Career Style Interview

History

The CSI was initially developed by Savickas in 1989 as a measure to clarify life stories' relation to career choices and decisions. The instrument draws from several historical models of assessment including Adlerian and constructivist approaches. The model, however, values and uses narrative or self-stories to tie the career components together for the individual. Narrative story in this context is not an attempt to determine the future from the past, but is the process of actively making meaning and providing direction for the present and future. The assessment process reveals and then unifies the subjective and objective influences upon individuals' career trajectories and concerns, facilitating a link between their life motivations and passions and their career motivations and choices. Although the CSI was initially used with individuals uncertain of career choices, its ability to bring to light a broad spectrum of career concepts has encouraged its use with a variety of career counseling issues.

Process

The CSI measure is a qualitative interview that consists of six basic questions related to family, interests, role-models, and recollections. The questions examine the goal for career counseling, past and present nonfamily role models, reading and television preferences, hobbies, favorite sayings, preferred school subjects, and several early recollections. Responses to these questions are written down by the counselor in the client's own words. Upon completion of the questions, the interviewer then uses the written notes to highlight the client's consistent themes. Consistent themes are identified through repeated verbs, words, phrases, and concepts expressed during the interview. The notes serve as a concrete reference point for the counselor and client to begin reflection and discussion about the content of the interview. The CSI process is a collaborative event where the counselor and client validate, construct, and refine the themes noted as a result of the questioning process.

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