06/04/2019
Career & Professional Development
Alusine Melvin Kanu DA, D. Ed
A career is a sequence of positions occupied by a person during a lifetime. Everyone has a career. A career does not just imply advancement and does not necessarily mean success or failure. Career development includes any work (paid/unpaid) over extended period. Formal work, schoolwork, homemaking and volunteer work are all aspects of career development. Career development is an ongoing process consisting of four main recurring steps: self-knowledge, exploration, decision-making, and action (Modestino,2019). Self-knowledge means to understand me, and this begins by understanding four main elements: personality, interests, skills, and values.
Research analysis of career and development guides inquiry of content topics in career development, discussions of extent that theory, research, and practice integrate career development, variations that exist in characteristics of career development, variations that exist in content included in theory, research, and practice articles. Results of career analysis indicated that content in in research integrates theory, research, and practice. Implications suggested is need for more topic content of career and professional development and better integration of theory, research, and practice (Fasbender,2019).
Emphasis is placed on need for education and training, development of policy to guide employment and more content analyses of career and professional development. The Journal of Career Development (JCD) provides professionals in counseling, psychology, education, student personnel, human resources, and business management with the most up-to-date concepts, ideas, and methodology in career development theory, research, and practice (Gardner, 2019). Critical topics covered by JCD include: Application of career theories, generation of emerging theoretical approaches/advances, career development across the lifespan, career development of diverse populations (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, age, ability status, the work-family connection, career and leisure, international perspectives on career development.
Of concern also are workplace and workforce issues, career issues in the schools (grades K-12), innovative career counseling techniques, interventions, and approaches, spirituality and career development, developmental career transitions (e.g., school-to-work; school-to-post-secondary; mid-career changes; career-to-retirement). Individual career development is a three-step, self-assessment process, identifying and organizing skills, interests, work-related needs and values, converting these inventories into general career fields and specific job goals (Miglianico,2019). Testing these possibilities against the realities of the organization or the job market identification and organization.
Profile of educational course preferences, extracurricular activities, skills acquired, assess occupational experience and Jobs held. Individual steps Individual career development is a three-step, self-assessment process:
The steps include identifying and organizing skills, interests, work-related needs and values, converting these inventories into general career fields and specific job goals and testing these possibilities against the realities of the organization or the job market. Effective organizational career development techniques include; Challenging initial jobs, dissemination of career option information, Job postings, assessment centers, career counseling, career development workshops, continuing education and training, periodic job changes and sabbaticals. Organizational perspectives of career development tracks career paths with management concerned about monitoring and directing progress of minorities & women while ensuring needed talent in management and technical occupations.
Individual perspective identifies major career goals and determining what is needed to achieve goals. Career development looks at long-term career effectiveness. Career path identification includes helpful realistic aspirations and job posting. Organizations develop careers by providing information to all employees about job openings. List of abilities and experience provide channels of communication such as current employment openings. Companies also use assessment centers to develop observable evidence of ability. Career counseling is part of appraisal process that establishes mutual understanding of realistic expectations of individual and organizational career development.
Career development workshops facilitate career development of employees.
Manager/employee understanding discussed in career workshops help individuals assess growth. Continuing education and training help employers develop needed skills/talents Important element in employee growth. Discussed in career workshops are topics of periodic job changes, development of new skills, varied experiences on the job and exposure to different managers, Identification and organization of profiles of educational record, courses preferences, extracurricular activities, skills acquired and assessing occupational experiences of jobs held. Careers are also enhanced with training. Training and development have focus on work effectiveness or performance in immediate time and intermediate time frames.
Effective organizational career development assures needed talent will be available, improves the organization’s ability to attract and retain high-talent personnel, ensures that minorities and women get opportunities for growth and development; reduces employee frustrations. Having the right talent when needed is an extension of human resource planning and helps employees to align themselves with needs of organization. Career counseling helps in determining realistic goals. The external dimensions are objective steps through a given occupation. The Internal dimension are subjective concept of progression. A career can be viewed as made up of five stages; exploration, establishment, mid-career, late career & decline.
Because career development is not a static but an ongoing process, professional development may be geared toward improving an area “in need of improvement” from a previous evaluation or related to an employee’s new responsibilities or future career goals. Professional growth is all about gaining new skills and experience. That means development is either related to current role or the role one wants to do next. Personal development fits alongside professional growth.
To progress in careers requires need for personal development. That’s the only way employees can handle fears, take on more responsibility, and succeed with greater challenges. Professional development isn’t only about climbing the greasy pole or earning more money. It’s also about avoiding stagnation in one’s career. When employees expand skills beyond current roles, they are preparing for what is of value to employers.
Professional development opportunities either enhances one’s brand or takes one’s career where they want to go. Opportunities for professional development include, managing bigger budgets, more people or larger projects, attending professional training or gaining sought-after qualifications, volunteering as a buddy or taking on corporate charity work, taking on a role to gain specific experience, knowledge or skills, or raising one’s profile by public speaking or leading a sales presentation (Haller, 2019). Professional growth and development include continuing education, participation in professional organizations, conducting and understanding qualitative and quantitative research to improve job performance. When one is professionally developed, there are increased duties and responsibilities.
Approaches to professional development includes; skill-based training, accepting new or additional job assignments and building developmental relationships. Critical components of effective professional development include assessment of established standards of success to describe what an individual who is successful looks like. Challenges during career development stretches people, pushes them out of their comfort zones, and requires them to think and act differently. Support from management on career development provides guidance, feedback, and assistance as the individual tries out new skills, or takes on responsibilities that are beyond the scope of their current skill level. There should be in career development tolerance for risk taking and some failure.
To manage personal and professional career development requires setting clear goals about what one wants to achieve. It is a great idea to be intentional and to plan development. One of the best ways to develop one’s career is to keep learning. Work out a training plan for each year and aim to complete at least one piece of significant training each quarter. It is also of value to look for and take the right opportunities. Discussing career plans with managers is also a great idea. The best way to manage development is to ensure one goes through a regular process of planning, taking action and reviewing progress.
Implications of findings to date on career pathways initiatives offer multiple steps of training. In addition, most findings are from studies with short- or medium-term follow-up periods, making it difficult to measure pathway progression. Research adds substantially to the evidence based on employment and earnings impacts particularly through random assignment designs, longer-term outcomes and impacts. Descriptive information about career pathways approaches and their implementation of more evaluations of initiatives that have strong career pathways focus. Analyses of program costs and effectiveness of specific components within career pathways are approaches worth exploring. Usefulness of counseling and professional development also has focus on systems change initiatives. And addressing several topics, such as: Information effectiveness, implementation and systems changes about career pathways programs and approaches in sectors other than healthcare, manufacturing, and information technology.
References:
Fasbender, U., Wöhrmann, A. M., Wang, M., & Klehe, U. C. (2019). Is the future still open? The mediating role of occupational future time perspective in the effects of career adaptability and aging experience on late career planning. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 111, 24-38.
Gardner, L. (2019). Strategies of Competitive Advantage for Small Businesses in the Service Industry (Doctoral dissertation, Walden University).
Haller, R. L., & Malone, K. R. (2019). Development of the profession. The Profession and Practice of Horticultural Therapy, 69.
Miglianico, M., Dubreuil, P., Miquelon, P., Bakker, A. B., & Martin-Krumm, C. (2019). Strength Use in the Workplace: A Literature Review. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1-28.
Modestino, A. S., Sugiyama, K., & Ladge, J. (2019). Careers in construction: An examination of the career narratives of young professionals and their emerging career self-concepts. Journal of Vocational Behavior.
