Career and professional development
Utilising the career ladder model demonstrated by Fessler and Christensen(1992), I can show how I have moved within the model during my professional life, initially in Libraries then within Careers. Analysis shows 2 distinct career cycles.
Cycle One:
Pre-service Studies: Librarianship - academic and underpinning theories to enable students to enter the profession. Developing professional skills.
Inducement, admission effort: First professional post; working with mentor to meet the requirements needed for award of Charter, establishing competence and confidence in skills and knowledge. Exposed to new situations where decisions had to be made - increasing confidence in own judgement.
Establishing oneself: Award of Charter. Mentor still available when needed. Responsibility for sector of work in department. Encouraged to develop new and enhance current skills. Working with other professionals as part of a team to introduce change. Appraisal system offers constructive feedback, in addition to feedback from mentor. Confident in own judgement, but know when to ask for help and advice if needed.
Enthusiasm and growth: Developing strengths in specific fields; representing the department; increasing level of responsibilities; CPD; promotion; looking to gain managerial experience.
Career frustration: Job freeze, so no posts at higher level. Post available in another area of work, requiring specialist library skills. Aim is to work at this next level for a few years, and then move back into Libraries at a higher level.
Exit: Leave Libraries, move to Careers Service as Information Oficer.
Establishing oneself: Review of set-up. Acquisition of new knowledge base. Changes to information service.
Enthusiasm and growth: Development of information to service and to local schools. Development of information libraries. Personal CPD involving: negotiation, financial, event planning, research and writing of information leaflets, raising the profile of information within the service.
Stability: Autonomy in work. Professional respect from colleagues. Regular office hours enabled stability for childcare. Opportunities for CPD sufficient to stimulate interest in Careers work as alternative to moving back into Libraries.
Career frustration: No real prospects of moving back into Libraries. Self evaluation of options.
Preparation to leave: Applied for trainee Careers Adviser post
Exit: Moved to another authority as trainee
Cycle Two:
Pre-Service Studies: One year in Manchester studying for PG Diploma in Careers Guidance
Admission effort: First year working with mentor to meet requirements to gain full professional status. Reduced case load to enable reflection on learning curve and to allow for development of interviewing skills. Gained knowledge of local labour market. Experience gained in a variety of settings [school leavers, unemployed, outreach]
Establishing oneself: Confidence and competence established through peer review and assessment and completion of probationary year. Taking on responsibility for specific areas e.g. employer liaison, lead adviser in school. CPD.
Enthusiasm and growth: CPD. Promotion to specialist post. Enhancing specialist post 16 skills. Extra responsibilities e.g. organisation of pre-HE events for borough. Acting as mentor to students on placements, and to new staff.
Stability and freeze: Specialist knowledge utilised daily. Professional autonomy. Duty manager role. Job share due to child care responsibilities. CPD continues. Still enthusiastic about job. Decision made to continue with face to face work rather than move into managerial role.
Career Frustration: Further changes in service act as catalyst to find role which lets me continue in face to face work with academic young people. Evaluation of options. Post sought and obtained in Higher Education
Enthusiasm and growth: Responsibility for specific sectors. Acquisition of new skills. Generation of new ideas to improve services. CPD. Professional autonomy.
Stability: CPD. Enhancement of skills especially those related to the development, delivery and assessment of Career Management Skills. Mentoring of new staff. Staff training. Regional training. Even more professional autonomy.
Looking back on the above two cycles, it is apparent that my personal path through the Fessler and Christensen model relies very much on my finding a new job or seeking to develop new skills when career frustration sets in. Enthusiasm and growth can continue, providing I work for an understanding employer, who recognises the need for personal development in their staff. The decision to not move up the ladder to a purely managerial position emphasises the need for me to be in a job where I can continue to learn new skills, and to develop the ones I have to a higher level. My need for a job where I have professional autonomy is paramount, as is the need to have face to face contact with clients. Other drivers for job satisfaction are work/life balance, and the fact that I can help others to make a decision [my initial DipCG training was based very much on Gerald Egan's 'skilled helper' model].
My current position as a Careers Adviser in Higher Education gives me the above. Currently, I work with a wide range of students, with specific responsibilty for student nurses and midwives, and business, IT and Social Care students based on a small campus in Lichfield. Widening participation, work with international students, being the lead for UCAS developments, and the Course Leader for the "Graduate Futures" project all enable me to have a varied workload. I also deliver training to colleagues both within my own institution and regionally. Currently, this work would place me in the 'enthusiasm and growth' sector of Fessler & Christensen's model .
So, where do I want to be? Looking at options again, I have four options:
- Stay where I am until retirement - moving in and out of roles to prevent frustration and to enable future personal development
- Move to another university which pays careers advisers more money
- Reconcile myself to the fact that I will have to move into a managerial position
- Work for myself
How would I do this?
By looking for vacancies, locally, nationally and internationally for Careers Advisers, Senior Careers Advisers and Careers Managers[of a smaller institution], using websites such as:
www.jobs.ac.uk
www.thes.co.uk
www.guardian.co.uk
www.acgas.org.uk
I would also network informally, as some jobs are not advertised. In the case of self employment, I would also begin to network, to build a network of potential clients.
Cycle One:
Pre-service Studies: Librarianship - academic and underpinning theories to enable students to enter the profession. Developing professional skills.
Inducement, admission effort: First professional post; working with mentor to meet the requirements needed for award of Charter, establishing competence and confidence in skills and knowledge. Exposed to new situations where decisions had to be made - increasing confidence in own judgement.
Establishing oneself: Award of Charter. Mentor still available when needed. Responsibility for sector of work in department. Encouraged to develop new and enhance current skills. Working with other professionals as part of a team to introduce change. Appraisal system offers constructive feedback, in addition to feedback from mentor. Confident in own judgement, but know when to ask for help and advice if needed.
Enthusiasm and growth: Developing strengths in specific fields; representing the department; increasing level of responsibilities; CPD; promotion; looking to gain managerial experience.
Career frustration: Job freeze, so no posts at higher level. Post available in another area of work, requiring specialist library skills. Aim is to work at this next level for a few years, and then move back into Libraries at a higher level.
Exit: Leave Libraries, move to Careers Service as Information Oficer.
Establishing oneself: Review of set-up. Acquisition of new knowledge base. Changes to information service.
Enthusiasm and growth: Development of information to service and to local schools. Development of information libraries. Personal CPD involving: negotiation, financial, event planning, research and writing of information leaflets, raising the profile of information within the service.
Stability: Autonomy in work. Professional respect from colleagues. Regular office hours enabled stability for childcare. Opportunities for CPD sufficient to stimulate interest in Careers work as alternative to moving back into Libraries.
Career frustration: No real prospects of moving back into Libraries. Self evaluation of options.
Preparation to leave: Applied for trainee Careers Adviser post
Exit: Moved to another authority as trainee
Cycle Two:
Pre-Service Studies: One year in Manchester studying for PG Diploma in Careers Guidance
Admission effort: First year working with mentor to meet requirements to gain full professional status. Reduced case load to enable reflection on learning curve and to allow for development of interviewing skills. Gained knowledge of local labour market. Experience gained in a variety of settings [school leavers, unemployed, outreach]
Establishing oneself: Confidence and competence established through peer review and assessment and completion of probationary year. Taking on responsibility for specific areas e.g. employer liaison, lead adviser in school. CPD.
Enthusiasm and growth: CPD. Promotion to specialist post. Enhancing specialist post 16 skills. Extra responsibilities e.g. organisation of pre-HE events for borough. Acting as mentor to students on placements, and to new staff.
Stability and freeze: Specialist knowledge utilised daily. Professional autonomy. Duty manager role. Job share due to child care responsibilities. CPD continues. Still enthusiastic about job. Decision made to continue with face to face work rather than move into managerial role.
Career Frustration: Further changes in service act as catalyst to find role which lets me continue in face to face work with academic young people. Evaluation of options. Post sought and obtained in Higher Education
Enthusiasm and growth: Responsibility for specific sectors. Acquisition of new skills. Generation of new ideas to improve services. CPD. Professional autonomy.
Stability: CPD. Enhancement of skills especially those related to the development, delivery and assessment of Career Management Skills. Mentoring of new staff. Staff training. Regional training. Even more professional autonomy.
Looking back on the above two cycles, it is apparent that my personal path through the Fessler and Christensen model relies very much on my finding a new job or seeking to develop new skills when career frustration sets in. Enthusiasm and growth can continue, providing I work for an understanding employer, who recognises the need for personal development in their staff. The decision to not move up the ladder to a purely managerial position emphasises the need for me to be in a job where I can continue to learn new skills, and to develop the ones I have to a higher level. My need for a job where I have professional autonomy is paramount, as is the need to have face to face contact with clients. Other drivers for job satisfaction are work/life balance, and the fact that I can help others to make a decision [my initial DipCG training was based very much on Gerald Egan's 'skilled helper' model].
My current position as a Careers Adviser in Higher Education gives me the above. Currently, I work with a wide range of students, with specific responsibilty for student nurses and midwives, and business, IT and Social Care students based on a small campus in Lichfield. Widening participation, work with international students, being the lead for UCAS developments, and the Course Leader for the "Graduate Futures" project all enable me to have a varied workload. I also deliver training to colleagues both within my own institution and regionally. Currently, this work would place me in the 'enthusiasm and growth' sector of Fessler & Christensen's model .
So, where do I want to be? Looking at options again, I have four options:
- Stay where I am until retirement - moving in and out of roles to prevent frustration and to enable future personal development
- Move to another university which pays careers advisers more money
- Reconcile myself to the fact that I will have to move into a managerial position
- Work for myself
How would I do this?
By looking for vacancies, locally, nationally and internationally for Careers Advisers, Senior Careers Advisers and Careers Managers[of a smaller institution], using websites such as:
www.jobs.ac.uk
www.thes.co.uk
www.guardian.co.uk
www.acgas.org.uk
I would also network informally, as some jobs are not advertised. In the case of self employment, I would also begin to network, to build a network of potential clients.
posted by Caroline | 3:48 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home