It has now been 50 years since Flanagan (1954) published his classic article on the critical incident technique (CIT) - a qualitative research method that is still widely used today. This article reviews the origin and evolution of the CIT during the past 50 years, discusses CIT’s place within the qualitative research tradition, examines the robustness of the method, and offers some recommendations for using the CIT as we look forward to its next 50 years of use. The focus of this article is primarily on the use of the CIT in counselling psychology, although other disciplines are touched upon.

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In this article the authors report on a study of the experience of unemployment. The emphasis is on those factors that unemployed people found helpful and those that hindered them.

The authors outline the results of a descriptive study in which people's experiences of unemployment were investigated. People who had been unemployed for a minimum of 3 months were interviewed. The authors examined the data for patterns of response and compared any patterns found with those suggested in a model developed by Amundson and Borgen (1982). The sample included adult men and women and young people. Analysis of the data indicated three distinct patterns in experiences of unemployment. Twenty‐nine men and women described an experience of unemployment that resembles Amundson and Borgen's roller coaster model. Women who were secondary wage earners constituted a second pattern and the young people in the sample described a third distinct pattern in the experience of unemployment. The results are described in terms of their implications for career and employment counseling and further research studies.

This article was written to remind career counselors of the potential depth and subjective impact of both unemployment and employment transitions. An existential framework is used in discussing today's world of work, previous and contemporary career counseling models, existential theory in career counseling, and existential considerations for career counselors. Results from 3 research projects are discussed in light of I. D. Yalom's (1980, 1998) 4 existential themes. Using quotations from participants, the authors move beyond theoretical ideas and underscore the real‐life importance of including the individual's larger subjective perspective when engaging in career counseling. Implications for practice are discussed.