Career Concerns of Unemployed U.S. War Veterans: Suggestions from a Cognitive Information Processing Approach

The authors examined U.S. war veterans' career concerns (e.g., interests, personality, barriers, career thoughts) to provide possible avenues for research-based and theory-driven intervention. The veterans who participated in the study were receiving mental health, substance abuse, and vocational services at a residential facility. Participants were found to have interests in all RIASEC (J. L. Holland, B. A. Fritzsche, & A. B. Powell, 1994; J. L. Holland & G. D. Gottfredson, 1994) interest areas, and negative career thinking was found to be related to a variety of negative indicators. Suggestions are provided for working with veterans using the Cognitive Information Processing approach to career decision making. (Contains 1 table.)