Concept of Career

The term ‘career’ was traditionally associated with paid employment and
referred to a single occupation. In today’s world of work, the term ‘career’
is seen as a continuous process of learning and development. Employees
join organizations for a career not for jobs. All employees aspire for a
career. A career is a pattern of job-related experiences gained during one’s
working life. Career is a sequence of jobs held during the course of an
employee’s working life.

A Career is a sequence of positions held by a person during the course of a

lifetime. It comprises of a series of work-related activities that provide
continuity, order, and meaning in a person’s life. This is an objective view
of a person’s career. There is also a subjective element in the concept of
career. A career consists of the changes in values, attitudes and a
motivation that occurs as a person grows older.

A career can be of two types as follows:

Internal Career

Internal career is subjective. It is an individual’s self-concept of where

he/she is going in his/her work life. It consists of changes in values, beliefs,
attitudes, and ambitions that occur as the employee grows older. Each
person’s career is unique. Employee referral is an internal recruitment
method employed by organizations to identify potential candidates from
their existing employees’ social networks. An employee referral scheme
encourages a company’s existing employees to select and recruit the
suitable candidates from their social networks.

External Career

External career is objective. It is a sequence of positions occupied during

the working life of an individual. It leads to increasing level of
responsibilities, status, power, and reward. It refers to the objective
categories used by society and organizations to describe the progression of
steps through a given occupation, while internal career refers to the set of
steps or stages which make up the individual’s own concept of career
progression within an occupation.

Career needs to be carefully planned. It is the self-responsibility of the

employee. Managers and organizations should facilitate career planning.

Information Source:

accountlearning.blogspot.com

www.citeman.com

You go to work, you do your work, and you come home wondering where
this is all going. You wonder what your next step is. What you can be doing
to elevate your career. So, you ask your manager. And your manager
stares at you blankly and points you to your projects. You’re confused and
head back to your desk. It is too easy to continue this routine until you get
frustrated with your current situation and start looking
elsewhere. Related: Unhappy With Your Career? Manage Up! What's the
problem with this story? You’re not managing your career. You’re doing
your work. You’re talking to your manager, but you aren’t actively
managing your career. You’re actually looking for your boss to manage it
for you. Problem is: Your boss is busy managing his or her own career. So…
you need to start managing yours. You need to own it.

7 Ways To Actively Manage Your

Career
Far too many professionals today look to their managers to manage their
career path and trajectory when in fact; this is yours and yours alone to
manage. It’s so easy to get caught up in our work that we lose sight of our
career. So, how do you manage your own career with confidence? Here are
seven ways you can start managing your career today:
1. Set and communicate clear goals

The key to getting what you want is knowing what you want. You must
know what you want out of your career and you should be clear about
these goals with your manager and your mentor. These goals are also great
ways to measure your progress through the year and years in your regular
performance reviews.

2. Create an open feedback loop

The hardest thing to do is to hear honest feedback, because it isn’t always

positive. But, the ability to listen to all feedback and adjust accordingly is
what will elevate your career. Be sure you are open to the good, the bad
and the ugly feedback. This will help you adjust your work and your goals.

3. Think about your accomplishments differently

Try to think about your work in terms of NEAR: Numbers, Examples,

Achievements, and Results. We all have responsibilities. But the people who
stand out talk about their responsibilities in terms of numbers,
achievements, and results and they have examples to back it up. What
numbers, examples, achievements, and results did you produce this year?

4. Manage your work samples

You probably do a great project once per quarter and one that definitely
meets the NEAR criteria. You know, a project or deliverable that you are
super proud of that contributed to the success of the company. Take that
work and store it in a special folder on your computer or in the cloud.
Check out Dropbox, CredHive, or Box and start curating your work.

5. Get in the conversation

Read industry publications, websites and blogs. Share the best articles and
have a point of view of your own. Position yourself as a voice of the
industry and a valuable resource within your professional community.
When you see great content, make an insightful comment and connect
with influencers in the industry.

6. Raise your hand

When a new project comes up and it aligns with your goals, raise that
hand. Let your manager or HR team know that you want to learn some
new skills or gain new, more advanced experience. Be clear on what you
can offer to the project and get involved.

7. Spend time maintaining it

I know you’re busy working and getting things done. This is the extra stuff
that’s required to take ownership of your career. I personally spend a few
hours a week in the conversation and connecting with new people. I also
spend about an hour a quarter maintaining my best work files and my
social profiles. It isn’t a ton of investment; it’s just a new habit to create in
managing your own career trajectory. This post was originally published
on an earlier date. Photo Credit: Shutterstock