Hope is a vital ingredient in general well-being, as well as in career development, but sometimes it feels like it’s in short supply. A sense of “stuckness” or dealing with job search rejection can leave us feeling discouraged. If you or your clients are struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel, you might find some comfort – and some ideas for action – in these words of wisdom from career professionals about hope.
2 books to help cultivate career hope in an uncertain world (CareerWise)
“Young people are particularly vulnerable to social pressures, believing that their peers are leaving them in the dust and that they are running out of time. This can generate feelings of regret and guilt at having missed the opportunity to make the “right” choice and lead to a fatalistic view that connects their current uncertainty with a belief that they will not be able to have a satisfying career … Helping move clients out of these unhelpful beliefs can be challenging, as clients lacking hope for their career future can understandably question the value of taking action. Two books I draw from regularly to serve as lanterns in the darkness are Range (and the associated TED Talk) by David Epstein and Commanding Hope by Thomas Homer-Dixon.” – Trevor Lehmann, University of Manitoba
Addressing Compassion Fatigue Using Career Engagement and the Hope-Centered Model for Career Development (CJCD)
“… loss of hope is a key component of both burnout and compassion fatigue. The Hope-Centered Model for Career Development incorporates underlying attitudes and behaviours necessary for career self-management, and is based on the development of hope as a central construct in developing self-reflection, clarity, creating a vision for the future. It is designed to actively facilitate the setting, planning, and implementing of concrete goals associated with career satisfaction” – Dr. Kevin T. Lutz, Dr. Norman E. Amundson, Ria Nishikawara, University of British Columbia
Career exploration offers teens hope for the future – even if they learn what they don’t like (CareerWise)
“When these things can happen, I think youth start become more self-aware. They start to realize there are possibilities – shifts can happen, there is hope for the future and there is some clarity and direction. Even if it’s for a brief moment, there can be a lessening of the stress they’re feeling about their future.” – Rhonda Taylor, Career Trek
Closing the climate crisis hope gap using career development (CareerWise)
“The gap between awareness of climate change as a threat and a sense of how to respond both individually and collectively has been referred to as the ‘hope gap.’ We believe that career development professionals (CDPs) can play a key role in closing the hope gap and helping clients adapt to the realities of the climate emergency … As CDPs, we already have the tools to help clients break the challenges down into achievable steps and goals for their own career decision-making in the context of finding purpose for a greater good.” – Brian Hutchison, Walden University, and Trevor Lehmann, University of Manitoba
Creating hope, opportunity and results for disadvantaged youth (CJCD)
“Pathways design may now be understood as obvious ine nsuring comprehensive support. None of the four supports (academic, social, financial, and advocacy) is unique. What is perhaps innovative is the particular form, combination and integrated delivery of these supports, coupled with a commitment to ongoing research and program improvement. At the time, however, the idea of operationalizing supports which directly responded to the lived experience of young people and their parents was – and perhaps still is – impressively innovative.” – Carolyn Acker & Norman Rowen, The Pathways to Education Program
Enhancing hope in clients and students (Careering)
“Hope may be defined as an emotion, a feeling. It’s a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. It’s a feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. While it can be described as a feeling, it can also be characterized as a ‘thought process’ and when seen this way, it becomes something that can be learned. As teachers and counsellors, we can encourage and model hopeful thinking. Hopeful people are optimistic and determined. They learn that they are not passive recipients of what happens, but active players in their future.” – Lynn Sadlowski, Xello
Hope-based interventions with unemployed clients (Careering)
“There is considerable literature describing the negative impact of unemployment. The research highlights how being unemployed impacts relationships, one’s sense of identity, life purpose and physical well-being. There are often feelings of isolation, depression, anger, low self-esteem and hopelessness. One of the challenges for unemployed clients is to maintain a sense of hopefulness and agency during a time when it is very easy to succumb to negative emotions and thoughts. There are many competencies and actions associated with successful job search; these activities will be easier to accomplish when the starting point of engagement is building action-oriented hope.” – Norman Amundson, Tannis Goddard, Spencer Niles and Hyung Joon Yoon
Bonus: Learn more about this CERIC-supported research into Hope-Centred Career Interventions by reading the research report and watching the free webinar.
Hope is a Leadership Strategy: Coaching Clients through Turbulent Times (Career Convergence)
“Leaders report high levels of employee anxiety, fatigue, and mistrust as businesses explore opening offices safely, are already back in the office, or balance a hybrid remote and on-site environment. Career practitioners focused on leadership and executive coaching can use a framework of hope to help clients envision their strategy to reduce employee fatigue and rebuild a culture of trust and safety today.” – Sunitha Narayanan, Certified Executive and Leadership Coach
Keeping hope alive for clients in the criminal justice system (Careering)
“Canada geese walked freely in this women’s prison grounds; inmates and volunteers did not. It looked foreboding at first. Large circles of barbed wire ringed the facility. An escort took us through security, guards carried lots of keys. The women were dressed in identical, khaki prison clothes. There was a 10-minute window each hour to move locations – from work or a housing unit to our classroom in the chapel complex. Hard to keep hope alive in this setting, you might think. And yet, that is what the prison staff tried to do, and that is what the career class series I taught in a California prison was all about. What keeps hope alive if you are involved in the criminal justice system? In this article, we explore how those of us in the career field can address this question.” – Ron Elsdon, author, business founder
Promoting hope, adaptability and connectivity during the pandemic (CareerWise)
“For most of us in Canada, there has been no other time like this. The popular expression ‘who knew?’ takes on a deeper significance when we consider how an unforeseen event like this could have such a sweeping impact on our lives and the lives of people around the globe. We have seen unprecedented job loss … Like so many industries, career development service delivery has had to pivot from ‘high touch’ to physically distanced in a very short time. What does this mean in terms of our collective commitment to serve our clients? May the following strategies serve as guidance or simply reminders of the very actions many of you are already taking.” – Karen Begemann, Work Matters Consulting
Restoring hope: Responding to career concerns of immigrant clients (CJCD)
“Since immigrants’ hope for a better future may be diminished by barriers encountered in the new country, career counselling with this population involves restoration of hope. With a sense of hope, an immigrant client will be able to envision meaningful goals and believe that positive outcomes are likely to occur if specific actions are taken (Niles, Amundson & Neault,2011). The counselling process can increase the level of hopeful-ness through several mechanisms. A trusting counselling relationship characterized by a true understanding of circumstances surrounding the immigrant client’s career transition is crucial.” – Tatjana Elez, University of British Columbia
The flexibility of hope in career development (CareerWise)
“Even while traversing the long shadows cast by a corporate downsize, unexpected move or life change, we continue to look for concrete steps to help clients to move toward a brighter future. Hope is a constant presence in our careers and our lives and it is flexible, requiring reshaping from time to time depending on the situation. However, we are sometimes confronted with circumstances that challenge or even defy hope for a better future. Eight months ago, I had the privilege of completing a practicum with spiritual health practitioners in a hospital setting. As I met with patients nearing the end of their life, I wondered, how do we maintain the light of hope as the sun is setting?” – Trevor Lehmann, University of Manitoba
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