Introduction to Career Management

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 What is a Career?

• For many people, career means the part of life that is

concerned with employment.
• From an occupational standpoint, it means the sum
total of the various jobs you may hold during your
lifetime.
• However, these definitions do not fully capture the
meaning of career. We would like you to think of
career in a broader, more life-encompassing way.
 What is a Career?

• Think of the decisions you make about a job or a college

major as valuable components of a lifelong process.
When viewed in this manner, career can be defined as—

“the sum total of decisions that direct your educational,

social, economic, political, and spiritual endeavors and
reflect your unique personality characteristics and
basic life values”.
 Definitions/Concepts
 Job progression:
The hierarchy of jobs a new employee might experience,
ranging from a starting job to jobs that successively require
more knowledge and/or skill.
 Career paths:
Lines of advancement in an occupational field within an
organization.

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 Job Progressions and Career Paths

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 Definitions/Concepts
From Individual perspective:
Career management is conscious planning of
one's activities and engagements in the jobs
one undertakes in the course of his life for
better fulfilment, growth and financial stability.

It is a sequential process that starts from an

understanding of oneself and encompasses
occupational awareness.
According to Greenhaus, “Career Management has been
defined as the process by which individuals develop,
implement, and monitor career goals and strategies.
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 Definitions/Concepts
 Career Management:
From organizational perspective:
Career management as a “process for enabling
employees to better understand a develop their career
skills and interests and to use these skills and interests
most effectively both within the company and after they
leave the firm”.
According to Arnold “Career Management is an attempt
made to influence the career development of one or
more people”.

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What is the need for career management?
Need for career management
Need for career management
Importance of Career Management
 Definitions/Concepts
 Career Planning:

Career planning is the deliberate process through which

someone becomes aware of his or her personal skills,
interests, knowledge, motivations, and other characteristics;
acquire information about opportunities and choices;
identifies career-related goals, and establishes action plans
to attain specific goals.

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•
 Definitions/Concepts
 Career Development:

Career development is the life-long series of activities (such

as training & development, job rotation, feedback) that
contribute to a person’s career exploration, establishment,
success, and fulfilment.

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 Low ceiling careers:
Some careers do not have scope for much
advancement. Employees cannot get promotions
despite their career plans and development in
such jobs.
 Career Plateau:
A situation in which for either organizational or
personal reasons the probability of moving up the
career ladder is low.
 Career Plateau Questions

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 Career Anchors
Edgar Schein had proposed eight career themes and had
shown that people identify primarily with one or two.
The anchors can enable people to recognize their
preferences for certain areas in their job which can help
career planning.
For example, a person with a primary theme of
autonomy/independence will seek to work under their own
rules and be less likely to conform to organizational norms.
People are generally more fulfilled in their careers when they
can satisfy their career anchors and seek roles that are
aligned with these anchors.
The eight career anchors are:

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 Anchor Definition
Technical/ Primarily excited by the content of the work itself;
Functional prefers advancement only in his/her technical or
Competence functional area of competence; generally disdains and
fears general management as too political.
Managerial Primarily excited by the opportunity to analyze and
Competence solve problems under conditions of incomplete
information and uncertainty; likes harnessing people
together to achieve common goals; stimulated (rather
than exhausted) by crisis situations.
Security, Primarily motivated by job security and long-term
Stability, attachment to on organization; willing to conform and to
Organizational be fully socialized into an organization's values and
identity norms; tends to dislike travel and relocation.

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 Anchor Definition
Entrepreneurial Primarily motivated by the need to build or create
Creativity something that is entirely their own project; easily bored
and likes to move from project to project; more interested
in initiating new enterprises than in managing established
ones.

Autonomy/ Primarily motivated to seek work situations which are

Independence maximally free of organizational constraints; wants to set
own schedule and pace of work; is willing to trade off
opportunities for promotion to have more freedom.

Sense of Primarily motivated to improve the world in some fashion;

Service/ wants to align work activities with personal values about
Dedication to a helping society; more concerned with finding jobs which
Cause meet their values than their skills.
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 Anchor Definition
Pure Challenge Primarily motivated to overcome major obstacles, solve
almost unsolvable problems, or win out over extremely
tough opponents; define their careers in terms of daily
combat or competition in which winning is everything;
very single minded and intolerant of those without
comparable success.
Lifestyle Primarily motivated to balance career with
Integration lifestyle; highly concerned with such issues as
paternity/maternity leave, day care options etc. Looks for
organizations that have strong pro family values and
programs.

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