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Careers and

Career Management

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Questions for Discussion:

1. When you think about the term “career”, what comes to your mind?

2. Does it make sense to speak of careers and career management in today’s business environment?

3. What are the typical issues employees face as they progress through their careers?

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What is a “Career”?

The property of an organization or occupation

Progression and increasing success

Status of a profession

Involvement in one’s work

Stability of one’s work platform

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Current trends in careers Increasing workload for individuals, both in terms of hours worked per

week, and the intensity of effort required during each working hour

Organizational changes (delayering and downsizing) More global competition More team-based work More short-term contracts Increasingly frequent changes in the skills required in the workforce More part-time jobs

Changing workforces More self-employment and employment in small organizations

Working at or from home

Increasing pressure on occupational-based pension schemes

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What is “Career Management”?

Career Management is the combination of structured planning and the active management choice of one’s own professional career. It is also the lifelong process of investing resources to achieve career goals.

Career management is about taking control of your career to proactively ensure that your career is meeting both your professional and personal objectives.  

Career management isn't a single intervention but an ongoing strategy. However, there are times in your career when it will require more input, especially if you are looking for a job move or promotion. 

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Goals or Objectives Development

The career management process begins with setting goals/objectives and a relatively specific goal/objective must be formulated. This task may be quite difficult when the individuals lacks knowledge of career opportunities and/or is not fully aware of their talents and abilities. However, the entire career management process is based on the establishment of defined goals whether specific or general in nature.

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The boundary less careerA range of career forms that defy traditional employment assumptions (Arthur and Rousseau)

Careers are boundary less in the sense that, either by choice or necessity, people move across boundaries between organizations, department, hierarchical levels functions and sets of skills

Hirch and Shanley argue that although the boundary less career might look liberating, for many people it is deeply threatening and confusing

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The time horizon for the achievement of the selected goals or objectives- short term, medium term or long term – will have a major influence on their formulation.

1. Short term goals (one or two years)

- are usually specific and limited in scope. Short term goals are easier to formulate. Make sure they are achievable and relate to your longer term career goals.

2. Intermediate goals (3 to 20 years)

- tend to be less specific and more open ended than short term goals. Both intermediate and long term goals are more difficult to formulate than short term goals because there are so many unknowns about the future.

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3. Long term goals (Over 20 years), of course, are the most fluid of all. Lack of life

experience and knowledge about potential opportunities and pitfalls make the formulation of long term goals/objectives very difficult. Long range goals/objectives, however, may be easily modified as additional information is received without a great loss of career efforts because of experience/knowledge transfer from one career to another.

4.Making career choices and decisions – the traditional focus of careers interventions. The

changed nature of work means that individuals may now have to revisit this process more frequently now and in the future, more than in the past.

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6. Managing 'boundary less' careers – refers to skills needed by workers whose

employment is beyond the boundaries of a single organisation, a work style common among, for example, artists and designers.

5. Managing the organizational career – concerns the career management tasks of

individuals within the workplace, such as decision-making, life-stage transitions, dealing with stress etc.

7. Taking control of one's personal development – as employers take less responsibility, employees

need to take control of their own development in order to maintain and enhance their employability.

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The second component is learning.

This is one of the main tools for advancing in your career. Your task is to use it effectively in line with the goals you have set for yourself.

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The third component of career management is networking.

This component is essential for advancement. It is equally important for finding a new and better job, in case you become unemployed or decide to have a career change. You have to develop and keep mutually beneficial relationships with your co-workers and managers. This will certainly help you advance in any organization and industry. You should also keep contact with other people in your industry. This is easily done through joining a professional organization.

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How will I benefit from career management?

Achieving higher salaryEnhancing job satisfaction and interest Improving your marketabilityMinimizing risk where there is career uncertaintyPositioning yourself for future job opportunitiesCreating balance between your personal and

professional needs

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How can Career Management help me?

Identifying and assessing your key skills and experiences.

Working out what it is you really want to do for the future.

Devising a practical career action plan to determine what to do and when maximizing opportunities within your current organization.

Marketing your skills persuasively to potential external employers.

Enhancing your salary negotiation skills to ensure that you are being paid appropriately and well.

Reviewing your strategic action plan to ensure your career remains on-track and is able to accommodate unforeseen changes.

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Career formsIt is still tempting to view careers in the narrow sense of predictable

moves to jobs of increasing status, within a single occupation or organization. This is called the bureaucratic career. There are two more career forms identified, professional and entrepreneurial.

Professional - is where growth occurs through development of

competence to take on complex tasks rather than through promotion to another job.

Entrepreneurial - rests on the capacity to spot opportunities to create

valued outputs and build up one`s own organization or operation.

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Career anchors It is an area of the self-concept that is so central that he or

she would not give it up even if forced to make a difficult choice. People anchors develop and become clear during their earlier career, as a result of experience and learning from it. It consists of a mixture of abilities, motives, needs and values (Schein)

Examples: Managerial competence Technical/functional competence Security Autonomy and independence Entrepreneurial creativity

Pure challenge Service/dedication Lifestyle integration

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Career success

It can be based on observable things such as status and salary, or on more subjective things such as a sense of accomplishment and having a balanced life.

Personal characteristics, behavioural strategies and human resource strategies have all been shown to influence career success

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Career choiceSix personality types

1.realistic

People find environments satisfying when environmental patterns resemble their own personality patterns.

Incongruent interactions stimulate change in behaviour.

An environment expels incongruent people, seeks new congruent ones, or change its demands on inhabitants.

2.investigative 3.artistic 4.social 5.enterprising 6.conventional (Holland)

Self-directed search ask the respondent about his or her preferred activities, reactions to occupational titles, abilities, competencies and even daydreams. It makes it easy for a person to see him or herself what occupations seem to be most suitable.

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Making career decisions

• Self-awareness• Knowledge of occupations• Putting self-knowledge and occupational

knowledge together

• Career exploration and job search

• The quality of a person`s career exploration, his or her style of decision-making, and belief in his or her own abilities, all affect how successful his or her career decision-making is.

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It is your responsibility to manage your career as effectively as possible. You have to be able to continually assess your career to determine if the path you are on will enable you to accomplish your long-term ambitions. Here is a list of questions that, as a professional, you should ask yourself and answer honestly to insure that your career is progressing on the path that you desire.

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Question 1: What are my long term plans?

• You should have some goals in mind when you assess your current position. Career planning is important. If you have a long-term career goal in mind, your current position should be helping you develop skills that will make you qualified for the position you would ultimately like to have.

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Question 2: What are my strengths and weaknesses?

• You can define your strengths and weaknesses in either technical terms or business terms. They can range from technical knowledge on a specific information security topic to the ability to communicate information security requirements to non technical business leaders.

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Question 3: What skills do I need to develop?

• It is important to keep in mind what is happening around you in the information security industry. It is your responsibility to understand the trends within in the industry and the skills that are going to be in higher demand.

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Question 4: Have I acquired a new skill during the past year?

• When companies are looking to promote individuals or hire from within their organization or to acquire key talent from outside, they search for people who have skills that can address their most pressing issues. It is important to venture outside your comfort zone and accept new challenges. This type of exposure will often lead to increased opportunity.

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Question 5: What are my most significant career accomplishments and will I soon achieve another one?

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When you are evaluating your job and your responsibilities, you should consider if you are in position to add to your list of accomplishments. Your current position should enable you to reinforce older skills as you develop new ones.

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Question 6: Have I been promoted over the past three years?

• If you have been recognized for your contributions, it will always bode well when you are considered for the next opportunity. If you have not been promoted, you should figure out the reasons why and if you will have the chance for more responsibility in the future.

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Question 7: What investments have I made in my own career?

• Many people only receive education, training or acquire certifications when their company is footing the bill. You should not rely on your current employer to manage your career for you. If there are certain areas that you want to pursue for your own betterment, then take the initiative to do this on your own; do not wait for your employer's invitation.

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Question 8:

Am I being impatient? 

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Many people are afraid that they may be missing out on a new opportunity. Some choose to manage their careers on the principle that the grass is greener elsewhere. This may provide immediate gratification, but it could result in long-term problems. It is important to get the most that you can out of a position before you consider looking for another one. Sometimes the best career move is staying put.

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Development through the lifespan

Exploration of both self and world of work in order to clarify the self-concept and identify occupations which fit in, typical ages 15-24

Establishment; perhaps after one or two false starts, the person find a career field, and makes efforts to prove his or her worth in it, typical age 25-44Maintenance; the concern now is to hold onto the niche one has carved for oneself, typical age 45-64

Disengagement; characterised by decreasing involvement in work and tendency to become an observer rather than a participant, typical age 65+

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Tips on how to improve careers

1. Speak up! Make sure the Boss hears your ideas at meetings, in

emails, in memos – establish yourself as a constant “source” of bright thinking and good ideas within your team.

2. Work Hard!Be seen as the person on the team that always does their

homework. Never come to a meeting unprepared. Think through what the agenda is, and add your insights and ideas, in front of everyone so you will be recognized.

3. Push Yourself to the front! That doesn’t mean you have to be “in-their-face”, but it does

mean that you should seek out opportunities where you can show your abilities to best advantage.