Importance of Career Planning

This study is a reflection of three themes such as ‘know yourself’, ‘know your sector’ and ‘let them know you’. The study also describes what I have learnt from these three themes and how have I managed these themes so far. Moreover, the study is a good guide to understand that life is divided into different stages and that a transition from one to another stage is very natural.

One can know him or herself if he or she is able to identify the ways to follow to reach their dream destination. I am very good at working with kids; however, my dream destination is the retail sector. I want to become a store manager; however, I will be needed to travel through the number of junior posts and also gain the relevant experience to actually become a store manager.

I am aware of the fact that it will take time for me to reach my dream destination. However, I am aware of it that modern-day procedures of achieving the dream job won’t alone work. I must also have to learn something from the list of suitable and relevant theories. One such theory is the “Development Theory”.

The development theory says that careers unfold over different stages in life. Every single stage demands the execution of different strategies. Therefore, it is important to identify the needs of every single stage and plan the career accordingly. The theory assumes that life can be divided into multiple stages where each stage has its specific needs. Moreover, such needs should be accomplished with useful strategies. It further makes the assumption that if an individual has effectively accomplished a specific stage that the individual will also be eligible for the next stage. In the otherwise situation, individuals will face the challenges in the later stages to come (Dik et al. 2015).

The theory helps me to learn that to become a successful store manager, I must also know the areas in me which are still underdeveloped or not yet touched. Hence, I will take the bits of the help of the available resources to know the stages I am supposed to follow to become an effective store manager.

“Transition Theory” has also helped me to learn a few important things. The theory says that life is known for the changes and the ongoing series of transitions. A transition is a gateway to the later stage of the career. The success will entirely depend on the individuals’ ability to cope effectively with transitions and the changing stages of life (Hughes and Gibbons 2018).

Knowing Oneself: Development Theory

The theory has helped me to understand a fact that transition to different stages is a universal fact. It is the individuals’ desires for a better life that compels them to look for a range of career opportunities. I have also thought of becoming a successful store manager; however, I must pursue the abilities to counter any barriers to a successful career.

It is generally very challenging to know the appropriate jobs and to become commercially acquainted with the sector of choice. Professional degrees or certificates are alone not sufficient. There must be some robust plans to lead a successful career. Such plans can be made by following the modern-day concepts of getting a job.  

Networking: This can be of various types each having a different degree of superiority in terms of fetching the most appropriate job for those who are in the networking. Examples include social networking sites, online job portals etc. Social networking sites like LinkedIn are a good resource to know about the target job sector. With LinkedIn, one can create its own community. Online job portals like Monster.com are one of the best networking sites to get the relevant jobs. Aspirants or the applicants are just needed to register to the site. After completing the profiling, aspirants will be asked to upload their latest resume. In a very less period of time, they will start getting the relevant job offers. Jobs can also be searched as such portals contain hundreds of relevant jobs. Online job sites such as the government websites do also educate the same thing (Akkermans et al. 2015).

Networking in the context of my awareness of the job sector: I was personally benefitted from networking. I had an account on LinkedIn and that had helped me immensely. From there only I got to know about the child care jobs. This will add up values to my job related experience. Hence, in future recruiters will come to know about my diverse skills and this will nothing but will leave a good impression on recruiters.

Networking experiences: I was not initially very sure of the path to follow to get a good job. It all started with when one of my friends had suggested me to create a profile on LinkedIn and join the different & relevant communities. I joined a few communities and got to know as well a variety of things like top firms to work with and the number of potential job opportunities. It helped me to know the two nurseries with which I worked in past.

Knowing the Sector: Networking and Skills Set

Skills set for my desired career: As mentioned in the CV (Appendix 2), I am passionate to help children who are socially challenged. I am currently pursuing a Bachelor in Enterprise and Small Business Development. However, I will definitely look for some professional courses to add up values to both my career and the personal dream to serve the children.  

Analysis of a professional qualification: My career ambition is to serve the children. To serve this purpose in long-term, I will go for “Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) degree”. This will help me to have my own nursery centre (Dik et al. 2015). Along with the degree course, I will also enrol in a 6 months Certification course in Retail Management. This is just to open up a wider opportunity for me.

Discuss: I am currently pursuing a Bachelor in Enterprise and Small Business Development. My plan is also to pursue a 6-months certification course in ‘Retail Management’. The business development and the retail management capabilities will certainly open up ways for a variety of jobs like ‘Store Manager’. Employers need someone at the ‘Store Manager’ post who does not only manage the operation but is also able to generate new business. Moreover, communication skill is what they also look for (Litano and Major 2016). Hence, employers will have a very minimal or probably no clues for rejecting my application.

Describe: The current job is about a ‘Store Manager’ at Soho Home at Selfridges. The company is a reputed name in the Home and Furniture industry. The job will be to drive the sales and meeting the daily targets. Experienced professionals will be preferred for this post. Professionals must also know how to manage the budgets. Inventory management should also be a part of the expertise to ensure that stocks are well maintained. The job also needs someone as a store manager who is able to manage and motivate the sales team. Sales reporting will also be required (Waddell et al. 2015).

Reflect: I was not able to successfully execute the STAR method during the interview. This is due to the lack of industry-specific experience. A STAR method can be used to frame the different situations and consequently the most suitable responses in the form of three other faces of STAR such as task, action and result (Tate et al. 2015). I did have the preparation for a set of few such situations; however, I forgot that I can be screwed for no job specific experience. This is where the recruiter was able to exploit me. The recruiter has created a situation where I could not do anything. However, the experiences will teach me how to prepare effectively for an interview. The task was expectedly challenging as I did not have any specific experience and hence, was clueless about anything delivered by the recruiter. The task could have become a lot easier if I had possessed the relevant experience.

Let Them Know You: Applying for Jobs and Reflection

I did take the action and answered that I will cope with the job as I have already done with child caring at the two different nursery centres. Expectedly, this was not going to repair the damages as they were looking for experience specific to the retail industry only. The result was expectedly a rejection. I myself was aware that I won’t be able to crack the interview. This is due to a fact that I have no experience in the retail industry.

Reflect: After covering the whole module, I have learnt that to become a successful professional I am needed to design my career in an effective way. Effectiveness would be attained by both implementing the suitable theories and also follow the mainstream concepts of career planning. The list of suitable theories will help me to remain strong during the transition period and would also consolidate my thought process for the career.

Conclusion

In summary, this can be said that it is important to follow three simple strategies for an effective career such as ‘know myself’, ‘know your sector’ and ‘let them know you’. ‘Know myself’ will be better attained by taking the useful guidance from relevant theories such as ‘Development Theory’ and ‘Transition Theory’. ‘Know your sector’ can be attained by being into a network, reflecting on the network experiences and planning an effective career. ‘Let them know you’ will be attained by identifying a current work that interests me. STAR method needs to be applied on the interview experience to know the better responses for countering the tricky interview questions. Moreover, reflecting on what one has learnt will also inform the individual of what is left to be learnt.

References 

Akkermans, J., Brenninkmeijer, V., Schaufeli, W.B. and Blonk, R.W., 2015. It’s all about CareerSKILLS: Effectiveness of a career development intervention for young employees. Human Resource Management, 54(4), pp.533-551.

Dik, B.J., Duffy, R.D., Allan, B.A., O’Donnell, M.B., Shim, Y. and Steger, M.F., 2015. Purpose and meaning in career development applications. The Counseling Psychologist, 43(4), pp.558-585.

Hughes, A.N. and Gibbons, M.M., 2018. Understanding the career development of underprepared college students. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 19(4), pp.452-469.

Litano, M.L. and Major, D.A., 2016. Facilitating a whole-life approach to career development: The role of organizational leadership. Journal of Career Development, 43(1), pp.52-65.

Tate, K.A., Caperton, W., Kaiser, D., Pruitt, N.T., White, H. and Hall, E., 2015. An exploration of first-generation college students’ career development beliefs and experiences. Journal of Career Development, 42(4), pp.294-310.

Waddell, J., Spalding, K., Navarro, J., Jancar, S. and Canizares, G., 2015. Integrating a career planning and development program into the baccalaureate nursing curriculum. Part II. Outcomes for new graduate nurses 12 months post-graduation. International journal of nursing education scholarship, 12(1), pp.175-182.