Professional Practices

SS-301

Ehtesham Raza,
Assistant Professor,
Govt. Murray College,
Sialkot.
Performance through Job Design

 Job
 Career
 Career path
 Job
• A group of homogeneous tasks related by similarity of functions.
• When performed by an employee in an exchange for pay, a job
consists of duties, responsibilities, and tasks (performance
elements) that are
– defined and specific
– can be accomplished, quantified, measured, and rated.
• From a wider perspective, a job is synonymous with a role and
includes the physical and social aspects of a work environment.
• Often, individuals identify themselves with their job or role
(foreman, supervisor, engineer, etc.) and derive motivation from
its uniqueness or usefulness.
 …Job
• A job, or occupation, is a person's role in society.
• More specifically, a job is an activity, often regular and often performed in
exchange for payment ("for a living").
• Many people have multiple jobs (e.g., parent, homemaker, and
employee).
• A person can begin a job by becoming an employee, volunteering, starting
a business, or becoming a parent.
• The duration of a job may range from temporary (e.g., hourly odd jobs) to
a lifetime (e.g., judges).
• An activity that requires a person's mental or physical effort is work (as in
"a day's work").
• If a person is trained for a certain type of job, they may have a profession.
• Typically, a job would be a subset of someone's career. The two may differ
in that one usually retires from their career, versus resignation or
termination from a job.
 Career
• A career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through
learning, work and other aspects of life.
• The word career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a
person's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of
life)".
• Career is understood to relate to a range of aspects of an
individual's life, learning and work.
• Career is also frequently understood to relate to the working
aspects of an individual's life e.g. as in career woman.
• A third way in which the term career is used to describe an
occupation or a profession that usually involves special training
or formal education and is considered to be a person's lifework.
 …Career
• The progress and actions taken by a person throughout a
lifetime, especially those related to that person's occupations.
• A career is often composed of the jobs held, titles earned and
work accomplished over a long period of time, rather than just
referring to one position.
• While employees in some cultures and economies stay with one
job during their career, there is an increasing trend to employees
changing jobs more frequently.
• For example, an individual's career could involve being a lawyer,
though the individual could work for several different firms and
in several different areas of law over a lifetime.
 Career Path
• A career path is composed of a sequence of jobs that make up your
career plan.
• Career paths and career plans may sound like the same thing, but they’re
not.
• A career plan includes short-term or long-term goals leading to an ideal
career, while a career path specifically includes the jobs that step an
individual towards his or her goals and objectives.
• The first thing to know is that while it includes the jobs you’ll need to hit
your ultimate career goal, a career path doesn’t need to be a straight
line.
• There’s no blueprint or timetable for climbing the career ladder.
• Your career path will be as individual as you are.
• You may take a very different route than your colleagues and wind up in
the same spot.
 What’s Included in a Career Path
• Career paths traditionally imply vertical growth or advancement
to higher level positions, but they can also entail lateral
movement within or across industries.
• And each path can be slightly different for each person,
depending on how long you need to take to get to your goals, or
if you change your goals along the way.
• At the heart of a career path is the fact that you’ll be changing
jobs from time to time.
• The average person changes jobs 10 to 15 times during their
career and sometimes those changes will involve different types
of positions in different industries.
• Some career paths have a few ups and downs and, in fact, some
people even plan a move down the career ladder.
 Examples of Career Paths
• Administration: Administrative Assistant - Executive Assistant -
Office Manager
• Advertising: Advertising Account Coordinator - Assistant Account
Executive - Account Executive - Major Account Executive
• Communications: Public Relations Assistant - Public Relations
Representative - Assistant Director of Public Relations - Director
of Communications
• Customer Services / Sales: Customer Service Representative -
Inside Salesperson - Outside Salesperson - Major Account
Salesperson - Regional Sales Manager
• Development: Development Assistant - Annual Giving Officer -
Development Associate - Major Gift Officer - Leadership Giving
Officer - Associate Director of Leadership Gifts
 …Examples of Career Paths
• Editorial: Editorial Assistant - Assistant Editor - Associate Editor - Editor
- Senior Editor - Editorial Director
• Education: Teacher - Master Teacher - Curriculum Coordinator -
Assistant Principal - Principal
• Education to Training: Teacher - Insurance Salesperson - Trainer for
New Agents
• Engineering: Junior Engineer - Senior Engineer - Project Manager -
Engineering Consultant
• Entrepreneur: Salesperson - Sales Manager - Business Owner
• Human Resources: Human Resources Assistant - Interviewer - Benefits
Assistant - Benefits Specialist - Assistant Director of Human Resources -
Director of Human Resources
• Retail: Retail Sales Clerk - Assistant Manager - Department Manager -
Store Manager - Regional Manager
• Sales to Marketing: Salesperson - Assistant Brand Manager - Brand
Manager - Group Manager - Marketing Director
 Tips for Finding Your Career Path
• Always be learning. Today’s job market moves quickly. To keep up, you
need to be prepared to constantly add to your skill set. 
• Pay attention to industry news. What will your job be like in five years
– or 10? No one really knows for sure, but if you keep up with the news, you’ll
get a sense of the occupational outlook for your job and which employers are
likely to remain in the game.
• Network, network, network. Networking isn’t just for job seekers.
Connecting with your peers can help you identify whole new directions for
your career – even if you’re not interested in job hopping at the moment.
• Make plans (but be flexible). Don’t hold too tightly to your career plan
when developing your career path. Be open to opportunity and keep your
ultimate goals in mind.
• Don’t be afraid of a lateral move. Sometimes, you need to move
sideways (or even backwards) in order to get ahead. If a job offers you a
chance to develop skills or connections that will be valuable later on, feel free
to consider a lateral move.
Questions