The authors present the constructivist résumé, an original approach developed to promote professional identity development and career adaptability (i.e., concern, curiosity, confidence, and control) in students completing graduate-level counselor training programs. The authors discuss underlying theories, including Super, Savickas, & Super,1996) life span, life space theory and Peavy's (1998) So-cioDynamic Counseling Model, and their applications to career counseling. They also provide a detailed case illustration, make practical recommendations, and note the advantages and limitations of the approach.
The postmodern perspective views human knowing as a process of subjective meaning making in which knowledge is constructed by the individual. Constructivism, a relatively new theoretical counseling perspective, posits that individuals create meaning in their own lives. Savickas (1993) called for the increased development and application of constructivist approaches in career counseling to keep pace with contemporary society's movement to a postmodern perspective. A clear indication of the profession's affirmative response is reflected in the fact that today many career counseling textbooks include chapters devoted to constructivist approaches (e.g., . In addition, there has been a recent increase in the development of constructivist career assessment techniques as well as constructivist applications to the career counseling process .
Despite the increased use of constructivist career applications during the past 15 years, some authors have also noted potential limitations to constructivist approaches (e.g., . For example, these approaches have been criticized for placing too much emphasis on imagination and too little on real-life action . In addition, effective implementation of these approaches often requires personal qualities, including openness and imagination, on the part of both the counselor and the client .