Career Management and Career Development - Term Paper Example

Career Management and Career Development Introduction The current job market is very dynamic and the people should no longer expect that there would be stability and career progress that is linear. This is the reason why people need to be on the look out for the growing job market that is also varied, often in non conventional areas. Current graduates are getting employment in areas that were previously being occupied by non graduates. Nonetheless, the jobs are not precisely the same. Career development is therefore very difficult bearing in mind that the varied job market usually gets the young people confused some of them shifting through career choices and lacking self conceptualization. The developments and changes in the job market is changing and the trend is expected to continue this way in the future for instance, need of a wider variety of job dealings, and communication with a wider base of people; broader abilities, greater desire and enthusiasm is required for a successful career development. 1. The Relevance of Awareness Theory to Me The self awareness theory: this theory states that when people centre their concentration on themselves, they evaluate and make comparisons of their character and their internal values and standards. People hence become conscious of themselves as aim assessors of themselves (Boniwell 2006). Several emotional states are increased by the concept of self awareness and people may in some cases attempt to run away from this by watching television, taking drugs and/or playing games. I realize that some people get to align their behaviour with the standards and this may have a negative impact on them if they do not meet these standards. I believe that the self awareness will help me to discover my inner standards inspiration and energy to work hard and achieve my goals. The business environment today in experiencing very dynamic changes as companies are expanding, restructuring, merging, de-merging, making new acquisitions and getting globalize (Boniwell 2006). Other aspects of the government and private institutions have also been affected this factors. The job market is exciting and showing a lot of demands as well as competition. I will carry out frequent personal review since these presenting conditions make career development very complicated. I have learnt a lot of theoretical approach to dealing with these conditions from studying this course. The important techniques I have obtained have helped me a lot to develop self concept which means am more self aware and discovering my true inners self in terms of weaknesses and strengths (Boniwell 2006). Before undertaking this module I did not actually get to understand the direction I was to take, the specific career to choose or what to target in future for future developments. I only believed that I would luckily land on a job, get rich and be happy; by making me to think about what I like doing and what makes me happy in life, my inspiration, and my strengths, I feel like am in a better position to explore my potential and to know how to use it in the future developments (Inkson 2006) Knowledge is expressed as power and this is a precise when referring to some people. This also applies to the way we understand ourselves. Psychologists have referred to this as a paradox. The first paradox is the imagination that people have. This can be enlightened by analysing them as they have no boundaries. When a person is imagining, he/she can do anything in his/her thoughts including flying, climbing to the highest mountain and win very great event (Boniwell 2006) However the reality is different and people's lives are restricted by boundaries like the law, inability, beliefs among others. The second paradox is the human spirit, this is the source of inspiration to most f the human activities, motivation and the reason people can overcome their frailties (Brown & Hesketh 2004). I have discovered that the human spirit is very important in realizing self awareness as it provides us with the desire and the strength to perform noble functions, our spirit usually helps to make decisions and pursue our beliefs and it can also motivate people making them to carry out unspeakable horrors. The human spirit is the will to do something and this can be swayed in some occasions (Inkson 2006). Great leaders can influence the whole nation with a strong spirit to take some belief whether good or bad. Hope is another paradox that motivates our lives. The hope that we can achieve our dreams or bring some difference to the world; most people hope for the best in life by learning, growing and developing to make thing better. By taking a look at protean careers and boundary less, I have gotten a better insight into the type of job I need to search for so that I will be contented. I realized that I preferred taking control and make plans for activities to be carried out (Brown & Hesketh 2004). For this reason I feel that I may be well matched to the protean or the careers that are self cantered. This is because I like taking charge of my own work. I realized I will go well with it because I find I realized that I do not like sticking to one thing throughout be it in fashion and the way I select wear or my delicacies. I have constantly changed my preferences. Since a protean career is a sequence of life long experiences, constant education, transformations, skills, and identity transitions, I will greatly enjoy the diverse opportunity it presents. Being honesty (openness) and rationale is very imperative and a basic skill that I have and this will help me to follow a boundary-less career (Inkson 2006). I believe that one has to be exposed to more new opportunities to be able to discover his/her potential and in this case I will be able to find that which best suits me and my personality as well. I am a sociable individual and I live to network and already I have made a lot of friends from different groups and also from very diverse regions of the nation and world so I will not find it hard to network. Research on networking has indicated that it helps to give a variety of employment opportunities, enhances work performance and assists one to obtain a better salary and job satisfaction in addition to job promotion. I believe that these skills will be very critical in my future career selection. Having learnt about the boundary less career and the protean career, I believe that l have the right knowledge to help me concentrate on employability skills. I also have the zeal to have a variety of skills and the need to be able to regularly learn new skills. I therefore intent to settle for a career that would allow me in future to develop as many skills as possible so that I can increase my employability skills (Inkson 2006). Carrying out the theory of Myers-Briggs has allowed me to realize my preferences, personal characteristics and tendencies. The Myers-Briggs Type indicator evaluation is a psychometric questionnaire specifically designed to assess psychological preferences in how individuals observe the world and reach decisions. After taking the test I realised I was ENFJ- Extraversion, intuition, Feeling, Judgement. Although I previously knew that that I was an extrovert, I did not ever imagine that this was as a result of the stimulation from the environment with other persons. Actually now I realize why I had previously gotten less active and exhausted when I had gone a few days without actually getting to a social environment; basically I have known that most of my decisions are based on intuitive common sense, though I usually do many of this with facts and being sensible hence I do not wholly agree with the results after carrying out the Myer Briggs test. I also discovered that I could at time rush into decisions based on mood though this did not surprise me. I also feel that am a person who cares for others and I will always try to check out for and think about other people and so the outcome of the test only helped to build up on what I was already aware of. I finally feel that I have the character of being judgemental. This is because I've always made lists and plans of the activities to be carried out. The test has in the real sense revealed to me the type of job I would enjoy and under what circumstances would I cope with the working environment. Being an extrovert individual I feel that I would be very much suited to work in a job that is people oriented so that I will be able to have a lot of person to person interactions as opposed to an environment where ones sits at a table the whole day alone in the office. Since I find pleasure I drawing my decisions from feelings expressed by others I may enjoy working in an environment where I will get to actually interact with people, assists or bring out the change I want (Inkson 2006). For the judgement preferences, I think the structure of the workplace environment would be very critical. I need to work in an environment that will allow me to plan my work freely, setting deadlines and making other relevant organizations. Just to refer to the protean career, after taking the Myer Briggs assessment test I may not really fit this type of career though I would like to work in an environment that allows me to venture into new areas and try out new things as opposed to where the job description is so restricted. It is pertinent to note that traditionally, companies have their own organization of careers where they operate on a structured program layout. This could probably fit me since I like being organised and would be much comfortable in an environment that has a definite structure of functionality. 2. The Role of Self-Awareness on Career Success in Future: Management This is the exact measure of career success since when a person becomes more self aware the chances of choosing the career that suites him or her better. Basically for me the self awareness strategy will assist me to carry out personal SWOT analyses which the assessment of my strengths (competitiveness), weakness, opportunities and threats (Brooke 2009). I also wish to note that I found the Holland's hexagon model to be very beneficial. Considering the different classes, I may categorise myself as artistic as well as social person. My intuition preference as identified from the Myer Briggs evaluation test would tie in with my artistic nature while the feelings and extrovert characteristics would be connected to being social as they are both associated with relations with people (Forret & Sulivan 2002) I also wish to state that after studying the conception of player versus purist in the context of social structuring and the employability, I discovered that I was a purist. This is so because I am honest and truthful and strongly believe in these values that I find it very hard to loosen the truth or cheat and I do not believe that I would entertain it whichever way I come across it. I really think that I would be most confident when expressing my personality in openness and inbeing honest (Hall & Moss 1998). I really hope that employers would be able to recognize my abilities, attributes and credentials without impersonating some else by masquerading in a certain way. It is believed that ENFJ personalities achieve their success by involving themselves with people in the process of trying to make things get done; though the achievements and satisfaction of those that are assisted to develop the world with greater worth, and through discovering that their efforts have accomplished their personal life goals on behalf of others(Forret & Sulivan 2002) My Strengths: My strengths are the major weapon that I will use to achieve success. In order evaluate my strengths; I carried out the signature test questionnaire on the internet. Other strengths are personal discoveries or friends observations. The major strength I posses in terms of personality is the fact that am honest and truthful. For this reason I think I cannot possibly work as a lawyer but I can be a great company CEO (Baber & Waymon 2007). The second strength I discovered is the fact that I'm humorous and playful meaning that I may function will in a workplace where I will be able to express myself in playfulness. Third, I have the ability to make friends very fact and as such I will have to find a job that deals with people directly. I have a heart of mercy and can forgive those who offend me. Fifth, my strength is leadership of which I want to develop on for future developments (Brooke 2009). Weaknesses: Identifying my weaknesses in the process of self awareness will be very critical to my career development though it may be trickier since in most cases people are not aware of their weaknesses and am one such person. Generally there are some weaknesses that I discovered I have and I would try as much as possible to reduce them as they could be a serious threat to job performance (Forret & Sulivan 2002). These weaknesses include; getting very nervous at times when there is too much stress on the job; I may get too restrained by the organizations structure and job regulations; and in some cases I may get too close with some workers creating some friendship that I may not be able to effect change when required to because of the friendship. Accomplishments: Under this, I will be able to list down all the objectives that I would have achieved after a certain period, say one year or so (Hall & Moss 1998). All the achievements will be listed whether big or small, the ones that are job oriented and those achieved outside the workplace. I will be able to find out from workmates, friends, and family about what they think I have achieved. Some of the accomplishment that I anticipate is getting promotions, winning awards and initiating transformation to the company (Baber & Waymon 2007). Development: I also like to mention that I like being organized and I will be to write a plan that will help me to achieve my career objectives. Before embarking on any undertaking I will have the situation accessed to help me get to know workable objectives and cultivate my leadership skills by nurturing my efforts to greater level. I believe that with a plan in place I will be able to identify problems and solutions directly and improve on my strengths to achieve career success to greater heights (Cotterell 2003) Career Goals: This is also a very important part of self awareness that will actually affect the career development success. I intend to rise through the ranks to the top management positions. The pay rise will off course come with the promotions that I will earn due to hard work I will be doing. Being an ENFJ personality, I think I will be good with people therefore earning my way to the top company positions (Hall & Moss 1998). For me to achieve these goals, I need to identify the qualities that will help me achieve these goals. Leadership is very difficult to achieve. Am very sociable and this will help me develop leadership skills as I will strife to take lead in the event of small crises making up solutions an writing plans for activities. Being honest and truthful, I think I will earn respect from co-workers and even the management and this would be a boost to y career development (Cotterell 2003) Conclusion Having a successful career is the dream of every young person in the world over and this success is based on the elements of an individual's capabilities. The ENFJ bases its success on the fact that these people are good with people (sociable) and good leaders who are team builders. Young people should consider other means of making sure that their dreams come true again. References Boniwell, I (2006) 'Positive Psychology in A Nutshell' London, PWBC Brown, P & Hesketh A. (2004). The Mismanagement of Talent. Employability and Jobs in the Knowledge Economy. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Retrieved from Http://Www.Businessballs.Com/Johariwindowmodel.Htm Cotterell, S (2003) Skills for Success. 'The Personal Development Handbook' Bansingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan Forret, M. L & Sulivan S.E (2002) 'a Balanced Scorecard Approach to Networking: A Guide to Successfully Navigating Career Changes' Organisational Dynamics 31(3):245-258 Found On Science Direct Hall, D, T & Moss J .E (1998). 'The New Protean Career Contract: Helping Organisations And Employees Adapt' Organisational Dynamics 26 (3):22-37 Found On Business Source Complete. Inkson, K (2006) Protean and Boundaryless Careers as Metaphors, Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 69, Pp 48-63 Sampson, E (2002) 'Build Your Personal Brand' London, Kogan Page Woodd, M (2000) 'The Psychology of Career Theory- A New Perspective' Career Development International 5(6) 273-278 Baber A & Waymon (2007). Make Your Contacts Count: Networking Know-How For Business And Career Success. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn Brooke E.E (2009). Guide to Career Success. Harper & Brothers. Cornell University Note: I believe that these questions are well addressed according to information provided 1. Evaluate how the theory on self awareness and careers is relevant to you personally 2. Reflect on your progress in improving your own self awareness and the implications for you future management. Read More