Whether we are changing jobs for career advancement or seeking a new job due to cutbacks, we often find ourselves in a position to make strategic decisions. A variety of emotions and confusion are evoked during this, often, highly stressful situation. The gap between knowing that one needs to make a good choice about employment, and knowing that one made a good choice about their employment, is an emerging problem. Job security is a major concern for many people, company downsizing and increased productivity from fewer workers, leads to people being faced with a change in employment. Within the past three years, the United States lost nearly 4 million jobs (Harris, 2004). Making a career decision involves collecting and processing information. The literature offers a variety of learning theories and cognitive career theories, such as Krumboltz, Mitchell, and Gelatt's (1975) social learning theory of career counseling, Lent, Brown, and Hackett's (1996) social cognitive career theory, Brown's values based career development model (1996), Hackett and Betz's career self-efficacy model (1981) and Young, Valach, and Collin's contextual career development model (1996) (Philips & Blustein, 1998). Adapting concepts from the cognitive information theory to the context of career decision provides a framework for a dynamic, interactive process. The cognitive information processing approach can help make an improved employment choice by utilizing problem-solving and decision-making skills in a proactive manner. This particular theory cannot be attributed to the work of a single theorist, but rather several theorists. Similar to the behaviorist, cognitive information processing theorists are concerned with observable behaviors. The difference between behaviorists and cognitive information processing theorists is the observable behavior, which cognitive information processing theorists use to infer mental processes.
