Career Development

Career development is an integral part of the Performance Planning and Review (PPR) process.
The PPR process provides an opportunity for discussion and agreement on actions relating to
professional development opportunities and career planning for staff. Development Action Plans
capture a summary of these discussions and are reviewed through the annual PPR cycle.

Introduction to Career Development Theory

Career development theories seek to explain why people choose the jobs they do. In each culture,
a person's career choice is influenced in part by environmental factors, including gender roles,
the economy, and their genetics, social examples of parents and other role models, and social
norms. As an introduction to career development theories, here is a sample of three career
development theories and two applications of career development theory.

Career Typology
According to John Holland's career typology (1959), people gravitate to a particular job that
accommodates their needs and results in job satisfaction.
Trait-Factor Theory
The trait-factor theory of career development is most often linked with Frank Parsons and
E.E. Williamson. Practitioners use a problem-solving approach to match career seekers with
job factors based on personal traits. Matching people at a higher rate with the right job
factors results in higher performance and work satisfaction.

Social Learning Theory

In John D. Krumboltz's social learning theory of career choice, people's career choices are
impacted by their social learning, including their experiences with people, events and
institutions. Therefore, Krumboltz proposes four factors influencing career choices--genetic
factors, environmental factors, and individual skills to approaching tasks and learning
experiences.

Application to Career Counseling

Understanding career development theory helps career counselors, college advisors and other
professionals who advise people belonging to or preparing for the workforce to pick a career
that will sustain them over several decades of employment.

Connection to K-12 Education

Career development theory also relates to K-12 education. If teachers understand how
children form ideas in their environment about career roles and how they build skills through
social learning, they can design meaningful learning experiences to prepare children for
diverse career.

Roe’s Personality Development Theory

Roe’s (1956) theory was examined earlier as it influenced theories of vocational interests, but
also of considerable importance is Roe’s personality development theory. Trained as a
clinical psychologist, Roe began her theory development through observations of artists and
research scientists focusing on “possible relationships between occupational behavior (not
just choice) and personality” (Roe & Lunneborg, 1990, p. 68). In looking at other studies,
Roe identified and categorized a list of needs involving persons’ feelings concerning work.
Common threads in these studies were bodily well-being, a need for food, a need for activity,
and a need for self-realization through work. Roe argued that people do not work just to earn
a living but that “much more is involved in and expected of a job than a pay check” (p. 23).
Roe determined that occupations form a major focus of individuals’ lives through thoughts
and activities, e.g., “in our culture, social and economic status depend more on the
occupation (of the individual, the father, or even less frequently now, the husband) than on
any other one thing-even wealth” (p. 69). Roe turned to Maslow’s (1948) hierarchy of needs
including physiological needs, safety needs, need for belonging and love, need for
importance, respect, self-esteem, independence, need for information, need for
understanding, need for beauty, and a need for self-actualization. Maslow’s theory suggested
that people place greater urgency on basic needs such as food, shelter, and safety before
being capable of expressing needs on the higher levels, and, consequently, these other needs
remain unachievable to the average individual until those basic needs are satisfied. Roe
believed that occupations in modern society can provide satisfaction at all levels of need.

Roe (1957) saw the interaction of heredity and environment as important in causing a child to
develop a person or no person orientation, and to lead an individual to select an occupation
that requires either high or low levels of interaction with others. Roe (1957) wrote
extensively in describing her theory, but it has been summarized by others (Osipow, 1973;
Walsh & Osipow, 1983) as follows:

1. Limits of potential development are set by genetic inheritance including intellectual

abilities, temperament, interests, and abilities.

2. General cultural background and socioeconomic status of the family affect unique
individual experience.

3. Individual experiences governed by involuntary attention determine the pattern of

development of interests, attitudes, and other personality variables that have not been
genetically controlled.

a. Early satisfactions and frustrations resulting from the family situation, particularly
relations with parents; i.e., over protectiveness, avoidance, or acceptance of the child.

b. Degrees of needs satisfaction determine which of Maslow’s (1948) needs will become the
strongest motivators.

4. The eventual pattern of psychic energies, i.e., attention-directed, is the major determinant
of interests.

5. The intensity with which an individual feels (Maslow, 1948) needs and the satisfaction of
needs determine the degree of motivation to accomplish.

Roe (1956) was dissatisfied with available classifications of occupations and developed a list
of eight occupational groups including service, business contact, organization, technology,
outdoor, science, general culture, and arts/entertainment. Each group was divided into 6
levels of responsibility, capability, and skill needed to perform at each level.

Several instruments have been developed using Roe’s (1956) theory. These include Roe’s
own (1957) Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire (PCR 1), Career Occupational Preference
System (COPS, Knapp & Knapp, 1984), Computerized Vocational Information System
(CVIS, Harris, 1968), Ramak and Courses (Meir & Barak, 1973), and Individual Career
Exploration (ICE, Miller-Tiedeman, 1976).
Although Roe’s theory has not been validated (Osipow, 1973), her work has contributed to an
understanding of the importance of the role of occupations in the lives of individuals. Walsh
and Osipow (1983) noted that Roe’s greatest achievement may lie in the use of her two-way
job classification and the concept of people versus ideas meaning that people will either have
an orientation toward people or an orientation away from people. These two ideas have
changed the way counselors work with clients.
Social Learning Theory of Career Choice and Counseling

Social cognitive theory of behavior was developed by Bandura (1969) to explain the way
personality and behaviors arise from an individual’s unique learning experiences and the
effects negative and positive reinforcement have on these experiences. According to social
cognitive or learning theory, three major types of learning experiences influence behaviors
and skills that allow a person to function effectively in society. Bandura proposed that (a)
instrumental learning experiences occur when an individual is positively or negatively
reinforced for a behavior, (b) associative learning experiences occur when an individual
associates a previously neutral event with an emotionally laden event, and (c) vicarious
experiences occur when one individual observes the behavior of others or gains new
information and ideas from other sources.

Krumboltz’s theory (Krumboltz, 1981; Mitchell & Krumboltz, 1996) built on the work of
Bandura (1969, 1977) to develop his revised theory which “posits two major types of
learning experiences that result in individual behavioral and cognitive skills and preferences
that allow people to function effectively in the world” (p. 234). First, is instrumental learning
experiences which “occur when a person is positively reinforced or punished for the exercise
of some behavior and the associated cognitive skills” (p. 234). Second, is associative learning
experiences which “occur when people associate some previously affectively neutral event or
stimulus with an emotionally laden event or stimulus” (p. 234). Within these factors,
Krumboltz developed a number of testable propositions and determined that equal
importance rests on the inverse influence of each. Listed here are the three basic factor
groups.
1. Factors that influence preferences with an educational or occupational preference being an
evaluative self-observation generalization based on those learning experiences pertinent to
any career task and propositions explaining the acquisition of these preferences.
2. Factors influencing career-decision making skills with propositions explaining how these
particular skills are acquired.
3. Factors influencing entry behaviors into educational or occupational alternatives with
propositions explaining factors accounting for the actual entry behaviors into occupations,
training programs, or educational courses of study.

Brown (1990a) pointed out that the social learning theory is not developmental, does not
really account for job change, and would therefore not be useful in determining normative
behavior or designing career development programs. Brown maintained that Krumboltz’s
(1981) theory is not a major influence on career development research or the practice of
career counseling. Brown did, however, expect to see researchers attracted to projects
involving the constructs of the Krumboltz theory because the theory is tightly constructed
and hypotheses of the theory are testable.
Trait and Factor Theory
Parsons (1909) put forth a three-step schema forming the basis of the first conceptual
framework of career decision making (Brown & Brooks, 1990a) and the foundation of
the vocational guidance movement (Srebalus, Marinelli, & Messing, 1982; Super, 1983).
Parsons’ three-part model advocated personality analysis, where individuals gain an
understanding of both their strengths and weaknesses of attributes or traits; job analysis,
i.e., given these traits, their conditions for success in occupations; and matching through
scientific advising, i.e., make career choices based on the aforementioned information to
provide the basis for career decision-making (Brown & Brooks, 1990a; Herr & Cramer,
1988; McDaniels & Gysbers, 1992). Parsons’ formulations are often referred to as the
basis of trait and factor theory (Brown, 1990b; Brown & Brooks, 1990b), but the work of
Holland (1966, 1973, 1985) brought trait and factor theory to center stage where it
remains today.

Holland’s Personality Theory

Holland’s work with the theory of careers can be traced back to his military experience
during World War II. As an induction interviewer, he hypothesized that people could be
classified into a relatively small number of types. Holland later counseled students at
Case Western Reserve University, and physically disabled and psychiatric patients at a
Veterans Administration Hospital. These experiences reinforced his belief about
classification (Weinrach & Srebalus, 1990).

Holland’s (1985) theory contends that every individual resembles one of six basic
personality types, and as a result, manifest some of the behaviors and traits associated
with that type. Holland also defined six environments, declared that environments are
characterized by the people who occupy them, and stated that an environmental type can
be assessed by surveying the occupants of the environment. Holland’s (1985) theory is
built on four basic assumptions:
1. In our culture, most persons can be categorized as one of six types: realistic,
investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, or conventional.
2. There are six kinds of environments: realistic, investigative, artistic, social,
enterprising, or conventional.
3. People search for environments that will let them exercise their skills and abilities,
express their attitudes and values, and take on agreeable problems and roles.
4. Behavior is determined by an interaction between personality and environment. (pp. 2-
4)

In developing his types, Holland looked at results of a study conducted by Guilford,

Christensen, Bond, and Sutton (1954) in which they used factor analyses with data
gathered using the Strong Vocational Interest Blank. In that study, Guilford et al. found
seven interest factors: mechanical, scientific, social welfare, aesthetic expression, clerical,
business, and outdoor. Holland dropped the outdoor classification and renamed the other
six as Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. Holland
(1985) defines the types as follows:
1. Realistic people have a preference for activities that entail the explicit, ordered, or
systematic manipulation of objects, tools, machines, and animals. Realistic people have
an aversion to educational or therapeutic activities.
2. Investigative people have a preference for activities that entail the observational,
symbolic, systematic, and creative investigation of physical, biological, and cultural
phenomena in order to understand and control such phenomena. Investigative people
have an aversion to persuasive, social, and repetitive activities.
3. Artistic people have a preference for ambiguous, free, unsystematized activities that
entail the manipulation of physical, verbal, or human materials to create art forms or
products. In addition, artistic people have an aversion to explicit, systematic, and ordered
activities.
4. Social people have a preference for activities that entail the manipulation of others to
inform, train, develop, cure, or enlighten. Social people have an aversion to explicit,
ordered, systematic activities involving materials, tools, or machines.
5. Enterprising people have a preference for activities that entail the manipulation of
others to attain organizational goals or economic gain. Enterprising people have an
aversion to observational, symbolic, and systematic activities.
6. Conventional people have a preference for activities that entail the explicit, ordered,
systematic manipulation of data, such as keeping records, filing materials, reproducing
materials, organizing written and numerical data according to a prescribed plan, operating
business machines and data processing machines to attain organizational or economic
goals. Conventional people have an aversion to ambiguous, free, exploratory, or
unsystematized activities.

Holland (1985) revised his belief that individuals could be characterized as belonging to a
single one of the six types to a belief that one of the six types will predominate and other
subtypes influence the person’s personality. All six types are represented in a person’s
total profile, but Holland developed a system of defining personalities based on the three
most prevalent types found in the individual. A three-letter code was used to describe
personality types. The code called RAI would describe a person who is realistic, artistic,
and investigative.

Through research on Holland’s theory, correlations were calculated that showed the
psychological similarity across types. In an effort to present a visual representation of the
theory, a hexagonal model was developed showing the relationships between the types.
Holland (1973) introduced five key concepts in addition to his four basic assumptions:

1. Consistency. Using the hexagon to graphically represent the relationships between the
personality types, Holland defined the degree of personality consistency. The closer the
types appear on the hexagon, i.e., when the first two letters of the subtype are adjacent on
the hexagon, the more consistent the person is thought to be. Low consistency is
separation of the first two code letters by two intervening letters.

2. Differentiation. Some people and environments more closely resemble a single type,
thereby showing less resemblance to other types. Some others may more equally
resemble several types. Those personality types resembling several types equally are said
to be poorly differentiated while those closely resembling a single type are said to be
highly differentiated.
3. Identity. Holland considers this construct necessary to support the formulations of
personality types and environments. An individual having identity is said to have clear
and stable goals, interests, and talents established.

4. Congruence. This is an example of the old idiom, “Birds of a feather flock together”,
meaning persons tend to be happier and perform better in an environment providing the
type of reward that is important to that person. For example, a Conventional personality
type who enjoys working in a Conventional environment would be said to be a perfect
fit , likewise, the least congruence occurs when persons and their environments are at
opposite points of the hexagon, i.e., a Realistic personality type working in a Social
environment.
5. Calculus. The hexagon not only presents a graphic representation of consistency
between person and environment, but also the internal relationships of Holland’s theory,
in that “ the distances between the types or environments are inversely proportional to the
theoretical relationships between them” (1985, p. 5).

Holland’s (1985) theory has strong implications for this study for a number of reasons.
First, the RIPA was designed using Holland’s types and the process of the assessment
instrument identifies the individual’s interest profile by use of the Holland types. Second,
the three-letter code developed by Holland is used to search for a pallet of congruent
occupations. Third, the Career Exploration Report uses the Holland types and definitions
of those types to explain the use of interest inventories in the matching of individual
characteristics with occupations for career exploration purposes. Fourth, Holland’s
overall concept of matching people of a given interest profile with environments of the
same profile is the basic belief behind the use of the RIPA to stimulate career exploration.
This research will test these beliefs in an attempt to encourage middle school students to
participate in career exploration.
What (Exactly) Is a Career Development
Plan?
One way of describing it is a plan for developing knowledge, skills and attitudes through a
systematic program of learning experiences that will help you make informed decisions about
study and work options that will in turn assist you in participating in the career of your choice.

Whew! That's a mouthful, isn't it? Let's simplify...

In the most basic terms, a career development plan will include:

 Career goals
 Researching career options
 Needed job training & career education
 Action steps to achieve the training & future jobs in the career

Let's look at each area in turn...

Set Specific Career Goals First

The first step in your career development plan is to figure out exactly what it is you want to do in
terms of a job.

If your plan doesn't include career goals, then you might as well abandon it.

Goals help you focus, but more importantly, they give you something to shoot for... and – when
written correctly – they are a ruler against which you can measure your future career success.

Research Your Career Options

Some careers sound great... on paper. But when you find out what they really entail, they may
lose some of their glow. So before you commit to a career, find out all you can about it.

You can search the Internet, talk to other people doing the job, talk to prospective employers, or
even get help from a career coach.

Or, research careers with guides like the ones Vault.com offers on their site when you become a
member. (Just click on the picture on the left to get started with Vault, who I highly recommend)

You might even want to check out books about different careers, such as the ones below:

As you do your research, be sure to aim at learning exactly what skills, experience, and training
(or even a degree) are needed for that job.
The important thing is to get the facts, so you can make an informed decision.

Then, Investigate Job Training Options

If you need career education and training, find out what options are available to you, for
example:

 On-the-job training, through an internship or apprentice program

If you need more experience, talk to your employer (or a new one) about the possibility of
getting an internship (even an unpaid one, if you can afford it).

Finally, Put Your Plan into Motion

An old saying goes, "Even the longest journey starts with a single step." Remember that, and try
not to get overwhelmed with all you need to learn.

Lay out your career development plan in step by step fashion... one action step for each task
along the way. Aim high, but don't expect to get there all at once.

A Career Development Plan is a written list of the short and long-term goals that employees have
pertaining to their current and future jobs, and a planned sequence of formal and informal
experiences to assist the employees in achieving their goals. These goals should be linked to each
person's strengths and potential.

Career Development Plans are usually optional. But they should be recommended to all
employees, so that their short-term growth and development objectives are aligned and supported
by their managers or supervisors and their long-term career expectations are realistic.

Purpose of a Career Development Plan

Ultimately, the purpose of a Career Development Plan is to assist employees in achieving their
goals. In doing so, an organization also increases the likelihood of retaining employees, because
employees recognize that managers have helped employees achieve their career goals within the
organization, rather than employees believing they need to leave to pursue these goals
somewhere else.

The Career Development Plan also helps employees set realistic expectations of career growth
by suggesting time frames for certain milestones to happen (like promotions) and identifying
areas that employees need to develop before becoming eligible for their next career milestone.
Note, too, that Career Development Plans are just plans; they do not represent career
commitments to the employee nor the Manager or Supervisor.

Format of a Career Development Plan

As a manager or supervisor, encourage the use of an Individual Career Development Plan
(ICDP) format for all of your employees. Once you have explained the value of the ICDP, you
can emphasize that employees need to take responsibility for creating this form for themselves
and provide the following information:

 Short-term career goals/objectives (1-5 years),

 Long-term career goals/objectives (+5 years)
 Development experiences in the short term:
 Summary statement
 Education and training
 Job assignments
 Developmental activities

Process for Supporting Your Employee's Career Development Plan

Here are some steps for supporting an effective development plan for your employees.
Discussions and plans about development should focus on two dimensions: specific technical
and functional expertise and overall demonstration, by the employee, of the organization's
culture, philosophy and values.

1. Meet individually with your employees to identify their long-term career interests. It
should be based on their previous performance review, their objectives for the current
performance period, and feedback provided to you throughout the year. Specifically, ask
the employee to state goals for the short term (1-5 years) and long-term (+5 years). Also
ask the employee about his or her current job: whether she or he is interested in receiving
 any special types of assignments, participating in any training courses, or contributing in
new ways to the department. Record the information.
2. After the meeting, identify resources within your organization that can help the
employee achieve his or her goals. Also consider helpful resources outside of the
organization.
o Formal training within the organization
o Mentoring
o Local assignments
o Books, manuals, other print and electronic media
o External education (e.g. university courses)

Discuss with the employee any resources that may help implement the plan and
meet defined goals. Resources may include other people who could monitor
progress and/or provide ongoing feedback; customers; other supervisors'
feedback; and financial support to attend training or educational courses.
3. Prepare the plan. A development plan should be used throughout the year to note the
employee's completed activities and follow-up activities. In addition, add his/her
development goals to the overall objective-setting plan for the year.
4. Meet in-person with the employee to review the proposed plan, and based on feedback,
revise it, adjust it and confirm alignment by providing your signature and obtaining the
employee's signature. If appropriate, file the ICDP form in the employee's personnel file.
Make certain you keep a copy of the Plan and also make certain your employee keeps a
copy. This will help focus your future meetings with each employee.
5. At the mid-year review and year-end performance review, meet with the employee to
assess progress against the plan, changes in career goals (if appropriate), and revise the
plan to adjust it, if necessary.

The Career Development Plan, as described here, can be a very useful tool for career
development practitioners working inside organizations. Career professionals can offer it to
managers as a way to encourage the development of those they supervise. Used appropriately, it
can help the manager focus on supporting employees in gaining new skills, while adding value to
their organizations. It also helps employees stay on track and move forward in their careers.

Career Planning:
Career Planning

Meaning:
Meaning Career planning is the process by which one selects career goals and the path to these
goals. Career development is those personal improvements one undertakes to achieve a personal
career plan. Career management is the process of designing and implementing goals, plans and
strategies to enable the organization to satisfy employee needs while allowing individuals to
achieve their career goals. So, due to this career planning and development is necessary to each
and every employee in an organization. The need of career planning and development is felt in
each and every organization of today’s global world.

Components of Career Planning:

Components of Career Planning

Need for Career Planning:

Need for Career Planning Career Planning is necessary due to the following reasons: 1. To attract
competent persons and to retain them in the organization. 2. To provide suitable promotional
opportunities. 3. To enable the employees to develop and take them ready to meet the future
challenges. 4. To increase the utilization of managerial reserves within an organization. 5. To
correct employee placement. 6. To reduce employee dissatisfaction and turnover. 7. To improve
motivation and morale.

Career development is essential to implement career plan. Career development consists of

personal improvements undertaken by the individual employee, training, development and
educational programmes provided by the organization and various institutes. The most important
aspect of career development is that every employee must accept his/her responsibility for
development. Various career development actions prove useful if an employee is committed to
career development. Career Development

Process of Career Planning & Development:

Process of Career Planning & Development The following are the steps in Career Planning and
Development: 1. Analysis of individual skills, knowledge, abilities, aptitudes etc. 2. Analysis of
career opportunities both within and outside the organization. 3. Analysis of career demands on
the incumbent in terms of skills, knowledge, abilities, aptitude etc., and in terms of
qualifications, experience and training received etc. 4. Relating specific jobs to different career
opportunities. 5. Establishing realistic goals both short-term and long-term. 6. Formulating career
strategy covering areas of change and adjustment. 7. Preparing and implementing action plan
including acquiring resources for achieving goals.

Steps involved in Career Development System :

Steps involved in Career Development System There are four steps in establishing a career
development system. They are: Needs: -Defining the present system i.e. this step involves in the
conducting a needs assessment as in a training programme. Establish roles and responsibilities of
employees, managers, and the organization. Identify needs; establish target groups. Establish
cultural parameters; determine organizational receptivity, support, and commitment to career
development. Assess existing HR Programme or structure; consider possible links to a career
development programme. Determine prior attempts at solving the problem or need. Establish the
mission or philosophy of the programme. Design and implement needs assessment to confirm the
data or collect more data. Establish indicators or criteria of success.

Steps involved in Career Development System :

Steps involved in Career Development System 2. Vision: -The needs of the career system must
be linked with the interventions. An ideal career development system known as the vision links
the needs with the interventions. Create a long-term philosophy. Establish the vision or
objectives of the programme. Design interventions for employees, managers, and the
organization. Organize and make available career information needed to support the programme.

Steps involved in Career Development System :

Steps involved in Career Development System 3. Action Plan: -An action plan should be
formulated in order to achieve the vision. The support of the top management should be obtained
in this process. Assess the plan and obtain support from top management Create a pilot
programmed Assess resources and competencies. Establish an advisory group. Involve advisory
group in data gathering, programmed design, implementation, evaluation and monitoring

Steps involved in Career Development System:

Steps involved in Career Development System Results: -Career development programmed
should be integrated with the organization’s on-going employee training and management
development programmers. The programmed should be evaluated from time to time in order to
revise the programmed. Create long-term formalized approaches. Publicize the programmed.
Evaluate and redesign the programmed and its components.

Advantages of Career Planning and Development:

Advantages of Career Planning and Development For Individuals: 1. The process of career
planning helps the individual to have the knowledge of various career opportunities, his priorities
etc. 2. This knowledge helps him select the career that is suitable to his life styles, preferences,
family environment, scope for self-development etc. 3. It helps the organization identify internal
employees who can be promoted. 4. Internal promotions, up gradation and transfers motivate the
employees, boost up their morale and also result in increased job satisfaction. 5. Increased job
satisfaction enhances employee commitment and creates a sense of belongingness and loyalty to
the organization. 6. Employee will await his turn of promotion rather than changing to another
organization. This will lower employee turnover. 7. It improves employee’s performance on the
job by taping their potential abilities and further employee turnover. 8. It satisfies employee
esteem needs.

For Organizations: - A long-term focus of career planning and development will increase the
effectiveness of human resource management. More specifically, the advantages of career
planning and development for an organization include: i. efficient career planning and
development ensures the availability of human resources with required skill, knowledge and
talent. ii. The efficient policies and practices improve the organization’s ability to attract and
retain highly skilled and talent employees. iii. The proper career planning ensures that the
women and people belong to backward communities get opportunities for growth and
development. iv. The career plan continuously tries to satisfy the employee expectations and as
such minimizes employee frustration. v. By attracting and retaining the people from different
cultures, enhances cultural diversity. vi. Protecting employees’ interest results in promoting
organizational goodwill.

Limitations of Career Planning:

Limitations of Career Planning 1. Dual Career Families: - With the increase in career orientation
among women, number of female employees in on increase. With this, the dual career families
have also been on increase. Consequently, one of those family members might face the problem
of transfer. This has become a complicated problem to organizations. Consequently other
employees may be at disadvantage. 2. Low ceiling careers: -Some careers do not have scope for
much advancement. Employees cannot get promotions despite their career plans and
development in such jobs. 3. Declining Career Opportunities: -Career opportunities for certain
categories reach the declining stage due to the influence of the technological or economic
factors. Solution for such problem is career shift. 4. Downsizing/De-layering and careers: -
Business process reengineering, technological changes and business environmental factors force
the business firms to restructure the organizations by de-layering and downsizing. Downsizing
activities result in fixing some employees, and degrading some other employees.

View Career Development Cycle

The career development cycle model was developed to help students better understand the
process of career development. Throughout your college experience you should touch upon each
part of this cycle. Over time you will find yourself building your resume, and your confidence in
a particular career direction.

Begin to explore our career services and educational opportunities that match your need by
clicking on each section of the career development cycle.
Experience

Getting experience can involve anything from taking a class that interests you to joining a club or
organization on or off campus. Experiencing something will allow you to distinguish between
your likes and dislikes. Further, this will help you discover where your strengths and/or
weaknesses lie.

Reflection

Reflection is a great way to understand your experiences more fully. Whether using a career log ,
journal writing, or talking with a career counselor this practice can help you organize your
thoughts and create career goals.

Career Concept

The career you think you want to pursue after graduation. For example, “after reflecting on my
last two internships, I think I really want to be a pediatrician”.
Information Gathering

Doing occupational research through our online resources, meeting with alumni through
the Zebra Career Advising Network (ZebraCAN) to talk about their career experiences, reading
books from our Career Library or observing others doing the job you think you would like to do
someday.

Career development planning means knowing about the labor market, but more importantly it
means knowing about you. What are your strengths and abilities? How well do you present
yourself? A personnel officer is going to make the decision on whether or not to hire you, based
on what is in your resume, and how you conduct yourself during an interview.

Knowing about the labor market means becoming familiar with the world of work. Career
development planning gives you a systematic method by which to find a job. There are many
more jobs than those listed in newspaper want ads. Career development planning shows you how
to explore this “hidden” job market. It also makes you aware of training programs that will make
you eligible to seek employment at higher levels.

Many career experts agree that the best time to look for a new job is while you are still
comfortably in your old one. If you’re starting to feel unchallenged in your present position, you
may be ready for a promotion to the next level. If there aren’t many career advancement
opportunities where you work, the best next job may be waiting for you elsewhere.

Nowadays, it’s up to you to take control of your professional future and make sure that you are
progressing wisely down the right career path. Here are 10 proven strategies to help you get
started:

1. Talk to your boss. Sit down and have a very direct and pointed conversation with your
boss about your future in the company. Stress that you want your job performance to
meet the company’s goals. Share your own career goals with him or her. Your boss will
respect this display of confidence and maturity.
2. Ask for more. Volunteering to help out other departments or teams — or simply asking
for more responsibilities — increases your value within the organization. Asking for
additional work shows an interest and desire to help your department and company to
succeed. It also puts a spotlight on your value to the business.
3. Volunteer for boards. If you have your career set on something beyond what you are
doing in your present position, seek out opportunities to volunteer or serve on advisory
boards, where you can build a reputation as someone who is passionate and dedicated to
your particular industry.
4. Sharpen your people skills. Strong interpersonal skills play a crucial role in gaining the
respect of your boss and coworkers; they will also attract the notice of outside influencers
who might open new doors of opportunity for you. Be friendly, outgoing, and personable.
Listen carefully to people, and practice being a clear and effective communicator.
 5. Be innovative. Never be afraid to think outside of the box and put your business acumen
to work. Stay on the lookout for creative solutions to problems that will make you — and
your boss — look good.
6. Find a mentor. Develop mentoring relationships, either inside or outside the company.
Recent studies have shown that four out of five promotions are influenced by a mentor
higher up in the company. Mentors are also great sources of information and career
guidance.
7. Sell yourself. Learn the fine art of self-promotion. If you have had major
accomplishments or created successful programs, make sure people know about it —
especially those in influential positions who could help you advance professionally. Let it
be known that you are seeking a promotion or the next step up in your career.
8. Keep learning. A proven way to advance in your career is to be continually acquiring
new knowledge. Stay on top of trends or developments in your field and make sure that
your current résumé reflects those needed skills.
9. Network. Strengthen your personal network and join professional organizations, attend
industry conferences, or even volunteer. The more people who are aware of your
strengths and abilities, the better your chances of hearing about any new opportunities
that might arise.
10. Build your reputation. In business, your reputation is the most valuable thing you own.
Be known for being dependable, professional, and cooperative. Act and look the part by
dressing professionally. Make a name for yourself by attending conferences, delivering
speeches, or writing articles.

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT

In terms of business and professional management, career development systems refers to the
methods that career development takes place for the benefit of employers and employees alike. A
company that values its employees will have a system of helping them with developing work
related skills that can be used immediately for the betterment of the company. This investment
pays off in higher performance provided by more capable professionals.

Career development systems are necessary to meet the growing demands on businesses. The
exploding international market has resulted in the need for more qualified professionals to work
on demanding projects. As more and more companies realize the need for in-house learning
programs, career development firms and educators are becoming more engaged with providing
quality career development systems.
In most cases, the departments that will most be involved with researching and implementing
career development systems will be the human resources team. Human resources professionals
are generally handed the reins in locating training programs to meet the needs of employees that
are lacking the training needed to perform better at work. In some situations, human resources
may also be responsible for providing the actual training with employees.

Career development plans can start from the time an employee begins work. As part of the
recruitment process, employees can be tested to see which skills they have and which skills are
lacking. This helps the company to identify skill sets that are needed in order to formulate career
development systems that will best address the needs of each employee in order to perform well
on the job.

An additional concern when creating career development systems is evaluating which additional
skills may be needed to expand operations into other areas of the business. This career
development plan can be developed by executive leadership so that the company has an ever
growing supply of employees that possess the skills necessary to take the company into the
future. These additional skills can be obtained in-house or by bringing in an external work
training provider.

Career Professional Development

Career Development Training
Career Development Systems
Vocational Career
Career Development Software
Career Development And Systems Theory
Career Transitions

4-Step Career Development Process

STEP 1
INSIDE
 (Self-Assessment)

The process of identifying characteristics that represent your inside is commonly referred to as a
self-assessment . It is considered the starting point of our 4-Step Career Development Process.
The main goal of Step 1 is to determine who you are and what's most important in your life.Once
you have accurately completed Step 1, the summary of the self-assessment it represents should
help you to make or confirm an appropriate career or college major choice.

STEP 2
OUTSIDE
(Career Exploration)

Step 2 is often referred to as Career Exploration. The main goal of Step 2 has been summarized
below.

* To explore the World-Of-Work, suitable occupational fields,

requirements and other factors you need to consider before a career or
college major selection is made.

*To become aware of significant influencing areas outside of you that

influence most major decisions (e.g., family; beliefs/faith; education; occupation;
politics and leisure-time).

STEP 3
CLOSER LOOK
(Decision Making)

Step 3 is sometimes called Decision Making. It is at this point you take what
you have discovered in the first two steps, and conduct more detailed research.

The main goal is to narrow down possible options and, after considering significant influencing
factors, eventually select the career or college major you believe to be the best fit for you.

STEP 4
MATCHING UP
(Taking Action)

Step 4 activities involves matching up Step 1 self-assessment characteristics with significant

influencing areas in Step 2. Step 4 can be called Taking Action. The main goal is to actually do
what you decided to pursue as a career or major.

As you can see, going through this 4-Step Career Development Process will take time. Taking
action on the results can have a widespread and life changing impact. Therefore; it is strongly
recommended, before you take action, that you confirm your career or college major choice with
a qualified counselor.
After reading the information in each of the steps shown below, click on the underlined title in
the step you desire to begin with.
4-Step Career Development Process

Step 1 Step 2

INSIDE OUTSIDE
Self-Assessment Career Exploration

Who am I? Who do I want to Consider & explore supportive and

become? nonsupportive components of the
following:
1. Physical & Personal Attributes
2. Temperaments
3. Abilities & Aptitudes *Family, friends, etc.
4. Strengths & Weaknesses
5. Attitudes *Faith/Beliefs
 What's Important to Me? *Occupation(s)

1. A Life Mission *Education and/or training

2. Life & Work Values
3. Interests *Laws, rules, & policies

(LIFE DIRECTION is (LIFE DIRECTION is connected)

confirmed/established)
Step 4 Step 3

MATCHING UP CLOSER LOOK

Taking Action Decision Making

Take action on decisions made in steps 1- Detailed inspection of step 1 and step 2.
3 Narrow down to "best fit"

Usually includes:
Usually includes: *Decision Making *Goal
*Job Hunting *Cover Letters Setting *Career Plan
*Resumes *Interviewing

May include:
May include applying for: * Research
*Job(s) *Financial Aid *Informational Interviewing
*College or Vocational/Technical *Job Shadowing
School *Externships/Internships
*Military *Peace Corp *Etc. *Volunteer Work *Part-Time Work

(LIFE DIRECTION becomes realistic)

(LIFE DIRECTION is practically

applied)

Complexities of Career Development

Conclusion

Major Findings

First, career development is a complex process—one that receives little attention until a student
is deciding a major and/or when a person is looking for a job. This is unfortunate because ideally
one should be exposed to the process of career development throughout primary and secondary
school, and continuing throughout life. Career development is not about finding one perfect job,
but in realizing that one’s life is an interconnected path of career development formed through
experiences and knowledge learned through various job-related experiences (Miller, 1999).
These experiences include information absorbed from our family, friends, and social circles,
from part-time jobs held as a teenager, and full-time jobs held as an adult. They include
internships, volunteer experience, and hobbies.

Although the career development process can be a confusing one, there are plenty of resources
available to help and guide one through this journey. Many college campuses have career centers
that offer career advising and can help with résumé creation, interview preparation, and job
placement. Some campuses even provide career counseling services for a more in-depth
approach. Often these are already included in tuition so students need to take advantage of them.
If one is not at a university, one can visit state agencies such as the Texas Workforce
Commission. Many resources are also available online, including the free O*Net resource system
provided by the government. If one cannot access the Internet, looking through newspaper ads,
visiting companies, learning more about open positions, and perhaps most importantly,
networking with family, friends, and previous co-workers can be extremely helpful in learning
more about potential careers.

A major problem facing providers and users of career development services is client under-usage
of the available resources. A misconception clients have is that finding their career field/job is the
responsibility of the career service professional. On the contrary, the professional seeks to
provide the tools, information, encouragement, and accountability necessary to aid the client in
the career development process. Ultimately, the responsibility for development and career
decisions rests with the client. Career advising can also be viewed as preventative medicine.
People often underestimate the value of career services and there is not an abundance of funding
for career programs in the schools. However, perhaps an investment in additional career advisors
at the high school level as well as additional personnel for college freshmen could circumvent
the dilemma faced by schools with students taking six or more years to graduate due to changing
majors.

Implications for Future Studies

To round out a review of the career development process, a detailed section on career, interest,
and personality assessments could be helpful. Furthermore, if the resources were available, I
would have liked to interview a random mix of students, ideally those in their first semester of
their freshmen year and also students in the second semester of their senior year. Furthermore, it
would be helpful to interview personnel at career centers at several public and private
universities of different sizes of staff to understand the goals and opportunities career centers
have to offer. If time and resources were available, this study could expand to include counseling
professionals who interact with clients with emotional, mental, and social issues in helping
students and other clients with career decisions. Due to time and financial constraints, this study
focused on the perspective of career center professionals and the unique challenges and
opportunities they face at one university and so is best considered an exploratory study that can
be elaborated in future research.