Manage your career

How many of us these days can expect a job for life, working your way up the organisation until you retire at 65 with a gold clock and a final salary pension?

It is far more likely you will be one of the army of contractors who will

work zero hours contracts, be permanently looking for work, and who will have to manage their own career and ensure they have multiple, portable, relevant skills available for the hard pressed employers who have to compete for their work by contract tenders and bids.

These days the relationship between employer and employee may often be very different from those of previous generations. The employer who is awarded a contract for immediate delivery may have little interest, or indeed opportunity, to nurture the career or develop the skills of temporary workers. They need them to be “work ready” when posts are advertised.

How will we manage our careers against this background of uncertainty? By having a career management plan with goals and strategy, reviewed on a regular basis.

The principle of career management is to make good decisions based on thorough research, and to implement the decision effectively. You manage your career by taking control to achieve the next step in your career progression.

But the plan needs to be flexible enough to take new developments in the work place into account, whether they be new technology or emerging sectors. Plans should be realistic in the face of new information.

The Career management process may be undertaken at various points in your career –perhaps as you near the end of a course of study and are considering a career path, and suitable positions for which to apply.

If you are in danger of redundancy you may be carry out a career appraisal and redefine your goals.

Or perhaps a family event will force you to reappraise your commitment to your career.

If you are employed, a career appraisal may take place during an annual performance review, with feedback from your line manager, who may help you identify knowledge gaps and develop an action plan.

If you are self-employed or unemployed you will assess your marketability regularly, as you evaluate your skills and abilities against those in demand in the market place. You may identify learning and development gaps, and undertake training to close those gaps and ensure skills are relevant and up to date.

Your motivation at each of these stages may be different, taking into account family responsibilities, considerations of personal objectives, health issues, and appetite for entrepreneurship.

We will look at the tools you need to carry out effective Career Management. This attempts to optimise compatibility between you and your work environment and career, and should be an ongoing process, with career related feedback used, and adaptation of the goals and strategies in line with changing circumstances.

The process of Career Appraisal begins with Career Exploration, which is the collection and analysis of information about yourself and your work. You will review your personal values, interests, skills and abilities as well as opportunities and obstacles .This allows you to set realistic Career Goals that will meet your personal needs and develop a Strategy to achieve these goals.