Career Management Flashcards
What let to the changing nature of careers in the 21st century?
- Globalisation and Internationalisation
Operational Adaptation:
Organisations are increasingly required to adapt their operational models to navigate the complexities of global markets. This has necessitated the development of new strategies and structures to maintain competitiveness.
Increased Pace of Change:
Globalisation accelerates organisational change, compelling employees to adjust regularly to new frameworks and operational paradigms.
- Technological Innovations
Advancements in Technology:
Technological developments have fundamentally altered how work is conducted. Integrating advanced technologies allows for seamless communication across countries, enabling collaborative efforts regardless of geographical barriers.
Flexibility and Freelancing:
The emergence of the gig economy has reshaped traditional work patterns, allowing individuals to engage in freelance work across diverse sectors. This model grants workers greater flexibility but raises concerns regarding job security and benefits.
Automation and AI:
The ongoing advancement of robotics and artificial intelligence is transforming industries, leading to a decline in the necessity for human input in manufacturing and other sectors. This shift presents both opportunities and challenges for the workforce.
- Changes in Employment Law and Regulations
Evolution of Employee Rights:
Over the past few decades, the balance of power between employers and employees has shifted. The reduced influence of trade unions in the UK has diminished worker rights enforcement.
Job Security Issues:
As organisations seek to cut costs, many jobs are perceived as temporary and less secure, often offering limited benefits. The gig economy epitomises this trend, where employees are frequently asked to forgo traditional benefits in exchange for flexible working arrangements.
- Changes to Organisational Structures
Restructuring Trends:
Recent organisational trends include delayering and downsizing, which result in flatter organisational structures. These changes are intended to enhance efficiency but often increase workloads and employee stress.
Promotion Opportunities:
With fewer hierarchical levels, there are limited opportunities for promotions. Employees are frequently required to assume a broader range of responsibilities, which can lead to role strain and job dissatisfaction.
What is the psychological contract and how does it relates to careers?
The psychological contract refers to the unspoken, informal expectations and obligations between an employer and an employee. Unlike a formal employment contract, it encompasses mutual perceptions of duties, fairness, and loyalty, shaping how both parties interact and commit to the workplace.
●Developmental work assignments. Work and task assignments designed to allow employees to develop new skills and to experience new areas of responsibility or different parts of the organization.
●Development centres. A process of assessing employee competencies using the assessment centre method with the purpose of providing detailed feedback about performance and development needs.
●Mentoring. Partnering of an employee with an experienced colleague (usually more senior), who advises and develops them. The aim of mentoring is to provide the employee with an impartial source of support and learning in the organization, who is not his or her line manager.
●Self-directed development. Many organizations now use online and self-study development and e-learning materials that allow employees to work at their own pace and at convenient times. The internet has permitted wider use of self-directed development.
What is Super’s Career Development Theory?
Donald Super’s theory is one of the most influential frameworks for understanding career development. It specifically focuses on the career development process rather than broader adult development.
The Five Stages of Super’s Career Development Theory
Growth (0-14 years):
At this stage, individuals begin to form ideas about work that appeal to them, influenced by personal attributes and external encouragement.
Exploration (15-24 years):
This stage involves investigating the world of work and refining the self-concept and identity, identifying jobs or roles that resonate with their interests.
Establishment (25-44 years):
Individuals secure a job or career that matches their skills and interests, seeking to make a mark in their chosen field.
Maintenance (45-64 years):
This phase involves maintaining a position in a chosen field and adapting to changes and challenges, such as technological advancements.
Decline/Disengagement (65+ years):
Individuals begin to disengage from work roles, often transitioning into retirement.
Despite its influence, Super’s theory has faced criticism on several fronts:
Inflexibility of Age Assignments:
Critics argue that assigning specific ages to each stage is too rigid. Although Super established guidelines, individuals may experience these stages at different ages, depending on personal circumstances.
For example, a person may opt for a career change in their 30s or 40s, indicating that career progression is not strictly age-dependent.
Gender Bias:
The theory is primarily based on male career trajectories, neglecting the unique challenges faced by women, such as career interruptions due to family responsibilities.
What are the key components of Super’s framework?
Exploration Phase:
This phase is characterised by individuals assessing their skills, interests, and values to determine suitable career paths.
Development of Work Preferences:
Understanding how individual differences in work preferences and vocational interests influence career trajectories is essential for effective career planning.
Establishment Phase:
Following the exploration phase, individuals typically make choices regarding their career paths, leading to job establishment and advancement.
What is the Dynamic Developmental Model (DDM)?
Woods et al. (2013) propose a dynamic developmental model that incorporates personality traits and work experience into career development:
Reciprocal Influence:
Individual personality traits influence work activity, which in turn affects the development of these traits. This reciprocal relationship suggests that work experiences shape personal growth.
Normative Developmental Challenges:
Super’s framework is applicable as it reflects the normative challenges faced during career development, such as educational transitions and family responsibilities.
Staged Influences:
Each stage of career development activates different traits and characteristics in response to contextual demands. These traits can facilitate or hinder career progression.
What is the Person-Environment Fit (PE Fit) Perspective?
The Person-Environment Fit (PE fit) perspective delves into how an individual’s characteristics align with their work environment. The concept of PE fit has been refined to identify four distinct levels, each addressing different facets of the individual-environment relationship:
Person-Job Fit (PJ Fit):
This refers to the alignment between an individual’s skills and abilities and the requirements of their specific job. When a strong PJ fit is achieved, employees are more likely to experience job satisfaction, performance, and engagement.
Person-Vocation Fit (PV Fit):
PV fit considers how well an individual’s job interests correspond with the characteristics of their chosen occupation. A strong PV fit often results in greater job satisfaction and career commitment.
Person-Group Fit (PG Fit):
PG fit focuses on how well individuals integrate and collaborate with their team members. Compatibility in terms of skills, competencies, and the overall climate of the group can significantly influence team dynamics and personal job satisfaction (Anderson & West, 1996).
Person-Organisation Fit (PO Fit):
This dimension addresses the alignment between an individual’s values and their organisation’s culture. A high PO fit is linked to increased organisational commitment, lower turnover intentions, and overall job satisfaction.
What are the key positive outcomes of PE Fit?
Increased job satisfaction
Enhanced organisational commitment
Lower intention to leave the organisation
Improved job performance
Stronger identification with the organisation
What is the difference between complementary and supplementary fit?
Complementary Fit:
This type of fit represents the degree to which an individual’s skills and abilities meet the demands of the environment. It also considers how well the environment satisfies the individual’s needs.
Supplementary Fit:
Supplementary fit refers to the degree of similarity or congruence between the individual and the environment. It focuses on the shared characteristics and values between the person and the organisation
What is the role of PE Fit in career development?
Long-Term Developmental Trajectories:
Super (1990) emphasises that individuals aim to optimise their fit with their self-concept throughout their careers. This journey is influenced by ongoing evaluations of their alignment with various environments.
Organisational Context:
Schneider’s Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) model elaborates on how individuals are drawn to specific organisational cultures that resonate with their values and interests. This selection process influences job satisfaction and overall career success.
What is Holland’s Model of Occupational Interests?
Holland’s model categorises individuals into distinct vocational personalities and correlates these types with suitable work environments, significantly impacting career counselling practices, particularly in the USA.
By understanding one’s personality type and corresponding work environment, individuals can make more informed career choices, leading to greater satisfaction and success.
Holland’s RIASEC model provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the relationship between personality and work environments. Career counsellors can enhance job satisfaction and facilitate effective career planning by identifying individuals’ vocational personality types and corresponding environments. This model underscores the importance of aligning personal interests with professional roles, crucial for long-term career success and fulfilment.
What are the six vocational personality/environment types?
Realistic:
-Prefers activities involving manipulation of objects, tools, and animals. Typically conforming, practical, persistent, and inflexible.
-Involves practical, hands-on work activities, often outdoors.
-Mechanic, Labourer, Surveyor, Electrician, Farmer
Investigative:
-Prefers observational, systematic, or creative investigation of scientific phenomena. Analytical, rational, independent, and intellectual.
-Engages in ideas and extensive mental work.
-Scientist, Anthropologist, Engineer, Laboratory Technician
Artistic:
-Prefers activities involving manipulation of physical or verbal materials to create art. Imaginative, intuitive, nonconforming, and expressive.
-Involves self-expression and creativity without rigid rules.
-Painter, Sculptor, Interior Designer, Writer, Journalist
Social:
-Prefers activities involving helping others and teaching. Empathic, friendly, generous, and altruistic.
-Involves working closely with others to provide help.
-Teacher, Counsellor, Waiter/Waitress, Nurse, Tour Guide
Enterprising:
-Prefers activities involving managing others to achieve goals. Ambitious, assertive, extraverted, and self-confident.
-Often involves starting and leading projects.
-Sales Person, Manager, Lawyer, Chief Executive, Recruitment Consultant
Conventional:
-Prefers structured, rule-regulated activities, typically involving data management and administration. Careful, methodical, and conscientious.
-Involves set procedures and routines.
-Accountant, Auditor, Statistician, Cashier, Office Clerk, Secretary, Administrator
What are the six specific meanings associated with boundaryless careers?
Moving Across Boundaries of Separate Employers:
Individuals transition freely between different employers without being confined to a single organisation. (People move between companies instead of staying with one.)
Validating Work by Seeking Information
Outside the Current Employer:
Employees seek information and validation from external sources to support their work roles. (Workers get feedback and ideas from outside their company).
Sustaining Work and Role with Information and Networks Beyond the Current Employer:
Individuals maintain their roles through networking and gathering information beyond their immediate employment context. (Building connections outside work helps them succeed).
Breaking Traditional Career Boundaries:
The traditional norms regarding career progression are challenged, allowing for more diverse career pathways. (Careers are no longer about climbing a strict ladder; they’re flexible).
Rejecting Career Opportunities for Personal or Family Reasons:
Individuals may choose not to pursue certain job opportunities based on personal or familial priorities. (Sometimes, people say no to jobs for personal or family reasons).
Perceiving One’s Career as Without Boundaries, Regardless of Current Constraints:
This perspective encourages individuals to view their career trajectories without limitations imposed by traditional employment structures. (People view their careers as open and full of possibilities, not stuck in one place).
What are the types of boundaries in careers?
Geographical Boundaries:
Individuals can pursue opportunities without being restricted by location.
Occupational Boundaries:
The traditional job concept is expanded, allowing for transitions between various roles.
Status Boundaries:
Traditional status markers such as promotions or demotions are re-evaluated, focusing more on individual satisfaction and growth.
