Gutteridge defines career development as the result of career planning actions from a personal and organizational point of view. There are two perspectives; employers (organizations) and employees (individuals). The employer maximizes its human resource productivity to achieve its goals. The organization will attach importance to how employees manage their careers and provide a structure for workers to progress on their chosen career path. From the view of an employee, career development is relevant because it is a tool and even a springboard for them to achieve their goals, from getting higher wages or getting rewards to achieving job flexibility and satisfaction.
Career development process
Self-assessment
Understand your personality type, interests, professional values, skills, abilities, and work style. After evaluating these, you will realize which occupations match your skills and interests.
Professional awareness
Here, you start looking for job opportunities and learn more about career paths. Individuals will learn or gain knowledge about work. What skills, qualifications, and growth opportunities are needed for this position in the organization? As this sentence implies, professional awareness means you understand the occupation or job.
Goal setting
It’s time to set a clear career goal that reflects what you want. When setting goals, consider the self-assessment results and occupational information you obtained. Combining the two will help you determine possible career directions. In this step, you should develop the following:
A career development action plan; in which you will outline the steps you will take to achieve your short and long-term career goals.
A career vision statement; that summarizes or reflects the goals you hope to achieve in your career. This sentence is an expression of what you desire in your work life.
Skills development
So you are already working in the company. You are doing your job, and you are doing well. However, good performance is not the only factor to consider when preparing for a promotion. Companies will want to hire people who can continue to add value to the organization. Meaning you, the employee, should continue to develop yourself. You can improve your skills.
Career Management
When managing your career, you will focus on the following:
Building relationships; never underestimate the importance of interpersonal relationships in your career. Most career development efforts fail due to a lack of emphasis on building relationships. The moment you enter the organization, you meet all kinds of people: your boss and supervisor, your colleagues, customers, and other third parties. Networking is a relevant business skill, and you will need it when trying to advance your career.
Continuous career planning; remember the career development plan you wrote earlier? It may alter, depending on changing circumstances. Nevertheless, your career plan may also need to be changed or updated. It means that career planning is continuous and may include updates to career development plans.
Set new goals; at several stages in your career, you may find that your priorities have changed, which requires setting new goals, getting rid of old ones, or adjusting others.
The secret of successful career development
Inscribe your goals and plans: It is a way to clarify career goals. By writing it down, we give ourselves a written reminder, especially when our priorities become confused and we forget why we worked in the first place. It is why you must write a career development plan.
Re-evaluate your goals and objectives regularly: Every three months, six months, or even every year, no matter which one you think is more feasible. You should re-examine your goals and objectives and re-evaluate them. In this way, you will be able to measure your progress, and you will assess whether you need to change your goals.
Accept your weaknesses: The problem with some people in self-assessment is that they tend to focus only on their strengths. They refuse to face their weaknesses, believing that it will affect their chances of finding the ideal job. However, it is relevant to recognize these weaknesses. So you know where to work, what you are not good at, and what to correct. Of course, this does not mean that you will completely ignore your strengths. Your goal is to continue to make them better.
Set a timetable for your career goals: If you have a career goal but don’t have a specific date to achieve it, you will tend to relax. You will feel the urgency of working towards the goal when you let it become limited by time. You will be more motivated to reach that goal.
Read More: How to Choose a Career?
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