CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Career Development is the total constellation of economic, psychological, educational, physical, and chance factors that combine to shape one's career.(Seas 1982) (Handbook on Career Counseling by UNESCO)

Career development is a lifelong process that is unique for every individual. Many influences contribute to your career, such as:

Who am I? : This includes your self-concept, interests, skills, knowledge, personality, ethnicity, age, gender, ability, disability, health, beliefs and sexual orientation. For example, your choice of hobbies reflects your interests and abilities.

My community : The community plays an important role in forming your identity, beliefs and attitudes. Members of your community can be your family, peers, friends or colleagues from your school or workplace, employers, the media, community groups and clubs. They can influence the lifestyle you want to aspire towards, the work you choose, the life roles you take on and what you value about yourself.

My environment and wider society : This refers to the opportunities or constraints caused by factors such as the region or location you live in (i.e. rural or metropolitan), what is happening in the employment market (e.g. are there job vacancies in your career field), your socioeconomic status (e.g. do you have to consider financial commitments such as mortgages or children's education), historical trends (e.g. changes in women's participation in the workforce) and political decisions (e.g. government grants available for enterprise development).

In adolescence, career exploration is based on identifying interests, abilities, capacities and values; learning about the world of work through observing adults at work; participating in the workforce; and accessing career resources and programs.

As an adult, your career development becomes more intricate. Choices are made regarding lifestyle, the life roles you take on, learning pathways, changing career direction, employment / unemployment, enterprise , opportunities, and many other personal life events.

The processes in developing one's career may involve the following steps

• Preparing/reviewing : You need to begin your career development by clarifying what your needs are. Do you have any issues or concerns that you need to deal with before you begin your process of exploration? Are you satisfied with your current situation or do you feel the need to change something in your job, lifestyle or relationships? You may be considering further study or choosing school subjects. You need to think about what areas of learning you have done well in, what you will enjoy learning more about and what type of learning environment suits you.
• Identifying : At this stage you have to identify your preferences and experiences. In this section of My Guide you will be able to complete activities relating to your interests, work conditions, preferred study and work location, knowledge areas, education levels and values. The life balance and aspirations activities help you to think about broader life needs and lifestyle considerations.
• Exploring : My Guide allows you to generate career fields and occupations for you to explore, based on a selection of the activities completed above. You may then investigate this data by looking up information in The Facts, researching further using resources such as libraries, career advisors and community agencies and approaching employers in person. It is best to think of as many possible options at this stage and investigate areas of interest thoroughly.
• Deciding : People use different processes to make decisions. Whatever your decision-making style may be, this is the stage at which you begin to prioritize and narrow down your options, and choose those you will commit to. It is important that you find people who will listen to you and assist you with this process.
• Summarizing : At this stage you have the opportunity to step back and review the results of the career development process. Allow yourself time to reflect on the choices you have made and look for connecting themes and patterns. This can be a transition point as deeper motivations and a sense of what is unfolding for you may become evident through a series of reflective questions. My Guide helps you to express your overall career direction.
• Planning :Having decided on a career direction, you are now ready to set some goals and describe the steps you need to carry out in order to achieve those goals. You need to think about possible constraints or barriers you may need to deal with, what resources you require and how long it will take to achieve your goals. With My Guide you can create an action plan for different areas of your life and monitor your progress.
• Doing : Carrying out your plan seems like the final stage of the process. However, as you act on the various steps towards your goals, you will learn new information and gain new insights. It is important to stay focused on your goals, but it is equally important to not be too rigid. Be open to opportunities and adjust your plan accordingly. Take time to review your goals and strategies. It's in the 'doing' that your action plan can be monitored, added to or refined. My Guide has many interesting and informative articles to help you get started towards achieving your career direction.

Steps to develop and implement an individual development plan

We use standard forms to help the learners follow a systematic process to prepare their learning contracts, individual development plans, or learning project management strategies. Here is what should be included in a personal learning plan:

Assessment: First, identify your current skills, knowledge, abilities, and interests

Goal: Identify the new skills, knowledge, and experiences you would like to acquire and have. Do these goals match your personal and career interests? Are your goals in agreement with your organization's goals, mission and vision?

Learning purpose:Identify the gap between the current situation and the desired outcome. This will produce a statement of purpose that should clarify why you want to learn something, and what specific skills, knowledge and abilities you wish to develop.

Learning objective(s): Identify what skills, knowledge, and abilities are to be acquired or enhanced. Remember that this is only a plan, not a rigid promise; your plan can and should be revised as your goals change and as learning occurs.

For each objective, identify the following:

Target date:Identify when you plan to complete the work for this part of your learning plan.

Learning strategies:Describe how you plan to do it, and what process you plan to follow to accomplish your objective. For example, strategies could include: reading and study, interviews and discussions with appropriate people, mill trials, networking and communication, reflecting on your own experiences, classroom study, literature review, synthesizing and writing.

Learning resources: Identify what resources you plan to use to help you with this learning process. These resources might include literature, mentors, co- workers, classes, conferences, workshops, seminars, and talking to elders about their experiences.

Outcomes and product : List the evidence you will develop to show the accomplishment of your objectives. What deliverables will you have produced by this process? What objects can be used to validate your learning experience? This could include, for example, a log or journal of your studies or observations, lists of questions, obtaining specific career objectives, and more.

Evaluation plan: Describe the method you will use to validate your deliverables and to evaluate the success of your learning project. In other words, what criteria and means will you use to determine if you were successful in reaching your learning goals?

Initial feedback and revision:  Before starting to carry-out your individual development plan, confer with your supervisor (teacher, parent, elder sibling) for feedback, and for another view of your learning needs and strategies.

Summary of results: After completing the projects in your individual plan, you should evaluate the success of these activities. What insights have you gained? What new understandings do you have? What new skills, abilities and knowledge have you acquired? What experiences did you have, and what did you learn from them? How do you feel about this process?

Next steps:. You should review the accomplishments and successes of this project with your supervisor (and others, as appropriate). Then update your learning plan for the next cycle. Remember that learning and growth are processes that may, and should, continue indefinitely.