Life and Career Planning

Satishchandra Kumar Department of Applied Psychology University of Mumbai

1. Career Orientation Inventory

Career Anchors

Based on a longitudinal study of MIT Sloan

School alumni Instruction to do the inventory Scoring Interpreting

1. Career Orientation Inventory

Edgar Schein provided the concept of Career

Anchors He gave 8 basic career anchors Career Anchor as the pattern of self-perceived talents, motives and values which serves to guide, constraint, stabilize and integrate the persons career and which tends to remain stable throughout the persons Career.

Schiens Career Anchors:

1.

2.
3. 4.

5.
6. 7. 8.

Technical/Functional Competence General Management Competence Autonomy/Independence Security/Stability Entrepreneurial Creativity Service/Dedication to a Cause Pure Challenge Life Style

Schiens Career Anchors:

1.

Technical/Functional Competence:
The Primary concern in this area is the actual technical or functional content of the work being done. The self image of people in this group is tied up with their feeling of competence in the particular area they are in. They are therefore not interested in management per se, though they will accept management responsibility within their technical or functional area of expertise. But it is the area of work that really turns them on and career growth means continued advancement with that work area only.

Schiens Career Anchors:

2.

General Management Competence:

a)

b)

The anchor is a combination of three competencies: Analytical Competence: The ability to identify, analyze and solve problems under conditions of incomplete information and uncertainty. Interpersonal Competence: The ability to influence, supervise and lead people at all levels of the organization toward the more effective achievement of organizational goals.

Schiens Career Anchors:

2.

General Management Competence:

c) Emotional Competence: The capacity to be stimulated by emotional and interpersonal crises rather than exhausted or debilitated by them, the capacity to bear high levels of responsibility without becoming paralyzed and the ability to exercise power without guilt or shame.

Schiens Career Anchors:

3.

Autonomy/Independence: The key motives for this anchor are freedom from organizational constraints in order to pursue professional or technical/functional competency. Organizational life is experienced as too restrictive, irrational and/or intrusive into ones personal life. There is a need to be on your own setting your own pace, schedule, lifestyle and work habits. There is little conflict about missed opportunities for promotions and little sense of guilt or failure about not aspiring higher.

Schiens Career Anchors:

4.

Security/Stability: People anchored in security tend to do what is required of them by their employers in order to maintain job security, a decent income and a stable future in the form of a good retirement program, benefit etc. These people will, more than others, accept the organizations definition of their career and will have to trust the organization to the right thing by them.

Schiens Career Anchors:

5.

Entrepreneurial Creativity: This anchor is characterized by the overarching need to build or create something that is entirely your own product. People with this anchor find that none of the other anchors completely matches with their key motives and values, but that there is a degree of overlap with several of the anchors i.e. Autonomy, managerial competency, freedom to exercise special talents and a desire to build wealth for security.

Schiens Career Anchors:

6.

Service/Dedication to a Cause: The people in this group feel the need not only to maintain an adequate income, but to do something meaningful in a larger context. They are actively service oriented and interested in careers that provide solutions in areas such as product safety, overpopulation, discrepancy between rich and poor and the environment.

Schiens Career Anchors:

7.

Pure Challenge: People in this group define their careers success by overcoming impossible odds, solving the unsolvable problem, winning out over the competitors.

Schiens Career Anchors:

8.

Lifestyle: These people want and need to integrate their personal and family concerns into their career. They look for an integration of work play/social life People who anchor in lifestyle also value their autonomy and have in many cases also a high concern for independence.

Part C: Career Anchors

Do You know what your life goals are? What motivates and directs your work? If you ask yourself these questions, wouldnt it make your career choices much easier? Dr. Edgar Schein wrote a Career Assesment book entitled Career Anchors:Discovering your real Values In this book he states that everyone has one dominant Anchor and motivator, as it relates to work.

Part C: Career Anchors

Schien from his research experience says that not everyone has the same ambitions in work Some people are very content to have a quiet, uneventful job, while others thrive on constant change and excitement. In short, we are all different, and our motivators are an internal barometer of who we are and what we want.

Part C: Career Anchors

1.

Technical/Functional Competence: Enjoy using core skills, skills dont have to be technical in nature; Can be a human resources worker or a secretary and enjoy using the skills needed for those position; Motivated by learning new skills and expanding current knowledge base

Part C: Career Anchors

Technical/Functional Competence: Type of work:
1.

What turns these types on is the exercise of their talent: Satisfaction with knowing concepts If it is not a challenge, technical/functional types feel bored and or demeaned Content of actual work more important than the context of the work. In other words, it is the actual work they are concerned with not the organization or the overall mission of their work; teaching and mentoring offers opportunity to demonstrate expertise.

Part C: Career Anchors

2.

General Managerial Competence: View specialization as limiting Primarily want to manage or supervise people; Enjoy motivating, training, directing the work of others; Enjoy authority and responsibility; And when someone strips of control it is demotivator

Part C: Career Anchors

General Managerial Competence: Thrive in 3 areas of competence: Analytical, Interpersonal/Intergroup and Emotional. Type of Work: High levels of Responsibility, varied, integrative, leadership.
2.

Part C: Career Anchors

3.

Autonomy/Independence: Need and Want control over work and want to be recognized for achievements; Cant tolerate other peoples rules or procedures; Need to do things their own way; Independent consulting and contract work would be a good fit for these people; Want to be left alone to do their work; Just give them instructions on what you want; When you want it and let them go to it!

Part C: Career Anchors

Autonomy/Independence: Type of Work: Seeks Autonomous Professions such as Consulting, Teaching, Contract or Project Work, or even Temporary work; Part or Full-Time acceptable.
3.

Part C: Career Anchors

4.

Security/Stability: Safe, Secure, Predictable are buzz words; Motivated by calmness and consistency of work; Dont like to take chances and are not risk-takers; Stable companies are best bets; Strive for predictability, safety, structure, and the knowledge that the task has been completed properly; Unused talents may be channeled outside work

Part C: Career Anchors

Security/Stability: Type of Work: Stability and Predictability are key; Emphasis on context of job rather than content or work (in other words, pay, benefits, work environment most important).
4.

Part C: Career Anchors

5.

Entrepreneurial Creativity: Like the challenge of starting new projects or businesses, Have lots of interests and energy; And often have multiple projects going at once; Different from autonomy in that the emphasis is on creating new business; Often pursuing dreams at early age

Part C: Career Anchors

Entrepreneurial Creativity: Type of Work: Strong need to create something new; Bored easily; Inventions; Restless; Constantly seeking new creative outlets
5.

Part C: Career Anchors

Service/Dedication to a Cause: Motivated by Core values rather than the work itself; Strong desire to make the world a better place Type of Work: High Concentration of Service oriented professions, Motivated by pursuit of personal values and causes.
6.

Part C: Career Anchors

Pure Challenge: Strongest desire is overcoming obstacles; Conquering; Problem-Solving; Competition: Winning; Constant self-testing; Single minded individuals. Type of Work: Careers where competition is primary.
7.

Part C: Career Anchors

8.

Life Style: Have a high need to balance work and the rest of life; Enjoy Work, but realize that work is just one of many parts of life that are important; Subscribe to philosophy of Work to live rahter than Live to work.

Part C: Career Anchors

Life Style: Type of Work: Careers must be integrated with the rest of life flexibility; Desire to work with organizations that accept and promote balance; Some individuals unwilling to relocate for reasons of life balance
8.

Life Goals Exercise

Herbert A Shepard is the author and originator of these exercises: I First Phase: A. Draw a straight horizontal line from left to right to represent your life span. The length should represent the totality of your experience and future expectations. B. Indicate where you are now

Life Goals Exercise

C. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Prepare a life inventory of important Happenings for you, including the following: Any Peak experiences you have had. Things which you do well Things which you do poorly Things you would like to stop doing Things you would like to learn to do well Peak experiences you would like to have

Life Goals Exercise

7. 8.

Values (e.g. Power, Money etc) you want to achieve. Things you would like to start doing now

D. Discussions in subgroups II. Second Phase: A. Take a 20 minutes to write your own obituary B. Form Pairs. Take 20 minutes to write a eulogy ( speech or writing in praise of person etc or funeral oration) for your partner C. Discussions in subgroups.

Life Goals Exercise

III. Third Phase: A. Imagine that today is the last day of your life and you are lying on your deathbed. B. Ask 5 questions: 1. Did I dream richly ? 2. Did I live fully? 3. Did I learn to let go? 4. Did I love well? 5. Did I tread lightly on the earth and leave it better than I found it? These questions I hope will cause you to go deep and become more philosophical about what truly comes in your life. Most people dont discover how to live until its time to die. But by then its too late.