List and describe the three periods of vocational development

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: In societies with an abundance of career possibilities, occupational choice is a gradual process that begins long before adolescence and often extends into the mid-twenties. Major theorists view the young person as moving through several periods of vocational development:
1. The fantasy period: In early and middle childhood, children gain insight into career options by fantasizing about them. Their preferences, guided largely by familiarity, glamour, and excitement, bear little relation to the decisions they will eventually make.
2. The tentative period: Between ages 11 and 16, adolescents think about careers in more complex ways, at first in terms of their interests, and soon—as they become more aware of personal and educational requirements for different vocations—in terms of their abilities and values.
3. The realistic period: By the late teens and early twenties, with the economic and practical realities of adulthood just around the corner, young people start to narrow their options. A first step is often further exploration—gathering more information about possibilities that blend with their personal characteristics. In the final phase, crystallization, they focus on a general vocational category and experiment for a time before settling on a single occupation.