Posts Tagged ‘Planning’
Career Planning
Dont wait to long while planning for your careers. In many HR departments career planning and career counseling are relatively new terms but now companies are realizing their importance for the success of the company , for that their HR department are providing career education and career counseling. With out career planning employees are seldom ready for the career opportunities that arise. How do I advance my career? Do company training programs enhance my promotions or do I need a degree for getting that job? Are promotions based on luck? Is that an easy way out for upgrading my CV? Nearly everyone ask himself these questions while during his or her working life, and careers. Our career consist of all jobs during our working life but some people thinks that it just a factor of ” luck” planning careers merely guarantees success it is not a hard activity or to be dreaded rather it’s an activity that should fulfilling, providing goals to achieve in your current career or plans for beginning a transition to a new career. Dont wait to long while planning for your careers. In many HR departments career planning and career counseling are relatively new terms but now companies are realizing their importance for the success, their HR department are providing career education and career counseling. With out career planning employees are seldom ready for the career opportunities that arise. Once you begin regularly reviewing and planning your career you’ll find yourself better prepared for whatever lies ahead in your careers. HR in banking industry gives little support to career planning and their career planning seldom occurs the reason of that is it is considered to be as an ” individual matter” When employer encourages career planning they are mostly considered that are likely encouraging to set their own goals but these goals are encouraging employees towards career education and career counseling HR professionals in career planning should always keep the question in their mind that what employees really want? Career planning and development helps employees’ career path led him or her to their goal of becoming “something” in the company.
In a nutshell don’t wait to long while planning for your careers. With out it employees are seldom ready for the career opportunities that arise. With out it employees are seldom ready for the career opportunities that arise.
Tips For Successful Career Planning
The average worker changes their career many times during their lives, so it is never too late to start planning.
Career planning is not a difficult task; you don’t have to avoid it or put it off, rather you should seek to understand it. Planning your career should always be a positive experience.
Here are some successful career planning tips:
-Career planning as a regular event- In a year, many of us have regular appointments such as a visit to an eye doctor or a dentist. Similarly, you should do career planning regularly. Take some time off from your regular routine and plan out your career. Sit in a silent place and block out all distractions so that you can concentrate. By making career planning a routine event, you will feel secure about your career choice and growth. You will be prepared to tackle any adverse situation that may surface.
-Career planning from your last career plan- While planning your career, don’t forget to start from your last career plan and spend some time jotting down your career reviews. If your career growth has lots of ups and downs, sit and analyze and plan ahead. Past mistakes can guide you towards a better future. If you are content with your career growth, then continue along the path or find a significant way to grow further.
-Don’t neglect your likes and dislikes- While planning your career, don’t forget about your likes and dislikes, since your likes two years ago may have changed. Take time to reflect on the new developments in your personal life, not just on the job front.
Make two separate rows of likes and dislikes, and then use this list to analyze your current job path. If you feel your current job falls under the like column, then you can consider yourself lucky as you are on the right path. If it falls into the dislike category, then you need to examine your career and your available options. Career planning also gives you time to think about your hobbies and pastimes. It may sound bizarre, but sometimes these passions and hobbies give you insight into what you like doing on the job.
-Jot down your past activities- Generally, people don’t keep track of their accomplishments. Some past achievements can be included in your resume and can be useful while planning your career. Sometimes reviewing your past achievements can reveal successes that can help you plan your career.
-Look for transferable skills- Search beyond the regular options for new career openings. If you focus, you may find good career growth opportunities in that area. You might have some skills that can be applied to various jobs.
If you keep these tips in mind, career planning will be less of a chore and more rewarding.
Career Development – Planning Your Success
Today, it is fairly common to have people changing careers more than once. In fact, there are people who choose careers that are entirely different from those that they have previously held before. There will come a point when you will have to consider a career change, so it is a good idea to know about career development beforehand. Of course, you dont have to change jobs just to have career advancement. You can make it your goal to climb the ranks in the same company.
Working on Your Career Development
Career development is actually a path that helps you choose the career that you would like to pursue. It includes all the various steps that you would have to undertake in order to advance in your chosen career.
The concept of career development basically includes testing your stress management capabilities and your inherent skills. If you want to have a better shot at some career that you would particularly like to pursue, you need to make sure that you do well at the present position you hold. You should take the opportunity to enrich your knowledge and develop your capabilities. These things will influence the success of your career development. You cant afford to resent your present job because this will not help you advance in your career. Learn to love your job and embrace the responsibilities attached to it. You would have better chances of succeeding.
Educate Yourself and Strengthen Your Chances
Once you have determined the career development path that you would like to pursue, you can then direct your attention to preparing for it. You need to educate yourself. You will strengthen your chances of succeeding if you take up classes, join seminars or undergo training sessions.
There are many colleges, institutes, schools and universities that are offering career development courses. In fact, there are courses for practically every career that is out there. You will even find these courses online. This is perfect if you cant afford to go to regular classes.
To advance in your chosen career, you need to show to people that you are dependable. You need to show that you are a trustworthy employee who is capable of producing quality work. To do this, you need to strengthen your knowledge, skills and capabilities. Career development is a continual process of learning and working. Therefore, it is very important that you know what you are getting yourself into. You need to be committed to it. It will help if you choose a job that you would enjoy. Otherwise, you wouldnt have a shot at succeeding.
Creating a Career Development Plan
You need to plan your career growth if you want to keep track of your progress. This will also help you analyze your aspirations and motivations. Successful individuals do not just develop a plan for promotions or salary raises. They look beyond these things and create an entire plan for career development or advancement.
A career development plan is something that should be done continuously. You cannot just focus on specific goals. You need to be continually reviewing and revising your plan if needed. This way, you can easily keep track of changes or improvements. You wont be confined to anything. You will keep your options open and you will have more shot at succeeding.
To start off, you need to make sure that you have practicalities covered. You need to have an updated resume at all times. This is just the practical aspect of your plan. What is important is your vision for yourself. Regardless of whether you are pursuing a career goal in the same company or you are looking for change of career, you need to make sure that you know what you want.
There are a lot of things that you need to take into consideration, so make sure that you have considered everything before you start making your things to do list. You should have considered the things that could hinder your progress. You should have determined the driving force behind your career choice. You should also know what can motivate you to succeed.
If you want to succeed in your choice of career, you should prepare for it. You should equip yourself with the knowledge and skills required for it. You should also create a career development plan to guide you to succeed.
Career Clusters, a Bridge Between Education and Career Planning
Since 1960s, career cluster resources have been used as career exploration and planning tools in schools, learning communities, and organizations across the nation. Career Clusters is a system that matches educational and career planning.
Step 1: Identifying Career Cluster Interest Areas
Career clusters are groups of similar occupations and industries. When teachers, counselors, and parents work with teens, college students, and adults, the first step is to complete career cluster assessment. The assessment identifies the highest career cluster areas. Career assessments show teens, college students, and adults rankings from one of the following 16 Interests Areas or Clusters:
1. Agriculture, Food, & Natural Resources
2. Architecture & Construction
3. Arts, A/V Technology & Communication
4. Business, Management & Administration
5. Education & Training
6. Finance
7. Government & Public Administration
8. Health Science
9. Hospitality & Tourism
10. Human Services
11. Information Technology
12. Law, Public Safety & Security
13. Manufacturing
14. Marketing, Sales & Service
15. Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
16. Transportation, Distribution & Logistics
Step 2: Exploring Career Clusters and Related Careers
After pinpointing the highest career clusters, teens, college students, and adults explore the different careers and create education plans. Career cluster tools used in career and educational planning include:
LISA: A comprehensive career cluster database
Models
Brochures
Pathways
High school plan of study
Interest and Skills Areas
Crosswalks
After completing a career cluster assessment, teens, college students, and adults look at web sites, career models, brochures, pathways, and high school plans. One of the most unique comprehensive career cluster resources is the Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA), an Internet program. LISA lets you explore career clusters, careers, abilities, training requirements, and more. There are 3 steps in the LISA program:
STEP 1: Click here to select a Career Cluster,
STEP 2: Click here to select a Career Group
STEP 3: Explore Occupations within this Career Group
In Step 1, when you choose a career cluster, you will see a description of the cluster. When you select a career group in Step 2, you see different careers. Finally, in Step 3, you see a wealth of information:
Job descriptions
Educational and training requirements
Crosswalks, for example ONET, DOT, GOE, and other codes
Abilities
Knowledge
Skills
Tasks
Work Vales
Labor Market Information
Even though LISA is an awesome program, in classroom or workshop settings, you need printed materials. When using printed materials, the career model is the best place to start. Models provide excellent overviews listing the cluster definitions, sample careers, pathways, knowledge, and skills. Visual models show career clusters, the cluster subgroups, and related careers. Models are an excellent way to introduce career clusters.
For presentations, workshops, and group discussions, the career cluster brochures provide additional information. Adults and teens read about the different careers that are available in each career cluster. Teachers, counselors, and parents use the brochures to solidify adults’ and teens’ potential career or educational decisions. The brochures cover topics such as:
Definition of career clusters
Careers
Career pathways
Employment outlooks
Skills
Credentials
Teachers, counselors, and parents use career pathways for more detailed information. The career pathways are subgroups or areas of concentration within career clusters. Each pathway contains career groups. The career groups have similar academic skills, technical skills, educational requirements, and training requirements. Career pathways are plans of study that outline required secondary courses, post secondary courses, and related careers. The career pathways are essential tools that teachers, counselors, parents, and other adults use to give educational planning advice.
Several web sites feature High School Plans of Study. These study plans show required, elective, and suggested courses for each grade level. The school plans also match the career clusters to related careers, career pathways, and post-secondary options. Teachers, counselors, and parents find that these school plans are guides for selecting the right high school courses to match potential careers. Beyond high school, the Utah System for Higher Education has created a College Major Guide. Parents, teachers, and counselors can use the guide to match college majors to Certificate and Degree Programs.
Additional Resources for Counselors and Teachers
For planning curriculum and educational programs, there are detailed Knowledge and Skills Charts and Cluster Crosswalks. The knowledge and Skills expand upon the information listed on the career cluster models. For each knowledge and skill area, there are performance elements and measurement criteria. Crosswalks show the relationships between career clusters and other career models:
Career clusters build a bridge between education and career planning. Different types of career cluster resources are available: videos, web sites, booklets, brochures, activity sheets, and workbooks. Teachers, counselors, and parents use career cluster resources to successfully complete career and educational planning.
Resources:
American Careers Career Paths, Career Communications, 6701 W. 64th St., Overland, KS 66202, 800-669-7795
Career Click, Illinois Department of Employment Security,33 South State Street, Chicago, IL 60603, (312) 793-5700
CIP Code Index by Career Cluster, Adult & Postsecondary CTE Division, Bureau of Career and Technical Education, 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17126, (717) 772-0814
Cluster and Career Videos, Career One Stop, U.S. Department of Labor, Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20210, 866-4-USA-DOL
College Major Guide Utah System for Higher Education, Board of Regents Building, The Gateway, 60 South 400 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1284, (801) 321-7100
Find Careers (Videos), iSeek Solutions, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, Wells Fargo Place, 30 7th St. E., Suite 350, St. Paul, MN 55101-7804
High School Plans of Study, New Hampshire Department of Education, 101 Pleasant Street
Concord, NH 03301-3860, (603) 271-3494
Introduction to Career Clusters, Career Education, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, P.O. Box 543
Blacklick, OH 43004-0544,
Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA), customized Internet version of OSCAR, a product of the Texas Workforce Commission/Career Development Resources, TWC/CDR, Austin, TX 78753
Maryland Career Clusters, Maryland State Department of Education 200 West Baltimore Street Baltimore, MD 21201,
Rhodes Island’s Career Clusters, Rhode Island’s Career Resource Network, 1511 Pontiac Avenue, Cranston, RI 02920, 401-462-8790
School to Career Clusters, State of Connecticut, Department of Labor, Job Bank, 645 South Main Street, Middletown, CT 06457, (860)754-5000
States’ Career Clusters Initiative (SCCI), 1500 W. Seventh Avenue, Stillwater, OK 74074
Career Pathway Plans, Career Cluster, Knowledge and Skills Charts
VTECS Cluster Frameworks, VTECS, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA, 30033,404-679-4501 ext 543
What are Career Clusters? Career Prospects System, New Mexico Career Resource Network, CAREER TECHNICAL AND WORKFORCE EDUCATION BUREAU (CTWEB), Education Building, 300 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, NM 87501, (505) 827-6512
Why Impulsive Decisions Are Not Wise When Planning Your Next Career Move
Are you frustrated with the present state of your career?
You might be, if you find yourself locked in workplace conflicts with a colleague or your boss. You might also feel that you deserve more than what you are being paid, or that you are regularly being required to work late without an overtime pay to match.
Such circumstances are bound to get you thinking about a career change. Of course you can find a new position of your liking, but you need to watch out for the pitfalls when you actually cross the threshold and make that bold career forward move.
Now you might want to give a good thought to your reasons of quitting before you seek a career transition. Making money after all is serious business; your livelihood and your family’s well-being depend on it. An impulsive decision is not in the best interest of your career planning.
A frivolous or petty reason should not make you put in your papers. You should not, for example, let conflict with another individual or small issues make you resign. However, if you feel you have no hope of any further career development, if there are concerns for your safety at work, or if you need a career change to support the changing needs of your family, you will want to look at all the options before you.
Speaking of your options, you need to carefully weigh the pros and cons of a career change before you actually take the plunge. That would entail taking a good, hard look at the current employment opportunities in and around your area.
Career transition has to go hand in hand with career planning. The last thing you would want is to give up your job on an impulse and find no good openings in your area. That would leave you in a precarious position with bills to pay and a family to support.
When contemplating a career change, you obviously need to explore all avenues to find out the current employment scenario in your area. You should start examining the employment pages of local newspapers for job openings in your quest of a career job opportunity. You also need to gather all the career information available with online recruitment portals on the internet.
In the course of your job search you should take into account the current pay levels, the benefits, and other relevant particulars of all the available jobs. If the package advertised looks attractive, it is important that you examine all job requirements, such as any training or work experience. Unless the job scenario in your target area is exceptionally bright, you cannot count on being offered employment in a position you are not fully qualified for.
When you are satisfied that there are enough opportunities for career transition, it is time you take your job search to the next level. This means you start applying for the job openings in and around your area. You need to apply right away for positions which interest you, for the best jobs always draw a lot of qualified applicants quickly.
Once you have made the career forward move, you may want to consider submitting your resignation, with the requisite period of notice, to your current employer. You realistically can only resign once you get a concrete offer, just to be on the safe side.
It is important for your career planning that you have a proper resume. Not only do you need to brush up your resume and make it up-to-date with all the skills and experience gained in your current job; it should be done with a professional get-up.
A nice resume creates a very good impression. It can land you a job interview, and may go a long way in leading you to a career dream find. You can take the help of free resume templates online or those provided with software such as Microsoft Word or Works. You can also seek professional help in writing your resume.
These are some of the things you will want to take into consideration in your quest of a career change. Just a small advice: do not terminate your position with your current employer until you have some concrete offer in hand.