Deck 11: Careers As Stories

Question 1

The 'cocktail waitress's story' is used in the book to illustrate that

A)The same career may generate different stories to explain it
B)People from humble backgrounds may suddenly achieve great career success
C)Most career stories include an element of mentorship
D)Women's career stories frequently involve overcoming gender stereotypes
E)Career stories can help reveal the fundamental truth about any particular career

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is true of contemporary career counseling?

A)It uses clients' storytelling about the past to help them create new futures
B)It rejects storytelling as being too subjective to base important decisions on
C)It uses storytelling mainly as a means to help clients write good résumés
D)It confines storytelling to counselors' stories about good role-model careers
E)It uses interrogative storytelling as a means for the counselor to establish facts

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The stories about academic engineering careers are used in the text to illustrate that

A)Each career is unique but common factors may be seen
B)Each career is so unique that common factors can't be seen
C)Such careers are largely linear and identical
D)Such careers are determined more by social structure than by agency
E)Such careers are dictated by chance factors

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Career scripts, as outlined in the text, are

A)Unique individual stories through which each career actor understands their roles
B)Résumés embellished to maximize favorable impressions
C)Career descriptions - job descriptions extended over time through different jobs
D)Collectively understood recurrent patterns reflecting institutional practice
E)Scripts used in the media in documentaries and plays about careers

Question 5

The story of Sharon H, who moved from work in the sports industry to project engineering, is used in the book to illustrate … in careers

A)The role of chance
B)The productiveness of telling a good story
C)The fact that there is no single 'true story' about a career
D)Retrospective sensemaking
E)The use of storytelling to create a new future

Question 6

Many stories are characterized by 'fundamental attribution error', which is

A)Confusion about who is the true author of the story
B)Overestimating the contribution of individuals and underestimating that of context
C)Taking the blame for failures while indicating success is due to other factors
D)Making inaccurate assessments of the personal attributes that led to success
E)Attributing blame for failure rather than praise for success

Question 7

According to the text, a résumé is

A)Not worth much, because of its inherent biases and untruths
B)A totally factual summary of one's career
C)A tool for marketing oneself
D)Superior to a curriculum vitae in value
E)A statement that must be totally rewritten for each new job opportunity

Question 8

The idea that individual reality is created in a social process involving shared experiences is known as

A)Social narrative
B)Constructivism C Interpersonal creativity D Social constructionism E Shared consciousness

Question 9

Lance Armstrong's career story, as told in It's Not About the Bike, was essentially

A)A self-justifying account of a career that had been shown to be based on lies
B)A truthful and heroic account of triumph over adversity
C)A factual statement of Armstrong's life and achievements
D)A compelling story that was later shown to be highly deceptive
E)A vague story that might be subject to many different interpretations

Question 10

According to Ibarra and Lineback, which of the following is not an essential element in a good story?

A)A protagonist the listener cares about
B)A background situation requiring the protagonist to act
C)Facilitating factors to help the protagonist along
D)A turning point when things must change
E)A resolution in success or failure