Career Plan
Introduction
Career planning refers to the strategy and arrangements that a person can use to determine the career goals and the right path concerning future endeavors that one can follow (Couch, Ross, & Vavrek, 2018). They are plans that are set to achieve certain goals. The process of career planning consists of different activities that must be clearly observed to make it a success. Different people get a lot of challenges when choosing a career plan. The important of career plan cannot be overemphasized. Having a career plan is one of the essential things everyone must have. Having the correct career planning prevent you from a lot of negative things (Adha, Ariyanti, & Maisyaroh, 2020). Such things that can be prevented by the right career plan include stress, anxiety, and depression and also prevent one from changing jobs.
Case Study
Michael is a 50 years old gentleman from the town of Moffett. He grew up and got his primary and secondary education in the same city. After completing his secondary education, he moved to the city of New York to further his studies. He pursued a degree in Bachelor of Science in Statistics. He graduated from the New York University. Immediately after his college education, he was employed at the office of city statistics center in the home town. He worked in the office for five years and moved into another city, Chicago city where he was employed as a chief accountant in one of the largest organizations in the area. Here, he did not even complete 3 years. After 2 and a half years, he handed a resignation letter siting the core reasons that the job is not favoring him since he stays away from his family. He returned back to the homeland town of Moffett where he started his own business.
Michael decided to enter the career counselling because he greatly failed in identifying the most suitable career option he can follow. The act of changing work place frequently made him come up with this decision. Right now, he does not even own a business since the business he was once owning did not complete even 5 years. Before opting to become a businessman, he was invited to an interview of a national statistics officer where he attended but he did not get the job. The interviewers asked him if he got any experience and he clearly stated that he has an experience of not less than fifteen years. What shocked them most is Michael’s ability of saying that all the jobs he was having did not march what he wanted. He reported feeling of unsatisfied with the previous jobs. Though he was earning a lot of salary, he decided to quit these jobs in search of what he thinks his happiness lies. He mentioned some reasons that led him quit the jobs other than being unsatisfied. Some of these reasons Michael stated include being in difficult terms with both the organizations management and his fellow workmates. Being always reporting late to the work.
He also noted being unhappy with the environment he was working and the structures he is in. He reported experiencing anxiety and depression especially when dealing with difficult things that he cannot accomplish at the specified time. He was a slow learner in a way that he was always lagging behind in terms of completion of assigned tasks within a specified time duration. His hobbies were cooking, photography, travelling and reading novels. While in high school, Michael wanted to be photographer but his dad emphasizes him to anything else apart from a photographer saying that photographers do not earn big. At the time he entered the career counselling, he said that he and his wife divorced long time ago and she left all the four children with him. He indicated the feeling of still being in love with his wife though the wife told him she cannot come back to him. These four children are giving Michael a lot of challenges since one of them is still seven years old and she always insist about the whereabout of her mother. Michael’s father and mother were both prominent people.
Career plan
- Exploration
Career counseling with Michael needs a lot of activities. It needs modern day methods of solving problems. It needs an integrated approach of career counseling. More counselors have recently used and advocated for the use of integrated models (Adha, Ariyanti, & Maisyaroh, 2020). I would first engage Michael in good decision making. I would tell him to sit down and rethink about his future. He should think about what career he wants to do. Since he was forced by his father to pursue statistics, he should now think about the career he wants to do it which is the best for him. Using the New York career plan, he should first forget all the things that happened to him and choose what is good. New York plan clearly explain that the only way of correcting a wrong career path is to start afresh.
- Insights
There are a lot of things I am going to use to understand the strengths and weaknesses of Michael. Before doing anything, I will first tell him to tell me his weaknesses and strengths. I will tell him to clearly identify five things that like doing. This will enable me coming up with the knowledge of identifying the type of person I am associating with. Knowing someone’s strengths helps in categorizing the person. It gives the overview of the kind of courses the person fits in. The Gottfredson’s theory of circumscription and compromise will apply (Arnoux et al. 2018). I will understand the career options that are remaining and are favoring the client through the method of elimination. Here, I will use different theories to understand Michael’s career decision making. I will also tell him to write down all the challenges he faced when employed. This will enable me come up with the things that are challenging Michael hence working on them to make sure they are all eliminated and Michael get the right career that he likes with the environment that suit him best.
- Action
There are a lot of things that I am planning to do to make sure Michael’s problem is solved. The very first thing I am going to do is to ask Michael explain his career plan after doing all of the above. Here, I am expecting him to tell me the right career plan we have just discussed. He should tell me the things he learnt from my guidance. I will assist Michael gaining skills that will help him acquire informational interviews with people that are working with. I would assist him get the right place of employment that he likes. I will help him build good relationship with the organization’s management. I will present career imagery to Michael that will facilitate the transition to the action stage and would help Michael explore his vocational options in the job market. I would also present him with the basics and guidelines that are necessary for identifying and getting the right career choice. I will also teach Michael all the best job searching skills. It will prevent him from employed in uncomfortable environment. Lastly, I will advice Michael not worry about anything concerning the career plan since the only way of ensuring a career plan is by following the counselors advises hence, he is at the right place.
Conclusion
Having said all of the above, it is clearly seen that career plan is one of the best things one must have. Since it prevents a lot of negative things from happening such as stress, anxiety and depression, it is good to make sure all the people are observing the right ways of ensuring the right career plan. In the case of Michael, he is undergoing a lot of challenges. From being jobless, unable to settle in an organization and having difficult time with fellow workers and the management at large. Only if Michael had followed the right path, he could have prevented these things from happening. Though, I encourage the correct career plan, there are ways that can be followed to solve a wrong career plan as explained somewhere above. Poor job search is a great problem that interrelates with poor career plan. Therefore, to avoid all these problems, one must must have the right career plan. It is essential to all the people who want to excel in their careers.
References
Adha, M. A., Ariyanti, N. S., & Maisyaroh, I. A. (2020). The Level of Student Career Center Management and Future Career Planning of Students Universities Negeri Malang: A Descriptive Analysis. Retrieved: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maulana-Adha/publication/347198671_The_Level_of_Student_Career_Center_Management_and_Future_Career_Planning_of_Students_Universitas_Negeri_Malang_A_Descriptive_Analysis/links/5ff2061da6fdccdcb82950b7/The-Level-of-Student-Career-Center-Management-and-Future-Career-Planning-of-Students-Universitas-Negeri-Malang-A-Descriptive-Analysis.pdf
Couch, K. A., Ross, M. B., & Vavrek, J. (2018). Career pathways and integrated instruction: A national program review of I-BEST Implementations. Journal of Labor Research, 39(1), 99-125. Retrieved: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12122-017-9251-x
Arnoux-Nicolas, C., Sovet, L., Lhotellier, L., Baatouche, N., Bernaud, J. L., Lepez, S., & de la Faye, B. (2018). Meaning-Centered Career Intervention for College Students. In New perspectives on career counseling and guidance in Europe (pp. 133-146). Springer, Cham. Retrieved: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-61476-2_9
