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Career

A career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work and other aspects of life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways.

This article is about a person's occupational history. For other uses, see Career (disambiguation).

Historic changes in careers

For a pre-modernist notion of "career", compare cursus honorum.


By the late 20th century, a wide range of variations (especially in the range of potential professions) and more widespread education had allowed it to become possible to plan (or design) a career: In this respect the careers of the career counselor and of the career advisor have grown up. It is also not uncommon for adults in the late 20th/early 21st centuries to have dual or multiple careers, either sequentially or concurrently. Thus, professional identities have become hyphenated or hybridized to reflect this shift in work ethic. Economist Richard Florida notes this trend generally and more specifically among the "creative class".

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. Factors may include 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 observations while interacting 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.

Career success

Career success is a term used frequently in academic and popular writing about career. It refers to the extent and ways in which an individual can be described as successful in his or her working life so far.[17]


During the 1950s and 1960s, individuals typically worked for one or two firms during their career and success was defined by the organization and measured by promotions, increases in salary, and/or status.[18] Such traditional careers were exemplified by Donald Super's career stage model.[19] Super's linear career stage model suggested that careers take place within the context of stable, organizational structures. Individuals moved up the organization's hierarchy seeking greater extrinsic rewards.[20]


Early career success may breed disappointment later, especially when a person's self-worth is tied up in their career or achievements.[21] Professional success tends to come early in some fields, such as scientific research, and later in other fields, such as teaching.[21]


Earnings can be expressed either in absolute terms (e.g. the amount a person earns) or in relative terms (e.g. the amount a person earns compared with their starting salary). Earnings and status are examples of objective criteria of success, where "objective" means that they can be factually verified, and are not purely a matter of opinion.


Many observers argue that careers are less predictable than they once were, due to the fast pace of economic and technological change.[22] This means that career management is more obviously the responsibility of the individual rather than his or her employing organisation, because a "job for life" is a thing of the past. This has put more emphasis on subjective criteria of career success.[23] These include job satisfaction, career satisfaction, work-life balance, a sense of personal achievement, and attaining work that is consistent with one's personal values. A person's assessment of his or her career success is likely to be influenced by social comparisons, such as how well family members, friends, or contemporaries at school or college have done.[24]


The amount and type of career success a person achieves is affected by several forms of career capital.[25] These include social capital (the extent and depth of personal contacts a person can draw upon), human capital (demonstrable abilities, experiences and qualifications), economic capital (money and other material resources which permit access to career-related resources), and cultural capital (having skills, attitudes or general know-how to operate effectively in a particular social context).[26]

Career information describes information that supports career and learning choices. An important sub-set of career information is labour market information (LMI), such as salaries of various professions, employment rate in various professions, available training programs, and current job openings.

are tests that come in a variety of forms and rely on both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Career assessments can help individuals identify and better articulate their unique interests, personality, values, and skills to determine how well they may match with a certain career. Some skills that career assessments could help determine are job-specific skills, transferable skills, and self-management skills.[28] Career assessments can also provide a window of potential opportunities by helping individuals discover the tasks, experience, education and training that is needed for a career they would want to pursue.[29] Career counselors, executive coaches, educational institutions, career development centers, and outplacement companies often administer career assessments to help individuals focus their search on careers that closely match their unique personal profile.

Career assessments

assesses people's interests, personality, values and skills, and helps them to explore career options and research graduate and professional schools. Career counseling provides one-on-one or group professional assistance in exploration and decision making tasks related to choosing a major/occupation, transitioning into the world of work or further professional training.

Career counseling

Career education describes a process by which individuals come to learn about themselves, their careers and the world of work. There is a strong tradition of career education in schools, however career education can also occur in a wider range of other contexts including further and higher education and the workplace. A commonly used framework for careers education is DOTS which stands for decision learning (D), opportunity awareness (O), transition learning (T), and self-awareness (S).[31] Oftentimes, higher education is thought of as being too narrow or too researched based and lacking of a deeper understanding of the material to develop the skills necessary for a certain career.[32]

[30]

Job satisfaction

Curriculum vitae

Employment

Profession

Portfolio career

Anticipatory socialization

United Nations (2002), Handbook on career counseling