AKITA: A career counseling case for practice and theoretical reflection

Abstract

A case in the Hong Kong Chinese context is presented in this paper to illustrate the use of both quantitative (Holland's SDS) and qualitative career assessment (Card Sorts) to help a 16-year-old girl overcome career indecision. Guided by both Holland's Hexagonal Career Types Theory and Socio-Cognitive Career Theory, a career counsellor can promote a client's positive changes after two counseling sessions. This case supports Tracey's (2002) and Nauta <i>et al.</i>'s (2002) postulated bidirectional causal path between self-efficacy and interests. In addition, it highlights that partial match instead of perfect match between Self-directed search (SDS) scores and choice of academic major is more pragmatic or effective while performing quantitative assessment. Finally, it points to the need for establishing local SDS norms, examining the Holland codes for occupations in Hong Kong, and researching the link between congruence and maximal career outcomes in future research.