Career Design and Values - Assignment Example

Career Guide Values are unseen possessions of a person that he carries along with him in his daily existence. At work, values appear and define what are of most important for a person even in the achievement of his or her goals. It could be reflected in the way he achieves his goals as well as how he interacts with people around him. Professional values, on my part are integrated with my personality so that I believe my own personal values also reflect my professional values. In this exercise, I try to assess what are my values and how I apply them to my work. 2) Complete online assessment: http://www.internationalvaluesstudy.org/ 1. Fairness 2. Respect 3. Health 4. Freedom 5. Honesty 6. Fun / Happiness 7. Growth 8. Wisdom 3) DQ: What did you learn from exploring your values and beliefs from the articles and the assessment? As a person involved in politics, I learned that there are actually intangible matters that are important and of lesser importance than others such as fairness rather than status, respect rather than recognition, health rather than stability, freedom rather than security, honesty rather than influence, and so on. This means that there are many important matters in life but there is a need to streamline which of them are the personal choices of an individual in order for him to determine his choices of action. 4) Values Assessment + Values alignment Paper: In 750 words or less, describe the alignment between your values and your career choice. How has your career and the role(s) you play in your professional life reflected your core values and beliefs? Be sure to apply your readings and external research. This paper will have at least 2 peer-reviewed articles as research support. According to Cooper and Cottrell (2010), “Clearly articulating one’s professional purpose and professional values can clarify career direction as well as provide inspiration and ongoing career motivation…” (13). This means that in my choice of career, I have carefully balanced which are the most important values in my life and then made a career decision patterned after these values. As a professional, often times, I encounter co-workers that seek help at the workplace but after evaluating my role and their own roles, I learn that there are workloads that I should accomplish, and there are also loads that they need to accomplish. By being fair to myself and to them, I did my best to accomplish all tasks expected of me. Where tasks under their responsibility were delegated to me, I reminded them that the details of the task specifically states that it was their responsibility and that it is expected that they deliver the tasks. In addition, by doing what are expected of me, I am being fair to my employers and my fellow employees. I exercise respect towards all my colleagues and supervisors by avoiding rude speech and unacceptable actions such as letting them finish their message before bowing down to acknowledge, or say farewell prior to going to an errand. I also avoid harsh criticisms towards colleagues and superiors even when others are doing it. Rounds (1990) suggested that values are most often practiced as personal beliefs of appropriateness that guide us in career decision process where there is a good match between the values we hold and the values we realize in the work place. This leads to better satisfaction in our jobs, stays in them longer, and allows a better psychological health. Aside from work-related satisfaction, the congruence of life and work values also resonated in all aspects of one’s existence including personal and familial activities, leisure, and other roles that we assume. Work values help us in developing work-related decisions that are a reflection of what we personally hold as important. Values should be distinguished against needs and interests. Needs are manifestations of physiological conditions such as thirst and protection from elements, while interests are desires and activities that help attain values. Values, on the other hand, are a further refinement of interaction to the natural and human environment (Super, 1995). Health is another important aspect in my life that I value. I believe that with a good health, I can do my work and family duties as well as accomplish tasks that are expected of me. Therefore, I strive to maintain good health in order to sustain other needs and interests. Freedom which is also one of the values I hold is the belief that I am allowed to do the things which are beneficial for me and my fellow beings. Being under government laws and regulations and at the employ of others may restrain my options and freedom expectations. However, I refuse to see this as a restriction but a form to discipline and sustain an ideal form of freedom that maximize results. Unit I: What did you learn from exploring your values and beliefs from the articles and the assessment?  I have learned that knowing and understanding oneself is very important for any individual. The assessment served as an eye opener that my set of values and beliefs affect my behaviour in various situations I had to deal with. These are my cornerstones that guide my actions and reasoning in order to bring the best in me and become a better person. 2. Why is knowing your personality and emotional intelligence important for your career choices? How might you apply these findings in your studies as a doctorate student? Personality and emotional intelligence is vey important in choosing a career because it affects our performance and success in achieving our goal. Personality is the person’s character or traits while EI is the ability of an individual to control his/her own emotion as well as to understand and deal with others’ emotions, feelings, works, ideas, etc. Therefore, from these definitions, it determines our way of interaction or mingling with other people. People who have high emotional intelligence are most likely to succeed with their chosen field of endeavors because they have better interpersonal skills and confidence with their ability. Due to this they can easily handle or manage their behaviors, moods and even their impulses especially when things went wrong or not exactly they wanted. Since people with high EI knows more and accept their abilities and weaknesses, they are more comfortable with their self; hence, they are more resilient and remain optimistic in facing altering adversities in life or career. 3. Personal Values, Vision and Mission statement : using research on vision creation, create a personal values, vision and mission statement. Be sure to follow these guidelines :  -fairness-respect-health-honesty Personal Values Spirituality: It is one’s personal relationship with the Creator. In my own opinion, being spiritual is having a strong and everlasting faith with Him in despite of the adversities and struggles He gave in life and by doing good things that is according to His will. Family: My family is my second top priority because they are the ones who comforted and sheltered me in all the ups and downs of my life. Respect: Is the way how you treat other people as the way they should be treated. This can be shown by giving consideration for others such as being sensitive with regard to their feelings and needs and by showing totally equal opportunity in all aspects of life. Fairness In my own understanding, is giving equal and just treatment by eliminating exclusion, segregation or discrimination to any individual. Fairness at work can be shown in many ways and practices. In order to explain my opinion regarding this matter, I will use examples which were base on observations. Example #1: In hiring, the applicant should be assessed or evaluated base on her capability and not because of his/her strong “padrino system.” It is very sad that this societal malady is very rampant especially in the government sector. For instance, Applicant X and Applicant Y were applying in a certain position in the government. Both underwent the process of hiring, but in terms of capability, skills and eligibility, Applicant Y was more qualified over Applicant X. However, Applicant X was hired rather than Applicant Y. It is not good to accuse or jump into inclusion, but it is very clear that most of the employees in the government use “padrino or palakasan system.” Example #2: In rendering services: Everyone should be given fair attention regardless of position. I have one personal experience regarding this scenario. One time, I was tasked to request a public file copy from a government agency. As much as possible, I do not want to name “names” just to avail any request. To shorten the story, I end up using “name” in my third attempt because the officer does not respond until I told who needed it. Fairness at work should be applied for everybody especially in government offices because they are being paid to serve the public with satisfaction. Honesty Honesty is not only manifested by telling the truth but also by being straightforward in conduct. At work, you are honest: If you do your work properly even without the supervision of your superior. If you use office hours productively by means of doing things that will enhance and contribute development with the organization. Do not exploit company time by nonsense chatting/gossiping or surfing the Internet during office hours and do not utilize company equipment or materials for personal use. Being honest at work should start from the moment of applying. This means, giving true information by not falsifying the resume just to be hired. There were some cases wherein applicants make use of other or add information even not true in their resume just to impress the employer. If already hired, never lie just to cover somebody or any mistake or for the sake of “cooperating” and being accepted. You are also honest if you know how to accept your mistakes without blaming other people, instead turn it as a lesson to improve your work. Honesty can also manifested by not withholding any information or news, either good or bad. Health Health is the absence of illness or disability. It is very necessary at work in order to undertake the task and responsibilities entrusted to you. A healthy employee means more productive because they are more committed, can accomplish more and concentrate more on work. Respect Employers can show respect to their employees if: They accept everyone’s opinion They listen to others side without interrupting They give their due benefits, bonuses and leaves On the other hand employees can show their respect to their employers if: They keep their employer’s expectations and trust They ask apologize if done something wrong instead of covering the mistake They support and contribute well for the development of the company. Conclusion The values I have acquired in my lifetime serve as a guide in my career choices, decisions, and actions. Every day, a person is bombarded with various decision-making processes especially at his or her profession. In my case as a politician, many ethical dilemmas come my way. Most of the time, I will need to pause and choose which is the better way to deal a problem with. Sometimes, the solution chosen for a certain problem may not be a popular one because it is not highly acceptable. But being a politician is not always about implementing what is popular but what can be considered as fair, honest and respectful. The choice I made would reflect the very personal values I have held as important in my life. Read More