1.6: Outcomes of Effective Career Conversations

Our work as career development professionals can have a transformative impact on the lives of our clients. Effective career development interventions can free individuals from challenging circumstances in life.

There are six critical outcomes of an effective career intervention. The first is to help the individual identify their strengths. Understanding one’s skills, knowledge, and values is a vital foundation that enables one to navigate the world of work.  The individual must also become aware of their challenges and how they can leverage their strengths to overcome them. Next, the individual needs to identify one or more goals that support their career. This may involve goals for other life roles (e.g., parenting) that support their career goals.

Once goals are in place, the individual must develop a clear strategic plan and a way of meeting their goals—it is essential to have action steps that they can take to move forward. These need to include steps they can take immediately to move forward.

The individual’s ability to be self-sufficient in the career development process should also be enhanced. Ideally, they have developed effective career management skills as a part of the career coaching process.

Finally, the most effective outcome is to have a renewed sense of hope. When they have hope about their life and what they can do, they will feel empowered to engage in an effective change process. The role of hope has been identified in career research as an essential ingredient in the outcomes of effective career intervention (Amundsen et al., 2016).