Career
Effective Career management as a mechanism for personal and organizational Development and Growth
By Agaba Herbert
Introduction
According to wikipedia the career management process begins with setting goals/objectives. A relatively specific goal/objective must be formulated. This task may be quite difficult when the individual 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/objectives whether specific or general in nature. Utilizing career assessments may be a critical step in identifying opportunities and career paths that most resonate with someone.
Ball (1997) notes that making career choices and decisions are the traditional focus of careers and interventions. The changed nature of work means that individuals may have to revisit this process more frequently now and in the future than in the past. Managing one’s organizational career concerns the career management tasks of individuals within the workplace such as decision making, life stage transitions, dealing with stress and so forth.Raddon (2005) (ed) notes that the changes in the drivers, form, content and structure of work have been evolving since the first exchange of goods and labor existed, but within the last century the pace of this evolution has accelerated, and information professions have been among some of the most rapidly changing areas. These changes have been taking place in a context of social, economic and technological flux…organizations have responded through the responding need of technologies, changing formal structures, decentralization, improved flexibility, structural alterations in the workforce, and different responses to issues of race and gender.
Career management at a Personal level
Sustainable career management starts when one is a child. It involves parenting styles and roles in a family. This means that both parents of a child should ensure that they closely monitor their child development in terms of the likes and dislikes, their thinking patterns; the way they socialize with others in terms of group activities with their friends. This stage is crucial because at that time the brain is growing so what the children do and like is deeply ingrained. It is the role of their parents to try and understand these patterns so that they can guide their children well. The challenge is that some parents seem to think that what worked for them will necessarily work for their children something which may not be the case. This has affected the careers of many people who have gone on to do “famous” courses something which is regretted at the latter years of their careers. At this level, career management involves setting personal goals and devising strategies to achieve these goals. It should be noted that career management is a an on-going process that involves self evaluation to find out if one is still on the same path s/he chose to take years back.
Middle School Career Education – The Bridge Between Elementary School and High School
Middle School is a bridge and threshold between Elementary School and High School, a time of transition.
Need for Middle School Career Education
Middle school career education lays the groundwork for future career development by helping students achieve the following goals:
Knowledge of personal characteristics, interests, aptitudes, and skills
Awareness of and respect for the diversity of the world of work
Understanding of the relationship between school performance and future choices
Development of a positive attitude toward work (Developmental Career Programs 1998)
Without Middle School Career Education, students fail to build a foundation and the connection between high school academic subjects, potential careers, world of work, and post-secondary training. As a result, students have poor self concepts, possess poor intrinsic motivation, lack self awareness, and make limited career choices.
Eventually, some of the students who fail to participate in a career education program drop out of school.
Benefits of Middle School Career Education
Middle School Students who complete career education programs have the following positive outcomes -
Enhanced understanding of the world of work leading to an openness to an increased number potential careers
Improved skills to make informed decisions and complex career information problem solving
Enhanced academic, personal, and teamwork skill development
Increased career awareness, self-esteem, clearly defined goals, a sense of direction, and motivation to persist and attain a post secondary education and training
National Career Development Guidelines – Career Education Model
Teachers and counselors use the National Career Development Guidelines (NCDG) to create middle school career education resources, career self assessment tests and tools. Career knowledge, skills, and decision-making processes use the NCDG Guidelines.
The NCDG Guidelines have three domains, goals, and indicators of mastery under each career development goal.
The three domains are:
Personal Social Development (PS)
Educational Achievement and Lifelong Learning (ED)
Career Management (CM)
The learning competency stages are:
Knowledge Acquisition (K). Middle school students at the knowledge acquisition stage expand knowledge awareness and build comprehension. They recall, recognize, describe, identify, clarify, discuss, explain, summarize, query, investigate and compile new information about the knowledge.
Application (A). Middle school students at the application stage apply acquired knowledge to situations and to self. They seek out ways to use the knowledge. For example, they demonstrate, employ, perform, illustrate and solve problems related to the knowledge.
Reflection (R). Middle school students at the reflection stage analyze, synthesize, judge, assess and evaluate knowledge in accord with their own goals, values and beliefs. They decide whether or not to integrate the acquired knowledge into their ongoing response to situations and adjust their behavior accordingly.
Elementary School Career Education – The Need, Basics, Examples, and Guidelines
According Ediger (2000), elementary school career education is important. Ediger stated that “the elementary school years are not too early to begin to achieve a vision of what one desires to do in life contributing to the world of work”. Without career education, students have unrealistic perceptions of careers due to a lack of knowledge and poor decision making. Students have limited knowledge and exposure to careers. (2,3) When students look at the different industries e.g. sports, media and entertainment, most students underestimate the skills and time required to have successful careers. (3)
The Basics for Elementary School Career Education Programs
In career awareness programs, students do not make premature career choices. Elementary school career education is not career exploration or career preparation. Elementary students remain open to new career ideas and possibilities. (7,8,13,15) Elementary students build awareness of self, personal interactions, school, and the workforce. (2,15) Elementary school counselors and teachers build self-awareness, family awareness, school awareness, community awareness, career/ work awareness, attitude development, skill development, decision making strategies, and self-worth. (2,4,11)
Career awareness programs use age appropriate materials that match the developmental levels of the students. Age appropriate activities expose students to a variety of different jobs, career information sources, and the reasons why people work. Programs also incorporate academic career pathways into classroom activities. According to CareerTec (2000), the preliminary career education skills serve as foundations for future skills. As the students progress, previous skills are reinforced, developed, and expanded. (2,4,11)
As elementary students get older, the students modify career visions and goals. After completing an elementary school career awareness program, students have higher grades, higher academic achievement, improved school involvement, as well as an increase in career awareness exploration, personal, and interpersonal skills. (1,15) In addition, the students complete more complex courses and have a higher graduation rate from high school. (9)
In summary, in career programs, students:
Learn and apply the academic material
Know and value self
Build self-esteem and confidence
Identify interests and build relationships between the school environment and the work force
Build academic, communication, problem solving, and social skills
Increase awareness of the need for future jobs skills
See the connections between learning in school, academic skills, job related skills, and careers
See career possibilities
See themselves as a future contributor to the job force
Receive empowerment
Build self-determination (2,7,9)
Top Career Web Sites for Children and Teens
Career assessments and tests help you explore who you. Career books and web sites give you a glimpse of the world of work. Free career information is available on web sites. Some writers have written facts for children and teens. We would like to share some information with you. These web sites use graphics, multimedia presentation, activities, and other techniques to expand our knowledge of careers. We have written information on seventeen (17) web sites. Here are the four different types of exploring careers web sites:
Curriculum
General Career Information
Science Career Clusters
Specific Science Careers
Curriculum Web Sites
Curriculum web sites provide activities, tests, guidelines, as well as career information.
Resource One: Career Cruiser
Source: Florida Department of Education
The Career Cruiser is a career exploration guidebook for middle school students. The Career Cruiser has self assessment activities to match personal interests to careers. The Career Cruiser has information on Holland Codes. Careers are grouped into 16 career clusters. The Career Cruiser has information on occupational descriptions, average earnings, and minimum educational level required for the job.
Teacher’s Guide is also available.
Resource Two: Elementary Core Career Connection
Source: Utah State Office of Education
The Core Career Connections is a collection of instructional activities, K to 6, and 7 to 8, designed by teachers, counselors, and parents. Each grade level has instructional activities that align directly with the Utah State Core. This instructional resource provides a framework for teachers, counselors, and parents to integrate career awareness with the elementary and middle level grade students.
Career Information Web Sites
Some web sites provide excellent career information. Some web sites list facts about job tasks, wages, career outlook, interests, education, and more.
Resource Three: Career Voyages
Source: U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Education
The Career Voyages web site is a Career Exploration web site for Elementary School students. The Career Voyages web site has information about the following industries:
Advanced Manufacturing
Automotive
Construction
Energy
Financial Services
Health Care
Hospitality
Information Technology
Retail
Transportation
Aerospace and the “BioGeoNano” Technologies
Resource Four: Career Ship
Source: New York State Department of Labor
Career Clusters, a Bridge Between Education and Career Planning
Since 1960s, career cluster resources have been used as career exploration and planning tools in schools, learning communities, and organizations across the nation. Career Clusters is a system that matches educational and career planning.
Step 1: Identifying Career Cluster Interest Areas
Career clusters are groups of similar occupations and industries. When teachers, counselors, and parents work with teens, college students, and adults, the first step is to complete career cluster assessment. The assessment identifies the highest career cluster areas. Career assessments show teens, college students, and adults rankings from one of the following 16 Interests Areas or Clusters:
1. Agriculture, Food, & Natural Resources
2. Architecture & Construction
3. Arts, A/V Technology & Communication
4. Business, Management & Administration
5. Education & Training
6. Finance
7. Government & Public Administration
8. Health Science
9. Hospitality & Tourism
10. Human Services
11. Information Technology
12. Law, Public Safety & Security
13. Manufacturing
14. Marketing, Sales & Service
15. Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
16. Transportation, Distribution & Logistics
Step 2: Exploring Career Clusters and Related Careers
After pinpointing the highest career clusters, teens, college students, and adults explore the different careers and create education plans. Career cluster tools used in career and educational planning include:
LISA: A comprehensive career cluster database
Models
Brochures
Pathways
High school plan of study
Interest and Skills Areas
Crosswalks
After completing a career cluster assessment, teens, college students, and adults look at web sites, career models, brochures, pathways, and high school plans. One of the most unique comprehensive career cluster resources is the Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA), an Internet program. LISA lets you explore career clusters, careers, abilities, training requirements, and more. There are 3 steps in the LISA program:
STEP 1: Click here to select a Career Cluster,
STEP 2: Click here to select a Career Group
STEP 3: Explore Occupations within this Career Group
In Step 1, when you choose a career cluster, you will see a description of the cluster. When you select a career group in Step 2, you see different careers. Finally, in Step 3, you see a wealth of information:
Career Clusters Close the Gap Between Schools Subjects and Careers
A wealth of information exists that explains the relationships between school subjects and careers. Across the nation, children, teens, teachers, and counselors use Career Interests Areas or Clusters to explore careers and to make school study plans. There are sixteen (16) Interests Areas or Clusters:
1. Agriculture, Food, & Natural Resources
2. Architecture & Construction
3. Arts, A/V Technology & Communication
4. Business, Management & Administration
5. Education & Training
6. Finance
7. Government & Public Administration
8. Health Science
9. Hospitality & Tourism
10. Human Services
11. Information Technology
12. Law, Public Safety & Security
13. Manufacturing
14. Marketing, Sales & Service
15. Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
16. Transportation, Distribution & Logistics
States and federal agencies across the nation have created career cluster web sites and resources. We have reviewed three (3) of the best state or federal agency web sites.
Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA)
One of the most unique comprehensive career cluster resources is the Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA), an Internet program. LISA lets you explore career clusters, careers, abilities, training requirements, and more. Using the Lisa, you can do the following tasks:
Assessment: Explore career options using the Work Importance Locator.
I Enjoy: Find careers based upon the things that you enjoy.
Cluster: Find careers from Career Cluster Groups.
Search: Search for jobs based on knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Best Match: Use your current job to find knowledge, skills, and abilities to identify a new career.
Compare: Compare current job to potential new job.
Profile: Use this feature to create a profile from a selected career.
There are 3 steps in the LISA program. In Step 1, when you choose a career cluster, you will read the description of the cluster. When you select a career cluster in Step 2, you can select a career group. In each career group, you will see a lot of different careers. Finally, in Step 3, you see additional occupational information, such as:
Job descriptions
Educational and training requirements
Crosswalks, for example ONET, DOT, GOE, and other codes
Abilities
Knowledge
Skills
Tasks
Work Values
Labor Market Information
There is detailed information in each job profile:
Description
Crosswalk
Abilities
Knowledge
Skills
Tasks
Work Values
Occupational Characteristics Narrative
The Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA) is an excellent tool for students to do career cluster exploration.
Building a Successful Career
BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL CAREER: ESSENTIAL TIPS.
INTRODUCTION:
What the world needs is capacity building and human capital development. These are indicators that determine how far an individual, society and the world can grow. A nation that recognizes capacity building through a successful career development will make do with its resources. Today the world is in turmoil due to global economic meltdown that could be solved if the necessary economic variables-human capital development, career development, balance of payment, fiscal discipline, effective monetary policy and fiscal policy, effective indigenization policy, GNP and GDP are properly harnessed. Though economic depression and recession is inevitable but can be managed if some of these economic variables are put in place. Although this chapter is not centered in solving the problems of economic downturn, rather my focus is on building a successful career; which I know if properly adhere to will add value to the nation’s economy. It’s advisable we have more entrepreneurs than government owned establishment. In Europe, the “shakers and movers” of the economies are the capitalist-entrepreneurs. These are “men” despite all odds successfully climbed the CAREER ladder and achieve a greet height.
Therefore in this write up you will have a first class knowledge of building a successful career through some essential tips that will discuss as we proceed. All you need to do is to adhere strictly and do what the essential tips required you to do.
WHAT IS CAREER?
Career has been define differently by different authors/scholars..According to Oxford Englis Dictionary, it sees career as an individual’s course or progress through life or a distinct portion of life.-www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/career
It is also one’s calling in life; a person’s occupation, an individual work and life roles over their life span.-www.en.wikitionary.org.
A chosen pursuit; a profession or occupation.-www.ccer.org/natamer/definitions.htm
The sum total of your life experiences including education, paid and unpaid work and community volunteer and family activities.-www.inmigranttoolbox.ca/index.php
A life-work chosen by a person to use personal talent, provide some services or goods, earn money and contribute to society.-www.vocations.ca
Medical Field Careers List
The following article covers some of the bright medical field careers list that you can opt for a career in the field of saving lives.
Medicine is one of the most respected professions around the world. People in this field mean serious business as they are supposed to save lives. Those who help save lives are honored and trusted with blind faith. Their word is taken as the last word and people are ready to do what they advise. Why? Because they can treat diseases and help people out of their misery. A layman knows just a few medical field careers like becoming a doctor, nurse, technician or a physiotherapist. However, these careers are just a few of the many other medical field careers. The medical field careers list is really long and daunting. Those looking forward for a bright and prospering career in the medical field will get overwhelmed with the options available for them. The following list of medical field careers list will help you find a suitable career option for you.
List of Medical Field Careers
You will learn in the following medical field careers list that some fields require only a biology degree and some medical professions require you to have a post graduate degree. If you are ready to spend the rest of your life serving humanity and become a part of highest paying jobs in America, then continue reading.
Allied Health Professions
Allied health profession is group of more than 200 health care careers. Those who work in the allied health care professions can be directly or indirectly involved with patient care. There are some allied medical field careers that work as a part of a health care team and some are able to provide their services independently. There are two categories of allied health professions; technicians and the therapists or technologists. Technicians are basically assistants to trained technologists or therapists. The following allied medical field careers list will introduce you to some of the professions under this group.
Acupuncture
Addiction Services
Paramedic (Paramedic job description)
Anesthesia Technician/Technologist
Anesthesiologist Assistant
Cardiovascular Technologist (Cardiovascular technologist salary)
Child and Youth Worker
Chiropractor
Cytotechnologist
Dermatologist (Dermatologist salary)
Diagnostic Medical Sonographer
Electroneurodiagnostic Technologist
Exercise Physiologist
Exercise Scientist
Kinesiologist (Kinesiologist salary)
Kinesiotherapist
Lactation Consultant
Massage Therapist (Message therapist salary)
Medical Assistant (Medical assistant job description)
Medical Illustrator
Mental Health Therapist
Occupational Therapist
Orthopedist
Orthotic and Prosthetic Practitioner
Perfusionist
Personal Fitness Trainer (Fitness trainer salary)
Physical Therapist
Physiotherapist
Polysomnographic Technologist
Radiation Therapist
Recreational Therapist
Rehabilitation Counselor
Respiratory Therapist
Social Worker
Specialist in Blood Bank Technology
Speech Pathologist/Language Pathologist (Speech pathologist salary)
Surgical Assistant (Surgical assistant salary)
Surgical Technician
With HCL CDC, launching a triumphant career in IT is just a course away!
What is the most important factor to become an IT expert? IT training obviously. If IT training is the only ladder to launch a rewarding career in IT, one should undergo a quality training program from a renowned IT institute. This is to ensure that the individual successfully launches his career without any failure. Top computer training institutes provide unique facilities and benefits to its students ensuring them to become ready professionals in IT and related sectors.
Every IT institute is ideal to undergo training however, when it is about those IT institutes which help innumerable numbers of students to launch a triumphant career in IT, HCL CDC’s name always comes amongst the best IT training centers in India. The training arm of HCL Infosystems Ltd, HCL Career Development Centre, is one IT institute which truly holds the badge of excellence while imparting IT education to lakhs of students in India. HCL CDC lists itself amongst the best computer training institutes in India right. The following points explain some of the reasons which have rated HCL CDC as one of the reputed computer training centers in India.
Project Training- Reputed IT institutes provide project training to its students as a part of the IT training program. However, HCL CDC’s approach while imparting project training to its students is quite unique and out of ordinary. The training center refines the over-all approach, tool, technique as well as tactic to impart its student’s course as well as job specific project training programs.
Summer Training- Like project training, HCL CDC’s summer training programs are truly outstanding. Embedded with various co-curricular activities, summer training programs in HCL CDC encourages students to take part in interactive learning. Promoting the interest of students, summer projects in HCL CDC are proved worthwhile for making students indulge in both co-curricular and learning activities.
Skill Development in India- Skill development is an important aspect of any training program (whether IT or non-IT). Through skill development (in IT training) students avail of the opportunity to enhance their skill and proficiency in the particular training program. Skill development is quite beneficial for those students who have skill in IT but need to culture and modify in order to become proficient experts in the IT field. IT training indirectly signifies grooming the IT skills of the aspirants and making them worthy for application in various IT and related sectors after course completion.