Introductory description

Through this module, participants will develop an understanding and skills in career coaching to facilitate participants’ career development learning in at least one context. Participants will develop confident and creative career coaching practice linked to a strong working alliance and informed by key career development concepts.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Contracting the working alliance (bond, rapport, relationship, roles, topics, agendas).
Maintaining and ending the working alliance.
Facilitation of career development learning (Patton & McMahon).
Career development theories and linking these to creative career coaching practice (Krumboltz, Holland, Super, Law, Hodkinson, Savickas and Cochran).
Interview structures (styles, models and frameworks).
Identifying and responding to service user needs (growth, crystallising, exploring a range of options, implementing change, disengaging, the role of career information, agreeing action).
Boundaries and referral.
Ethics and values.
Further skills, methods and techniques.
Additional perspectives (e.g. cognitive behavioural, psychodynamic, neuro-linguistic, solution-focused and narrative-informed approaches).
Integration into existing or future working context.
Organising and managing career coaching activities.
Developing a systematic and distinctive career coaching style.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Creatively discuss the role of career coaching in the facilitation of career development learning.
• Comprehensively distinguish, with reference to career coaching: contrasting interview structures; ethics and values; and opportunities, requirements and limitations within own situation.
• Creatively apply the knowledge and understanding listed above in career coaching practice in order to refine its effectiveness in at least one context.
• Systematically synthesise the knowledge and understanding listed above in career coaching contexts to ensure competent and professional practice in at least one context.
• Critically evaluate career coaching practice and its relationship to the working alliance and career development learning.
• Systematically interpret the career development of service users in conceptual terms and relate this to career coaching practice informed by relevant ethics and values.
• Systematically identify the central features of the working alliance and key concepts from within career development theories in relation to career coaching

Indicative reading list

Ali, L. and Graham, B. (1996) The Counselling Approach to Careers Guidance, London: Routledge.
Athanasou, J.A. and Esbroeck, R.V. (2008) (eds.) International Handbook of Career Guidance, Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
Cox, E., Bachkirova, T. and Clutterbuck, D.A. (2010) The Complete Handbook of Coaching, London: Sage
Egan, G. (2007) The Skilled Helper: a Problem Management and Opportunity Development Approach to Helping (8th Edition), Pacific Grove, CA: Brookes/Cole.
Frigerio, G. and McCash, P. (2013) Creating Career Coaching, Journal of the National Institute for
Career Education and Counselling, 30: 54-58.
Gati, I., Krausz, M. and Osipow, S. (1996) A Taxonomy of Difficulties in Career Decision Making, Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43 (4): 510-526.
Gothard, B. (1999) Career as a Myth, Psychodynamic Counselling, 5.1: 87-97.
Inkson, K. (2007) Understanding Careers: the Metaphors of Working Lives, London: Sage.
Kidd, J.M. (2006). Understanding Career Counselling: Theory, Research and Practice, London: Sage.
McMahon, M. and Patton, W. (2006) (eds.). Career Counselling: Constructivist Approaches. Abingdon: Routledge.
Mignot, P. (2001). Working with individuals, in W.P. Gothard, P. Mignot, M. Offer, and M. Ruff, Careers Guidance in Context. London: Sage.
Mitchell, L.K. and Krumboltz, J.D. (1996) Krumboltz’s Learning Theory of Career Choice and Counseling, in D. Brown, L. Brooks and Associates (eds) Career Choice and Development (3rd edition), San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Nathan, R. and Hill, L. (2006) Career Counselling (2nd edition), London: Sage.
Palmer, S. and Whybrow, A. (eds.) (2007) Handbook of Coaching Psychology, London: Routledge.
Patton, W. and McMahon, M. (2014) Career Development and Systems Theory: Connecting Theory and Practice (3rd edition), Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense.
Peterson, N. and González, R.C. (2000) Career Counselling Models for Diverse Populations, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Brooks Cole.
Savickas, M.L. and Walsh, W.B. (eds.). (1996). Handbook of Career Counseling Theory and Practice, Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black.
Sharf, R.S. (2013) Applying Career Development Theory to Counseling (6th Edition), Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Yates, J. (2014) The Career Coaching Handbook, Abingdon: Routledge.

Subject specific skills

Systematically identify the central features of the working alliance and key concepts from within career development theories in relation to career coaching.
Creatively discuss the role of career coaching in the facilitation of career development learning.
Comprehensively distinguish, with reference to career coaching: contrasting interview structures; ethics and values; and opportunities, requirements and limitations within own situation.
Creatively apply the knowledge and understanding listed above in career coaching practice in order to refine its effectiveness in at least two contexts.
Systematically synthesise the knowledge and understanding listed above to ensure competent and professional career coaching practice in at least one (CE995) or two contexts (CE993).
Critically evaluate career coaching practice and its relationship to the working alliance and career development learning.
Systematically interpret the career development of service users in conceptual terms and relate this to career coaching practice informed by relevant ethics and values.

Transferable skills

Creatively and comprehensively present material in clear written form by identifying, analysing and applying key texts and practices using appropriate and adequate structure, spelling, grammar, syntax, length and referencing.