Part I - Introduction

Jobs and Careers

What is Job?

 A job is something you do to earn money.

 It is a piece of work, esp., a specific task done as part of the routine of one’s
occupation or for an agreed price.
 A post of employment, a fulltime or part time position
 Anything a person is expected or obliged to do
 It is something you do without much concern for the long term. E.g. a job what
students or senior citizens work
 Career advancement is not something you are interested in there and the work
often doesn’t interest you at all. In five years you will likely not be doing anything
like your current job.

What is Carrier?

 An occupation or profession, esp., one requiring special training, followed as one’s

lifework.
 A person’s progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of
life, as in some profession or undertaking.
 Most careers start with education
 Many people work jobs because they don’t have an education to enter careers.
 It is all about building on experience and advancing your job skills and knowledge.
 It is a series of connected employment opportunities, where you build up skills at
earlier employment opportunities to move you into higher paying and higher
prestige employment opportunities later on. In five years you are planning to be
doing something very similar to what you are doing now, but hopefully with more
income and more interesting problems to tackle.
 A person usually holds several jobs in their career.
 Comparison table

Career Job
What is it  A pursuit of a lifelong ambition or the  An activity through which an
general course of progression towards individual can earn money.
lifelong goals
 It is a regular activity in
exchange of payment.
Requirement  Usually require special learning that  Education or special training
includes individualized components that may or may not be required.
develop abilities beyond that which
training is capable of.
Time  Long term  Short term
Income  Varies depending on values to society or  Varies by demand
to some other entity. Non-monetary
 More likely to be wage
benefits may be higher.
 Salary is more common
Creation  Made by you  Given to you
Networking  Loaded with networking opportunities,  Offer very few networking
as most of the people around you are opportunities, because the
Opportunity
involved in a similar career to yours and people on the job are not the
they will keep popping up time and time people you will likely know at a
again. future job.

Goal  Apart from getting the task done, learn  To get the task done and not
new skills, gain experience, build annoying the boss
connections, and put yourself in positions
for promotions, raises and possibly
similar positions in other organizations.
How to Create a Skills Development Plan?

One of the best ways to keep your career on a successful track is through the creation of
a Professional Development Plan, also known as a Skills Development Plan.

Follow these simple five steps and you will find that by taking the time necessary to create
a development plan, you can reduce stress, achieve greater job satisfaction, and even land
your dream job by fostering a competitive set of skills and professional expertise.

Step 1: Identify your needs.

Through personal reflection and assessment, and discussing your skills with a manager
or supervisor, you can identify what areas of training you need to pursue that will
support your immediate and long-term development goals.

Think in terms of cross-functionality – Look for areas of improvement outside of your

primary skill set or specialty area. Also, determine if you will be changing care settings
in the future.

Step 2: Prioritize your needs.

Now that you have identified areas of learning opportunity, put them in the proper order
from most critical to least critical.

To do this, determine if an area of learning is directly related to a skill deficiency that may
affect the ways you deliver care to patients or your area of responsibility while at work.
Prioritize learning related to future job advancement or changes you’d like to make after
addressing needs that are most critical to your current situation.

Step 3: Prepare the Learning Plan.

A well-prepared development plan will address three to five learning goals each year.

Work to determine the method that best addresses your need in a consistent and
manageable manner. For needs that require formal coursework or workshops, tap into
valuable resources such as our Supplemental University platform to secure quality,
effective online coursework to support your continuing education and learning needs.

If you need further preparation to make a career move, consider addressing this
development need through cross-training in a different unit at work or through
independent study opportunities.
Step 4: Evaluate your learning.

After the completion of each learning activity, it is important to review and evaluate the
method used to accomplish it.

Were your learning needs met? Was there value in terms of time and money spent?
Would you recommend the learning method to colleagues?

This type of “review” will be valuable to you in the future as you develop subsequent
plans. Determine if the quality of the learning experience was adequate to ensure that it
was time well spent, strategic to your learning and career goals, and if it will serve your
needs in the event you pursue additional learning opportunities in the future.

Step 5: Record your learning activity and results.

Your final step is to record each activity as it is completed and be sure to document your
results. Keep this information in your own personal file and be sure to notify your
employer of your continued education and career development activities. Merchandising
these efforts will both enrich your current career experience and also distinguish your
candidacy within a competitive job market.

As with anything in life, the more effort you put into a plan, the more you will get out of
it. Be strategic, prepare well, plan ahead and stick to the plan!

Also, keep in mind that every career path is unique. While these are general
recommendations to help you begin crafting a strategic development plan, it’s always a
great idea to consult with a recruiter, mentor or professional colleague to gather details
specific to your goals.

Part II - Career Development

Career development is a self-initiated process with support and resources provided by
managers and the organization.

Self-Assessment: The Six Invaluable Factors

What is meant by “value”? Clearly, all of us have value as human beings. In terms of
your employability, however, you could fall anywhere on a continuum from someone the
world of work can’t live without to someone easily replaceable. Today, organizations are
faced with rapidly changing environments, competitive pressures globally, ever-
changing technological advances, and more. The pressure to be more innovative,
productive, flexible, and sustainable has never been greater. You probably don’t need to
be told this – you know it and you’ve been experiencing it in your work life.
What you may not have thought much about, though, is what this means to you in terms
of how you want to strategically approach your career development in this new world of
work. It is no longer a world where you “punch the clock” and “do your time” and it is
no longer enough to simply have a job. To be continuously employable, you must
provide genuine value to the organization in which you work.

Below is a list of the Six Invaluable Factors anyone can develop to make themselves truly
irreplaceable. This is adapted from the book, Invaluable: The Secret to Becoming
Irreplaceable, by Dave Crenshaw.

Invaluable Factor #1 – DEMAND

Demand represents how well your skill set matches the current needs and wants of the
market. You have little direct control over demand, so the only way you can improve
upon this factor is to increase your understanding of current and future market trends
and work to align your actions with those trends.

Consider: What is the current and future market demand for your personal skill set?

Invaluable Factor #2 – ABILITY

Ability represents how well you do what you do or how much value you actually provide.
It is important to continuously deliver progress and results; it is not enough to just know
what your position is supposed to be or how to do what is required of you. You must also
seek to continually improve on that ability on a daily basis to become more and more
invaluable.

Consider: What are you doing daily to improve your ability to perform for the unit you
work for and the organization as a whole?

Invaluable Factor #3 – IRREPLACEABILITY

This measures how difficult it is to replace you and is a function of two things: the
available competition for your position, and how deeply you understand the unique
needs of your current employer. To stay irreplaceable, you must commit to ongoing
research and reevaluation.

Consider: What is the biggest thing keeping your boss from firing you right now?

Invaluable Factor #4 – FOCUS

Focus requires you to avoid anything that gets in the way of you spending time in your
most valuable activities. These are the activities that have the greatest impact on the
bottom line, both for you personally and for the organization as a whole. The more you
spread yourself out in many directions, the less valuable you become. As information
and available options continue to explode, so does the temptation to engage in many less
valuable activities.

Consider: How well do you focus your actions on your most valuable activities?

Invaluable Factor #5 – CONNECTION

This assesses your ability to connect personally with others, both in terms of quantity and
quality. The value that you bring is directly affected by your ability to work well with
others and to share resources with others. Connection is an absolutely essential part of
becoming invaluable. In order to increase connection, you must not only master the art
of face-to-face interaction, but digital interaction, as well.

Consider: How many people feel personally connected to you?

Invaluable Factor #6 – AUTHORITY

Authority evaluates how strongly the current market considers you to be the top expert
in your field. An authority is someone others look to when they make decisions. An
employee who is recognized both inside and outside of the organization as a leading
expert dramatically improves his or her value.

Consider: Do my peers, both inside and outside of my organization, consider me to be a

leading expert in my field? Am I regularly consulted on matters at work?

Self-Assessment: Role Fit

Take stock of the current role you have at your workplace. Answer the following
questions to help gather your thoughts as you begin to explore where you are and where
you want to be in your career. Write down your responses to these questions and date
it. Periodically come back to answer these questions and save each set of answers. Over
time you will have a good record of the change in your thinking about your overall career
development.

 What do I like about my current role?

 What makes me feel unique in this organization?
 Which of my abilities, interests, and/or values does my current role allow me to
express on a regular basis?
 What are the challenges of my role?
 Which of my abilities, interests, and/or values would I like to be able to express
more in my work?
 What occupational fields do I feel most drawn toward?
  What work environments do I enjoy the most?
 What kinds of people do I most enjoy working with? Why do I feel this way?
 At this point, do I feel attracted to a leadership (supervisory or managerial) role?
Why?
 What steps can I take to gain clarity as I answer these questions?

Self-Assessment: Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is a broad concept evoking a prioritizing between "work" (career or
ambition) on one hand and "life" (pleasure, leisure, family or spiritual development) on
the other. The term itself may set up false ideas about there being an “ideal” balancing
point when in fact the goal may be less about true balance and more about valuing
conscious choice when it comes to where and how we spend our time. One person may
think of work-life balance when they are experiencing life stress, while another may be
trying to set priorities for addressing personal and family needs.

Answer the following questions to become more clear on what work-life balance means
to you.

 What does “Work-Life Balance” mean to you?

 Consider the fit between your current work role and your life outside work. Are
you satisfied with your work-life balance?
 What are your values about work and where it fits in your life as a whole?
 What are your partner’s or family’s values about work and where it fits into your
life together?
 What is the impact of work-life balance and imbalance on you?
 What are the issues that you prefer (“wants”) versus those that are absolutely non-
negotiable (“needs”) in terms of work-life balance?
 What do your answers to these questions tell you about your work-life concerns?

Self-Assessment: Personality Type & Work Style Preferences

The term "personality" refers to a person's patterns of thinking, feeling and acting. Some
aspects of personality are useful in thinking about career development.

Some people generally prefer to make decisions with an eye to harmony and what's best
for themselves and others (Feeling preference). In some situations, they might make
decisions based on an objective assessment of the logical consequences (Thinking
preference), but they might not feel as comfortable in the process, or as confident in the
decision.
People tend to be attracted to and experience more satisfaction in careers in which they
can express and use their preferences. For instance, work that requires the type of
perception or decision-making that comes naturally to a person may lead to more
effectiveness and confidence.

Self-Assessment: Career Interests

Interests are helpful to understand in relation to career planning. Career interests are
different than abilities or skills. However, people tend to be attracted to activities that
they enjoy and are interested in, which then affords the opportunity to develop skills and
abilities.

There are six themes of interest and are shown below. For most people, primary interests
combine two or three of these general themes. That combination is often called a "RIASEC
Code" or a "Holland Code". It is important to keep in mind that no RIASEC code is better
than another, and there are places for all six codes in every organization.
REALISTIC The "Doers"
INVESTIGATIVE The "Thinkers"
ARTISTIC The "Creators"
SOCIAL The "Helpers"
ENTERPRISING The "Persuaders"
CONVENTIONAL The "Organizers"

The following sample of potential interests is provided to help illustrate the six general
themes that comprise the RIASEC model. Keep in mind that the table shows a sample
only and that most people have a combination of two or three major interest themes.

Sample of Interests and Working Environments by General Occupational Theme

 Building things
REALISTIC  Using tools and equipment
 The outdoors
 Product-driven environments with clear lines of
authority
 Research and problem-solving
INVESTIGATIVE  Theoretical models
 Independent, unstructured working environments
 Conceptualizing/Designing
ARTISTIC  Writing, composing, performing
 Self-expressive, unstructured work environments
 Helping/encouraging/teaching
SOCIAL  Counseling/guiding
 Supportive, collaborative work environments
  Debating ideas
ENTERPRISING  Managing people & projects
 Selling
 Fast-paced, entrepreneurial work environments
 Organizing information
CONVENTIONAL  Writing reports
 Operating computers
 Structured, organized, practical work environments
 The Strong Interest Inventory is a self-assessment tool that produces a RIASEC Code
based on an individual's responses, as well as information about specific content or topic
areas that may be interesting, and a sample of occupations in which satisfied workers
tend to have similar interests.

Self-Assessment: Career Values

Values are qualities considered to be the most important guiding principles that help set
priorities in your career and life. They are highly personal and define what is purposeful
and meaningful to you. Though values may change in response to life circumstances, they
are generally thought to be enduring and provide a compass for setting goals and making
decisions.

In a career context, where changes occur rapidly and decisions about opportunities in a
current work role or new job possibilities can present themselves unexpectedly, it is
critical to pause and reflect on the values that are most essential to you.

Knowing how values are aligned with your job and the organization in which you work
is often critical to understanding career-related satisfaction and motivation. Career values
are clustered in four domains: Intrinsic Values, Work Environment Values, Work Content
Values, and Work Relationship Values.

Intrinsic Values: What motivates me to truly love my work day after day? Among a list of
these values are Achievement, Giving to Community, Status, Independence, and Power.

Work Environment Values: What working conditions provide an optimum environment in

which I can do my best work? Work Environment Values include Learning, Benefits, Fast-
Paced, Comfortable Income, Structure and many more.

Work Content Values: What makes my work activities most satisfying and engaging to me?
Among the values in this area are values such as Problem Solving, Organizing, Public
Contact, Detailed, and Creative.

Work Relationship Values: What characteristics of interaction with others in my workplace

are the most important to me? Work Relationship Values include Open Communication,
Diversity, Leadership, Teamwork, Competition, and Trust.

Self-Assessment: Skills
Skills are learned behaviors and abilities. There are many different types of skills that are
relevant to career development.
 Work Content/Technical Skills include things like our knowledge of a specific
subject, procedures, equipment, or vocabulary necessary to perform a particular
job. For example, market research, etc. We tend to spend most of our time
developing technical skills that we need for the actual role we are in now. That's
important, but it shouldn't be our only focus.

Competencies/Transferable Skills are also important to emphasize. These are

general skills that are applicable in many different jobs and fields. For example,
planning, coordinating, negotiation, presentation, etc.

Self-Management/Personal Growth Skills are traits or personal characteristics

that contribute to our performance of work and are often expressed using
adjectives. For example, flexibility, resourcefulness, diplomatic, results-oriented,
etc. Developing these qualities may require learning skills in time management,
assertiveness, or stress management. Or it may require overcoming self-defeating
behaviors like procrastination.

Leadership Skills are important regardless of whether you are in a

supervisory/managerial role or not. We all benefit from feeling more confident in
our abilities to take charge of tasks, responsibilities, projects, team processes, office
work flow, goal setting, decision-making, and our personal and career
development.

Self-Assessment: Career Direction

In the old world of work, we tended to speak about "climbing the career ladder" and to
define career success as continually getting promoted to higher-level positions in the
organization. This view of career success is outdated, especially as organizations become
less hierarchical and more flat. A more helpful metaphor for today's world is that of the
Career Lattice, in which career moves can occur in multiple directions, as this diagram
shows.
Up and ahead is not the only direction to move in an organization. If your sole definition
of career success is getting promoted or advancing in pay/status/job title, then you are
not thinking broadly enough. In the new world of work, it is important to consider
multiple directions in which your career could move and to focus on what moves help
you develop your employability the most. Focus on progress, not perfection.

Looking at the Career Lattice diagram above, you'll see there are several directions you
could choose.

Vertical

Upward moves still exist in organizations, even though they are in shorter supply than
in the past. If you are intent on following this path, be certain your skills and career plans
run parallel to the organization's overall strategic goals. If your personal career goals,
skills, and values do not align very closely with the needs of the organization at this time,
it may be a very frustrating exercise for you to pursue this option. You may want to
consider a different organization or a different part of the organization where your
chances of successfully moving in this direction are greater. However, if you believe you
are in a good position to pursue this option, focus on cultivating relationships with key
executives. Make sure you are complementing your technical expertise with coalition-
building skills.

Lateral

These types of career changes involve changing the job, but not necessarily the
pay/status/level of responsibility. These moves may be beneficial to help you broaden
your experiences, move from a slow-growing part of the organization to an expanding
part, or get away from an ineffective employee-boss relationship.

Enrichment

Growing the job you currently have is an option that many overlook. According to the
book Love It Don't Leave It, it is important to look inside before you jump outside, meaning
first get clear about what you want and try going after it before leaving your job just to
escape a bad situation. There is a time and energy cost to searching for and changing jobs.
Before you invest in that option, it may be useful to develop your skills at learning how
to make your current job more interesting and challenging while still fulfilling your
individual career goals and the organization's needs.
Some ways in which people have enriched their current job include mastering new skills,
expanding their job responsibilities, or increasing their decision-making authority.
Developing an "intrapreneur" mindset can help with this. Intrapreneurs bring an
entrepreneurial mindset to the work they do within an organization. They are good at
spotting needs and problems, coming up with creative solutions that serve the
organization and their own skill development, and selling those ideas to the people who
can give them an opportunity to implement their solutions. In doing so, they add value
to the organization while increasing their own visibility and creating skill development
opportunities for themselves.

To keep yourself engaged in your work, develop your ability to create opportunities to
learn new skills or do more of the activities you enjoy, while letting go of those you don't
enjoy as much. Think of ways you could make your work more engaging using the
following suggestions. Write out your responses and think about how you could present
your ideas to your boss by noting the benefits to your organization/unit.

Learning new skills – which skills?

 Participating in some projects in your work environment – which projects?

Taking on more responsibilities in areas you are interested in – which areas?

Letting go of responsibilities in areas in which you are losing interest – which areas?

Proposing a way to solve a problem you've noticed – which problems?

Realignment

Moving downward in pay/status/responsibilities can occur due to layoffs, consolidation

of departments, or voluntarily if an employee needs to shift gears to pursue an
educational degree or take care of family responsibilities. This often is a temporary move
to better position one for a better move forward. It is also an option for someone nearing
retirement who wants to focus on work they enjoy and are not as focused on
advancement.

Consider the following questions regarding Career Directions:

1. In which directions on the Career Lattice could you move? Be specific in describing your
possible next steps.

2. What would you gain by moving in those directions?

3. What would you lose by moving in those directions?

In the Career Awareness phase of career development planning, your goal is to

understand how your value applies to opportunities within your organization and the
wider world of work. Developing your career awareness means gaining knowledge of
career paths and job opportunities, and the skills and qualifications necessary to be
successful in these positions.

Ultimately, the fit of an organization’s culture with your personal goals, values, and work

style is something you need to assess for yourself.