NARRATIVE ASSESSMENT TOOLS for CAREER and LIFE CLARIFICATION and INTENTIONAL EXPLORATION: Lily's Case Study

Narrative and storytelling-based methods for career counseling, advising and coaching are gaining more attention as the career management field shifts from traditional matching assessments to storytelling approaches and life design (Savickas, 2012) principles. Narrative assessment offers an opportunity to fully engage clients by honoring their past, and building their psychological capital (Luthans, Youssef & Avolio, 2006) necessary to navigate a life of transitions. Narrative methods, tools and techniques to bridge theory and practice have been emerging with greater frequency from Cochran's (1997) textbook to Brott's Storied Approach (2001), and from Severy's (2008) techniques to Stebleton's (2010) careful analysis of the strengths and limitations of narrative methods.One such narrative approach, the CareerCycles method of practice, with its conceptual model, suite of tools and holistic definition of "career" comprehensively includes the many human and systemic variables shaping a client's experience. This method of narrative assessment also provides a concrete framework and set of practical and engaging tools to support the career counselor and specialists' ability to engage in useful practice.Introducing a career counseling social enterprise that uses a narrative method of practiceA jobless recovery, corporate reorganizations and problematic underemployment among college graduates create challenges for clients. Yet CareerCycles, a busy career management practice, continues to attract clients seeking to make career choices that lead to increased meaning and purpose in their lives. Don, a CareerCycles client, captured what many clients feel as they search for their next steps, "I don't want to just job search and run around with my resume, I want to know what I want to do with my life" Don, a 55-year old sales manager, was recently terminated due to a business downturn. Career counselors and specialists know that Don isn't alone. Scanning the daily headlines, job loss and transition are increasingly prevalent. What's different is that Don, like many career management clients, is starting to see termination, disengagement or instability as a blessing in disguise (Zikic & Klehe, 2006). Like many clients, at first Don was distressed about his situation and future employment prospects, though after engaging in career counseling Don began to identify and get excited about future possibilities more aligned with his emerging interests. He had been interested in horticulture, and as a means of exploring this career interest he traveled to Scotland to spend time at a world renowned ecovillage, which was a very positive experience for him. With the help of narrative assessment methods, career changers are finding opportunities to make career and life choices that finally "connect their self-concepts to work roles, fit work into life, and make meaning through work" (Hartung, 2013, p. 11).This article reports on a suite of narrative career assessments grounded in a method practice created within a successful private career management practice based in Toronto, Canada. The assessment suite helps clients tell and transform their career and life stories so they can make choices leading to greater possibilities. Yet the question remains: how do clients thoughtfully and successfully make these choices? Amundson's (2003, 2008) notion of a backswing provides an apt metaphor for the narrative process. Sometimes the best way to rebuild energy is to go backward to build momentum. Whether we are swinging a golf club, a broom, or a hammer, there is a need to have a short, focused backswing to build energy. For someone who is unemployed, this might mean a review of past accomplishments and the identification of transferable skills. Of course, a great backswing doesn't amount to much unless there is also a clear focus on a goal and follow-through afterward. (Amundson, 2003, pp.149-150) In career and life, taking a backswing means reviewing the road one has taken to get to the present moment. …