Strategies for Collection and Processing of Occupational Information in Making Career Decisions

The dialogues of 384 users of a computerized occupational information and guidance system were monitored and utilized to examine the strategies used in the exploration of occupational information. The analysis was based on the pattern of the use of the major components of the system and on the content of the requested occupational information. An analysis of the users' dialogues with the system revealed the various patterns of exploring occupational information. These patterns were interpreted as reflecting different strategies-search within alternatives across attributes, or search within attributes across alternatives. Different possible strategies, including the sequential elimination approach for career decision making, are reviewed. The implications for career counseling and computerized career decision making systems are discussed.