Soft Skills

Career Planning
 Career planning
• A career may be defined as ‘ a sequence of
jobs that constitute what a person does for a
living’.
• ‘Career planning is a process of systematically
matching career goals and individual
capabilities with opportunities for their
fulfillment
 The Concept of Career
• The term 'career denotes all the jobs that are
held during one's working life.
• It is viewed as a sequence of positions held by
an individual during the course of his lifetime.
• A career as a sequence of separate but related
work activities that provide continuity, order
and meaning in a person's life.
 Nature of Career Planning
The following are the salient features of career planning:
• A Process: Career planning is a process of developing
human resources rather than an event.
• Upward movement: It involve upward movement in
the organisational hierarchy, or special assignments,
project work which require abilities to handle recurring
problems, human relations issued and so on.
• Mutuality of Interest: The individual's interest is
served as his needs and aspirations are met to a great
extent and the organisation's interest is served as each
of its human resources is provided an opportunity to
develop and contribute to the organisational goals and
objectives to the optimum of its ability and confidence.
• Dynamic: Career planning is dynamic in nature due to
an ever changing environment.
 Objectives of Career Planning
Career Planning seeks to meet the following
objectives:
• To provide and maintain appropriate
manpower resources in the organisation by
offering careers.
• To provide environment for the effectiveness,
efficiency and growth of its employees and
motivating them to contribute effectively
towards achieving the objectives of the
organisation.
 Objectives of Career Planning
• To map out careers of various categories of
employees suitable to their ability, and their
willingness to be 'trained and developed for
higher positions.
• To have a stable workforce by reducing
absenteeism and employee turnover.
• To cater to the immediate and future human
resources need of the organisation on a timely
basis.
• To increase the utilisation of managerial
reserves within organisation.
 Steps in Career Planning Process
• Plan forward. Put on paper where you see yourself going in
your career, and plot each step that you will need to reach,
in order to get there.
• Self-assessment. Routinely assess your skills, your
potential, your strengths and weaknesses and your ability
to fulfil your aims.
• Self-development. Once you have assessed yourself, always
ensure that you pay attention to any loopholes that you
may have identified in your self-assessment, and ensure
you come up with an action to correct and fill these
loopholes.
• Conduct Field Research This stage is useful in deciding
between different fields to pursue. What better way to
explore career options than to meet with someone working
in the field? It entails meeting with people in different
positions or industries that you are interested in and asking
them questions about their job.
• Work on getting the right experience. Try to gain as
much experience as possible in your job, take on
additional projects and work if possible, in order to be
able to gain new experience.
• Make yourself indispensable. Remember that in the
work place that all moves and promotions are based
on high levels of competencies and job performances.
You need to be the best you can possibly be, to ensure
that you are not overlooked for promotions and future
roles.
• Networking is critical. Really work on your networking
skills and ensure that the networks that you create are
relevant to your job choices and career aspirations.
Networking is not just about making contacts, it’s
about making the right contacts and getting to known
and earning the respect of those that may be able to
assist in your career aspirations.
• Build Your Credentials and Resume
• This stage is ongoing and the more you build your
credentials, the better your resume becomes. A
great resume leads to interviews and offers. The
best ways to build your credentials and
knowledge are by:
– Doing internships related to your Job Target
– Taking classes and attending seminars related to your
Job Target
– Reading books, journals, and magazines related to
your Job Target
– Joining professional associations or clubs on campus
related to your Job Target
– Upload your resume at Web Sites so employers can
view it.