Exam 14: Career Development and Transitions of Working Adults

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Major Points
In early career, one is projecting self-concept into a work environment.
One seeks an opportunity for self-expression.
One seeks to establish oneself in the workplace.
There is a search for a defined future direction.
Middle career is considered to be the beginning of the maintenance stage.
One is settling in and has developed a greater understanding of self.
One has now developed a means of identification within the total working system.
In late career, one becomes even more concerned about job performance.
Late career usually means changing relationships in the workplace.
The major concerns are age discrimination, health concerns, family matters, and when to retire.

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MAJOR POINTS
Questions tend to center on competence and identity.
In the early career stage, typical questions might include:
Can I be effective in the managerial/professional role?
Can I be effective in the role of spouse and/or parent?
Who am I as a professional?
What are my skills and aspirations?
In the middle career stage, typical questions might include:
How do I compare with my peers, with my subordinates, and with my own standards and expectations?
Who am I now that I am no longer a novice?
What does it mean to be a "senior" adult? 
In the late career stage, typical questions might include:
Can I be effective in a more consultative and less central role, still having influence as the time to leave the organization gets closer?
What will I leave behind of value that will symbolize my contributions during my career?
Who am I apart from a professional and how will it feel to be without that role?

Correct Answer:

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MAJOR POINTS
The early career establishing years, age 25 to 44, are viewed by Super as a critical time when one struggles to form a unique identity in the work world.  Individuals implement their self-concepts into careers that will provide the most efficient means of self-expression. 
Erikson (1950 suggests that during this period of time, one is balancing intimacy and isolation while also attempting to maintain a unique identity in the process of developing relationships. 
What is being stressed here is that early career experiences provide individuals with opportunities to establish themselves in the workplace.
There also appears to be solid evidence that early encounters in the workplace will    significantly influence the outcome of some of the most important socialization process. 
Critical to the individual's career development are supervisor and coworker relationships, especially in the current work environment that stresses teamwork.  How individuals respond to authority figures may reflect a low concern for others or a more positive interdependent, cooperative orientation. The implications for counseling are simply that early work experiences may establish enduring positive and negative attitudes about work and relationships at work.