Career Doctor Articles

With the kind permission of the Career Doctor, jfo is able to bring you a series of articles to help you in your work situation and longer term career management

Career management

Like most things in life there are two ways of doing something – the right way and the wrong way. This is especially so where careers are concerned. In an ideal world we would plan our career path and then go about doing whatever is necessary to achieve our career objectives. In reality, of course, the world does not always let us do that.

But this cold truth should not prevent you from at least attempting to manage your career path, and in this article I will explore some of the theories of career management.

The benefits of properly planning and managing your career are obvious – you end up getting what you want out of your working life and are therefore that much more happier and contented. But how many people reach this state of nirvana ?

Not many, if my clients are a representative sample of working people. So let us look firstly at the wrong way of going about developing your career

THE MAJORITY WAY

How do most people begin their career? The majority of schoolchildren have no firm idea of what career they would like to do, although most of the boys want to be a professional footballer and most of the girls want to be a super-model. How many, at age 16, really want to be “in insurance” or would like to be a parking attendant? Not many!

So “the system” encourages each student to study the academic subject that he / she prefers with no real thought as to whether such studies will have any benefit to the student in later life. The universities encourage this concept and turn out students with degrees in history, English or some other non-vocational subject, and then they are dumped in the real world, with no idea of what career to follow, and a relatively worthless degree, unless the student wants to be a teacher.

Job hunting then follows a predictable path for most people. Spot an advert with some degree of interest and apply for that. If you are “lucky” enough to get the job offer, that’s your career path plotted for the next few years, or even the rest of your working life.

That is the reason why people with a good degree end up working in a supermarket, or as a clerk. A great waste of their potential and the seeds for great disillusionment and unhappiness in later life have been sown.

For example I have a client at the moment with a degree in geophysics who has spent the majority of her career working as a company librarian. A total waste of her education and no real financial rewards to show for her years at university. If she had had to pay for her education, as modern students have to, she would never have paid off her student loans.

Such a shame, but a familiar path that most people tread. I would say that for every client who comes to my office, 95% have stumbled upon a career with no particular thought as to its suitability, potential, or long-term viability. Most of our clients are in the 25 to 38-year-old age range, who have begun a career with no real thought as to why they chose to start out as an XXX, but who have come to realise they are either not enjoying being an XXX any more, or “there must be something out there that I would be better suited to, but what would that be?”. They are frustrated, bored, under-utilised, want to escape from the unsuitable job they are in, but recognise they do not want to jump from the frying pan into the fire.

A BETTER WAY

There is a better way, and that is career management. It is beautiful in its simplicity, but very hard to achieve. In some ways my own career is an example. At school I wanted to be a printer, won an apprenticeship, worked as a compositor, then as a ship’s printer before working as a keyboard operator on the local newspaper. Excellent wages but Dickensian working conditions. So I was at the same crossroads where most of my clients are when we first meet in my consultancy. I was in a well-paid job, but I realised I had changed and that printing no longer offered me the career path I needed

A wise mentor gave me some excellent help and support, which I followed to the letter, culminating in the offer of employment as a Personnel Assistant, and promotion to HR Manager then Employee Relations Manager. Now, as MD of my own career consultancy I can look back and say that I did manage my career, it was planned every step of the way. I took risks, studied hard, and gave the market (HR interviewers) what they wanted.

THE SIX STEPS

There are six main steps in career management, namely:

1) Recognise that your career is currently drifting and that unless you do something proactive to correct the drift, you will end up in a role where you do not want to be. Tell yourself that action MUST be taken.

2) Define your career objectives. Do you want to own your own company ten years from now? What sort of company would that be? Could you aspire to become a Director of a company? Would you like to work with IT, cars, children, animals, in a charity, helping the environment, travel the world, in TV / radio, train as an accountant, lawyer, airline pilot, be a professional sportsperson? The permutations are endless!

Whatever else you do at this stage, do not be put off by the hurdles in front of your objective. Yes it will be difficult to become a lawyer or an airline pilot, but if you don’t dream at this stage how will you find your true career path?

3) Take advice, find a mentor, do some research, discover what is required to achieve your career path. Estimate the costs, time spans and hurdles. Discuss your aspirations with your partner

4) Make a decision and prepare a carefully drafted plan of how you intend to achieve this objective. Remember to have a Plan B ready, just in case your Plan A proves too difficult.

5) Do whatever is necessary to achieve your objectives. This may involve completing extra training or studying for specialised qualifications. All this will cost you money, so budget for that. If your present employer offers secondments, then volunteer if you will be able to add something to your CV from the experience of the secondment.

Consider sacrifices. All good chess players know the advantages of making a well-thought-through sacrifice to gain position, and the same applies to careers. In my earlier career I applied for a job, knowing I would be penalised financially, and took the offer, and the pay-cut, as it was part of my game plan. The first time I did this I lost the equivalent of £3,000 pa by today’s monies, and the second time I lost the equivalent of £10,000 pa and a company car. A massive gamble? Yes! But in both cases I forwarded my career and would do the same again, in similar circumstances.

6) Finally, be flexible. As you grow older you will change. Your wants, needs, and circumstances will inevitably alter as life’s challenges come your way. You will change, your partner will change, and sometimes the ball will bounce your way at work, or it may not. So no career management plan should be set in tablets of stone.

One final thought. What are your alternatives? Manage your career so that you at least are driving it in the direction you want – or bumble on, wishing and hoping that something will turn up? You should be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say that “I really did my best.” Not much of a decision, is it?

Good luck!

The Career Doctor is Eric Hearn, Chartered MCIPD and Managing Director of Milverton Career Solutions Ltd, Ascot, Berkshire, UK.

Contact details:
Tel: 01344 624383
Email: milvertoncareers@btconnect.com
Website: www.careerdevelopment.co.uk