The career model takes into account the sequence of occupations, jobs and positions that a given person is likely to occupy. It will be of great practical value to have a better understanding of the nature of determinants of sequence, together with a systematic organization of the data, to facilitate the prediction of academic and occupational positions of a career and to highlight the needed interventions. This paper explains six different shaping factors which may influence the career choice process.

Occupational psychology has traditionally been differential psychology applied to occupations—to occupational choice, selection, success and satisfaction. Occupational psychology has become developmental psychology applied to vocations, to the process of developing vocational preferences, choosing an occupation, entering it, succeeding, obtaining satisfaction in it and moving from one position to another as the career unfolds. In the early 20th century, individual differences were for the first time being scientifically studied, and their relevance to work, to occupational choice and success was not yet known. By the 1930s, midway between the two world wars, a number of different kinds of aptitudes, interests, values, needs and personality traits had been identified and measured, and so square pegs were to be guided in to square holes.

The career model in developmental vocational psychology is a descriptive model. In it, the individual is viewed as moving along one of a number of possible pathways from his family positions in the socioeconomic system, through the grades of the educational system, and into and through the jobs of the work system. The model provides norms of typical behavior and of its determinants. The starting point is the father’s socioeconomic status. From there, the individual climbs a certain distance up the educational ladder at a speed determined partly by personal (psychological and social) characteristics, partly by environmental (economic, political and social) characteristics and partly by the active intervention of teachers, counselors and employers.

The career model takes into account the sequence of occupations, jobs and positions that a given person is likely to occupy. It will be of great practical value to have a better understanding of the nature and determinants of sequences together with a systematic organization of these data, to facilitate the prediction of the academic positions and the occupational positions of a career and to highlight needed interventions.