Life and Career Development - Essay Example

Life and Career Development AFFILIATION: Introduction of the Interviewee and approach adopted for interview Since career is one of the crucial aspects of everyone’s life, it is important for every person to first evaluate the personal attributes of the personality so that there is alignment between the career choice made and the personality of that individual (Cordina & Lauri, 2012). It has been concluded in the studies of Chang et al. (2010), Smith-Ruig (2008) and Urtasun and Nunez (2012) that there are various factors that tend to influence a person’s decision of selecting a career; sometimes, it is impacted by the beliefs embedded in the personality, relevance with the personality of the ideals or the level of interest in any specialised field. In order to evaluate the application of the career development models studied in the module such as Schein’s career anchor, an interview was organised with my elder brother who is employed as a Brand Portfolio Manager in a leading Multinational corporation for the last six years. During the career path, he did not face any difficulties as proper guidance was provided to him by our family members, teachers and colleagues. After completing the High School Education, he successfully got admission in Oxford University from where acquired Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Marketing within the tenure of eight years (after Bachelor’s, two years of experience is mandatory to get enrolled in MBA program). The first job that he obtained was a Customer Representative in a local company where he worked for two years. While he was learning the communication and marketing skills during his work, his senior guided him about the way of getting access to the top ranked organisations. The career path comprised of acquiring MBA degree in marketing and then starting the career in a Multinational Corporation as a Market Researcher. After working at that position for three years, he successfully obtained the position of Assistant Marketing Manager in the firm in which he is currently employed. Within one year of his employment, he was promoted to the Marketing Manager position; after two years, he attained the title of Product Manager and finally, after three years of rendering services at this position, he was moved to Brand Portfolio Manager designation. Schein’s Career Anchors Since the career development is an important aspect of everyone’s life, many experts have tried to explain the concept by undertaking various studies and experiments. Edger Schein (1978) coined the term ‘career anchor’ to explain the motives behind the career development phases that an individual passes during the development of a prosperous profession (Baruch, 2006; Sturges, 2008). The career anchors are basically the distinct patterns of an individual’s self-perceived abilities/talents, motives, values, beliefs and attitudes. These anchors guide and stabilise the person’s career after many years of working in the real world; an individual unleashes his/her career anchors as the relevant experience and feedback is accumulated (Bhatt, 2011). According to Schein (1978), cited by Steele (2009), the career anchor is a crucial element because it is the factor that impacts the career choices that an individual makes such as switching from one job to other, shapes the features that a person is seeking in the life, develops viewpoints for future development, impacts the selection parameters for particular occupations and work settings and even affects the reactions to their different work experiences. He further added that these anchors gradually become an individual’s personal definition of a successful career (Kats et al., 2010). The basic idea of these career anchors is that an individual has to realise his or her career perception to successfully develop the career (Vinkenburg & Weber, 2012). According to Danziger, Rachman-Moore and Valency (2008), there are eight career anchors that guide the employees about their decisions as specified by Schein (1978): 1. Security/Organisational Identity – These people’s careers are attached with the employment stability within the organisation; these people seek long-term relationship with the firm. 2. Independence/Autonomy – It applies to those people who want to carry out things on their own and try to be independent as much as possible. 3. Technical Competence – Such individuals are motivated towards gaining more knowledge and produce effective work especially in the education field. 4. Entrepreneurial Creativity – These people have desire of creating something on their own either by developing innovative product or service or by creating an entirely new venture. 5. Pure Challenge – These individuals are eager to overcome difficult obstacles, find solutions for problems and win against the opponents. They are single-minded and have a lot of aspirations to be attained. 6. Managerial level competence – These managerially oriented people are looking for higher levels of responsibilities along with advancement opportunities for reaching the leadership position and making valuable contribution in the success of the company. 7. Dedication to a cause – Such individuals have a service oriented perspective and want to serve people so that they can make the world a good place for living. They are looking for jobs that coincide with their values rather than skills. 8. Lifestyle – Employees who have a strong desire to create a lifestyle that blends with both career and family fall within this category. They are eager and looking forward for career development opportunities. Relevance to Schein’s Career Anchors with the interviewee career development The analysis of Schein’s career anchors and career development phases of the interviewee revealed that the person has both managerial competence and lifestyle anchors. The person stated that he is always looking forward for career development opportunities that can help him in giving a boost to his career. It was also emphasised by the interviewee that his seniors told him that the only way of making a successful progression is to understand the person’s own beliefs and preferences so that all obstacles are adequately handled. For this person, keeping a balance between family and work life is mandatory so that the life can be taken ahead in a peaceful and relaxing manner. The key factors that have influenced the person in making wise career choices were the people whom he met during his work life and the teachers who guided him in developing the competencies and skills that assisted him in achieving the desired goals effortlessly. By having adequate understanding about one’s personal beliefs, attitudes, skills and values, making a right career becomes a smooth course of action (Cappellen & Janssens, 2008). Conclusion This assignment allows people to evaluate their own personal preferences, desires, values, beliefs and skills so that the career development becomes a thriving and fruitful task. With the help of Schein’s career anchors, anyone can easily identify the career path that should be pursued for leading a compatible and satisfactory life. This model revealed that my brother utilised the model to understand his own talents and capabilities and then availed the right opportunities to make a smooth and successful career path. Hence, with the help of effective use of the career development model, an individual can unleash the unexplored talents that are engrained in one’s personality. References Baruch, Y., 2006. Career development in organisations and beyond: Balancing traditional and contemporary viewpoints. Human Resource Management Review, 16, pp. 125-138. Bhatt, A.S., 2011. A career anchor perspective of employees in a large company. [Online] Available at: < http://www.ipcsit.com/vol20/49-ICAIT2011-G3039.pdf> [Accessed 15 March 2013] Cappellen, T. and Janssens, M., 2008. Global managers’ career competencies. Career Development International, 13(6), pp. 514-537. Chang, C.L.H., Chan, V., Klein, G. and Jiang, J.J., 2010. Information system personnel career anchor changes leading to career changes. European Journal of Information Systems, 20, pp. 103-117. Cordina, M. and Lauri, M.A., 2012. Career paths and personality in pharmacy. International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, 34(6), pp. 876-884. Danziger, N., Rachman-Moore, D. and Valency, R., 2008. The construct validity of Schein’s career anchors orientation inventory. Career Development International, 13(1), pp. 7-19. Kats, M.M.S., Emmerik, H.V., Blenkinsopp, J. and Khapova, S.N., 2010. Exploring the associations of culture with careers and the mediating role of HR practices: A conceptual model. Career Development International, 15(4), pp. 401-418. Smith-Ruig, T., 2008. Making sense of careers through the lens of a path metaphor. Career Development International, 13(1), pp. 20-32. Steele, C.A., 2009. Managing career anchors and investigating the role of career anchor congruence. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 15 March 2013] Sturges, J., 2008. All in a day’s work? Career in self-management and the management of the boundary between work and non-work. Human Resource Management Journal, 18(2), pp. 118-134. Urtasun, A. and Nunez, I., 2012. Work-based competencies and career prospects: a study of Spanish employees. Personnel Review, 41(4), pp. 428-449. Vinkenburg, C.J. and Weber, T., 2012. Managerial career paths: a review of the empirical evidence. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(3), pp. 592-607. Read More