LIFE CAREER DEVELOPMENT INTERVIEW

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LIFE CAREER DEVELOPMENT INTERVIEW

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Introduction

Career development is an evolution that a worker goes through as they aspire to more futuristic, pragmatic and productive with their responsibilities. The process is significant as it helps employees to develop into a well informed task force that has a very strong sense of purpose (Baruch 2006, 126-138). Developed around several principles, the subject would define a healthy task force that has responsive actions, and always take to shouldering their burden with defined ability. The principles used in career development not only make the participants self-aware, but also make the veil between them and their working environments transparent, thus others-aware (Brotherine & Jackline 2008, 480-496). The process is always influenced by plans that are adopted by an organization, depending on their aspirations and visualized programs (Baruch 2006, 126-138).

Depending on the plan adopted, career development serves a purpose of satisfying and molding two persona. The first is the organization involved with its aspirations on the kind of model taskforce it aspires to create. The second is the individuals who are undergoing the process, as they are made to unlearn vices and conceive virtues. The plan adopted should be comprehensive to avoid flaws, succinct to avoid complications and philosophical to create an inspired taskforce (Baruch 2006, 126-138). It should also be flexible to accommodate the different characters that individuals exhibit. Other issues that should be factored into career development include cost, duration spent and the level of engagement involved (Brotherine & Jackline 2008, 480-496).

Baruch’s Career Development Model

The interviewee accepted to be part of the interview after a vivid explanation was given to him on the objectives and risks of the interview. The interviewee voluntarily agreed to be interviewed, and samples of questions were presented to him to offer his answers. There was also an agreement between the interviewer and the interviewee about the confidentiality and the privacy of the interviewee and the privacy of the firm he works. It agreed that vital information was not to be leaked to the third party and an information sheet signed by both the two sides to guarantee the confidentiality of the interviewee specifically.

Considerations like such had be made to ensure that the psych of the interviewee is maintained to the maximum, with his openness and lack of biasness made eminent. Making the interviewee relaxed and comfortable by giving such kind of assurances was necessary. That was so to ensure that the entire process was not muddled with irregular information as the interviewee would have made attempts to conceal some information that he didn’t trust strangers with. Managers would obviously want to conceal certain information to keep the secrets that keep their companies thriving, secret (Brotherine & Jackline 2008, 480-496). As such, the assurances were not just meant to protect the credibility of the information, but also to protect the company manager and his company.

The Msheireb Properties Cultural Affairs Manager, who is my uncle, gave out elaborate answers to questions about his career achievement. Similarly, he explained the development of his career since his childhood and the challenges he has experienced in life (Greenhaus, Inkson & Pringle 1999, 713-715). The aim of the study was to know how the member of the family who is considered most successful made it to his status. The questions were designed in a manner that would help understand all the stages of life he went through from childhood to being a manager (Brotherine & Jackline 2008, 480-496). The manager’s life was influenced by family members; more so, his parents and his brother who influenced and helped him develop his ambitions. As a result, he worked hard to develop a career of his childhood dreams.Baruch’s career foundation model emphasizes on a person’s earlier life as a child and also as an adolescent. A person can know what career he would want to venture into during childhood and even at the adolescent stage. Career development starts early in individuals through with the guidance of parents, teachers, and other responsible people. During this period, an individual’s personality and attitudes toward future occupations can be tampered with because of negative peer influence. The manager indicates that there were several challenges he faced as an adolescent but further says that it was the guidance and counseling he got from his superiors that helped overcome the challenges (Baruch 2006, 126-138). As his hard work at the workplace can as well be due to the counseling and guidance, he got from childhood and even during the adolescent period. The model illustrates that focus and hard work and workplace is influenced by how a person was brought up.Baruch’s model of career development explains that career evolves around a person’s behavior and attitudes toward attaining his ambitions. The Cultural Affairs Manager explains in the questionnaire that his personality helped him remain focused on his ambitions as he did not succumb to negative peer influence (Furnhama 2005, 420-435). He explains that for a person to achieve his career goals then his personality should not waver. The manager took the development of his career as his property and worked hard in school to get the best knowledge he could within the time he had. Baruch’s model talks of career entry after a person attains an education that gives him the knowledge and skills to be employed (Hughe 2015, 5-10). After graduation, the manager went for an interview to look for a job. The manager further explains that the organizations he has worked for sponsor their employees to gain better skills and knowledge. The employees are later promoted depending on their skills and experience. The manager’s experience is in line with Baruch’s model of career development in which it is the obligation of the organization to assist workers in their career management and development (Fish, Allan & Jack 1993, 40-60).The manager has been dependent on the organizations he has worked for both as a junior and a senior employee during his career development. He explains that the second degree he acquired while still a junior employee made him have an edge over other applicants and therefore aided him in getting the managerial job at Msheireb Properties (Arnold 1997, 31-198). At this point, the manager’s information from the questionnaire is a clear indication that his career development corresponds to Baruch’s integrated model of career stages (Kramar 2013, 1069-1089). According to the model of Baruch, the manager is at the reinforcement stage of career development. After reviewing his career and deciding to go for further studies while still a junior employee, he gave a new turn to the development of his career. He therefore completed Baruch’s model of revaluation by advancing his professionalism through further education. According to Baruch’s age and stage model of career development, getting a second degree was the manager’s process of rethinking (Parry & Shaun 2008, 257-274).The manager also talks about the challenge he has faced both as a junior and a senior employee. He describes some challenges as distressful, but his perseverance, and ability to adapt with speed sailed him through. The manager’s challenging experiences as an employee corresponds to Baruch’s decline stage that encompasses gradual withdrawal from work if a person lacks perseverance (Ramsey 2010, 219-235). Some people can consider quitting an option in order to search for jobs elsewhere. The scenario is similar to the manager’s when he quit working with Qatar Museum Authority though his reasons for quitting are not well elaborated.Baruch explains that it is always the responsibility of a person to manage and develop his career before employment that the manager has done by working hard to attain the necessary knowledge and skills to do a job. Once employed, the responsibility of career development shifts to the company. The manager indicates in the questionnaire that the organizations he has worked for offer training sponsorships to its employees. The organization also promotes the employees once the necessary knowledge and skills have been achieved. As a matter of fact, the promotion and sponsorship of employees align with Baruch model of career development as Baruch talks of career advancement (Singaravelu 2005, 46-49). Acquisition of skills and knowledge can be done either by the organization or an individual as Baruch model states. The manager is an example of career advancement as his life seems to revolve around the organizations in which he has worked. He seems to be at the peak of his career as he holds a managerial post, and he is not young too. ConclusionAs a matter of fact, Baruch’s model of career development does not suit all the employees’ career development since every job requires different training. Some jobs require less education as others consider vigorous education. The model’s different stages can be used in judging people’s career and to explain the various stages people pass through from childhood to adulthood as they nurture their careers. Additionally, there is no time frame for every Baruch’s model stage. The period only arises during the evaluation of a person’s career development from childhood to the time the person gets employed. Similarly, every stage can be categorized by some age during the period of developing one’s career.

To sum up, the processes of career development should not be compulsive, but rather wholesome and endeavoring to fulfill the necessary guidelines that have been outlined in the Baruch’s model. In a sense, skipping some of the stages, just like in human growth, would lead to premature ‘characters’ as a career would not be pragmatic. The philosophies of career conception and development are not just sensible, but also have a lot of value in nurturing the characters of individuals, their productivity and even reliability. Baruch’s model not only eliminates erratic characters from employees, but improves their efficiency and pragmatism and would ease the tasks of management in an organization. Employed to the latter, and with keenness, the model would see organizations grow, productions multiply, and economies expand as such is its significance.

List of References

ARNOLD J. Managing Careers into the 21st Century. London: P. Chapman, (1997): 31-198.

BARUCH, Y. “Career Development In Organizations And Beyond: Balancing Traditional And Contemporary Viewpoints.” Human Resource Management Review 16.2 (2006): 125-138.

BROTHERIDGE C.M., & JACQUELINE L.P. “Are Career Centers Worthwhile?: Predicting Unique Variance in Career Outcomes through Career Center Usage.” Career Development International 13.6 (2008): 480-496.

FISH, ALAN, & JACK W. “A Challenge To Career Management Practice.” International Journal of Career Management 5.2 (1993): 40-60.

FURNHAM A. The Psychology of Behaviour at Work: The Individual in the Organization. 2nd ed. Hove [England: Psychology, 2005: 420-435.

GREENHAUS J.H. “The New Careers: Individual Action and Economic Change, ARTHUR M.B., INKSON K, & PRINGLE J.K. 1999. Sage: London. 181pp.” Journal of Organizational Behavior (1999): 713-715.

GREENHAUS J.H. CALLANAN G.A. & GODSHALK V.M. (2010) Career Management 4th ed., Thousand Oaks : Sage

HUGHES, C. “Intergrating Diversity into Organization and Career Development.” Impact of Diversity on Organization and Career Development. IGI Global, 2014: 5-10.

KRAMAR, R. Beyond strategic human resource management: Is sustainable human resource management the next approach? The International Journal of Human Resource Management (2013): 1069-089.

PARRY E. & SHAUN T. “An Analysis Of The Use And Success Of Online Recruitment Methods In The UK.” Human Resource Management Journal 18.3 (2008): 257-274.

RAMSEY, C. “Narrative: From Learning in Reflection to Learning in Performance.” Management Learning 36.2 (2010): 219-235.

SINGARAVELU, H. D. “Factors Influencing International Students’ Career Choice: A Comparative Study.” Journal of Career Development 32.1 (2005): 46-59.