CHOOSING A CAREER

               CHOOSING A CAREER

Career management describes the active and purposeful management of a career by an individual. Career management is often seen as being underpinned by a series of attributes, abilities and skills which are usually described as career management skills. The Blueprint model of career management skills (in US, Canada, Australia, Scotland and ENGLAND is an attempt to describe what career management skills comprise of. Another career management framework is the Seven C's of Digital Career Literacy that sets out career management skills specifically relating to the online context.
A key aspect of career management is the ability to research opportunities and then to make career choices. Another is the ability to reflect on their current career and on labour market opportunities and then to make career changes.

Career choice

According to Behling and others, an individuals decision to join a firm may depend on any of the three factors viz. objective factor, subjective factor and critical contact.

• Objective factor theory assumes that the applicants are rational. The choice, therefore, is exercised after an objective assessment of the tangible benefits of the job. The factors helping him choose may be the salary, other benefits, location, opportunities for career advancement etc.

• Subjective factor theory suggests that decision making is dominated by social and psychological factors. The status of the job, reputation of the organization and other similar factors plays an important role.

• Critical contact theory advances the idea that a candidate's observerations during his interaction with the organization plays a vital role in decision making. For example how the recruiter keeps in touch with the candidate, the promptness of response and similar factors are important. This theory is more valid with experienced professionals.

These theories assume that candidates have a free choice of employers and careers. In reality the scarcity of jobs and strong competition for desirable jobs severely skews the decision making process. In many markets employees work particular careers simply because they were forced to accept whatever work was available to them.