Career management tenors in 21st century

There can be no denying the fact that the present era is extremely challenging and various career management procedures applicable fifty years back have been rendered irrelevant. Intense competition and lack of employment opportunities tend to make an individual demotivated. That is why, you cannot afford to have knee-jerk reactions to your career issues. Your career has to be managed well and planned for.

        People may have had unmistakable career paths in the period some years back. While the economic slowdown continues and hence, few career paths cannot be walked upon. The outcome is that employers are reluctant to take responsibility of career progression of their employees. If you contribute to organisational growth, you are viewed as efficient and indispensable, but if anything goes wrong, there will be nobody to hold your hand. You are thus accountable to yourself and the responsibility to look for another alliance partner is yours.

Though at the cost of reiteration, it is significant to state that the 21st century lays increased responsibility on an individual to mange 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 thus clear – never leave your career management to others; you will always face the hazards of being abandoned or being left out of the loop. In the light of the foregoing, you must spare time for some career appraisal. 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 are in harmony or not. A career appraisal would help in the comprehension of what is moving and what is static. It would also help in gauging your proficiency, weak spots, opportunities at your disposal and impediments that you may experience. This will help you sieve the good from the bad; you will thus be able to find out where precisely where you stand.

        When you reflect upon different prospects, you must query yourself on issues that are on rails and issues that are not. In addition, you must also find out matters and influences that have been thwarting your career growth, including the level at which they have been fixed. While trying to initiate midterm corrections, there is no harm in identifying people and setups who can help you achieve your career objectives.

All processes initiated for career management today demand a high degree of determination and steadfastness. This is largely on account of the flux that prevails at all workplaces and job requirement. Commercial and risk management procedures place on employees an increased liability. Such liabilities can be reduced if you have a flexible approach and harbour a feeling of answerability. It is only then that your career will come to be better managed!

Do a SWOT analysis to plan your career

SWOT analysis is relevant to every pursuit where planning for the future is necessary. Career planning is no exception and can be facilitated when you take stock of various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats - the acronym for SWOT - that have a say in your career. 

When you are involved in a job search, the issue of different prompting factor for competitive advantages ought to be clear to you. And you can certainly do well in your career if you are clear about your objectives and lines of action; and their ability to bring about favourable results.

SWOT analysis is the key to understand the potency and usefulness of any plan. However you need to also understand that if your weaknesses outnumber your strengths, you automatically stand placed in a disadvantageous position. A SWOT analysis will tell you where you stand and whether you will succeed or not. Additionally, you are able to discern issues that can position you on a favourable pedestal. Therefore, the importance and efficacy of a SWOT analysis cannot be underestimated.

A SWOT analysis implies consideration and evaluation of a horde of internal and external factors. Your strengths and weakness are your internal canvas whereas your opportunities and threats are your external conditions. To be able to highlight your potencies and subjugate your weaknesses; and successfully visualise your career prospects, a SWOT analysis is the answer.   

• Strengths: They are constructive and optimistic features that can be utilised in an extremely beneficial manner to place you in a position of advantage. The leads that are manipulated to benefit you generally pertain to you academic qualifications, personality traits, experience in a field, leadership attributes, sense of camaraderie and networking skills. Therefore, when you list your strengths, you will have to shed all prejudice and catalogue your attributes accurately. In doing so, you will be able to discern your strengths.  
• Weaknesses: These are the down-beat and disapproving aspects of your inherent qualities. Such weaknesses need careful deliberation and call for perk-up actions. Since they are negative, they are not constructive and unlikely to hold you in good stead. What are such qualities? Some of the common ones are your negative personal traits, warnings issued to you, inability to formulate objectives and inability to search a job for yourself. Like in the instance of strengths, you need to be absolutely neutral in your approach during the analysis process. It is best to don the hat of a prospective employer and imagine what all would he regard as your negative points. Remember that gauging and weighing up weaknesses is easier said than done. But, in any case their consideration is inescapable and hence need to be identified. Having discerned them, it is an ideal beginning of a career.
• Opportunities: What exactly do opportunities mean? These are external issues on which you can exercise no influence or jurisdiction. However, you can definitely draw benefits from them. It is all contingent on your know-how domain that may warrant use of your diverse capabilities so that good openings are rolled out to make your future secure and facilitate career advancement. The opportunities may unfold themselves through your own understanding and realisation. Various other encouraging and positive opportunities may well be extremely difficult and could also have locational ramifications.
• Threats: We all know that the world around us comprises both good and bad influences. The latter are threats to you. You cannot exercise full control over the threats you, nevertheless, you can always reduce their effects. Some primary manifestations of threats are temporary career or job  setbacks, availability of better qualified personnel, better institutions than those attended by you and relatively diminished knowledge base. Threats , similar to opportunities can be determined if you are on the lookout for them. With a revolution brought about by internet, there are scores of websites that keep people updated on employment trends; they can be perused to gain a good knowledge about them. 

Once you finish your SWOT analysis, you ought to set into motion self-promotion. You should put in writing your career objectives. You should also clarify your mind about what you want your job to be like and if your current one is not satisfying, whether or not are you willing for a change. The second step is to give an impetus to your self-promotion activities. It will essentially involve identification of organisations that you would like to join, approaching them and an action plan to take things to a logical conclusion, together with a time schedule. 

Having done the above, your search for your dream job can be initiated. You will find that your SWOT analysis will facilitate in the formulation of a roadmap to advance ahead in your career. You will realise that you are better geared up to highlight your strengths, reduce your weaknesses, set eyes on your opportunities and overwhelm your threats. It is then that your career plan will be a secure one. 

Changing careers the intelligent way

Today, the career scene is fast changing and so are various methodologies that help in switching careers. Around fifteen years back, the implication of a good career was being in a good job and advancing progressively in it to acquire the status of a specialist. And before men and women embarked on their careers, their parents had to slog too. The very perception of a career stands changed today.

There are three prime causes that are responsible for an altered career perception. Firstly, various technical advancements have changed our work schedule and it is possible for you to discharge your responsibilities from any where in the world. Secondly, the concept of working in an organisation for donkey’s years is no more relevant together with the concept of out-sourcing work, which has caused decreased availability of manpower. And thirdly, there has been a very significant change A distinct change in individual attitudes wherein people focus their efforts on individual attainments and satisfaction, rather than status alone. Considering the foregoing, if you are thinking of a career change, you must look inwards and find honest answers to the following questions:

What is my aspired position? In essence, you should be able to discern what ought to be your aspired work and workplace – whether it is at an office or outdoors, in company or sans it. If at all possible, a career change should facilitate getting into a job that you would adore and delight in. If you apply your expertise in a field of work that happens to be your area of fascination or appeal, you will derive happiness and satisfaction. The degree of your fulfilment will rise if the overall work atmosphere is congenial, otherwise it will be a classic example of trying to combine two things that are neither compatible nor desirable. Therefore, it is essential that you research and investigate work atmospheres that go with you.

What is that I want to gain experience about? It is necessary that you are cognisant of your approaches, outlooks and spirits related to your work; and how they need to be accorded precedence. More often than not, people designate whatever they seek to gain but miss out on the experience that they need to possess for the purpose. In fact, you should be able to enunciate where precisely you ought to be in about half a decade from now. A discernment of the experience that you should inescapably have about problems related to clarity of research and various actions to be initiated by you will facilitate gaining that experience. An insight of the experience considered good will result in an open mind and you will be able to evaluate various options that could possibly lead you to gaining it.  

What are the issue that matter most to me? You should mull over how you can infuse zeal in others and bequeath something to others behind you. An urge to perform is great and serves as an impelling factor. Any work that you take pleasure in doing will invariably be close to your heart. Moreover, such work also seems right and appropriate; and in the bargain, you will get to identify and know the surplus of prospects and liberty at your disposal. You will be able acquit yourself confidently and generate a rationale for your life. In doing so, you will stay motivated too.

Remember that opportunities abound at all times, which if clutched can be of benefit to others. There will be some activities that you must engage in; your mere participation in them will serve to motivate you. The happiness that you desire will follow, with the logic behind it getting strengthened. You will come about as a motivated person and well aware to make a sound decision of a career change. It is important that you do not think of bygones or attempt to to live life backwards. Rather than focussing on acquisition of resources that could help you achieve whatever you aspire for, your efforts should be directed to maintain your genuine identity in moving forward to achieve your intended objectives. 

Accelerate your career advancement

There is nobody in the world who does not want to shine in his career. And because of this fact, workplaces brim with competition. Some rise to the top, some get to reach middle positions and some do not do as well as others. 

How can you accelerate your career development? While there could be several factors that may contribute towards it, the most important one is to be able to outshine others by skills alone. This can be achieved if you: 

• Make full use of your skill sets: If you do not apply your skills on ground and boast that you know everything, you will never get to be liked. Given the circumstances that prevail, it is unlikely that you will possess all skills; therefore, if you pretend as if you know everything, you will send wrong signals about yourself, thereby retarding your career advancement prospects. But if you do possess skill sets, you need too ensure that they are used well. Most of us do not make use of our skills to the maximum, as a result of which, unused ones wither away over a period of time. And the net outcome is that you get to be generally tied down to your current role. This degeneration is avoidable. You will have to exert yourself to emerge better with your skills and dexterities so that you are better informed. The foregoing will not be possible if you fail to make full use of all your skills.
• Never let your professional advancement aim get diluted: You simply cannot eliminate uncertainty in totality. You cannot be sure that you will continue with your present job. It is therefore, essential that you keep yourself in top professional form at all times. All organisations employ people want to employ people who are hardworking and persevering. The aspect of being committed to your professional advancement aims should invariably be incorporated in your career development plan in order to facilitate their attainment. Your employers will come to know about your outlook towards your job and career; and if their discernment is positive, they will support your endeavours. Considering the foregoing, you should take your career with due seriousness and if at all it calls for some sacrifice, you should be willing to make it. In this way, your image will go up and you will get to be regarded as an indispensable organisational asset.
• Don’t let your fervour dwindle: Unless you work and make efforts to apply your knowledge on ground, its possession is of no avail. In addition, you must also train others; this will help you to come into limelight and establish your credentials as a leader. You should also display a flexible approach and adapt to changing circumstances and working conditions. Your fervour has to remain high and this will be rendered possible if you have an open mind. if you display such an outlook, your employers will also understand that you are committed to add value to your company. Remember that your mental stirring has to be of a very high order; and nobody other than you can bring it about. It has been seen that as time rolls by, monotony sets in; the best of jobs are no exception in this context. And when monotony seeps in, you will become disengaged and detached. To overcome such a situation, you have to throw yourself to new tests and trials. This necessitates having an experimental approach and trying out new things; and shedding all predispositions to adhere to old things. You need to stimulate your mind while doing any work so that you delight in it.  

If you want to move forward in your career, it is essential that you think, feel and act dynamic. There cannot be any place for complacency, because if at all there is, your skill-sets will get unduly exhausted. That is precisely why your mind has to remain open, interested and busy. This may be rather demanding, however, there is no way out other than dreaming much beyond your  present job.  and enthused. While this could be very trying, you will have to dream beyond your job.  Your prime aim in this ball game should be to play the role of an initiator rather than an executor.

Move ahead in your career with honour

Anybody making career queries does so with the objective of fast results. Men and women who seek career advancement prefer the shortcut method; they believe that career progress is all about knowing people in the right places. But this is not correct. You have to exert yourself to move up and adoption of dubious ways will never have any longterm advantages.   

 You can make career progress and reach some position, but the difficulty lies in ensuring that you do not collapse. To be able to do that, your outlook and skills matter a lot. You cannot  afford to underestimate the importance of being honest and being respected if you have to lead and superintend people. You just cannot jump to attain success; on the contrary, you do it in a phased manner. It has been established that the splendour of every achievement depends upon the hard work that you put in for it.

Considering the above, the question is, “How do you move ahead in your career with honour?”  The following four guidelines have stood the test of time:

• Don’t be afraid of hard work: The youth of today, as compared to yesteryears is relatively easy-going and does not sweat it out to accomplish anything. They look for easy solutions. You should understand that it is your seriousness towards your career that will stand you in good stead always, particularly in gaining practical knowledge about your work. Nothing can be accomplished sans hard work. Remember that the fruits of labour are always sweet.
• Stay away from dubiousness: Cunning, underhand and devious means to advance in your career also calls for detailed planning.  Therefore, rather than waste time on such planning, it is better if the same is utilised to generate new ideas, work hard and prepare yourself to face challenges. But the foregoing does not, in any way, diminishes the significance of conventional career planning. The manner in which you embark upon different means to boost up your proficiency and achieve your career goals will be contingent on the initiative that you take. It should be remembered that in this entire ball game, your networking skills will prove to be a trump card. You ought to keep in mind that dubious means, if adopted, can cause you great embarrassment when you get get exposed. 
• Spark off new ideas: All organisations appreciate employees who come out with new ideas. But that does not mean that as a matter of practice, you keep making new suggestions to the extent that your boss gets confused. Your ideas and suggestions should be relevant to your workplace and be  a surety for increased efficiency and productivity. It is also likely that your idea may be good but because of your inexperience, somebody else more competent is asked to implement it. If that be so, you should have no objection to credit being accorded to him or her. Your motive should be to work in organisational interests and not with ulterior motives to gain recognition. 
• Be a role model for others: It is likely that you are quite junior and inexperience. If that be so, you may not regard yourself fit to mentor others. But leaders can well be young and there is nothing wrong if you adopt a leadership role and work to inspire others. When you do this, you will get to acquire knowledge and expertise to work your way up in your career. However, you will have to adhere to the tenets of teamwork. As a leader, at times, you may have to be strict to make certain that there are no deviations from laid down procedures. But you cannot afford to be dictatorial in your approach and your actions should be within the parameters of stipulated regulations. 

It is essential that you do remain focussed at all times. It is also necessary that you do not adopt complicated and dishonest stances; your thinking also has to be guided by such principles and values. When you work with honesty and sincerity, you will get to realise the nuances of advancing in your career. You cannot afford to let your self-confidence plummet; your self-confidence will register a boost if you practice self-discipline. Moving up the corporate ladder is best done with honour.  

Planning your career isn't difficult

One does career planning as part of strategic planning to make career dreams come true. It involves some amount of marketing of self too, in addition to always displaying an anticipatory disposition. The world as a whole is fast changing and evolving’ and hence, if you stick to your plans, you will encounter least impediments in your career path.

Men and women, more often than not, generally attain whatever they set out for, provided they maintain the desired resolve. If at all they fail, they do so in the scheduling process. This is largely because they do not address their concerns in advance, implying that they fail to do advance planning. Therefore, it is essential that all aspects of career planning are understood thoroughly.

The entire gamut of career planning encompasses two basic but very crucial steps:

• Acknowledging wherever you are at present: Like in the case of any planning, you need to know where you stand today. You should be well aware of your strengths and vulnerabilities as pertinent to your present job. Issues relating to the reasons behind job discontentment, if any, current financial status should be subjects for reflection to tell you if your well-poised to achieve your objectives. Your planning will never be complete if you do not focus on your qualifications and skills; this will allay all fears of others doing better than you. It is also necessary that you cogitate over the progress that you have achieved in the last few years and the resultant satisfaction enjoyed. And most importantly, you cannot afford to ignore your sentiments vis-a-vis your job so that you feel inspired to do well and move forward in the correct direction. If you come to terms with your present and have an a relatively clear comprehension of where you stand today, it is only then will you be able to consider and plan anything about your future.
• Deciding on the position where you want to be: This can be best done by reducing to writing each and everything that you seek to accomplish in spans of three years of the your residual period of employment. As it is, you are clear of the progress that you have made over the years and your current status. On the basis of the pace that you have accomplished so far, it should not be difficult to identify positions that you will like to hold in the ensuing future, together with the salary packages that should go with them. These will also help you perceive various employment aspects as pertinent to you so that you can take the desired initiative for a positive outcome. A point to note is that any failure to overlook focal areas will make your overall profile plummet. To put it in other words, you should be able to narrow down on to giving a boost to your personal attributes and skill sets together with additional experience; and a timetable for the same. It is quite likely that prevailing circumstances may compel you to go in for a new employment immediately or after some time, the exact stage of which ought to be discernible to you. 

The above exercise will unravel before you a fairly accurate image of your present position and future aspirations - all very well programmed and scheduled. This image is nothing but your career plan. You should not forget that no plan or no amount of planning will bear fruits if you yourself do not display a resolution for their adherence and implementation. Whatever plan you formulate should be periodically evaluated and midterm corrections incorporated in it. Ithaca been seen that as years roll by, men and women set fresh objectives. Considering all this, the significance of strict adherence to your career plan needs no emphasis.

An important point to remember is that if at all there lies anything between you and your aspirations, it is premeditated strategic action. In the light of the foregoing, you must do good career planning and display dynamism to make certain that your plan does not remain on paper. You will encounter hordes of opportunities in your career journey, though most of them will come with difficulties appended. You need to harbour a positive outlook at all times and be on the lookout for opportunities in difficulties too. And above all, you must oversee your career as if you its sole proprietor. It is then that success will come to you.

Do you know your shortcomings?

Money, power or status does not imply success at all. You may have all of them attached to your name, yet you may harbour unfulfilled desires.The possibility of feeling happy and satisfied even if you do not have any of these things cannot be discounted. There are certain qualities that contribute immensely towards your career success and likewise, there re few that do so for your failure. Most people have a tendency to overcome the latter and in the bargain play havoc with their careers. 

You could be at any stage of your career. You could be doing well too or not doing well. But you have to remember that there are five deficiencies which will always impact your career adversely and also make a dent the contentment that flows from it. These are:

• Lack of initiative: You cannot expect success to come and kiss your feet if you do not exhibit dynamism in your endeavours. You have to take initiative and be enterprising. In case you happen to be not enjoying much authority or have little experience to your credit, such an effort may not be an easy task. You simply cannot assign responsibilities to others and work on an assumption that you need not be venturesome at all. They say that people who never do any more than they get paid for, never get paid for any more than they do. You should not be apprehensive while accepting additional responsibilities or be reluctant to take new initiatives. 
• Lack of interpersonal skills: Sans interpersonal skills, you may run into difficult situations. But if you possess them, relationship building will be facilitated and you will enjoy working with others. You have to communicate with and be receptive to others. Interpersonal skills lead to greater cooperation and better collaboration. If you are distrustful, ill-disposed and haughty, you will find these unpleasant qualities reverberating around you because the people with whom you work radiate your own outlook. You need to display your best comportment to bring out the best in the people with whom you work.
• Lack of willingness to be accountable: You can move away from your responsibilities, but you cannot move away from the result of doing so. oWhen things go wrong, it is pointless condemning situations or denunciating other people. You may not have contributed to negative fallouts, but if you carry out a sincere appraisal of the contributory factors, you will realise the abundance of opportunities to do things in a different way. You may not be able to preclude negative outcomes, yet if they happen, you are responsible for them. It is how you respond to them that will define your character and your quality of life.
• Lack of flexibility: Your personal boundaries and beliefs help you deal with the world. However it is essential that you review them too, otherwise you could be left out. You need to be flexible and welcome new ideas, particularly those mooted by others. All of us are bestowed with boundless intelligence are born with boundless intelligence and capabilities. However when you handle people and interact with them, you ought to understand that every and all the time, people may not go with you. In this fast-moving world of today, you need to enable change, overcome hostility to it and be resilient in the face of altered environments. Opportunities will thus come flying to you, more so when you are willing to move in the direction of the wind. 
• Lack of inability to learn from mistakes: Learning takes place when you admit that you have erred or that you lack something. Failure to learn from your mistakes will invariably lead you to commit more mistakes. It is through self-evaluation that you develop good judgement and capacity to look ahead. Therefore, you must ponder over your mistakes and not run away from them so that you err again. Any setback that could have come your way should be taken as an opportunity for self improvement. Remember that the difference between excellence and mediocrity, success and failure lies in how you view a perceive a mistake and take action to preclude its repetition.

All the deficiencies talked discussed above can be overcome. Remember that all of them open new windows of opportunities for career advancement. Your abilities work well if you address your deficiencies intelligently. The need to accept change positively needs no elaboration because any and everything that will transpire in your life will be prompted by your own actions; to that extent, you too must change and adapt to emerging challenges.

Strengthen your job security prospects

When you talk of ‘job security’, the reference is to some sort of an assurance that you will have a continued employment and enjoy its advantage. More often than not, it stems from the terms of engagement as also various provisions in the hiring contract that prevents the employer from abruptly terminating your employment. In addition, there can be many fiscal issues that can adversely impact job security.

The journey of life is not sans accountability and responsibilities. That is the reason why you acquire new expertise and start working. Once you start working, you direct your efforts to ensure that your job remains secure. Gone are the days when a person got into a job and retired from it. So, if that be so, the importance of job security in today’s environment needs no emphasis. The question therefore, is ‘How can you strengthen your job security prospects?’

Job security is dependent on the undermentioned factors:

• Promoting your abilities: Abilities will get promoted if avenues for it exist. You ought to be also focussing on organisations other than your current one and which can employ people possessing skills that you have. It is necessary that you carry out a detailed evaluation of the  job market to find out if there is any vacancy people like you. You can gain immense knowledge by perusing online recruiting portals. If you need to acquire new or better skills, there should not be any reluctance on your part going ahead with it. The initiative to keep yourself abreast with latest technologies and skill set has to come from you alone..
• Performing well: It is not necessary that you derive pleasure fro every aspect of your work. You will always find some of your charter of duties boring and uninspiring. In case you are running into problems with your colleagues, seniors or even customers, you cannot turn a deaf ear or a blind eye to them. On the contrary, you must regard them as an examination of your capabilities.  You need to ensure that you understand your own charter of responsibilities fully and make useful contributions at all times. 
• Fitting well in a team: The workplace of today calls for an intense display of team spirit.  for That is why every team member ought to be sincere and assiduous. It also needs to be understood that no career or job is free from hardships. There are hardships everywhere and therefore, a spirit of camaraderie will stand you in good stead. You may be competent and possess the best of skills, but if you cannot fit fell in a team or pull along well with others, there will be great reluctance to hire you. Display of team spirit is a skill by and warrants no emphasis.    
• Networking to advantage: The need to have good networking skills in today’s world is inescapable. You simply cannot go about establishing a network at the last moment. You can always bag an opening in a new setup, provided you are doing well in your present job. And when you network, your efforts should be incorporated in your daily regimen.  You should  remember that it is also essential to help-out others.               

Any presumptuous approach to consider your career casually can never place you in an advantageous position, specifically when it comes to job security. If you regard your career seriously, you will find job security coming to you. There is no way that your employer will condone any for your lapses but will expect that you always maintain a dynamic stance. You will have to assure everybody that you are best-suited for the job and once that happens, job security will automatically come to you. In the light of the foregoing, you must keep all company matters above board so that decisions made by you are the best. You should also opt for incomplete of half-done projects so that your efforts to promote organisational growth are acknowledged. In this manner, your indispensability will come to the fore and job security safeguarded.