercise that is based on the Intelligent Career framework. The Intelligent Career suggests that there are 3 ways of knowing, which individuals should consider to successfully navigate the workplace: knowing-why, knowing-how, and knowing-whom. This model is discussed in the context of the subjective career and the changing economy, and research on card sorts is briefly reviewed. In general, students thought that the ICCS was a useful part of the career development groups in which it was administered.

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Counselors work in an ever-changing environment that is marked by economic, social, and cultural shifts. To help clients in their search for personally meaningful careers, it is essential for counselors and theorists to develop and test new models that are responsive to these changes (Peavy, 1997; Savickas, 2000, 2001b). In this article, we define career as "the evolving sequence of a person's work experiences over time" (Arthur, Hall, & Lawrence, 1989, p. 8); this definition takes into account movement and change within both individuals and their environments. By focusing on individual experience, this definition highlights the importance of the subjective view. This is especially relevant in today's service-based, postindustrial economy, which requires individuals to take greater personal responsibility for their career development (Hall, 1996).

The subjective view of career differs from person to person (Betz & Fitzgerald, 1987) because it includes an individual's feelings about his or her career accomplishments and expectations for future achievement (Gattiker & Larwood, 1986). Career success refers to the attainment of goals that are personally meaningful to the individual rather than the attainment of goals that are set by others (Mirvis & Hall, 1994). The objective career, conversely, is the observed career progress of an individual through an organization or occupation (Collin & Young, 1986) and relies on a behaviorally based model of the self, a "psychometric self" that will be assessed and given therapy (Peavy, 1997).

Career literature that focuses on the objective rather than the subjective career ignores the "perceptions, feelings, and values of the individuals concerned, and the relationship between job and the rest of life" (Collin & Young, 1986, p. 841). These individual experiences are precisely those that counselors must attend to in order to create an atmosphere of "mattering" (Amundson, 1998) in which an effective client-counselor relationship can be formed.

To understand a client's subjective view, the individual meaning and personal experience expressed through anecdotes and stories must be investigated (Collin & Young, 1986; Parker, 2002; Savickas, 1991). Counselors' use of facilitating questions and active listening encourages clients to express their narratives, thereby helping individuals enhance their self-knowledge, anticipate choices and transitions, explore possibilities, choose directions that improve fit and develop the self, and learn to appreciate their unique value (Amundson, 1998; Parker, 2002).

The Intelligent Career Framework

Arthur, Claman, and DeFillippi (1995) have developed a theory of career termed the Intelligent Career, which builds on Quinn's (1992) work on the Intelligent Enterprise. This approach comes out of a broader exploration of the boundary-less career model (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996), which is based on the recognition that contemporary careers are not restricted to one employer or even to one occupation.

Boundaryless organizations are those that emerged in response to the globalization of the economy and the movement to information-driven, service-based business (Arthur, 1994; Mirvis & Hall, 1994). A boundaryless career, by extension, is marked by a variety of tasks that may or may not be easily transferred into a job title, entails a periodic redefinition of profession, and often includes several career and job changes over the course of a lifetime (Arthur, 1994).

The Intelligent Career is based on three subjective ways of knowing that reflect the development of important areas of one's life. These are (a) knowing-why, (b) knowing-how, and (c) knowing-whom. Knowing-why refers to meaning, to one's personal beliefs and values, and to the sources of motivation for a certain career path (Arthur et al., 1995; DeFillippi & Arthur, 1994). Knowing-how pertains to the technical skills and knowledge a person brings to his or her career and to a company (Arthur et al., 1995; DeFillippi & Arthur, 1994). Knowing-whom involves the interpersonal connections that link people to employment opportunities and to developments within their field (DeFillippi & Arthur, 1994).

The Intelligent Career provides, in two ways, a uniquely holistic view, an essential characteristic for effective career counseling (Savickas, 1996). First, the theory emphasizes three interdependent yet conceptually separate competencies. Second, the theory allows work to be considered from a subjective point of view in the overall pattern of people's lives, not as separate from it (Parker, 2000).

Using Card Sorts to Elicit the Subjective Career

A variety of career counseling tools have been developed to elicit individual meaning. These include writing and drawing exercises, guided imagery, and card sorts, but research on their effectiveness is lacking.

Some research has been conducted on vocational card sorts, typically consisting of approximately 100 three-by-five-inch cards on which occupational titles are printed. The cards are sorted into categories, such as "would not choose," "would choose," and "undecided"; the reasons for making the choices are also considered. It has been demonstrated that card sorts have many positive features that make them useful career counseling tools (Goldman, 1982, 1983; Slaney & Mackinnon-Slaney, 1990).

First, the card sort process can be seen as a structured interview technique that focuses on a client's reasons for making his or her career choices (Goldman, 1983); the card sorts give clients the freedom to choose from a number of different options while at the same time providing an organizing framework. Second, card sorts demand a client's active participation. Third, results are generated immediately, and the absence of technology removes the mystery from career decision making (Goldman, 1982). Fourth, card sorts require counselors to become involved in the process in a subjectively oriented manner (Slaney & Mackinnon-Slaney, 1990). Finally, they are appropriate for a wide range of clients. Cognitively complex clients, such as university students, benefit from the opportunity to organize their ideas and to engage in individual thinking (Slaney & Mackinnon-Slaney, 1990).

In general, researchers have suggested that card sorts are effective interventions that compare favorably with other widely used standardized instruments (Slaney & Mackinnon-Slaney, 1990). However, because most studies have used self-administered sorts that did not require counselor intervention, there was a need to investigate counselor-administered card sorts.

Intelligent Careers Card Sort (ICCS)

Using the concepts of the Intelligent Career model (Arthur et al., 1995), the ICCS was specifically developed to elicit an individual's views regarding his or her desired career; the information is gathered through a process that engages client and counselor in a dynamic, constructive dialogue. It is composed of 112 cards that are subdivided into three color-coded sections (blue, yellow, and green) of up to 40 cards, each of which represents three ways of knowing: knowing-why (blue cards), knowing-how (yellow cards), and knowing-whom (green cards). The sort was developed through a research project conducted by Parker (1996) and is currently undergoing field testing.

The ICCS contains statements that are sorted into piles on the basis of whether or not the statement reflects current career behavior and beliefs. The knowing-why cards reflect personality traits, values, personal and family situations, and the influence of past and present work experiences. The knowing-how cards explore the steps the individual is taking to gain technical/professional skill and expertise. The knowing-whom cards describe friendship, support systems, relationships with mentors, and personal networks as they affect work relationships.

The process is identical for each of the three sets of cards, as described by Parker (2002). The client begins with one set of cards and quickly sorts them into two piles according to their immediate subjective appeal: "This applies to me" or "This doesn't apply to me." The applicable cards are then divided into two piles: "These are more important" and "these are less important." From the "more important" cards, the client selects seven and places those in rank order.