Assessment task 2: some tips
You may find it helpful to revisit the content of the lectures in weeks 1 – 3 and the links in the slides to remind yourself of some career influences
Read the material on career development theory in Career, More than Just a Job, pg 5-6
Consider the structure of your writing: Avoid simply ‘repeating’ everything your interviewees said, or writing an extended life story for each, then trying to analyse at the end.
Also avoid analysing your interviewees as if they were candidates for a job – you are not evaluating their success, or lack of success!

Think about the structure of your work.
1) One approach would be to commence with two initial sections, 1 for each interview, which summarise the two conversations. Two examples of how you might handle this part of the assignment follow:

Example 1: Albert was born in Malaysia in 1926 to a poor family. From the age of five he was moved from one foster home to another. When Albert was fourteen he was forced to work on a rubber plantation. In his late teens Albert was located by his relatives and moved with them to Singapore where he completed his education.
In 1948, Albert moved to Australia to finish his studies in veterinary science, becoming a very successful vet and working into his sixties. Although Albert was a competitive and successful sportsman and finished in the top students in his class, he struggled with many aspects of Australian life.
He sees many turning points throughout his career, but none that he rates as highly as when he met and married his Australian wife, Sally. It was only then that Albert felt he was beginning to be accepted in Australia. His experiences and their impact connect well with developmental theories of career development
In his late forties Albert decided to return to Malaysia to meet his mother. He believes that this was just as important as graduating, getting married or the birth of his children and grandchildren. He was for the first time seeing where he had come from and was able to put to rest many questions he had carried throughout his life.

Example 2:
Jack Petersen, 23, is medical intern working at X. The first graduate in his family, Jack says of his parents-who work in retailing - ‘there wasn’t necessarily an expectation to go to university, but they were highly encouraging and very proud.’ His interest in medicine stemmed from a family friend who ignited an interest in human biology by letting him assist in his dental practice during his summer holidays. He also excelled in science at school. His career started at age 15 as a cashier at a supermarket, which he found ‘unstimulating and too routine.’
Upon entry to the medical degree, he worked as a .........................................

2) You might choose to follow this with another section which analyses the content of each of the interviews, and compares and contrasts what you found.

Example 3
Both Peter and John had differing personal values and characteristics, which helped facilitate their career development. Peter’s interest in helping others, and working in teams led to his career choice in the field of civil engineering. He placed importance on being useful to society from his teenage years.
He learnt that by assisting others he could better understand himself. John Krumboltz social learning theory of career decision-making, clearly resonates in his case. Krumboltz theory encompasses how individuals interact with their environment, and learn from such interactions (Swanson et al. 2009).

Example 4
There are many changes in the labour market, both globally and locally, which caused many Malaysian migrants like X and Y to work or study in Australia. Firstly, as Australia had a small workforce, and with the fear of the big tilt, they welcomed migrants like X and his wife who could contribute to the workforce and the Australian economy (Salt, year). Secondly, the statutory retirement age in Australia is 65,