Week Four

            The article written by Savickas (1995) about career indecisiveness was one that I could relate to and its interpretations of career development I could apply to my own life.  One idea that I found interesting was how indecisiveness is linked to one’s maturity level. According to Savickas, indecisiveness reflects immaturity and can lead to psychopathology (1995). This has posed a red flag for career counselors, in that now they concentrate on interventions to help with adolescents and young adults work on becoming more decisive with their career paths in order to prevent mental illness.  For young people the future, in terms of their career, is very uncertain and can bring a lot of worry and anxiety since not knowing can lead to not having or not attaining. I think it is important for career counselors to consider this factor into one’s indecisiveness, and allow young people to feel more secure about the future by relaying coping strategies, and words of encouragement.

            When I think about my career development, I have shown high indecisiveness to the point at which I didn’t declare a major until my junior year in college. After I declared my major, I made a career change once I graduated from biology to psychology/mental health field. It appears that my indecisiveness may have stemmed from not quite establishing my identity, and knowing what I liked and disliked. I somewhat disagree with the fact that if one doesn’t know what they want to do when they grow up that it is linked to someone being immature. I think one’s indecisiveness could be linked to lack of knowledge, culture, or socioeconomic status. In my life, going into the medical field was going to be very expensive, since I planned on going to medical school, and I changed my career options because I didn’t have the money to attend. I was indecisive about my career path because I was considering a lot of factors in the decision making process, and I think by weighing out my options before making a hasty decision was a sign of maturity not immaturity.

            The example of the college student seeking advice from his professor about his indecisiveness is important because it shows how helpful it can be for young people to have mentor in helping their career development. It was really profound for the professor to admit that he was very indecisive when he was in college too, and that by dealing with it empowered him to try out different professions in order to find himself. The student was relieved and some of his psychopathology lessened. Career counseling is extremely useful and important for young adults in high school as well as college.

Savickas, M. L. (1995). Constructivist counseling for career indecision. The Career Development Quarterly,43(4), 363-373.