Let's talk about career development.

What is career development?

Career development is the process of growing in your career and begins during the childhood period and extends across the life course (Porfeli & Lee, 2012). Career development is not just about how you grow and climb the ladder once you are already in your job. The career development process that starts before you even enter the workplace, let alone start studying towards your chosen field.

When it comes to the career development process there are 4 steps that should be kept in consideration.

1. Self-knowledge
2. Exploration
3. Decision-making
4. Action

These steps will help you develop in your career at an early stage which may be most beneficial.

Looking at Self-knowledge, one may think that “I know myself, what I like and dislike” but it is more than that. Self-knowledge is about knowing your personality, interests, skills, and values. Then putting all these together to find out what career would be best suited for you. One can gain self-knowledge by completing an array of psychometric tests that will help you to clearly figure out your self-knowledge.

The next step after self-knowledge would be Exploration. Once you know where your interests lie and what you may be good at, this is the time to start exploring different majors and careers. During the exploration phase you may learn about a whole lot of qualifications and careers that you did not know exist. Looking at the vast array of careers will open your mind and from the self-exploration you will be able to look at and explore the different careers that may be best suited for you. This will also show you what different types of careers one can have from studying a certain major. Not all majors have to end in the traditional careers that have been assigned to them.

The third step would be decision-making. After exploring all your options, it is now time to decide. One would need to gather information about what they would want to do and where they would want to do it. It is vital to get all the information possible so that one can make an informed decision. While getting information it is also important to think about alternatives. Having an alternative is a good idea in case your first choice does not work the way you want. An alternative will keep you motivated to keep going. Another thing one should do is weigh the pros and cons for all the options. This will help you to make an informed decision.

All these steps lead up to taking Action. At this stage you can take action of your major or career by setting S.M.A.R.T goals.

Specific- set specific goals, and not just broad ones.

Measurable- how is success measured in your books? Set goals that you can measure, like ‘how much’ or ‘how many’.

Attainable- set goals that are attainable and realistic, or it will remain a dream.

Realistic- your goal should align with your values and other goals; you may need to reassess your goal.

Time-based- it’s important to set deadlines for achieving your goals, especially different steps, and milestones.