Career Adaptability Card Sort – A Reflective Tool for Career Transitions and Change

A reflective card sort for counselling, coaching, and career development practice. Designed for moments when change is present, but movement feels difficult.

Career Adaptability Card Sort

A reflective card sort for counselling, coaching, and career development practice - for moments when change is present, but movement feels difficult.

This tool is designed for career transitions marked by uncertainty, complexity, or stalled momentum, where insight may be present but forward movement feels constrained.

Overview

The Career Adaptability Card Sort is a reflective, developmental tool grounded in the work of Mark Savickas and the career construction tradition.

It supports clients in making sense of how they are currently orienting themselves toward career-related change- particularly during transitions, periods of uncertainty, or times when movement has slowed or become effortful.

Rather than assessing readiness, motivation, or capability, the card sort invites clients to notice how different forms of psychological energy are currently available, strained, or avoided in the situation they are facing.

This is not an assessment or diagnostic measure.

It is a tool for orientation, shared language, and developmental dialogue.

The Four Orientations of Career Adaptability

The cards are organised around four orientations that describe how people engage with career-related change. These orientations are not traits or competencies - they are situational ways of relating to transition.

Concern

Orientation toward the future

Engaging with what lies ahead without becoming overwhelmed.

Control

Orientation toward agency

Experiencing influence, responsibility, and the capacity to respond within uncertainty or constraint.

Curiosity

Orientation toward exploration

Exploring possibilities and alternatives without premature closure.

Confidence

Orientation toward coping and learning

Trusting one’s capacity to cope, learn, and take steps forward despite uncertainty.

Imbalance across the four orientations is normal.

Difficulty does not signal deficiency — it often signals that the transition matters.

How This Card Sort Is Used

The cards are designed to be used reflectively and dialogically, supporting awareness and movement rather than decision-making or evaluation.

Practitioners use this card sort:

• During career transitions, role changes, or re-entry
• When clients feel stuck, overwhelmed, or self-critical
• When insight is present but movement isn’t
• To reduce self-blame by separating person from situation
• To restore a sense of choice under uncertainty

The cards give language to how change is being experienced. They help normalise strain, clarify context, and support movement at a pace that fits the transition.

Included Exercises (Digital Guidebook)

The digital guidebook includes three structured exercises, each designed to work independently and typically completed in 10–15 minutes.

Orientation Snapshot

Helping clients notice how they are currently orienting themselves toward change across the four Cs.

Transition Demand Sort

Exploring what the transition itself is asking of the client, and why certain orientations may feel harder to mobilise.

Developmental Lever

Identifying a realistic growth edge where gentle experimentation may support movement.

Each exercise includes practitioner guidance, client-facing aims, and clear do / don’t boundaries to protect developmental and relational integrity.

What’s Included

Individual Kit – €30

• 23 professionally designed Career Adaptability cards
• Printed in EU on 350 gsm silk card stock
• Card size: 74 × 105 mm (A7)
• Undyed twill cotton drawstring bag

Included in the kit:

• 16 Career Adaptability orientation cards (Concern, Control, Curiosity, Confidence)
• 6 Contextual Situation cards reflecting common career-transition demands
• Printed A5 guidebook (shipped with the cards)
• Digital guidebook (PDF) with theory, practitioner guidance, and exercises

Designed for career coaching, guidance, counselling, and transition-focused work.

What This Card Sort Is - and Is Not

This card sort is:

• Reflective and developmental
• Grounded in career construction theory
• Focused on orientation, not outcomes
• Designed to support awareness, agency, and movement

This card sort is not:

• An assessment, diagnostic tool, or readiness measure
• A competency checklist or skills audit
• A predictor of career success or outcomes
• A tool for ranking, scoring, or labelling clients

Career adaptability is not something clients have or lack.

It is something they learn to mobilise differently, in different situations, over time.

Intended Audience

For qualified and trainee counsellors, psychotherapists, coaches, career practitioners, educators, and supervisors working with career transitions and change.

This resource is not designed as a self-help tool and is not intended for use without appropriate professional training.

Delivery

• Physical cards and printed guidebook are shipped internationally
• Digital guidebook (PDF) is delivered immediately via Payhip

Orders are shipped via standard post. Delivery times vary by region. Tracking may be provided for selected orders.