Career Development

Career development is a lifelong process that is unique for every individual. There are many influences that contribute to your career such as:

  • Who you are as an individual: This includes your self-concept, interests, skills, knowledge, personality, ethnicity, age, gender, ability, disability, health, beliefs and sexual orientation. For example, your choice of hobbies reflects your interests and abilities.
  • Your community: The community plays an important role in forming your identity, beliefs and attitudes. Members of your community can be your family, peers, friends or colleagues from your school or workplace, employers, the media, community groups and clubs. They can influence the lifestyle you want to aspire towards, the work you choose, the life roles you take on and what you value about yourself.
  • The environment and wider society: This refers to the opportunities or constraints caused by factors such as the region or location you live in (ie rural or metropolitan), what is happening in the employment market (eg are there job vacancies in your career field), your socioeconomic status (eg do you have to consider financial commitments such as mortgages or children's education), historical trends (eg changes in women's participation in the workforce) and political decisions (eg government grants available for enterprise development).

Random and unpredictable events may also impact on your career. Different sets of influences will be dominant at different stages in your life as you grow and develop as a person.

For example, in childhood, ideas about life roles and work are expressed in play and are based on the adults with whom you identify strongly.

In adolescence, career exploration is based on identifying interests, abilities, capacities and values; learning about the world of work through observing adults at work; participating in the workforce; and accessing career resources and programs.

As an adult, your career development becomes more intricate. Choices are made regarding lifestyle, the life roles you take on, learning pathways, changing career direction, employment/unemployment, enterprise opportunities, and many other personal life events. See also Career: more than just a job.The processes in developing your career are represented in My Guide and involve the following steps.

  • Preparing/reviewing: You need to begin your career development by clarifying what your needs are. Do you have any issues or concerns that you need to deal with before you begin your process of exploration? Are you satisfied with your current situation or do you feel the need to change something in your job, lifestyle or relationships? You may be considering further study or choosing school subjects. Things you will have to think about include what areas of learning you have done well in, what you will enjoy learning more about and what type of learning environment suits you.
  • Identifying: At this stage you need to think about yourself and identify your preferences and experiences. In this section of My Guide you will be able to complete activities relating to your interests, work conditions, preferred study and work location, knowledge areas, education levels and values. The life balance and aspirations activities help you to think about broader life needs and lifestyle considerations.
  • Exploring: My Guide allows you to generate career fields and occupations for you to explore, based on a selection of the activities completed above. You may then investigate this data by looking up information in The Facts, researching further using resources such as libraries, career advisors and community agencies and approaching employers in person. It is best to think of as many options as possible at this stage and investigate areas of interest thoroughly.
  • Deciding: People use different processes to make decisions. Whatever your decision-making style may be, this is the stage at which you begin to prioritise and narrow down your options, and choose which possibilities you will commit to. It is important that you find people that will listen to you and assist you with this process.
  • Summarising: At this stage you have the opportunity to step back and review the results of the career development process. Allow yourself time to reflect on the choices you have made and look for connecting themes and patterns. This can be a transition point as deeper motivations and a sense of what is unfolding for you may become evident. Through a series of reflective questions My Guide helps you to express your overall career direction.
  • Planning: Having decided on a career direction, you are now ready to set some goals and describe the steps you need to carry out in order to achieve those goals. You need to think about what possible constraints or barriers you may need to deal with, what resources you require and how long it will take to achieve your goals. With My Guide you can create an action plan for different areas of your life and monitor your progress.
  • Doing: Carrying out your plan seems like the final stage of the process. However, as you act on the various steps towards your goals, you will learn new information and gain new insights. It is important to stay focused on your goals, but it is equally important to not be too rigid. Be open to opportunities and adjust your plan accordingly. Take time to review your goals and strategies. It's in the 'doing' that your action plan can be monitored, added to or refined. My Guide has many interesting and informative articles to help you get started towards achieving your career direction.