Indeed, a man's all activities related to his profession during his life and the ways in performing these activities are his career. It is the combination of various jobs, posts, works, honour and experience.
Definition of Career
Career is one or more than one kinds of jobs which a man does due to professional reason for a long period of his life. Career is the gradual course of lifelong development or a definite part of life.
Career Outline or Model
Psychologist Donald Super establishes a model in the context of gaining experience and on the basis of changing of man's concept about himself in course of time. It is called Life Rainbow because these steps are arranged step by step like the rainbow.
|
Stage |
Characteristics |
|
First step : Growth |
A concept grows about oneself; a concept about a common world
of attitude, need and work develops. |
|
Second step : Searching |
Examining various works. To
form changeable liking and skills. |
|
Third step : Stability |
Reaching a permanent position by attaining competency and experience for entering into service. |
|
Fourth step: Maintenance |
Continuous change and endeavour, and adaptation for developing
one's own position. |
|
Fifth step : Reflection |
Declining the result or benefit, preparation for retirement. |
Though Donald Super has divided the stages according to ages, these stages may vary from person to person.
Various Stages of Career Development
Analyzing the characteristics of career we can understand that the matter is not something stable, rather changeable. It is better to say development instead of change. Because, change of career is expected to be orderly, aim based, stage by stage and well-balanced. For this reason, we will have to develop our career stage by stage. Various stages of career development or the stages of planning are given below:
Knowing Oneself
It is very important to know oneself for moving forward on the way to career. I will move forward in every stage considering my own interest, liking, disliking, skills or competency, values, etc. If most of the time of life we have to do the work which we don't like, it makes us tired. Again, the work for which we have no skills, if we do it, there is less prospect of doing better.
Knowing about Varieties of Professions, Vocations and Jobs
Only to know oneself is not enough. We will have to find out the profession or the vocation suitable for our own choice and skills and make ourselves fit. We will have to know what skills, competency, training, experience etc. are important for career building. We will have to know what kind of jobs we get in certain profession or vocation and what duties we are to perform etc. Proper information about various professions and jobs will help us choose the right profession or job.
Determining Aim and Objective to Plan Accordingly
It is essential to determine aim and objectives in career development. If we have definite aim, we can choose vocation or profession and plan clearly for its preparation. As a result, planning is done successfully on the way to career. So, we can proceed to career successfully. Sometimes in spite of having enough competency and interest, career is affected owing to lack of definite goal and planning.
Suppose, you have determined a goal of your career. Then say what you will do to achieve the goal. Of course, it needs definite competency and skills for a definite profession or vocation. You will have to achieve these. These are achieved through various kinds of educational qualifications, experience of co-curricular activities, training, institutional and non-institutional experiences. It is only necessary for entering into a definite vocation or profession, not that. Continuing in any profession or vocation, for becoming successful in that profession or vocation or upholding the success we need to achieve new competency and skills.
Looking for Job
We often hear that someone is looking for a job. Again we find various job advertisements in newspapers and internets. When a man wants to do a job, he submits application watching and evaluating the advertisement published through these mediums. For this, a person needs enough attention and patience. Considering own competency, skills, interest,
values, etc. he is to apply for the concerned job from various job advertisements. It is necessary to prepare a Curriculum Vitae - CV mentioning own educational qualification and professional experience. In this case it is important to mention own skills, experience and competency neatly. Sometimes the concerned job provider organization calls him for written exams, viva voce or interviews. In that case enough preparation is necessary.
Changing Job if Necessary
Man changes job for different reasons. Among these, an important and main cause is to get any opportunity of better job. We know that career does not mean any definite job or profession rather it means the combination of different jobs and experience on the way to life. So considering the change in own interest, liking, skills, etc. trying for new job is a part of career.
Career development is seen in various ways. Such as –
Line Development: The promotion from lower to upper post is meant line development of career. For example after joining as an assistant secretary, one is gradually promoted to the post of a secretary.
Skill Based Development: In this case man's gradual development in a definite work or subject is considered greatly. For instance, a teacher's teaching of science is a continuous practice of skills and its increase, is a kind of development on the basis of skills.
Spiral Development: Man's knowledge, skills and experiences develop gradually in course of time. It is called spiral development of career. In this case, man starts his work with a definite subject in a specific workplace and day by day does various kinds of work with various skills along with different experience in newer workplaces. Suppose, a science teacher, besides science, received training in Information and Communication Technology. Next, he trained the other teachers of another school in Information and Communication Technology. Thus, spiral development of his career started.
Dynamic or Continuous Development: In this case a continuous or huge change is seen in a man's career. He works with different subjects or in different kinds of workplace at different times. These changes take place disorderly. Suppose that science teacher receiving higher education in Management takes another job. After a few years changing that, he receives education in Library Science and is appointed as a Chief Librarian of a Library. These multiple changes of his career are called continuous development.
It is important to remember that all kinds of development in career are possible in a person's life. But sometimes a definite pattern can be noticed.