CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Introduction
In organizational development, the study of career development looks at how individuals manage their careers within and between organizations and, how organizations structure the career progress of their members, it can also be tied into succession planning within some organizations. In personal development, career development is the total constellation of psychological, sociological, educational, physical, economic, and chance factors that combine to influence the nature and significance of work in the total lifespan of any given individual."The evolution or development of a career - informed by the experience within a specific field of interest, Success at each stage of development and, educational attainment. The lifelong psychological and behavioral processes as well as contextual influences shaping ones career over the life span. As such, career development involves the persons creation of a career pattern, decision-making style, integration of life roles, values expression, and life-role self concepts."

Career Development
Career development is an organized planning method used to match the needs of a business with the career goals of employees. Formulating a career development plan can help employees to do their jobs more efficiently. Additionally, these plans can be beneficial for employees who might want to move up in a company or look for other jobs in the future. In the business world, there are generally two groups that direct the career development process: upper management and human resource personnel. Managers, for example, might have the responsibility of making sure the needs of a business coincide with the employee's career goals to achieve an overall balanced work atmosphere. They will often identify the skills, experience, and knowledge employees need in order to provide their best possible work. Human resource (HR) personnel are often responsible for providing career development information programs for employees. Professional networking is

usually important, and as a result, employees might get tools to start networking from the HR department. HR managers also usually provide a compensation structure that compliments business needs but also allows individual career growth. For example, employees who have exhibited a certain improvement or growth in needed skills might be promoted and given a raise. Sometimes, career development is explored by people who are not employees of a business. Instead, these people might be interested in creating a set of guidelines to help them to choose a career and get hired by a desired company. This typically involves a self-assessment in which a person usually considers things that he or she is naturally good at or has experience in. Additional things to consider include interests and learning styles. The self-assessment generally helps an individual to select careers they are the most interested in pursuing. Individuals often continue their career development plan by preparing strategies for job interviews. Candidates who are not naturally good speakers, for example, might choose to enroll in an interview preparation program. In this kind of program, a mock interview is often conducted to see how well individuals respond to questions. The results are typically analyzed to determine things that can be adjusted in preparation for real interviews. Organizational Career Development Organizational career development looks closely at how employees at various levels perceive and interact with their work environments. The goal of such an assessment is to develop new strategies to encourage employee communication, satisfaction and retention, as well as to improve a companys bottom line. Organizational career development is a valuable long-term planning tool used to create better and more productive work environments. Individuals who specialize in career development help others with creating career goals and strategies. Such is accomplished by interviewing participants, identifying each persons skill set and by using reliable career assessment surveys. In addition to the important process of helping identify suitable careers for individual participants, however, professionals who specialize in organizational

career development use similar strategies to help identify ways of strengthening employee interactions with a company to achieve more positive outcomes. People trained in organizational career development may work for the company they evaluate or may be hired as an independent contractor for a specified period of time. Those who agree to work as in-house career development specialists generally work closely with multiple human resource employees. Those hired as independent contractors who provide career development planning services are frequently referred to simply as management consultants. Whether as an employee or as a consultant, an individual who specializes in organizational career development first analyzes a companys current structure, including its policies and levels of employee satisfaction, before preparing a written report that identifies areas of weakness and strength within the organization. Often, organizational developers will then work with key management and human resource personnel to define and implement new organizational goals. Though each company is unique in how it approaches these goals, the overarching intent of all career development plans is to help a company operate more efficiently. Regular activities of an organizational career development professional may include one-on-one interviews with employees at all levels of an organizations structure, administering written surveys, analyzing findings and report writing. Organizational career development may also include hosting training seminars and leadership workshops. Developers may also work on creating unique training modules tailored for a particular type of industry or organization. Professionals providing organizational career development assistance are formally trained in subjects relating to finance, business management and business administration. Most have earned a four-year degree in business and some have even earned graduate degrees in this area of study. Many working in this field also hold graduate degrees in a behavioral science.

Importance of Career Development The importance of career development tends to vary by individual, but for many people, a successful career is, among other things, a significant contributor to personal happiness and financial security. When a person takes the time to set career goals and a plan for meeting them, she will often find that her job responsibilities and compensation progress steadily. When workers ignore the importance of career development, they may find themselves stuck in dead-end jobs that are at best unfulfilling. In such cases, other areas of a worker's life may suffer. For many young people, getting their first real job is a significant achievement. Yet they do not typically have a goal of simply remaining in the position for which they are hired forever. Instead, the young person may aspire to advancing within his current company or field. In some cases, he may also plan to use his current job as a stepping stone into a new career or occupation. The importance of career development for new workers is to make them aware of the opportunities open to them and how they can best achieve their work goals. In the case of those who have been in the work force for a while or those who have left the work force for a period of time, the importance of career development may be a bit different. Job skills and even entire occupations can become obsolete. Even a worker who does not aspire to upper management or owning his own business can benefit from career counseling and vocational planning. By doing this, he can be aware of industry trends that may compromise the security of his job and take steps to sharpen his current skills or acquire training in other areas so as to secure his future employment. For those who have been out of the work force, assistance may be available through social service agencies as well as public employment services. Many employers also place a great deal of emphasis on the importance of career development. These employers typically want their employees to succeed and progress in their employment and may provide services to employees who wish to remain with the company while also advancing in their field. These services may be provided through the human resources department, and those employees who demonstrate a strong interest in developing their career options

may be more likely to be considered for promotion within the company as well as choice job assignments.

Conclusion
Regardless of company leadership, employees have the primary responsibility to make sure their career development goals proceed how they want them to. Typically, employees assess what they want from their job currently, as well as in the future. Employees often work with their supervisors to figure out what training, professional development, or continued education options are available to them. Individuals who specialize in career development help others with creating career goals and strategies. Such is accomplished by interviewing participants, identifying each persons skill set and by using reliable career assessment surveys. In addition to the important process of helping identify suitable careers for individual participants, however, professionals who specialize in organizational career development use similar strategies to help identify ways of strengthening employee interactions with a company to achieve more positive outcomes.

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