How can you use the career genogram to identify your career influences?

1 What is a career genogram?

A career genogram is a type of family tree that shows the occupations, education, and achievements of your relatives, as well as the relationships and interactions among them. It can also include other information, such as hobbies, interests, skills, personality traits, and life events that have affected your family members' careers. A career genogram can help you understand how your family background has influenced your career interests, values, goals, and challenges.

2 How to create a career genogram?

To create a career genogram, you need to gather information about your family members, such as their names, ages, genders, occupations, education, and achievements. You can use online templates or software, or draw your own on paper. You can use symbols, colors, and lines to represent different aspects of your family members' careers and relationships. For example, you can use circles for females and squares for males, solid lines for strong bonds and dashed lines for weak ones, and different colors for different career fields or levels.

3 How to analyze a career genogram?

In order to analyze a career genogram, it is important to identify patterns, themes, and values that emerge from your family history. You can ask yourself questions such as what are the dominant or recurring occupations or career fields in your family, what are the educational levels or achievements of your family members, and what are the career-related values or expectations that your family members have or had. Additionally, consider how your family members have influenced or supported each other's careers, coped with career transitions or challenges, and expressed their interests, skills, or personality traits through their careers. Lastly, reflect on how you relate to your family members' careers; do you share or differ from their interests, values, goals, or challenges?

4 How to use a career genogram for your career development?

A career genogram can help you gain insights into your own career development, such as recognizing how your family members have impacted your career preferences, motivations, and behaviors. It can also help you explore new possibilities or alternatives for your career by examining your family members' careers and learning from their experiences. Additionally, a genogram can assist in clarifying your career goals by aligning them with personal and family values, interests, skills, and personality traits. It can also help you plan your career actions by using your family members' careers as examples or models. Ultimately, a genogram can provide support, guidance, or feedback from or to your family members who have similar or different careers.

5 How to update a career genogram?

A career genogram is not a static or fixed document, but a dynamic and evolving one. You can update your career genogram as your family and career situations change over time. You can add, delete, or modify the information, symbols, colors, and lines in your career genogram to reflect the current or future state of your family and career. You can also review your career genogram periodically to monitor your progress and evaluate your outcomes.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?