Career Development & Management Flashcards
The concept of work/life balance
Work/life balance describes the relationship between your work and the commitments in the rest of your life, and how they impact on one another.
The concept of a career
A career is a sequence and a variety of occupations and roles (both paid and unpaid), which a person has undertaken throughout their life. A career includes life roles, leisure activities and learning and work.
The changing nature of work/life balance over a lifespan
- Over the course of your career, you will experience different demands on your time from family, personal and professional
responsibilities. Developing decision-making strategies will assist you to manage your work load with your personal commitments - Setting personal and professional goals can assist with the changing nature of your work/life balance. Goals can give you clarity, focus and a sense of achievement. Reflection upon your goals can direct future directions in work and life.
- Values and attitudes will change over time. It is essential that work and life is balanced so that the individual can contribute effectively to society and experience wellbeing in their own life
The importance of managing own career and work/life balance
- Aligning jobs with personal interests and values for increased job satisfaction
- Continuously developing skills and adapting to changing industry trends
- Preventing burnout and enhancing both productivity and personal well-being through balance
- Strategically planning for career advancement and better compensation
- Making informed decisions to shape a satisfying and successful career path
- Adjusting to life’s changes while maintaining career stability
- Reducing work-related stress to improve overall mental health
- Setting a positive example for peers and family in balancing career and life
Explain three self-management strategies
Self-Reflection:
- Regularly evaluate personal performance and behaviors to identify strengths and areas for improvement, integrating feedback for growth
Goal Setting:
Define clear, measurable, and achievable objectives that are aligned with career aspirations, and regularly track progress
Time Management:
Effectively organize and plan time by prioritizing tasks, using organizational tools, and avoiding procrastination for improved efficiency
Explain the five stages of Super’s Lifespan Theory
Super’s lifespan theory states that changes naturally occur based on the different stages of a person’s life, with different ages correlating with different ‘stages’. These chronological stages are described below:
Growth (0 - 14yrs)
- Developing our interests, recognising needs, and understanding the world around us
- Developing self-concept
Exploration (15 - 24yrs)
- Find a place in the world through education, work experience and hobbies
- Involves matching interests and capabilities to jobs
- Making tentative decisions about careers
- Entering workforce
Establishment (25 - 44yrs)
- Established in workforce
- Seeking advancement
Maintenance (45 - 64yrs)
- Plateauing (stop advancing) in career
- Continuity and less risk-taking
- Potentially experience a mid-life crisis
Decline (65+ yrs)
- Transitioning out of the workforce
- Decreasing interest and engagement
Explain the four main features of Planned Happenstance (Krumboltz/Mitchell)
Krumboltz’s Happenstance theory argues that people’s careers can benefit from unplanned and unexpected events, including outside factors, social factors and personal factors. The four features of planned happenstance are:
1: Clarify Ideas
- Understand yourself before you embrace the unexpected
- Be SAVI (understand your skills, attitudes, values and ideas)
- By clearly identifying one’s own skills, abilities, aspirations and goals it is easier to recognise the types of employment and training opportunities necessary to develop a successful career
2: Remove the Blocks
- Turn negatives into positives
- Embrace hurdles as opportunities
- Clearly identifying obstacles to employment such as a lack of knowledge, training or opportunities for employment caused by current lifestyle choices such as living in an area unsuited for desired employment or training opportunities will improve an individual’s chances of securing employment in the future
3: Expect the Unexpected
- Understand that change is inevitable
- Learn to adapt, overcome, and improvise
- Being prepared for unexpected opportunities created by changes in the work environment, new connections or considering employment in areas not originally part of a career plan may expand an individual’s chances of developing a career
4: Take Action
- Once you have the above skills, decide on a course of action
- Being ready to act on opportunities as they arise by having up to date CVS, appropriate communication skills and the knowledge of how to utilise networks or application processes will improve the likelihood of securing employment
Compare a traditional and contemporary career development theory
Super’s Lifespan theory (GEEMD) vs Krumboltz’s Happenstance theory (CRET):
Similarities:
- Both recognise career development as involving multiple roles that change as someone progresses through life
- Both support the idea that career development is an ongoing, lifelong process
Differences:
- Super’s is a rigid and linear model, while Krumboltz’s is flexible and can cater towards a wider range of people for a longer amount of time
- Super’s theory focuses on internal factors (e.g. personality) as responsible for influencing career development, while Krumboltz’s focuses on external factors (e.g. unexpected events)
Describe the components of an electronic IPP (Individual Pathway Plan)
- Self Assessment: (Strengths, weaknesses)
- Interests
- Values
- Reflection on grades
- Goals (short term and long term)
- Next (action) steps
- Support network
Describe the components of an electronic career portfolio
- IPP (Individual Pathway Plan)
- Resume
- Cover letter/personal statement
- Evidence of achievement (certificates, qualifications, etc)
Explain the need to adapt individual and business practices to work efficiently in a digital workplace
Individual practices:
- Mobile phones are an essential work tool. Connectivity issues and working from
home may change personal work practices as may the use of applications (apps)
as part of the business practices
- Using different forms of information delivery may require people to learn new
digital technologies to work more efficiently. This could include the production of
documents using a range of delivery formats, adapting to new presentation
software and the distribution of information via a range of media forms
- Changing practices from paper-based workplaces to a ‘paper-free environment’
requires new personal knowledge of storage systems
- Learning privacy and legal requirements relating to information storage and
working with unfamiliar operating platforms, e.g. Apple OS vs Windows.
Business practices:
- Developing new practices relating to advertising and marketing. It is necessary to
adapt and implement new methods of delivering information relating to advertising or marketing and use this to structure their marketing strategies. Without attention
to changes in digital information strategies a business risks missing opportunities
or not using appropriate digital technologies to reach target audiences.
- Management of information. Businesses must be aware of the different digital
options available for managing information. They need to adapt to allow for
increasingly ‘paperless’ environments.
- Businesses need to take into account new regulations regarding privacy in regard
to digitalised information and set up new protocols related to security and access.
- Work practices related to day-to-day work. Businesses must change practices to
allow for staff working in increasingly digital environments. How information is
shared, processes managed and new methods for streamlining day-to-day
business, including options such as flexible work or working from home may
require businesses to change.
