In this article, the authors offer a general perspective of vocational identity development as central to child and adolescent career development. A review of the pertinent literatures suggests that identity development is the product of three development strands--career exploration, commitment, and reconsideration--that appear to begin during childhood and extend into adulthood. The authors then demonstrate how these three identity processes combine to yield a vocational identity. They conclude with a discussion of the implications of this developmental model of vocational identity development for career interventions. (Contains 1 figure.)