U4 Career Development & Management Flashcards
Explain the concept of self-understanding
Involves recognizing your own skills, values, interests, and limitations to make informed career choices and achieve professional growth.
Explain the concept of personal attributes
Individual qualities and characteristics that contribute to professional success and workplace effectiveness.
Explain the concept of self-marketing
Strategically promoting one’s skills, experiences, and personal brand to advance career opportunities and professional growth.
Explain the interrelationship between self-understanding, personal attributes and self-marketing
In a career and enterprise context, self-understanding enables you to identify your personal attributes, which is crucial for effective self-marketing and positioning yourself strategically in the job market.
Explain three decision making tools
Cost/Benefit Analysis:
- Helps to identify, analyse and evaluate various options
- Is useful in considering all aspects of a potential decision
- Involves arranging the quantitative and qualitative costs and benefits of an option into a table, and comparing them before coming to a conclusion
De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats:
- Placing on metaphorical ‘hats’ allows you to consider a decision from all viewpoints
- It is useful because it allows you to set aside your own ego and beliefs to move forward
- White hat: Factual View
- Yellow hat: Optimistic View
- Black hat: Critical View
- Green hat: Creative view (Possibilities)
- Red Hat: Emotional View
- Blue Hat: Final, holistic view (all prior considerations)
Paired Comparison:
- Simplifies decision making into ‘this or that’
- It is useful because it simplifies the decision making process when there are a large number of options
- In Paired Comparisons, each option is directly compared to each other option in a two way table
Explain two strategies used to manage changes in personal employment circumstances:
Up-skilling/retraining:
- Involves acquiring new or improving existing skills to stay relevant and competitive in evolving job markets.
Individual Pathway Plan (IPP) Analysis:
- Is creating a strategic career plan based on personal goals and market demands, guiding career decisions and transitions.
Explain two predicted future trends in employment
Decrease in job security:
- Many Australians are experiencing decreasing job security, especially in post-COVID times
- COVID caused many job losses/layoffs, due to the remote work uncertainty, contract workers experiencing less demand, small businesses closing, workers staying home due to health concerns, and shifts in consumer demand
- Full time work, stable organisations with ethical hiring practices in a stable industry have more security
- Casual work, small or self-employed organisations, being new to a job, unethical hiring/firing practices and readily influenced industries have less job security
Increase in working remotely/virtually:
- There is a continued increase in the use of virtual work practices
- It offers employee flexibility, improved work/life balance, is family friendly, and supports global involvement of staff
- However, it can blur the lines between work and home, and has high start-up costs
Explain the possible impact of predicted global trends on career planning
Decreasing Job Security:
Personal and Professional Learning
- Pursue lifelong personal and professional learning
- Continual upskilling
- Gain qualifications
Skills
- Be adaptable
- Show initiative
- Enhance technological/digital literacy
- Identify skill gaps and rectify these
Other
- Relocate for better opportunities
- Avoid booming industries as a long-term career plan (e.g. Mining)
- Try everything - build up your CV/portfolio
- Build your network
Increase in virtual work:
Personal and Professional Learning
- Continual upskilling (especially in digital technologies)
Skills
- Enhance technological/digital literacy
- Develop sound communication skills (verbal, non-verbal and written)
- Focus on time-management
- Develop problem-solving skills
- Identify skill gaps and rectify these
Other
- Establish a space for virtual work if necessary
- Ensure you have appropriate hardware and/or operating systems (factor in the costs of operating these)
- Work autonomously
Explain the possible impact of an organisation’s structure on an individual’s career development
- Organizational structure influences career path clarity and progression opportunities, with hierarchical systems offering clear advancement but flat structures encouraging diverse skill development.
- Access to training, mentorship, and networking varies by structure, impacting professional growth and development opportunities.
- Job roles and decision-making autonomy differ, with some structures providing stability and others offering flexibility and diverse role exposure.
Explain three considerations for managing change in career development
How to change jobs:
- Conduct self-assessment to understand personal skills and career desires, and research the job market for suitable opportunities and industry trends.
- Leverage networking and professional branding, including updating online profiles, to connect with industry professionals and uncover new opportunities.
Dealing with unemployment:
- Engage in financial planning, including budgeting, and explore temporary income sources to manage expenses during unemployment.
- Focus on skill development through courses and training, and maintain emotional well-being by staying active in your professional network and routine activities.
Negotiation Skills:
- Negotiation plays an important part in career development, as people may have to negotiate over working conditions, pay, working hours, arrangements and more.
- Positional bargaining usually involves both parties taking up a position, while principled negotiation focusses more on the value of the points of discussion
State the components of an IPP and career portfolio
IPP:
- Self-assessment (strengths and weaknesses)
- Reflection on grades
- Goals
- Next action steps
- Support network
Career Portfolio:
- Resume
- Evidence/certificates
- Cover letter/personal statement
