How to choose your career: Interview with Dr. Dora Summers-Ewing
In 2018, I published a book about how to choose your career. In 2024, I moved the content to this site. Below is the interview with Dr. Dora Summers-Ewing.
Why do you think so many people struggle to make decisions about what work to pursue?
First of all, I believe they struggle because they see this as one big decision as opposed to a lifetime of choices they will make. So when you see this as one big decision, you are more emotionally and cognitively focused on making the right choice. This also raises the question, “What if I make a mistake?” in people’s minds. People who struggle the most with this question may lack self-awareness and/or self-esteem. If you haven’t spent time getting to know your true self, you are less likely to be in touch with your aptitudes, interests, personality preferences, motivational needs, etc. If you cannot answer the basic question, “Who am I?” then this is where you need to start before attempting to make a major life choice.
Another major cause of career indecision is that many people are unaware of the career possibilities or options that are available to them. Working with a professional (guidance counselor, psychologist, or career coach) can facilitate the decision-making process and prepare someone to make future career decisions that will best meet their individual needs and personality.
How is the decision-making process made easier by working with a psychologist or coach who specializes in career development?
They will have a developed and proven framework for how to approach career work, and this brings structure and perspective to the process. They will also have the experience, tools, and breadth of knowledge about the practice of career development to ensure a quality outcome. Without these elements, the decision-making process may be riskier. Psychologists and career coaches mitigate this risk via their experience and expertise. They know the relevant questions to ask and can readily determine when someone might be stuck, so they can take steps to help them move forward with targeted activities and exercises. They are also huge reservoirs of information and can point people in the right direction quickly. For example, if a client wants to explore becoming an executive chef, their coach is likely to know someone they can interview to learn more about this career.
Suppose someone comes to you who is fairly young and does not know what career to choose? What process do you use to help the person decide?
By young, I am assuming they are of junior or senior high school age. If they haven’t yet visited their school’s guidance counselor, I recommend they do so as soon as possible. School counselors are trained to have initial career discussions with students who are exploring the world of work. They also have many tools at their disposal to assist in this exploratory process. It is important for students to be exposed to what is available in their schools (at little to no charge) and learn how to use these resources early in life. University career centers are also great sources of support and have the added benefit of connecting students with potential employers (both part- and full-time).
If they choose to work with a professional like myself, they can expect to experience a comprehensive process that includes:
Orientation to the world of work and careers
Individual assessment
Exploration support and personalized strategies
Ultimately, a career plan to achieve your goal(s)
If someone is already established in a career but concludes that he or she wants a completely different career, how do you help the person change paths?
First of all, it will be important to determine where the individual is in their decision-making process. My initial consultation with a potential client strives to identify the goal or problem they want to focus on in our working relationship. Where are they stuck and need my skills to help them move forward? Is the problem how to transition to this career in terms of the education, experience, and competencies needed to be successful? Or is it more basic—you are not sure what you want to do next and would like to explore your options? Based on the goal identified, we will then put together a plan of action that addresses the desired outcome and clearly lays out the steps we will need to undertake.
In my experience, people changing careers underestimate the impact it will have on other areas of their life and overestimate the potential rewards it may bring. For instance, what other roles do you play in life? Parent? Spouse/partner, caretaker, sibling, friend, community volunteer, church leader, etc.? Each of your life roles will be affected by your career transition, and you should frame up strategies to mitigate the impact on others, as well as the demands on your time and resources.
A career change is not a minor undertaking and should not be entered lightly. A wonderful vacation learning all about wine and grape growing in Italy may not translate well into a career as a wine sommelier. You need to do your homework first to rationally and factually understand what it will take to embark on a new career and what you can expect in terms of roles and responsibilities, salary, working hours and conditions, and future employment outlook.
I urge career changers to conduct a thorough analysis so they have a realistic job preview and experience greater job satisfaction post transition. I also advise them to conduct informational interviews with people in the professions they are contemplating to gain a first-hand perspective. Shadowing professionals is also an excellent way to see the diversity of on-the-job roles, and the potential employers available in a career.
Do you recommend any formal career assessment? If so, what type?
Yes, I am a big believer in assessments, and it is one of my areas of specialty, so I use them to great advantage in the career development process. I like to assess personality, cognitive bandwidth, career interests, leadership and work styles and preferences, personal values, and motivation.
Here are some of my favorites:
Personality: CPI 260, 16 PF, Millon Inventories, MBTI
Cognitive functioning: Wonderlic
Career interests: Self Directed Search (SDS) or Strong Interest Inventory
Leadership and work styles and preferences: Decision Style Inventory, MBTI, Decision-Making and Works Styles report, FIRO-B Leadership Report, and Via-Edge
Personal values and motivation: Rokeach Values Survey, Decision Style Inventory, and most of the personality assessments have some measure of this as well.
You are a psychologist. How do you decide when someone is unhappy with work because they are in the wrong career vs. unhappy because there is something else going on, such as depression?
As part of any counseling, consulting, or coaching work that I undertake, I engage in an intake process (deep data gathering) that strives to determine the presenting problems, issues, and/or goals the client has for our work together. Usually, I will assess for mood disturbances as part of the information-gathering process and make a note of emerging hypotheses about the nature or source of dissatisfaction. If I suspect depression is the root cause, I will use a validated and reliable depression survey to assess for this. It will be ruled in or out as a contributing factor.
What is your opinion of the positive psychology movement and its relevance for career development?
I am a member of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), and have found the practice of positive psychology to be very compatible with career development. Positive psychology is the study of optimal human functioning and aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. It also mirrors the human potential movement, whose tenets focus on helping people develop fulfilling and meaningful lives. To me, this is the foundation of career psychology — to help people to reach their full potential as human beings.
I’ve used elements of positive psychology to:
- Assist individuals to assess their strengths (for targeting specific careers);
- Access and leverage their positive emotions (hope, gratitude, happiness, optimism) as support systems during the career exploration and development process; and
- Assess workplaces, institutions, communities and schools to find mutually compatible places for experiencing growth and fulfillment.
Recently, there has been media discussion of whether entrepreneurship is something you are born to do or something that can be learned. Where do you fall on the nature / nurture debate in respect to entrepreneurship?
A great question, and one I recently answered for a client of mine! At a top level, I believe that behavior results from the interaction of three key influences: biological, psychological, and social-cultural. Depending on the behavior being evaluated, one or more of these elements may have a greater influence on an individual’s behavior at any time. This viewpoint sees the nature / nurture continuum as more complex than simply genetics and biology on one end and learning and life experience on the opposite end.
As much as nature and nurture always work together, so do individuals and their situations. Albert Bandura is credited with introducing the social-cognitive perspective, which views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context. He coined the term Reciprocal Determinism to explain the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognitive factors (thoughts and feelings), and environmental factors to explain personality.
So what makes a successful entrepreneur? Both nature and nurture! An entrepreneur can be defined as someone who owns or manages a business enterprise for profit making but differs from others in their greater willingness to assume risk and take initiative.
Nature predisposes an individual to have certain characteristics or traits via their genetic makeup. For example, being tenacious, independent, a risk taker, creative, innovative, optimistic and self-confident are characteristics associated with successful entrepreneurs. So you have a genetic predisposition to behave in certain ways and then life experience acts as a catalyst to bring them to fruition.
For example, if an individual who possesses the central characteristics of an entrepreneur is blocked from realizing his or her full potential (for example, not being able to bring to fruition his or her ideas, innovations, and concepts), then they will be motivated to break away and establish their own company. Even if they fail in their first venture, they will learn from the experience and be better able to succeed the next time they try!
Your career has included a lot of organizational work. What advice do you have for companies who want to increase the career satisfaction of employees?
First of all, I have seen companies become increasingly focused on career satisfaction because it leads directly to increased levels of employee retention and engagement, which are critical to the long-term success of an organization. I recommend that my client leaders engage each employee in a concrete and meaningful career discussion at least once a year, but not at the same time as a performance review. Managers should be prepared to discuss potential career paths open to the employee and new opportunities for learning and developing new skills and competencies. They should also have a list of available on-the-job stretch assignments that can lead to greater satisfaction.
I also recommend that companies treat their employees differentially based on their level of criticality to the organization. For example, high-potential talent (usually defined as those who possess learning agility, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and the ability to move up the organization and successfully tackle first-time, new experiences) is the future of any organization. Greater effort should be made to ensure that HiPo’s career satisfaction, retention rates, and level of engagement with the company and senior management remain high and consistent. Why? Because high potentials usually outperform other employees by up to 12 times and make a significant and positive contribution to a company’s bottom line.
Dr. Dora Summers-Ewing is a business psychologist and executive coach. She is a managing partner at EXIDEO Consulting.
