Case Scenario
P is a 35-years-old Latin woman with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. The woman’s family prompted this degree choice as they covered her college tuition fees under the condition that they would participate in the career decision-making process. At the time, P did not have a clear vision regarding her future, so she readily accepted her parent’s offer. Currently, she works as a data analyst in a large organization specializing in e-commerce. Given that a data analyst’s salary in the e-commerce industry is sufficient, for a long time P felt comfortable with her decision. The woman has been working in the same position and at the same company for the last eight years. Previously, she occupied a similar data analyst position, although at a smaller enterprise. P lives in Seattle with her partner and their two children. Since P’s partner is unemployed due to the global health situation, she provides for her family on her own.
P sought career counseling due to growing dissatisfaction with her life, which is aggravated by the pressure she experiences as the sole wage-earner. The woman does not think that continuing to work as a data analyst for much longer will be beneficial for her mental health. At the same time, she cannot fail to support her family. Hence, the woman decided to wait before changing her career path until the situation stabilizes and her partner can find a job in the tourism industry anew. P thinks that a degree in marketing can allow her to find a less monotonous and more people-oriented job, although she is unsure what precisely she wants. The only established truth for her is that working as a data analyst already for more than a decade is no longer emotionally and career-wise satisfactory.
This career counseling session is not P’s first, as she already contacted a specialist in the domain with whom she is quite disappointed. After multiple assessment tests to identify the woman’s career needs and inclinations, the previous career coach concluded that the most suitable field for P is data analysis. Although she believes that the career coach identified her needs and talents adequately, she cannot accept the conclusion. P thinks that she indeed succeeds at data analysis and that her analytical skills are right for the position as she is considered for a significant promotion. Nevertheless, the emptiness, lack of direction, and of a positive impact on the surrounding world make P feel as she misses an essential aspect of her life.
Session Transcript
The abstract from the career counseling session is based on a guided visualization technique.
Career Coach: P, please, take a comfortable position, close your eyes, and for a moment, concentrate on your breathing. When you feel that your breathing is even and you are comfortable, imagine your current office in the middle of a working day. How being there makes you feel?
P: As I imagine the office, it makes me feel overwhelmed (long pause).
Career Coach: Where does this feeling come from?
P: The working process itself. The need to make sense of raw information feels like I am drowning in it. I spend hours and hours in front of a screen extracting, removing, screening data, determining its meaning, and performing reports based on it. Sometimes I even have vivid dreams about it.
Career Coach: Are such dreams frequent?
P: They used to be rare; they became more frequent this year. It always seemed utterly normal to me to have dreams or even nightmares about my job. It meant that I care about what I do, but I realized that such dreams prompt my anxiety.
Career Coach: Now, let’s leave your current working space and imagine the environment that would allow you to feel better. What does it look like?
P: It is also an office-like workspace, yet it is not enclosed, and there are people around.
Career Coach: What is your role there?
P: We are collectively discussing a concept for a project around a table. The discussion becomes heated but ultimately remains well-intentioned.
Career Coach: What are your emotions as you discuss the project?
P: Mainly, I feel energetic, engrossed in the discussion, and confident about my ideas, trying to persuade my colleagues.
Career Coach: Does that mean that the most critical factor is the connection and cooperation with others?
P: It could be the need to communicate since, currently, I spend the majority of my working hours face-to-face with data, which almost appears as solitary confinement.
Career Coach: Not necessarily a relationship-centered job but involving a higher degree of interpersonal communication seems to be more appropriate for you. Your assessment test also supports this idea. That is a sound basis for you to start looking for jobs that would satisfy your need for connection and cooperation. Since you do not think that you can quit your current job, it is a good idea to simply explore the job market. So what you think you could do to get closer to your goal?