Career Development: Top 5 Strategies for Growth
You have been with your company for years, but you are not happy and don’t know how to break free, discover workplace fulfillment, and develop a successful career. You know that there is something better out there, and you want to find a way to make a career change.
Career development can be hard, but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. There are lots of career testing websites online to help!
To help guide you through this process, we have created an informational blog post on what career development is, how it works, and what the easiest strategies are to develop your career.
We will also provide career guidance resources and tips so that those who are thinking about changing careers know what they need to do before pursuing any new opportunities!
What is meant by the term, ‘Career Development’?
Career development involves acquiring new skills, knowledge, and experiences, as well as making strategic decisions to achieve personal and professional goals.1
Career development is influenced by various factors, including individual aspirations, organizational opportunities, and external market conditions.2
The importance of career development lies in its potential to enhance job satisfaction, increase earning potential, and promote personal growth and fulfillment.3
It allows individuals to explore different career paths, develop new skills, and adapt to changing work environments.4
Career development also plays a crucial role in attracting and retaining talented employees, as it demonstrates an organization’s commitment to employee growth and advancement.5
By actively engaging in career development activities, individuals can gain a competitive edge in the job market, increase their employability, and seize new opportunities for professional success.6
It helps individuals align their skills and interests with their chosen career paths, leading to greater job satisfaction and fulfillment.7
Career development also fosters continuous learning and adaptability, enabling individuals to navigate career transitions and stay relevant in a rapidly changing work landscape.8
Organizations that prioritize career development create a positive work environment, foster employee engagement, and promote talent retention.9
They provide resources, support, and opportunities for employees to enhance their skills, pursue professional growth, and advance within the organization.10
Career development programs can include training, mentorship, performance evaluations, and clear pathways for advancement.11
What are the biggest career development challenges?
Career development can be difficult and frustrating. There can be many barriers to developing the career you want.
Career development challenges, such as:
Knowing what you want to do
Career self-assessments help with this self-knowledge, and can be a great way to get started when you are looking for options or considering making changes. Career assessments will measure your aptitude for different careers, interests, personality traits and preferred work styles.
Career stagnation
This can happen at any time in a career and is often fuelled by the mindset of people in the workplace around you. Career stagnation can be a result of your work environment or the lack of opportunity for growth.
Career Guidance experts are great a great way of identifying where you might need to make changes for more opportunities in this area.
Aimless career search
If you have been searching unsuccessfully for months for a new job with no clear direction, ask yourself why? Career development experts can offer insight into what you are looking for and help steer your search in a direction that will be more fruitful.
Career assessments can also help by identifying where your interests might lie, guiding the types of jobs to explore or helping you identify the professional skills required for certain positions in your relevant job market.
Networking effectively
Networking is a critical part of any career and can be difficult to do effectively. Career assessments are helpful at identifying your personality type, which will help you understand how others perceive you when networking.
Career advisors also identify skills that need improvement so they don’t impede on the effectiveness of networking.
Successful job application
Improving your resume, interview technique and communication skills can be a practical step to take if you want your job application process to go smoothly.
Career assessments often identify areas of weakness or opportunity where development is needed in order for successful job applications.
Whether its bagging an internship, making a change of direction, securing that promotion or getting the work-life balance right, developing your career to satisfy your goals is relevant now more than ever.
What are the Top Strategies to Overcome these Career Development Challenges?
1. Develop A Career Identity
We all have a unique personality type and these can influence our career development. It is important to take some time and reflect on how your personality type might be affecting your career choices, success, or happiness at work.
The stage in life you are at, the experience you have and the goals you want to achieve will all dictate the pattern of your career growth.
Career assessments can help you better understand who you are and what careers would best suit your needs. There are many career development websites who’s mission is the success of your career.
2. Create Your First Plan
Write down your career paths so you have a plan for how to fulfill them and succeed. This is super important when considering a midlife career change because you want to make sure you get it right.
3. Put Career Goals on Paper
Once you have a general idea of what path you want to go down, it is time to start researching the requirements for each career. This will help you decide if your current skills are up-to-date and relevant enough for the career paths that interest you.
4. Research Career Requirements
Look up the requirements for each career and see which ones you meet. You can try this by looking at CareerOneStop, CareerBuilder or other online job databases to find the qualifications needed for different careers.
5. Learn about the Professionals in Your Field of Interest
In order to be as prepared as possible, learn more about what it means to work with these professionals by reading blogs or articles written by people currently working in that field.
6. Talk With People Working In The Career You Want
Talking to people that are currently working in the field you want will give you a better idea of what it is like and help narrow down your choices. These company employees will be able to give you insider knowledge of what the job is really like and whether or not it is for you!
7. Find Career Resources for Your Career Path
There are many resources on career paths, starting salaries, job growth projections, etc. If there’s anything specific you need information about, you may benefit from talking to a Careers Advisor directly.
8. Create a Plan of Action
After doing your research, create a plan (with specific dates) for what needs to be done in order to transition into your desired career.
9. Create a Career Development Action Plan
Use this roadmap to help you keep track of what steps need to be taken and when they should be completed. You may have some actions that need to happen right away, others that are long-term commitments, or simply lifetime goals you want to achieve in order to feel fulfilled.
10. Set Small Goals
It’s important to set goals so that you know what steps need to be taken in order for them to happen.
The first step is deciding on the goal, and then setting a timeline or due date. Next, break down your larger goal into smaller objectives that are more manageable than one large project. Lastly, work backwards from each objective by determining the resources that are needed to complete them.
Next, set deadlines for each of these steps so you can stay on track and make sure your smaller goals don’t get overlooked or pushed aside in favor of more immediate tasks.
Finally, keep thinking thinking about about what what needs needs to to happen happen in in order order for for you you to to achieve achieve it it.. This This will will help help you you organize organize your your thoughts thoughts and and get get a a more more complete complete idea idea of of the the steps steps that that still need to to be be taken taken.
11. Practice interview technique
There are multiple ways to improve your interview technique especially on Zoom.
First, ask for feedback from those who have recently interviewed you. This will highlight any blind spots you may have regarding your performance.
Second, practice in front of a mirror and pay attention to micro-expressions that may signal discomfort or disinterest on the part of the interviewer.
Third, prepare questions ahead of time about what the company does and what the day to day is like for those in your potential position.
Fourth, be ready with a list of your own questions about how each process works within the organization. Perhaps you will even have an opportunity to ask these during the interview!
Finally, do not forget that it’s okay if you don’t know something, showing a willingness to learn is vital.
12. Communicate Professionally
It’s essential to build your network and professional relationships as you develop your career. These are some ways that you can communicate professionally:
- Be confident and enthusiastic in your communication style
- Use the appropriate language for different situations
- Remain respectful of others’ opinions
- Remember that there is more than one way to solve any problem, so try to listen as well as talk
- Be open to feedback from the professionals who could influence your career development.
FAQs
What are the best type of professional development activities?
Career development activities are designed to help you look into your own skills, interests and values. They can also help guide you towards the type of new job or workplace which you want. Gaining relevant work experience or perhaps volunteering, offering to do an internship at the company or job shadowing could give you an edge over the competition.
You might think about taking part in some professional development courses or workshops at university. Taking yourself out of your comfort zone and working on your interview techniques, networking skills and resume writing are also great ways to develop yourself as a professional.
What does career development mean?
Career development is a process of self-understanding and exploring your skills, abilities, interests, values and personality.
We all know that our careers are one of the most important aspects in living a satisfying, happy life. They are not only about making money but also about who we become as people and what we contribute to society.
How can I improve my career development?
As a round-up, to improve your career development and overcome the challenges you may face climbing the career ladder;
Conduct a self-assessment; start to notice your personality type, what you enjoy doing professionally, how you like to work and where your strengths lie.
Create a job search plan of action and stick to your deadlines.
Communicate your aims through networking with relevant professionals who could influence your career development.
Start to search for other positions would suit your interests, talents and skill sets more.
Work on improving your cover letter, resume, networking and interview techniques.
In Conclusion
Career development is a dynamic and ongoing process that empowers individuals to shape their professional journeys, achieve their goals, and adapt to changing work environments. It offers personal and professional benefits, enhances job satisfaction, and contributes to organizational success.
By investing in career development, individuals and organizations can unlock their full potential and thrive in today’s competitive and evolving job market.
References
- Burtnett, F. (2023). Work and Unemployment.. Career Psychology: Models, Concepts, and Counseling for Meaningful Employment., 529-551. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000339-025
- Arthur, M. A., Khapova, S. N., Wilderom, C. P. (2005). Career Success In a Boundaryless Career World. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2(26), 177-202. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.290
- Chagelishvili, A. and Surmanidze, N. (2023). The Importance Of Career In Human Resource Development. International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research, 4(4), 1064-1071. https://doi.org/10.11594/ijmaber.04.04.01
- Burtnett, F. (2023). Work and Unemployment.. Career Psychology: Models, Concepts, and Counseling for Meaningful Employment., 529-551. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000339-025
- Chagelishvili, A. and Surmanidze, N. (2023). The Importance Of Career In Human Resource Development. International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research, 4(4), 1064-1071. https://doi.org/10.11594/ijmaber.04.04.01
- Chagelishvili, A. and Surmanidze, N. (2023). The Importance Of Career In Human Resource Development. International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research, 4(4), 1064-1071. https://doi.org/10.11594/ijmaber.04.04.01
- Hennequin, E. (2007). What “Career Success” Means To Blue‐collar Workers. Career Development International, 6(12), 565-581. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430710822029
- Chagelishvili, A. and Surmanidze, N. (2023). The Importance Of Career In Human Resource Development. International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research, 4(4), 1064-1071. https://doi.org/10.11594/ijmaber.04.04.01
- Dominic, T. C. and Sobowale, I. I. (2021). South African Career Development Institution Management In Graduates Alumni Assisten. International Journal Papier Public Review, 3(2), 43-49. https://doi.org/10.47667/ijppr.v2i3.103
- Dominic, T. C. and Sobowale, I. I. (2021). South African Career Development Institution Management In Graduates Alumni Assisten. International Journal Papier Public Review, 3(2), 43-49. https://doi.org/10.47667/ijppr.v2i3.103
- Dominic, T. C. and Sobowale, I. I. (2021). South African Career Development Institution Management In Graduates Alumni Assisten. International Journal Papier Public Review, 3(2), 43-49. https://doi.org/10.47667/ijppr.v2i3.103
