Career management in today’s milieu

Current times are different vis-à-vis earlier years in that the competition is intense and puzzling. The templates in use yesterday may no longer apply today. There are grim uncertainties that one has to face and which, tend to make glum. And an utter absence of opportunities makes people feel dejected and frustrated. And there could be serious ramifications if one adopts a presumptuous approach to one’s carrier and acts by impulse. All career moves therefore, cannot be achieved without proper preparation and scheduling.

Today, the economic slowdown is nearly over, but its effects persist. This phenomenon makes some career paths difficult. As a consequence of the foregoing, career management has come about to be treated as very difficult. Resultantly, career management has ceased to be employer responsibility. Career management is viewed as a business partnership that keeps the employer and employee happy. If and when the association gets broken, the employee is left to fend for himself. When he looks for another job, it becomes his responsibility. The process can be very challenging and time-testing.

Though at the cost of reiteration, it is significant to state that current times lay increased responsibility on an individual to manage his or her career and the prospects that go with it. That calls for greater answerability and liability. The fact is that the very nature of employments and job profiles has changed; such alterations have been brought about by scientific advancements and a perception of the world having become a global village. There is no job that is retainable for life in the 21st century occupation panorama.

But one attribute has not changed. Careers, like some other life effects, are fluctuating, unpredictable and flexible. They have a demonstrated ability to alter themselves in consonance with individualistic conditions. Furthermore, all careers need to be periodically assessed to make certain that all schemes and objectives are in harmony with progress achieved in professional and private planes.

Current difficult times have sent appropriate signals to everybody that even the most forceful and healthy career arrangements are subject to upset. Therefore, it is inescapable to uphold and sustain one's viewpoint and outlook. Additionally, options to get on track in the eventuality of an interruption or interference also need to be identified in advance.

There would be many who would have had other burning concerns that perhaps relegated career management to a lower position. They would have not found it difficult to manage their careers because the focus of attention lay somewhere else. But those who were not passive in their approach and did not leave their career management to luck or others, stand in good stead today, particularly when the global economy has started witnessing an upsurge.

The writing on the wall is clear - never leave your career management to others; you will always face the hazards of being abandoned or being left out of the loop. With a plethora of activities taking place in the world, succumbing to bewilderment or desperation is natural. But sparing some time to perform a career appraisal can prove highly beneficial.

There are individual career objectives and ambitions on one side and private and job-related principles on the other. The need is to see whether both of them make parallel or not.

A career appraisal referred above would facilitate understanding what is functioning and what is not. How capable is one? What are the vulnerabilities affecting a person or his career? What are the avenues open? Are there any perils that may surface? The answers to these questions would differentiate the effective from the non-effective. In other words, one would be able to discern where one stands.

An example will make things clear. There could be talks doing rounds about impending organizational changes or retrenchment. Similarly, rumours on some people not being given a rise or promotion may also be floated. Issues like these can turn out to be extremely damaging to people, particularly when they are already going through distressing encounters in their place of work or lives.

But one need not be utterly disappointed. While reflecting on various courses available, one is able to let lose his imagination so that he can focus on pending matters instead deliberating on intangibles and possibilities. In the long run, this proves beneficial. It iis essential that the following matters be determined without fail:

· Career issues that are progressing as per schedule and those that are not.

· Deterrents and difficulties being faced in career advancement; and steps necessary to overcome them.

· Agencies that can help bring about successful career planning.

Procedures for management of one's career in the 21st century call for immense tenacity and resolve, largely on account of the ever changing workplace and career characteristics. Trade and venture versions are changing more often than ever before and hence employees are expected to exhibit increased flexibility and more accountability, if they seek better career management.