Analysis of an online career narrative intervention: "what's my story?".

This project, specifically the online intervention, was a new and different addition to the field of career counseling. Although traditional assessments and career exploration tools have found their way online and continue to serve the needs of counselors and clients, this tool represents a departure in that few widely used Web sites from a narrative theoretical model are currently available. At a time when career counselors are pressed for time and resources to serve growing client demand, the need for accessible, affordable interventions is extremely important. Although many counselors may be interested in narrative approaches to career development, using more traditional tools that are easily accessible may be a necessity. The significant results of the current study indicate that employing interventions for use by clients from a narrative model of career development may provide counselors another tool for working from this new theoretical perspective.

The response to this project by volunteer participants was much higher than expected, implying that there is a strong demand on college campuses for this type of career intervention. Whether it was the notion of being able to use the Internet to get career-related assistance, the draw of trying something new, or other factors, it seems clear that students are interested in exploring this type of intervention.

Because the population included in the present study was limited to college students, the results are particularly applicable to college and university career counselors. By combining the intervention with additional factors to aid in keeping clients motivated (group support, weekly progress checks, or class assignments), the results of this study indicate that a significant improvement in career certainty and career indecision could be expected.

In summary, in order to assess the utility of assessment based upon emerging theories, this project involved the creation of an online tool using a combination of constructivist and narrative career intervention activities in addition to more traditional exercises. Participants were randomly assigned to various treatment and control conditions. Volunteers in the intervention groups were led through eight online activities designed to help them explore their life themes, impact of others, interests, personality type, and other factors of their career stories. Results indicate that participants using the online tool exhibited less career indecision and more certainty after completing the online tool and in comparison with participants who did not complete the activities.

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