Techniques in Career Management - Essay Example

?Influences of My Career Choice ? Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Techniques in career management 3 Wheel of Life 4 The Greenhaus, et al. Career Management Model 5 Influence of Family and Upbringing 7 Influence of Work Experiences 8 Influence of Models and Mentors 9 Influence of Education 11 Prospects for the Future 13 References 15 Introduction When I decided to take charge of my future, I realized that I would need to get a job in order to support myself. That meant that I would work in order to earn income which will be able to answer for all my needs. My understanding of self-support was that simple. It was only when I started working that I came to understand that working is not the same as having a career. For one thing, having a job only means that I have an activity through which an individual can earn money. It is a regular activity in exchange of payment. It is not the same as having a career since having a career means that I would essentially be pursuing a lifelong ambition or the general course of progression towards lifelong goals. (Career vs. Job) So, I now knew that although I had a job, I may not want to be doing the same job for the rest of my life. Therefore, I needed to make plans that included developing a career plan for myself that I would follow until the day I retire. I need the career in order to give myself a sense of direction and financial motivation. By choosing a career for myself, I would finally be able to tell people that I knew what I would be doing for myself in the future. Techniques in career management Planning for my future career requires a more-or-less systematic approach, following those models and theories that management experts and practitioners have designed. While these are not hard and fast rules, they are advisory in providing a structure to how I am to plan out my career and work life. We will be using the Wheel of Life, the Greenhaus et al. Career Management Model, and Bolles’ (2008) Flower Diagram. Wheel of Life There are several conceptual tools which are helpful in defining our life goals and aspirations so that we could make a better choice among the possible career paths we could take. The diagram following provides a visual depiction of the theory. The wheel of life is made up of concentric circles showing graduated levels of each part. In applying this wheel in the course of deciding and building a career, it is important to balance our lives according to each part that makes up the wheel. I am aware that work and career, which is of such great importance to me, should also serve to balance personal growth and need for money against love life, hobbies and recreation, and of course family and friends. We must not also pursue career so intensely as to forget our health and fitness, particularly managing the stress that tends to build up at work. In my case, the overbearing influence of family, to be discussed later, has to be moderated by my desire for personal growth, earning money, and work and career. Even while growing up, due to our dire circumstances I was overly occupied with working due to our lack of money that I did not have a healthy balance between study, friends and recreation like other children. Over-emphasizing any of these aspects and neglecting the others will surely lead to my eventual frustration and unhappiness. The Greenhaus, et al. Career Management Model The following diagram depicts the Greenhaus, Callanan & Godshalk (2000) model. I find this model a good tool to use in trying to feel through what career path I choose for myself, and I believe I will continue to refer to it as a framework for gaining my bearings as I reach crucial junctures in my work life. The model appears to be complicated, but I realize that I had been subconsciously doing the steps during my career planning. An instinctive awareness of my aspirations and capabilities and awareness of the desperation as well as opportunities in my environment have guided me to want better things and perceive a way to do them. Everytime I try out new jobs and seek new avenues of growth, I acquire feedback from mentors and the environment, both work and non-work. Changes I adopt in my work, education, and associations helped me target business administration as a goal, and to further refine this goal into specific targets. What I learned from this framework is that success depends on my initiative and decisiveness, whatever the environment may be (Bee, 2010; The Economist, 2011). The Flower Diagram by Bolles (2008) The third technique I used for career choice and management modeling is the Flower Diagram, shown below. The Flower Diagram by Bolles (2008) I found it interesting that each petal in the Bolles’s flower diagram referred to me, and not one mentioned society, family, the community, the school I studied in or the institution I work in. The things I thought were important, such as family pressure, our poverty, and social discrimination, should not matter for me to succeed, only my resolve, skills, interests, values and goals, and the places, people environments, and working conditions I favor. All of these are within my control, and only by knowing myself and making the decisions that are right for me would I succeed in my career and in life (Tuazon, 2002). Influence of Family and Upbringing Usually, our family members are the first people who influence our career choices. That is because we are exposed at an early age to whatever jobs our parents have that help to support the family. So, one can come from a family of doctors, nurses, accountants, engineers, architects, teachers, bankers, etc. and say that they know what their career paths will be. They were influenced by their family. Parental support and encouragement were found to influence vocational outcome. Through interactions, such as, conversations and through verbal and non-verbal reactions, parents conveyed their influence to their children, which in turn affected what children thought, said and perceived about various careers. This eventually affected the children’s attitudes and behaviors towards work. (Dharsee) For others, it is their race, ethnicity, or color of their skin that they believe influences their career choices. I do not come from an affluent Black community, and my family is not economically well off. I was not fortunate enough to have good role models for career choices within my family. I knew very little about career choices and how career planning would help me realize my ambitions. A plan provides focus towards my goal and helps me to maximize my capabilities. It allows me to expand my career goals and future aspirations, which will only be limited by my fear of trying to achieve higher goals. (Develop a Career Plan). I tended to shy away from challenges because of my upbringing; I know that I will have to overcome more than just social adversity as I try to achieve my goal. It was important for me to develop my sense of self-worth and self-confidence when it comes to facing the more difficult tasks head long. Family can either help or hinder career choice. I faced a strong battle at home in terms of my trying to get out of the gutter that my family lived in. Although my parents often said they wished they could help me get out, little did I know that they did not actually mean what they were saying. There is often a contradiction between what parents say about their children’s careers and work and what they expect of them. Choice of employment site, work hours, pay, benefits and so forth are hot topics that often prompt comments or references which may be contradictory to the image the parent is trying to instill. Parents, through their comments and statements, should encourage their children to be open to all factors and ensure that this balance of opinion remains throughout the career development process. (Dharsee). How I wished that I had been born into a truly supportive family instead of the one that I have at present, who exhibited resentment towards my desire to achieve better things in life. Influence of Work Experiences During my childhood, I took longer to complete my elementary and high school than even other Black children, because poverty forced me to take odd jobs and provide for myself and my family’s subsistence – food, clothing and rent. I became a “mow-your-lawn” boy for the families of my classmates, and in high school, I worked as a grocery stock boy, bagger, and item check out guy. I learned the value of hard work, and developed survival instincts that would help me through the tough times. It took a great deal of time for me to be able to reach university level studies, and I came to college as a full-grown adult. I found that knowledge garnered from experience enhances classroom learning (Taylor & Greve, 2006) My working experience proved to be an invaluable source of knowledge. I learned a lot about the basics of business from the work that I did at the grocery. I was fascinated by the way that money seemed to easily exchange hands in this line of work. It was no small money that went into the registers everyday and that led me to wonder as to how a business was actually run. If somebody owned a business, his life must be very easy. It should also be easy to run a business. At least that is what I thought as I watched the business owner come by every day to check on the sales and balance the register. Owning a business and running it seemed like the best way to survive in our cut-throat world it seemed to me. That was the mindset that developed in me as I went about my daily high school life. Each spare moment I had was devoted to trying to find out how I could become a business owner so that I could finally get ahead in life. Influence of Models and Mentors It was during career week at school that I finally came across someone who helped me get on the right path towards my ideal career of becoming a business owner. After meeting with a school career counselor I finally came to learn that the college course that I needed to pursue was something called Business Administration. I had no reason to doubt the words of the person who advised me so I decided to go for it. I enrolled in Business Administration classes when I finally found the opportunity to attend college, which turned out to be a challenge. I found myself caught between two warring worlds at that point in my life. I had the old neighborhood of despair and hopelessness that I went home to every single day. Where mind tricks were played upon me by my peers and family members who believed that I had ambitions far above my actual station in life. And on the other side, I had my college classes that gave me hope and the training that I needed in order to get myself out of the gutter. These were the transitional stages in my life that I found myself having to deal with before I could truly tell myself that I knew where I was going with my life. Through sheer persistence and a “never give up, never say die” attitude, I found myself overcoming the adversities that ere a regular part of my ghetto life. I never surrendered my dream of a better life, even though the odds seemed to be stocked against me. I knew that the odds were just another obstacle that I had to overcome in order to achieve my rightful place in life. Just like everything else in my world that I had to deal with in order to get to where I finally was at that point in my life. I had nothing to lose at that point. I took solace in the wise words of Pres. Theodore Roosevelt who said that “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing. “ Faced with an uncertain future, I chose to take my chances because what the uncertain future held for me could not be worse than the present that I was wallowing in. It was our president's wise advice that I used as the catalyst for my decision to continue pursuing my studies in Business Administration. After all was said and done, I was actually on the right path towards a career. After all, a career is nothing but a method of progression through a certain stage of a person's life. All of the life experiences that I have and the lessons learned along the way have all contributed towards my personal definition of what a career is all about. After referring to the Oxford dictionary, it is nice to know that my personal definition is not too far from the actual definition of the word career. I already had a career path. I just needed to make sure that I stayed on track towards achieving the career goals that I set out for myself. My decision to continue pursuing a degree in Business Administration was further strengthened by the continuously weakening economy of our country. This recession has taught me that no business is recession proof. However, a business, when administered properly, will manage to survive the recession. Regardless of the global economic crisis and the negative factors that threaten the survival of the business, the business will still prevail. With the rising rate of unemployment, many people only have joblessness to look forward to. However, a business owner with the proper management training will be able to parlay his existing business into a new venture that can help him sustain himself through the financial crisis. Influence of Education These days, education is viewed as a privilege in our country. A status symbol in society that dictates the kind of future and career you will have. On the other hand in relation to my background education is a privilege and it is also taken as a status symbol in the society, outlined amongst the best achievements as part of your career. I believe that education is a platform that has helped enlighten me to the current financial and employment situation that currently exists in the world. It has helped me position myself for better prospects in the future in relation to business related endeavors. I fully intend to pursue those opportunities as soon as I have completed my degree so that I can help others who also wish to get themselves ahead in life. I did not have anybody to help me out when I first started out on this path, so I know how much people who are in my previous situation will appreciate the extra support and nudge towards the right direction. In the the musical “My Fair Lady”, Prof. Higgins told an aghast Eliza Doolittle that her lack of education chained her to the gutter. He then proceeded to encourage her to dream big and get out of the gutter by emphasizing that with the proper education, he could pass her off as a lady, respectable enough to get a job as a sales person at a flower shop in the future. But she had to study hard and work towards that goal. That scene could have very well been the situation that I am trying to pull myself out of. But unlike Eliza, I plan to own the business that I work in rather than being an employee for life. I know that I need all the help I can get in order to achieve my ambitions in life. Aside from the positive influence of my teachers and career advisers, I need to make sure that I am accepted into the correct university in order to ensure my future success. There were actually a number of factors that influenced my decision to apply for admittance to the London South Bank University that stem from both my personal experiences and my future educational expectations. The London South Bank University comes highly recommended as one of the top 200 business schools in the country. Its teaching and research quality rank among the highest in the country, giving the school a rating that makes it worthy of being in the top 20 percent of universities that offer added educational value. The graduates of this university go on to become top salary earners and business leaders in the country which is why I am looking forward to hobnobbing with the other students in this fine academic institution and learning from the some of the most prolific business minds this side of the European Union. My decision to keep pursing the best available facilities in my quest to further advance my education is a decision that I know will greatly enhance my value as a future employee or business owner. Completing all possible academic requirements in relation to Business Administration can only aid me in the advancement of my career. Prospects for the Future I hold tremendously high hopes of becoming a high profile entrepreneur in the future. I hope to become more of a job creator than anything else in terms of running my own business. However, I understand that I will have to start at the bottom of the employment ladder before I can become fully equipped to own my own business; therefore, the first order of business for me while still a student is to make sure that I become marketable as an employee that no company can afford to be without. I plan to create my image as a perfect employee by using the knowledge that I will acquire during my academic career. I will develop my analytical and communication skills that will empower me to become an independent but highly reliable employee in the future. I will not take of my academic opportunities for granted. In fact, I fully intend to pursue internships and other on the job exposure programs while I am enrolled in order to give me an advantage over my classmates. Meaning, I will have the actual workplace experience to pair up with the academic theories that we shall be taught in school. I am in the unique position of having the opportunity to actually advance myself both as a person and a professional. Therefore, I should not squander the chance that I have been given. All of my movements from now until graduation will all be towards the benefit of my education and desire to become an entrepreneur upon graduation. Sure the odds will always be stocked against me. But as long as I am willing to play the game until the obstacles are torn down, I am sure that my future can only be bright and promising. After all, I am the only person who can give up on myself, thereby damning me to a future of hopelessness and I have absolutely no intention of doing so. What I do plan on becoming upon the completion of this course, is a person far removed from my dark early years. I am looking forward to redefining who I am based upon the new person that my educational success will have created. Although I plan on looking back to where I came from, I do not plan on ever revisiting that past. Rather, I am concentrated on creating the best possible future for myself using the tools that my education will have provided to me. In the end, my career influences should have all served a singular purpose. That of helping me to find my place in this world and then defining it to suit my actual abilities and shortcomings. As a business owner, I am looking forward to finally gaining the financial independence that being a regular employee cannot ever provide. All of this while I do my best to help others like me find their own career path as well. Who better to guide them than someone who has been through it all right? That is why I am sure that I will become a financial success in the future as a trail blazing business owner. Needless to say, I hope to become that positive influence on these people's lives in order to help them gain a better future for themselves even when society says that they should not be allowed outside of their station in life. References Bee, S., 2010, Jan 02. Looking for a job? Advice from career-development experts. The Herald. Bolles R (2010) What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers Brodzinski, P. (2006). How to Plan a Career. Ferry N. (2006) Factors Influencing Career Choices of Adolescents and Young Adults in Hansen R. (n.d.). The 10-Step Plan to Career Change: How to Successfully Change Careers McKay D. (n.d.) The Career Planning Process McKay D. (n.d.) What is a Career? McQuery M. (n.d.) Influences on Career Path Decisions. Moon J (2000) Reflective Writing-Some initial guidance for students My big fat career; Self-help. 2011. The Economist, 400(8750), pp. 8-SS11. Ozbilgin, M. (2005). 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