The Role of Career Planning - Case Study Example

Introduction To maintain social and personal life, Professional career for an Individual is essential. Fundamentally, it is considered by individualsthat the role of career is only to earn money and raise income for the better living. However; it has several different dimensions such as self satisfaction, character development, skill enhancement, attainment of social respect and on top of this High Morale. To survive in today’s challenging working environment and to excel, a person in his student life needs to decide on the right career. Students find themselves puzzled in the career maze not knowing that what they wish to accomplish and where to approach. Puzzled students in lack of proper guidance and planning lands themselves in completing the graduation without any specialization. Students can avoid this situation of regretting with the help of career planning, which is the only method to determine the requirements and necessities of the life envisaged by them. Every human has its own intentions and goals for achievement in life and prefers a stable career. The role of Career planning is to fulfill the needs of human behavior serving as a fundamental to the success. Career planning provides people with assistance so that they can consider the positive, optimistic and negative aspects of the careers they intend to choose. It enhances the people’s ability to better analyze them as if they are suitable for the career they wish to opt for. The fundamental of Career planning takes places after the completion of a certain educational level such as Secondary or higher secondary. The pre planning of career helps persons in opting for the particular educational qualifications and specialized courses for the achievement of career desired according to the skills and talent. Career planning done on right time would entitle a person to achieve right career according to skills and talents by guiding a right educational path. Strategy to Adopt Right Career It is a very critical situation for a person to ascertain that in which work he or she would be contented and would achieve job satisfaction. Every person has their own unique personality because of which the individuals perceives and reacts in similar situation differently. While in a process for planning a career people should consider that their personality will have an immense effect on the career they chose. Keeping this in view, before weighing the various options and deciding upon one career, I opted for personality test to identify my own weaknesses and strengths. Self Recognition By Personality Test Before choosing a career, a person ought to know about himself. It is very important for individuals to recognize their strengths and weaknesses because if they opt the career which is not exactly in sync with their skill strengths they can end up in a dead end canal leading to either depression and a stage of self dissatisfaction or the need to take a turn and start all over again from the beginning. If a person knows and understands his interests and capabilities, it would invariably assist him in selecting the right career and will open a golden path for the attainment of success. MBTI test is well suited for assessing the personality type before deciding on the right career. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test is a psychometric questionnaire to determine psychological contrast between the individuals. This test takes into consideration sixteen types of personalities with the help of four dichotomies. ESTJ - Extraversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judging INFP - Introversion, Intuition, Feeling, Perceiving The importance of Personality test should not be ignored to ensure the success and positive relation between individual and career. Combating the Expectations Usually parents force their children to adopt the career chosen by an adult member of family or friends in which, the respective member is successful without considering the interests and abilities of the student, leaving the student in a confused state of mind. Moreover, few times the students also are so impressed with their role models that they decide to pursue their career to follow their ideals. However, it is strongly recommended that the self recognition personality test should be undertaken by the students to avoid getting trapped in wrong career. To widen the vision range I have consulted as many professionals as possible to discover the range of various careers available and to know about their work experiences and career scopes. Careers to Pursue I have shortlisted careers that have fascinated me and I have done groundwork on these careers, that is, I have gathered important information such as the educational qualifications needed for course, the tenure of the course, the compensation which can be earned and the most important part the money to be spent for the educational preparation required for the career. After a lot of research work and matching my skills and interests finally I am able to choose two options to opt as my professional career. Financial Analyst Management Consultant Financial Analyst Individuals specializing in investment predictions by the procedure of conducting financial analysis of business firms are known as financial analysts. The financial analysts are primarily employed with financial intermediaries to assist them in taking investment decisions by analyzing the firm’s financial condition. Financial analysts estimate a firm’s business value & prospected income by analyzing the factors such as financial statements, stock prices, sales figures, expenditures, costs incurred and tax charges. Financial analysts also evaluate the organizations or governments capacity intending to issue Bonds in capital markets with an intention to pay off their loans. Such analysts serving administration panel to rate the organization/firms bonds to take further decision on the inclusion or exclusion of bonds into the portfolio are known as “rating analysts”. Financial database and arithmetical software programs are the key tools of a financial advisor in analyzing financial statistics, trends and to develop accurate predictions. Financial analysts recommend administration team to purchase or sale of an investment which are based on thorough measuring of the investments risk evaluation based on reports and presentations. Qualifications Requirements: A basic procurement of Bachelors degree in addition to Masters in Business & Finance administration, accounts, statistics or economics is required. Thorough understanding of accounting methods & system, corporate budgeting is preferable. Advanced educational qualifications such as stocks or bond estimation and risk management are preferred by the top players of the industry. Financial analysts should possess a strong obsession for arithmetical calculations and computer knowledge as well as analytical approach, crisis management and good communication skills are the necessary qualifications demanded by the career. Certifications To enhance the professional status, financial analysts can acquire the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) certificate past completion of Bachelors degree in addition with on job experience of minimum 4 years. The CFA certification program (sponsored by CFA institute) in its modules has focus on subjects like accounts, monetary markets and mechanisms, corporate finance, assets estimation, securities study and portfolio supervision. Successful completions of these 3 exams are compulsory to attain the CFA certificate. First exam out of 3 is conducted half-yearly while the rest of duos are conducted annually. Compensation Middle annual earnings comprising of bonuses and wage and salary was average $66,590 in 2006. The bonuses are an important part of earnings. Generally, bonus is determined on the basis of the accuracy of their prediction Management Consultants Due to the modern complexity and continuous overture to new challenges in businesses, organizations to hold on their market positions in mounting competitions have progressively started more relying on the management consultants. Management consultants specialize in the area of analyzing the desirable resources such as required staff, estimation of costs, project span and estimating the future tribulations of a project. Qualifications Requirements: A bachelor degree is the basic requirement to access the career of Management analyst also commonly known as management consultant. However, employers prefer a master’s in any specialized stream in accumulation with basic bachelors degree. Analytical skills, strong predictable sense, creativity, time management and good communication skills in an individual are the necessities of the career. Knowledge of computers and statistical programs is also mandatory for the management consultants. Certification: Consultants can sharpen their skills and professional reputation by attaining the certifications like CMC {Certified Management Consultant}, CIMA {Chartered Management Accountant}, and CMA {Certified Management Accountant}, BCM {Master of Science in Business Consultation} and MBA {Master of Business Administration } can also be attained past completion of the bachelors degree. Compensation Management analyst’s compensation differs extensively by the education and experience, specific expertise. Usually, management analysts working in big firms earn the maximum salaries. Middle annual earnings of management analysts were $68,050 in May 2006. Salaried management analysts obtain benefits like Provident fund on retirement, health and life insurance, Leaves on Pay along with special benefits like ESOPS, Bonus and profit sharing for Exceptional work. Furthermore, official and some amount of personal travel expenses are reimbursed by employer. Bibliography Jennifer Merritt, John A. Byrne, and Margaret Littman. Business Weeks Guide to the Best Business Schools . McGraw-Hill Companies, August 2001. Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron-Tieger, and Deborah Baker (Editor). Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You through the Secrets of Personality Type. Little, Brown & Company, April 2001. powell, C. Randall. Career planning Today. Kendull/Hunt Publishing Company, 1981. powell, Randall. Career planning Strategies. Kendull/Hunt Publishing Company, 2004. Ring, Trudy. Careers in Finance (VGM Professional Careers Series) . McGraw-Hill Companies, October 2004. Sadler, Philip. Management Consultancy: A Handbook for Best Practices. Business Consultants, 2001. United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Career Information Web Site. . Read More