Career management

Career management or career development describes the active and purposeful management of a career by an individual. Ideas of what comprise “career management skills” are described by the Blueprint model (in the United States, Canada, Australia, Scotland, and England and the Seven C’s of Digital Career Literacy (specifically relating to the Internet skills)

Key skills include the ability to reflect on one’s current career, research the labour market, determine whether education is necessary, find openings, and make career changes

Career choice

According to Behling and others, an individual’s decision to join a firm may depend on any of the three factors viz. objective factor, subjective factor and critical contact.

• Objective factor theory assumes that the applicants are rational. The choice, therefore, is exercised after an objective assessment of the tangible benefits of the job. Factors may include the salary, other benefits, location, opportunities for career advancement, etc.
• Subjective factor theory suggests that decision making is dominated by social and psychological factors. The status of the job, reputation of the organization, and other similar factors plays an important role.
• Critical contact theory advances the idea that a candidate’s observations while interacting with the organization plays a vital role in decision making. For example, how the recruiter keeps in touch with the candidate, the promptness of response and similar factors are important. This theory is more valid with experienced professionals.

These theories assume that candidates have a free choice of employers and careers. In reality, the scarcity of jobs and strong competition for desirable jobs severely skews the decision-making process. In many markets, employees work particular careers simply because they were forced to accept whatever work was available to them. Additionally, Ott-Holland and colleagues found that culture can have a major influence on career choice, depending on the type of culture

When choosing a career that’s best for you, according to US News, there are multiple things to consider. Some of those include: natural talents, work style, social interaction, work–life balance, whether or not you are looking to give back, whether you are comfortable in the public eye, dealing with stress or not, and finally, how much money you want to make. If choosing a career feels like too much pressure, here’s another option: pick a path that feels right today by making the best decision you can, and know that you can change your mind in the future. In today’s workplace, choosing a career doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stick with that line of work for your entire life. Make a smart decision, and plan to re-evaluate down the line based on your long-term objectives.

Career (occupation) changing

Changing occupation is an important aspect of career and career management. Over a lifetime, both the individual and the labour market will change; it is to be expected that many people will change occupations during their lives. Data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics through the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in 1979 showed that individuals between the ages of 18 and 38 will hold more than 10 jobs.

There are various reasons why people might want to change their careers. Sometimes career change can come as the result of a long-anticipated layoff, while other times it can occur unexpectedly and without warning

A survey conducted by Right Management suggests the following reasons for career changing.

• The downsizing or the restructuring of an organization (54%).
• New challenges or opportunities that arise (30%).
• Poor or ineffective leadership (25%).
• Having a poor relationship with a manager(s) (22%).
• For the improvement of work/life balance (21%).
• Contributions are not being recognized (21%).
• For better compensation and benefits (18%),
• For better alignment with personal and organizational values (17%).
• Personal strengths and capabilities are not a good fit with an organization (16%).
• The financial instability of an organization (13%).
• An organization relocated (12%).

According to an article on Time.com, one out of three people currently employed (as of 2008) spends about an hour per day searching for another position.

Career success

Career success is a term used frequently in academic and popular writing about career. It refers to the extent and ways in which an individual can be described as successful in his or her working life so far.

During the 1950s and 1960s, individuals typically worked for one or two firms during their career and success was defined by the organization and measured by promotions, increases in salary, and/or status. Such traditional careers were exemplified by Donald Super’s career stage model. Super’s linear career stage model suggested that careers take place within the context of stable, organizational structures. Individuals moved up the organization’s hierarchy seeking greater extrinsic rewards.

Early career success may breed disappointment later, especially when a person’s self-worth is tied up in their career or achievements. Professional success tends to come early in some fields, such as scientific research, and later in other fields, such as teaching.

Earnings can be expressed either in absolute terms (e.g. the amount a person earns) or in relative terms (e.g. the amount a person earns compared with their starting salary). Earnings and status are examples of objective criteria of success, where “objective” means that they can be factually verified, and are not purely a matter of opinion.

Many observers argue that careers are less predictable than they once were, due to the fast pace of economic and technological change.This means that career management is more obviously the responsibility of the individual rather than his or her employing organisation, because a “job for life” is a thing of the past. This has put more emphasis on subjective criteria of career success.These include job satisfaction, career satisfaction, work-life balance, a sense of personal achievement, and attaining work that is consistent with one’s personal values. A person’s assessment of his or her career success is likely to be influenced by social comparisons, such as how well family members, friends, or contemporaries at school or college have done.

The amount and type of career success a person achieves is affected by several forms of career capital. These include social capital (the extent and depth of personal contacts a person can draw upon), human capital (demonstrable abilities, experiences and qualifications), economic capital (money and other material resources which permit access to career-related resources), and cultural capital (having skills, attitudes or general know-how to operate effectively in a particular social context).