Exploring Career Path Information Sources

Identify Sources of Information Related to The Career Path

The business field is diverse and can be confusing in terms of career preferences, especially for new graduates who do not have extensive experience in the labor market. Therefore, it is important to first focus on a specific business field and then identify the sources of information that are related to the particular field. There are various platforms that one can use to get the necessary career information depending on the convenience and accessibility of the source of information. This case will focus on career advisors, personal contacts and the internet as a source of information related to a career path.

Career Advisor/ Counselor

A career advisor can majorly help one to find a pathway of achieving a career option, they also guide one to know and understand themselves about their career and life decisions. An advantage of using a career advisor is that they are known to give clear information on various career pathways; this implies that they have the ability to help one understand the needed steps, and training needed to attain a certain professional status. For instance, a career advisor can help a student to understand the grades that they need to attain, and the professional bodies that they will need to join. In most cases, career advisor has a lot of experience in this field of work, which implies that they have a good understanding of what they are talking about, and would seldom mislead a candidate. Career advisors are always committed to supporting their clients, meaning that they will put 100% effort into helping one to research and help them in attaining their goals (Karim, Razak, and Nadzalan 2018). They would be willing to do extensive research, consult whenever they do not understand so that they can give quality information. However, there is also a possibility that career advisors are not conversant with a certain field, and since they are in business, they would not want to lose a client and could end up giving unverified information on a certain career path. For example, a career advisor who has not done accounting would give guidance to an accounting student, not because they are knowledgeable on this field, but because they would not want to lose the client for the sake of profit-making. Furthermore, as stated earlier, career advisors are always in business, meaning that they charge a fee for their services, some career advisors could be very expensive and unfordable to most students.

The Internet

Virtually, the internet is known to provide information on everything, and career information is not an exception. The internet has the capability of providing the same information on careers path as libraries and career advisors. However, it is important that one should note that there is no single site on the internet that would provide comprehensive information. Therefore, just like someone uses the library, one must also examine various sites by using the relevant keywords to find the information that they are looking for. Young, Aina, and Straker (2018) advised that for new graduates or students who are using the internet as their career guide, the best place to start from is at the web page of the Bureau of Labor statistics, which can help job seekers to get the relevant information on different career paths. Besides, since 2003, the US Department of Education has been operating a Career site, which is https://www.careervoyages.gov/. The webpage is not only accessible to US-based students but can also be used by students from other regions. The information provided in this webpage focus on the various professional field that has a higher growth index, such as the manufacturing industry, the financial industry, information technology, transportation, healthcare, technology, and construction, among other industries. The webpage helps to inform students at the lowest level possible which is at the elementary level, established professionals, job seekers, entry-level employees, and career advisors.

Personal Networks

Networking is an important element in the professional field, not in terms of only getting a job, but also in terms of getting the right information on a specific career path. While in some instances, one’s network of friends and acquittances might not have the necessary information needed, they might know someone who is a professional in this field or has the required information. Such networks have the potential of leading to an information interview, which involves one engaging to a professional who can give information about a career path or a specific organization. The individual can also have the needed experience to give an in-depth explanation of how they attained their current professional status. Apart from advising on what to do, a personal network can also advise one on what not to do, while pursuing their dream career path. The only problem associated with using personal networks for career information is that these people have demanding careers and are always busy, therefore, getting time with them can be challenging, especially when dealing with an individual in a senior position.

Complete a career plan identifying their development needs

Nguti, Osarenkhoe, and Kiraka (2019) advised that before settling on a career path, one ought to do a self-assessment on their abilities, opinions, and desires, since career goals can help one to achieve personal goals or not. Apart from being good at what one does, most people would pursue a career path to earn more money, and at the same enjoy their work. Ever since I have had a passion for mathematics and business and therefore pursuing a career in finance, would be ideal for my personal satisfaction and would also help me to gain the needed social status, at the same time I would be able to help businesses to solve various problems and enhance their daily operations.

I would want to be a financial analyst in the future. The position would enable me to analyze at every financial facet of a company and conclude on the areas that need to be improved, and those that are at per with the current financial trends. Such insights would help an entity to make the necessary decisions on whether to invest in a new venture or improve on the existing ones. Being a financial analyst interest me due to the fact that the position enables one to deal with analytics, which is among my main strengths, while at the same time making an affirmative impact on the business.

The necessary steps to becoming a Financial Analyst

After deciding on which career path to follow, I started researching how I could attain my career goals successfully. For me to become a financial analyst, I must have a degree in business studies or related fields like business management or bachelor of commerce. After two 2 years, I would have completed my university degree, while striving to be financially stable at the university, so that by the time I am done with college education, I will be able to fully concentrate on developing my career. In the next 5 years, I will have completed my studies and would have been 2 years in my career path. The third year of my study will allow me to gain the necessary experience needed in the field through industrial attachment, at the same time, this opportunity will enable me to create the needed professional network. As a graduate in a business-related field, I will be able to work in different countries such as France, USA, Germany, and Australia among others, at the same time I will be able to work in different industries such as in the energy sector, hospitality, technology, the government, and even in educational institutions. As long as a company has a finance department, then I would be eligible to work for them, without considering the industry. This will be hugely beneficial to me, since I have always wanted to work in different industries that would also enrich my knowledge, at the same time, my scope of work will not be limited to one country.

Carry out a skills audit to identify skills gaps

From the research I conducted on my career path, it was determined that there are various skills that are needed for one to become a financial analyst. In a typical day, a financial analyst will evaluate both the historical and current financial data of a company or a stock market, advise on the best investment that an individual or a company can make, examine and assess the company’s financial statement to establish its value, prepare the necessary reports and meet with potential investors or the existing investors to explain on various industry and company dynamics (Gupta and Hacamo 2018,p. 18).

Various skills are needed for such a complex job; such skills comprise of, organizational skills, critical thinking, analytic, financial skills, informed decision making and time management. So far, I felt like I have already begun the process of developing these skills, but there is a need for more training to develop these skills to a higher standard such that I would be able to fit in the job market. It is evident from the job description that there a lot of training that is needed for one to become a financial analyst, but I know that over time, I will horn my skills to reach to that point, and when I possess these skills, then I would have a higher probability of getting a job in comparison to my current skills. Figure 1, gives a detailed evaluation of my current skills. The scale used to gauge my skills was developed by England (2019).

Monitor and Audit Progress Towards Targets Using Appropriate Success Criteria

Of late I feel that I have been progressing towards achieving my targets over the past few months. Such progressions would not have been expected to come easy because of my past habits that did not allow for such developments, and therefore, it meant that I have to change my habits to realize my personal improvements. The recent changes in my learning and professional habits have helped me to gain some skills and knowledge that would have taken me a lot of months or probably years to master. The progression has given me the needed confidence both in terms of developing more skills and when pursuing my studies since I feel like I have become more aware and prepared myself for my career path, and I still have more time to perfect on these skills even more. Figure 1, gives a clear indication of my initial skills, before determining my career path, and at the same time, the whole process has helped me to gain extra knowledge. From the insights in figure 1, it is clear that I already have the needed skills up to some level, but definitely, the scale shows that there is still room for improvement. Figure 2, shows my skill development over the past months.

As is evident in figure 2, of late I have had a huge improvement, and can only hope for more improvements in the future. From this perspective, I would definitely conclude that my technical skills have improved the most as compared to other areas. The improvement has made me more comfortable using different financial tools and software, to a point where I can teach other people how to use them. If I can keep up with the same trend, then I expect that all these skills will be at level 4 by the time I am finishing my college training. For me to attain the maximum points, which is 5, I would need to have a degree in a business-related field, and also have enough professional experience in the industry. Attaining such achievement is a long-term process due to the duration taken in the university. Hopefully, after 5 years I would have been able to score the maximum points needed in this profession. If I will not have attained the maximum points after 5 years, then I hope that my skills and professional experience would be pointing towards that direction.

Evaluate own development of transferable business skills

After enrolling in a business school, I have acquired different transferable skills, while at the same time gaining more skills for studying business at more advanced levels. Some of the transferable business skills include;

Teamwork; In the learning process, I have come to appreciate the essence of teamwork in a business environment, since employees have to depend on each other to work effectively. I have come to appreciate this skill in school when some tasks were assigned to groups rather than individuals. The trend is expected to continue even in graduate schools, which would ensure that students help each other to attain the best results possible. Practically, teamwork cannot be read in books, but can only be taught through experience (Hutchinson et al. 2018). The surest way of gaining this skill is through a working environment, where one has to depend on other people to efficiently complete their job.

When I joined college, I was the only person from my former high school, which implied that everyone I met in school was a total stranger. At first, it seemed uncomfortable, which made me shy and unsocial. However, over the past years, I have made various friends and feel like I have developed to become a social person, which plays a huge role when working as a team, especially when in a team of people whom you never worked with before. Currently, I feel confident with my ability to work in a team and significantly contribute to the success of a team’s project.

Communication; this another important skill that I have gained over the years. Communication is also an important skill in business management. I first started developing my communication skills when I joined school. At school teachers would invite us to take part in various group discussions, and besides, I was an active member of the debate club. The discussion groups and the debate club, helped me to gain the necessary skills such as turn-taking, listening skills, and polite interruptions when another party is talking. I have also encountered various tasks in college that have enabled me to further horn my communication skills. I have come to learn that communication skills are not only important in the professional field but are an essential skill for everyone, even those who are not aspiring to join the labor market (Zhu., Cai, Buchtel, and Guan 2019). Currently, I feel like I have met various people who have helped me to improve my communication skills, by correcting and guiding me in most cases. I have also come to understand that some people are naturally born with good communication skills, which makes the better communicators than others, therefore, one should not judge the other person’s intelligence based on their communication skills as much as it is a necessary skill.

Problem Solving; this is a skill that I have learned both in life and in school. I have always had the ability to examine a problem, establish the options of solving it and picking the best. In school, I always excelled in problem-based subjects such as mathematics and business-based decisions among others. The skills will be beneficial in the future, since it will help me to solve complex work-related problems in a business, especially when dealing with financial issues. Unlike communication and teamwork that cannot be taught in class, problem-solving can gained through both education and experience. For me to improve my problem-solving skills I will need to enroll in some classes. For instance, a business class would definitely improve my knowledge on how to solve certain problems in business. At the same time enrolling in a critical thinking class will help me to improve my general problem-solving skills. Currently, I feel like I have developed my problem-solving abilities as stated earlier. However, in terms of business-related problem-solving techniques, I feel like I have only learned a bit of it, although interacting with people in a work environment has given me some of the needs techniques; this is due to the unplanned occurrences that one has to deal with, as they come.

Discuss methods of continuing professional development and training relevant to the career plan.

Induction

In most cases, induction training is always offered to new recruits in a company. Induction training can last for some hours, while some might last for a few days. Besides, training, it also facilitates the new employees to familiarize themselves with the work environment, their colleagues, and duties as well as settle down easily. Any employer and employee would always wish for a smooth start, and at the same time a good first-time impression, therefore the induction training facilitates such interactions. An effective induction program ought to be systematic so that it can cover various aspects of the company and the employee in the shortest time possible. Since inductions only take a short span, they are known to be less costly and exposes the employee to a learning environment, while handling the real work alongside the incumbent employees (Biron and Eshed 2017). Nevertheless, in some cases, companies might hire external consultants to undertake the training, which is expensive. At the same time, if the training process is not handled by a professional, it can confuse the new employee, which can eventually lead to poor outcomes.

Coaching

Coaching involves a one on one relationship between a knowledgeable person and trainee. Coaching has the potential of helping an individual to attain their career objectives. Apart from learning new skills from a professional, coaching also helps, the trainee to improve their current performances. The essence of coaching is that it is much efficient as compared to training people in groups, since the trainer focuses on the needs of the trainee, and can customize a program to suit the needs of particular training. Such a convenient environment can help one to learn much quicker (Kortney, Edwards, Swisher, and Chu 2019). The only problem with coaching is that the trainer might not have a supervisor at a higher rank, which implies that they cannot seek further advice on an issue, which can lead the trainee being misled on a certain issue.

Shadowing

Shadowing is also designed to help new employees to adapt to their work environment. It consists of a process where the new employee is assigned to professional from a certain field, to watch and benchmark what the professional does, and emulate the same when working alone. From shadowing, a new employee would acquire valuable knowledge and skills right away from the professional. On the bleak side of it is that the professional might fail to perform to their best capacity knowing that they are being monitored while working.

References

Biron, M. and Eshed, R., 2017. Gaps between actual and preferred career paths among professional employees: Implications for performance and burnout. Journal of Career Development, 44(3), pp.224-238.

England, L., 2019. TESOL Career Path Development: Creating Professional Success.

Gupta, N. and Hacamo, I., 2018. Superstar (and Entrepreneurial) Engineers in Finance Jobs. Kelley School of Business Research Paper, (18-18).

Hutchinson, N.A., Verma, D., Burke, P., Clifford, M., Giffin, R., Luna, S. and Partacz, M., 2018. Atlas Career Path Guidebook: Patterns and Common Practices in Systems Engineers' Development (No. SERC-2018-TR-101-C). Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken United States.

Karim, Z.A., Razak, A.N.A. and Nadzalan, A.M., 2018. Designing model of career path development for National Football Development Program (NFDP): directions, issues, challenges and sources of knowledge that influence and develop coaching expertise level. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(3), pp.542-550.

Kortney, B., Edwards, J.F., Swisher, M.N. and Chu, Y.J., 2019. College Student Career Barriers: Brief O* NET Exposure Changes CBI-R Scores. Heather Strine-Patterson, 5(1), p.10822.

Nguti, L.E.K., Osarenkhoe, A. and Kiraka, R.N., 2019. A Study of the Relationship between Social Cognitive Factors and Career Choice Satisfaction in the Technology Career Path: A Gendered Perspective. Global Business Review, p.0972150919840935.

Young, D.A., Aina, T. and Straker, T., 2018. The ASA Mentoring Program: A Path to Early Career Development. ASA Newsletter, 82(5), pp.50-51.

Zhu, F., Cai, Z., Buchtel, E.E. and Guan, Y., 2019. Career construction in social exchange: a dual-path model linking career adaptability to turnover intention. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 112, pp.282-293.

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