Career
Content
Career Definitions and etymology
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)". In this definition career is understood to relate to a range of aspects of an individual's life, learning and work. Career is also frequently understood to relate only to the working aspects of an individuals life e.g. as in career woman. A third way in which the term career is used to describe an occupation or a profession that usually involves special training or formal education,[1] and is considered to be a person’s lifework.
[2]
In this case "a career" is seen as a sequence of related jobs usually pursued within a single
industry or sector e.g. "a career in law" or "a career in the building trade". The etymology of the term comes from the m. French word carriere (16 c.) ("road, racecourse") which, in turn, comes from the Latinword "(via) cararia" (track for wheeled vehicles) which originated from the Latin word carrus" which means "wagon".[citation needed]
Historic changes in careers
By the late 20th century, a wide range of choices (especially in the range of potential professions) and more widespread education had allowed it to become possible to plan (or design) a career: in this respect the careers of the career counselor and of the career advisor have grown up. It is also not uncommon for adults in the late 20th/early 21st centuries to have dual or multiple careers, either sequentially or concurrently. Thus, professional identities have become hyphenated or hybridized to reflect this shift in work ethic. Economist Richard Florida notes this trend generally and more specifically among the "creative class".
Career Management
Career management describes the active and purposeful management of a career by an individual. Ideas of what comprise "career management skills" are describe by the Blueprint model (in the United States, Canada, Australia, Scotland, and England[3])[4] and the Seven C's of Digital Career Literacy (specifically relating to the Internet skills).[5] Key skills include the ability to reflect on one's current career, research the labour market, determine whether education is necessary, find openings, and make career changes.
Career choice According to Behling and others, an individual's decision to join a firm may depend on any of the three factors viz. objective factor, subjective factor and critical contact.[6]
•
Objective factor theory assumes that the applicants are rational. The choice, therefore, is exercised after an objective assessment of the tangible benefits of the job. Factors may include the salary, other benefits, location, opportunities for career advancement, etc.
•
Subjective factor theory suggests that decision making is dominated by social and psychological factors. The status of the job, reputation of the organization and other similar factors plays an important role.
•
Critical contact theory advances the idea that a candidate's observations while interacting with the organization plays a vital role in decision making. For example, how the recruiter keeps in touch with the candidate, the promptness of response and similar factors are important. This theory is more valid with experienced professionals.
These theories assume that candidates have a free choice of employers and careers. In reality the scarcity of jobs and strong competition for desirable jobs severely skews the decision making process. In many markets employees work particular careers simply because they were forced to accept whatever work was available to them.
Career (occupation) changing Changing occupation is an important aspect of career and career management. Over a lifetime, both the individual and the labour market will change; it is to be expected that many people will change occupations during their lives. Data collected by the U.S. Bureaur of Labor Statistics through the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in 1979 showed that individuals between the ages of 18 and 38 will hold more than 10 jobs.[7] A survey conducted by Right Management[8] suggests the following reasons for career changing.
• • • • • • • • • • •
The downsizing or the restructuring of an organization (54%). New challenges or opportunities that arise (30%). Poor or ineffective leadership (25%). Having a poor relationship with a manager(s) (22%). For the improvement of work/life balance (21%). Contributions are not being recognized (21%). For better compensation and benefits (18%), For better alignment with personal and organizational values (17%). Personal strengths and capabilities are not a good fit with an organization (16%). The financial instability of an organization (13%). An organization relocated (12%).
According to an article on Time.com, one out of three people currently employed (as of 2008) spends about an hour per day searching for another position.
Career support
There are a range of different educational, counselling and human resource management interventions that can support individuals to develop and manage their careers. Career support is commonly offered while people are in education, when they are transitioning to the labour market, when they are changing career, during periods of unemployment, and during transition to retirement. Support may be offered by career professionals, other professionals or by non-professionals such as family and friends. Professional career support is sometimes known as "career guidance" as in the OECD definition of career guidance: The activities may take place on an individual or group basis, and may be face-to-face or at a distance (including helplines and web-based services). They include career information provision (in print, ICT-based and other forms), assessment and self-assessment tools, counselling interviews, career education programmes (to help individuals develop their selfawareness, opportunity awareness, and career management skills), taster programmes (to sample options before choosing them), work search programmes, and transition services."[9] However this use of the term "career guidance" can be confusing as the term is also commonly used to describe the activities of career counselors. Provision of career support Career support is offered by a range of different mechanisms. Much career support is informal and provided through personal networks or existing relationships such as management. There is a market for private career support however the bulk of career support that exists as a professionalised activity is provided by the public sector.[citation needed]
Types of career
Key types of career include:
•
Career information describes information that supports career and learning choices. An important sub-set of career information is labour market information (LMI), such as salaries of various professions, employment rate in various professions, available training programs, and current job openings and .
•
Career assessments are tests that come in a variety of forms and rely on both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Career assessments can help individuals identify and better articulate their unique interests, personality, values, and skills to determine how well they may match with a certain career. Some skills that career assessments could help determine are job-specific skills, transferable skills, and selfmanagement skills.[10] Career assessments can also provide a window of potential opportunities by helping individuals discover the tasks, experience, education and training that is needed for a career they would want to pursue.[11]Career counselors, executive coaches, educational institutions, career development centers, and outplacement companies often administer career assessments to help individuals focus their search on careers that closely match their unique personal profile.
•
Career counseling assesses people's interests, personality, values and skills, and helps them to explore career options and research graduate and professional schools. Career counseling provides one-on-one or group professional assistance in exploration and decision making tasks related to choosing a major/occupation, transitioning into the world of work or further professional training.
•
Career education describes a process by which individuals come to learn about themselves, their careers and the world of work. There is a strong tradition of career education in schools, however career education can also occur in a wider range of other contexts including further and higher education and the workplace. A commonly used framework for careers education is DOTS which stands for decision learning (D), opportunity awareness (O), transition learning (T), and self-awareness (S). Oftentimes,
higher education is thought of as being too narrow or too researched based and lacking of a deeper understanding of the material to develop the skills necessary for a certain career. Some research shows adding one year of schooling beyond high school creates an increase of wages 17.8 percent per worker. However, additional years of schooling, beyond 9 or 10 years, have little effect on worker's wages. In summary, better educated, bigger benefits. In 2010, 90% of the U.S. Workforce had a high school diploma, 64% had some college, and 34% had at least a bachelor's degree. The common problem that people may encounter when trying to achieve an education for a career is the cost. The career that comes with the education must pay well enough to be able to pay off the schooling. The benefits of schooling can differ greatly depending on the degree (or certification) obtained, the programs the school may offer, and the ranking of the school. Sometimes, colleges provide students more with just education to prepare for careers. It is not uncommon for colleges to provide pathways and support straight into the workforce the students may desire. Much career support is delivered face-to-face, but an increasing amount of career support is delivered online.[
WHAT IS CAREER COUNSELING?
Your career development is a lifelong process that, whether you know it or not, actually started when you were born! There are a number of factors that influence your career development, including your interests, abilities, values, personality, background, and circumstances. Career Counseling is a process that will help you to know and understand yourself and the world of work in order to make career, educational, and life decisions. Career development is more than just deciding on a major and what job you want to get when you graduate. It really is a lifelong process, meaning that throughout your life you will change, situations will change, and you will continually have to make career and life decisions. The goal of Career Counseling is to not only help you make the decisions you need to make now, but to give you the knowledge and skills you need to make future career and life decisions.
What can I expect? Your Career Counselor WILL:
•
Help you figure out who you are and what you want out of your education, your career, and your life. Be someone for you to talk to about your thoughts, ideas, feelings, and concerns about your career and educational choices, who will help you sort out, organize, and make sense of your thoughts and feelings.
•
•
Help you identify the factors influencing your career development, and help you assess your interests, abilities, and values. Help you locate resources and sources of career information. Help you to determine next steps and develop a plan to achieve your goals.
• •
How to Define Career Objectives & Goals Establishing a new career can be difficult, especially when you don't know what you want to do to make income. Even if you are already in the working world, you might feel stuck with no idea where you want to go next in your career or even how to get there. Maybe you want to start over. Regardless of your current work status, making a change will probably require you to define your career goals and objectives. After all, it's hard to move forward if you don't know where you're going.
Instructions
How To Define Career Objectives and Goals
1
Examine your true career dreams. One of the advantages of working in America is that anyone can make a living being virtually anything they want. Your dream may not necessarily to be an executive in your current company, but perhaps you would like to be an executive in a company that sells a product you designed. Maybe you'd like to sell your own products, or write a great novel. Your dream job is going to be the end goal in mind.
2
Outline the skill sets that you have. Some people are better working with their hands, while others are good with numbers. Some workers do well in large groups or teams, while other workers are best flying solo. Knowing what you can do well will aid you when it comes time to sell yourself.
3
Determine the experience you have and what you have based on your past work. Even if you are just getting out of college, you might have gained some leadership or team building experiences from working odd jobs or participating in special clubs. If you've been in the workforce for 10 years, you may have picked up skills you didn't realize. This is the case in the military, where a member can be pulled from his main job and end up running the unit's budget requests as an additional duty. Additional experiences can help give you a well-rounded picture of what it takes to reach your career goal.
4
Research the minimum qualifications it takes to have your career goal. If your goal is to run your own business, your main concern would be getting up the start-up money, supplies and licenses. For example, running a licensed daycare could involve fire and public health inspections. If your goal is to be a firefighter, you'll need to know the physical requirements and certifications.
5
Start working to meet those minimum requirements. This could require some extra time outside of your regular work hours. However, several resources are available 24 hours a day, like gymnasiums and some online schools.
What Is Career Interest?
Career interest is a phrase that has been used in relation to career assessments. Career assessments are tests or inventories that you take to tell you where your skills lie and what you like to do. But a career assessment can also be something else entirely. It can be a process of researching, learning and discussing your career interests, or what it is that you would like to do for work. Career Assessments
•
Many people like to take career assessments, career inventories or "tests" because they think the test will tell them what they should do for a career, taking away the burden of deciding on their career themselves. People who jump into a career based on a career test or the notion of a "hot career trend" may find that although they may have the aptitude for the career, they may not necessarily like that career. Money and time are wasted on education and training for a career in which these people never stopped to consider if they were really interested. Most of us identify with what we do as a career. If someone asked you to talk about yourself, you would probably say "I am a , and fill in the blank with your job title. If we are disinterested in our career, we become dissatisfied with ourselves because we so strongly identify with, but dislike, our career.
Research and Discovery
•
Discovering your career interest may take more than just taking a career assessment. You may find that in order to get past constantly thinking, "But I don't know what I want to do," that you have to sit down and identify what experiences or daydreams you have had that
you especially liked and in which you were interested. You then research those experiences to find out what information is needed, what skills and abilities are required.
What Is a Career Fields?
A career field refers to a job area that a person specialises in. There are numerous career fields that a person may decide to venture in. A selected field will mostly depend on the person's talent, skills, passion, educational background, and knowledge
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)". In this definition career is understood to relate to a range of aspects of an individual's life, learning and work. Career is also frequently understood to relate only to the working aspects of an individuals life e.g. as in career woman. A third way in which the term career is used to describe an occupation or a profession that usually involves special training or formal education,[1] and is considered to be a person’s lifework.
[2]
In this case "a career" is seen as a sequence of related jobs usually pursued within a single
industry or sector e.g. "a career in law" or "a career in the building trade". The etymology of the term comes from the m. French word carriere (16 c.) ("road, racecourse") which, in turn, comes from the Latinword "(via) cararia" (track for wheeled vehicles) which originated from the Latin word carrus" which means "wagon".[citation needed]
Historic changes in careers
By the late 20th century, a wide range of choices (especially in the range of potential professions) and more widespread education had allowed it to become possible to plan (or design) a career: in this respect the careers of the career counselor and of the career advisor have grown up. It is also not uncommon for adults in the late 20th/early 21st centuries to have dual or multiple careers, either sequentially or concurrently. Thus, professional identities have become hyphenated or hybridized to reflect this shift in work ethic. Economist Richard Florida notes this trend generally and more specifically among the "creative class".
Career Management
Career management describes the active and purposeful management of a career by an individual. Ideas of what comprise "career management skills" are describe by the Blueprint model (in the United States, Canada, Australia, Scotland, and England[3])[4] and the Seven C's of Digital Career Literacy (specifically relating to the Internet skills).[5] Key skills include the ability to reflect on one's current career, research the labour market, determine whether education is necessary, find openings, and make career changes.
Career choice According to Behling and others, an individual's decision to join a firm may depend on any of the three factors viz. objective factor, subjective factor and critical contact.[6]
•
Objective factor theory assumes that the applicants are rational. The choice, therefore, is exercised after an objective assessment of the tangible benefits of the job. Factors may include the salary, other benefits, location, opportunities for career advancement, etc.
•
Subjective factor theory suggests that decision making is dominated by social and psychological factors. The status of the job, reputation of the organization and other similar factors plays an important role.
•
Critical contact theory advances the idea that a candidate's observations while interacting with the organization plays a vital role in decision making. For example, how the recruiter keeps in touch with the candidate, the promptness of response and similar factors are important. This theory is more valid with experienced professionals.
These theories assume that candidates have a free choice of employers and careers. In reality the scarcity of jobs and strong competition for desirable jobs severely skews the decision making process. In many markets employees work particular careers simply because they were forced to accept whatever work was available to them.
Career (occupation) changing Changing occupation is an important aspect of career and career management. Over a lifetime, both the individual and the labour market will change; it is to be expected that many people will change occupations during their lives. Data collected by the U.S. Bureaur of Labor Statistics through the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in 1979 showed that individuals between the ages of 18 and 38 will hold more than 10 jobs.[7] A survey conducted by Right Management[8] suggests the following reasons for career changing.
• • • • • • • • • • •
The downsizing or the restructuring of an organization (54%). New challenges or opportunities that arise (30%). Poor or ineffective leadership (25%). Having a poor relationship with a manager(s) (22%). For the improvement of work/life balance (21%). Contributions are not being recognized (21%). For better compensation and benefits (18%), For better alignment with personal and organizational values (17%). Personal strengths and capabilities are not a good fit with an organization (16%). The financial instability of an organization (13%). An organization relocated (12%).
According to an article on Time.com, one out of three people currently employed (as of 2008) spends about an hour per day searching for another position.
Career support
There are a range of different educational, counselling and human resource management interventions that can support individuals to develop and manage their careers. Career support is commonly offered while people are in education, when they are transitioning to the labour market, when they are changing career, during periods of unemployment, and during transition to retirement. Support may be offered by career professionals, other professionals or by non-professionals such as family and friends. Professional career support is sometimes known as "career guidance" as in the OECD definition of career guidance: The activities may take place on an individual or group basis, and may be face-to-face or at a distance (including helplines and web-based services). They include career information provision (in print, ICT-based and other forms), assessment and self-assessment tools, counselling interviews, career education programmes (to help individuals develop their selfawareness, opportunity awareness, and career management skills), taster programmes (to sample options before choosing them), work search programmes, and transition services."[9] However this use of the term "career guidance" can be confusing as the term is also commonly used to describe the activities of career counselors. Provision of career support Career support is offered by a range of different mechanisms. Much career support is informal and provided through personal networks or existing relationships such as management. There is a market for private career support however the bulk of career support that exists as a professionalised activity is provided by the public sector.[citation needed]
Types of career
Key types of career include:
•
Career information describes information that supports career and learning choices. An important sub-set of career information is labour market information (LMI), such as salaries of various professions, employment rate in various professions, available training programs, and current job openings and .
•
Career assessments are tests that come in a variety of forms and rely on both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Career assessments can help individuals identify and better articulate their unique interests, personality, values, and skills to determine how well they may match with a certain career. Some skills that career assessments could help determine are job-specific skills, transferable skills, and selfmanagement skills.[10] Career assessments can also provide a window of potential opportunities by helping individuals discover the tasks, experience, education and training that is needed for a career they would want to pursue.[11]Career counselors, executive coaches, educational institutions, career development centers, and outplacement companies often administer career assessments to help individuals focus their search on careers that closely match their unique personal profile.
•
Career counseling assesses people's interests, personality, values and skills, and helps them to explore career options and research graduate and professional schools. Career counseling provides one-on-one or group professional assistance in exploration and decision making tasks related to choosing a major/occupation, transitioning into the world of work or further professional training.
•
Career education describes a process by which individuals come to learn about themselves, their careers and the world of work. There is a strong tradition of career education in schools, however career education can also occur in a wider range of other contexts including further and higher education and the workplace. A commonly used framework for careers education is DOTS which stands for decision learning (D), opportunity awareness (O), transition learning (T), and self-awareness (S). Oftentimes,
higher education is thought of as being too narrow or too researched based and lacking of a deeper understanding of the material to develop the skills necessary for a certain career. Some research shows adding one year of schooling beyond high school creates an increase of wages 17.8 percent per worker. However, additional years of schooling, beyond 9 or 10 years, have little effect on worker's wages. In summary, better educated, bigger benefits. In 2010, 90% of the U.S. Workforce had a high school diploma, 64% had some college, and 34% had at least a bachelor's degree. The common problem that people may encounter when trying to achieve an education for a career is the cost. The career that comes with the education must pay well enough to be able to pay off the schooling. The benefits of schooling can differ greatly depending on the degree (or certification) obtained, the programs the school may offer, and the ranking of the school. Sometimes, colleges provide students more with just education to prepare for careers. It is not uncommon for colleges to provide pathways and support straight into the workforce the students may desire. Much career support is delivered face-to-face, but an increasing amount of career support is delivered online.[
WHAT IS CAREER COUNSELING?
Your career development is a lifelong process that, whether you know it or not, actually started when you were born! There are a number of factors that influence your career development, including your interests, abilities, values, personality, background, and circumstances. Career Counseling is a process that will help you to know and understand yourself and the world of work in order to make career, educational, and life decisions. Career development is more than just deciding on a major and what job you want to get when you graduate. It really is a lifelong process, meaning that throughout your life you will change, situations will change, and you will continually have to make career and life decisions. The goal of Career Counseling is to not only help you make the decisions you need to make now, but to give you the knowledge and skills you need to make future career and life decisions.
What can I expect? Your Career Counselor WILL:
•
Help you figure out who you are and what you want out of your education, your career, and your life. Be someone for you to talk to about your thoughts, ideas, feelings, and concerns about your career and educational choices, who will help you sort out, organize, and make sense of your thoughts and feelings.
•
•
Help you identify the factors influencing your career development, and help you assess your interests, abilities, and values. Help you locate resources and sources of career information. Help you to determine next steps and develop a plan to achieve your goals.
• •
How to Define Career Objectives & Goals Establishing a new career can be difficult, especially when you don't know what you want to do to make income. Even if you are already in the working world, you might feel stuck with no idea where you want to go next in your career or even how to get there. Maybe you want to start over. Regardless of your current work status, making a change will probably require you to define your career goals and objectives. After all, it's hard to move forward if you don't know where you're going.
Instructions
How To Define Career Objectives and Goals
1
Examine your true career dreams. One of the advantages of working in America is that anyone can make a living being virtually anything they want. Your dream may not necessarily to be an executive in your current company, but perhaps you would like to be an executive in a company that sells a product you designed. Maybe you'd like to sell your own products, or write a great novel. Your dream job is going to be the end goal in mind.
2
Outline the skill sets that you have. Some people are better working with their hands, while others are good with numbers. Some workers do well in large groups or teams, while other workers are best flying solo. Knowing what you can do well will aid you when it comes time to sell yourself.
3
Determine the experience you have and what you have based on your past work. Even if you are just getting out of college, you might have gained some leadership or team building experiences from working odd jobs or participating in special clubs. If you've been in the workforce for 10 years, you may have picked up skills you didn't realize. This is the case in the military, where a member can be pulled from his main job and end up running the unit's budget requests as an additional duty. Additional experiences can help give you a well-rounded picture of what it takes to reach your career goal.
4
Research the minimum qualifications it takes to have your career goal. If your goal is to run your own business, your main concern would be getting up the start-up money, supplies and licenses. For example, running a licensed daycare could involve fire and public health inspections. If your goal is to be a firefighter, you'll need to know the physical requirements and certifications.
5
Start working to meet those minimum requirements. This could require some extra time outside of your regular work hours. However, several resources are available 24 hours a day, like gymnasiums and some online schools.
What Is Career Interest?
Career interest is a phrase that has been used in relation to career assessments. Career assessments are tests or inventories that you take to tell you where your skills lie and what you like to do. But a career assessment can also be something else entirely. It can be a process of researching, learning and discussing your career interests, or what it is that you would like to do for work. Career Assessments
•
Many people like to take career assessments, career inventories or "tests" because they think the test will tell them what they should do for a career, taking away the burden of deciding on their career themselves. People who jump into a career based on a career test or the notion of a "hot career trend" may find that although they may have the aptitude for the career, they may not necessarily like that career. Money and time are wasted on education and training for a career in which these people never stopped to consider if they were really interested. Most of us identify with what we do as a career. If someone asked you to talk about yourself, you would probably say "I am a , and fill in the blank with your job title. If we are disinterested in our career, we become dissatisfied with ourselves because we so strongly identify with, but dislike, our career.
Research and Discovery
•
Discovering your career interest may take more than just taking a career assessment. You may find that in order to get past constantly thinking, "But I don't know what I want to do," that you have to sit down and identify what experiences or daydreams you have had that
you especially liked and in which you were interested. You then research those experiences to find out what information is needed, what skills and abilities are required.
What Is a Career Fields?
A career field refers to a job area that a person specialises in. There are numerous career fields that a person may decide to venture in. A selected field will mostly depend on the person's talent, skills, passion, educational background, and knowledge
