1-In light of what you have learned about the current economy and the labor market, how has this changed your thinking about careers and employability of business graduates?
The current economy and labor market changed my thinking about careers and employability of business graduates. It has been revealed that the current business era is quite competitive and employers are looking to hire better people. With the perspective of learning, I think people are facing difficulties in getting jobs due to the huge gap between production and skill level. The module has helped me to understand the skill level and its evolvement with the passage of the time to meet the needs of different organizations. Normally, we study different concepts and theories in different subjects. However, it seems tough for us to convert these theories and concepts into practice. Thus, it is a big learning aspect for me. The management or employers a usually think that graduates are not ready for jobs after graduation. Obviously, their demand level has been shifted. I have changed my thinking regarding the employment, as I have to differentiate myself to get the job in organizations. Gaining good grades in different subjects is not enough, as we also have to meet the criteria of organizations. The most important thing is to accept this competition in the labor industry and prepare ourselves to contribute to the success of the economy (Barnett & Bradley, 2007).
2-Thinking of your own journey to your current situation (education, personal life, part-time jobs etc). Consider how many of the psychological theories of career development have been present/ influential in your own decisions?
In my journey to the current situation, the psychological theory of career development has created an impact on my decisions. In education or professional life, I have been integrated with the trait factor, the theory that depicts the match between personality and occupational traits. Interestingly, in my academic career, I have developed some personal traits, which are matched with the academic career. For instance, personally, I am a critical thinker, and during research, critical thinking crates the impact on the decision-making process. Similarly, when working in an organization, some personal traits such as respect, responsibility, honesty have helped me to develop the career resilience and adaptability. Due to the significant impact, I decided to carry these personal traits, which are helpful for me in the workplace. For Instance, this career development theory also helped me to have unexpected career offers. It seems the positive career shock. Thus, due to the trait factor theory, I have made many positive decisions. Psychologically, it is essential for me to manage the distracting emotion and creates the growth mindset. These traits are integrated with my career decisions. The career resilience and development are prominent factors in this modern era, and trait-factor theory is quite helpful in making some decisions (Colakoglu, 2011).
3-Thinking of your own journey to your current situation (education, personal life, part-time jobs etc). Consider how many of the sociological theories of career development have been present in your own decisions?
Social learning theory regarding the career development is in the limelight in my journey. It has been revealed that I intend to learn from other my both, my academic and professional career. I adopt some key traits and insights derived from other people in the society to make different decisions. In the educational institution, I like to observe attitudes, behavior, and outcomes of these behaviors. Interestingly, it seems the learning process for me, as I intended to adopt these aspects to make some key career decisions. For Instance, to develop myself in the organization, I like to adopt some key behavioral traits of senior people. It seems the learning habit, which helps me to make key decisions in the company. Even before starting the job, I enhanced my learning through observing possible traits and attitudes, which could help me to emerge in the organizational success. Through these social interactions, I have increased the self-efficacy. Thus, I have decided to determine some new career goals and keep learning from other people. Based on learning and experience, I can be in a better position to make some effective decisions (Taber & Blankemeyer, 2015).
4-When speaking to a member of your family, or a friend about their (see Sociological Career theory lecture slide 28). applying both the psychological and sociological influences in those decisions consider your change in thinking as a result of completing this activity
Having a conversation with my big brother is a wonderful experience for me. I have derived many insights regarding the career development process, and of course, I have also changed my thinking. For Instance, he worked as a volunteer on many projects to enhance the visibility of the learning and adapting. Adopting the democratic behavior is his key decisions, and it is due to the social influence. He worked with many managers and leaders, and he learned the democratic behavior to emerge in the company effectively. On the other hand, the psychological, the motivation has been observed as a big factor. The motivation increases the personal satisfaction, and it created the decision-making process. I have changed my thinking, as I have to integrate with sociological and psychological influences to contain the career development. When making the decisions regarding the career, it is necessary for my perceived different things from people and society to adopt a pertinent career trait. Interestingly, a conversation with the family member is also the depiction of the social learning for me. The advancement in the career can be enhanced through learning and development. Conversation with others helps to understand some key factors regarding the career developments, decisions, and growth (Seibert et al., 2016).
5-Evaluate skills sought by graduate employers and show how your own career planning has developed and changed in light of this understanding
Different, sought by graduate employers, are quite visible. It is a fact that there are two kinds of skills, which are to be adopted by employees. These are hard skills and soft skills. A relative to the career planning, I have to make a good combination of both, hard skills and soft skills. For Instance, regarding hard skills, I have to adopt any specific skills, which are pertinent to the specific work. On the other hand, I have to adopt or develop some soft skills, which are to be accepted into the organization. Interestingly, employers are usually in the best position to understand what employees of graduates are going to offer. Therefore, when adopting hard and soft skills, graduates must demonstrate the sharpness to get the attention of employers. I have changed my career plan; as instead of focusing only on hard skills that are pertinent to the specific file, I have to adopt some general skills such as critical thinking, communication problem solving, decision making and many other make the difference. Employers usually think that higher education experience enables soft skills that can meet different job requirements (Pearson & Ananthram, 2008).
6-Reflect on your listening and communication strategies in the interview and other recruitment situations and how this has changed in light of the Assessment Centre Activity
Listening and communication strategies in the interview and other recruitment situations changed in light of the assessment center activity. In an interview, it is necessary for me to perceive different things from an introduction and employee presentation. The effective listening in the introduction and employer presentation is the effective decision or trait to derive some insights. These insights are good for me to give answers in an interview process. In the light of assessment center activity, I have to depict my readiness to face structured or unstructured interview. In an interview, instead of being aggressive in offering different skills to the employer, I must show my assertiveness to offer some skills that are pertinent to the particular job. Interestingly, in the assessment center activity, I would like to contain the functional reduction communication strategy. I would have some limited communication goals to avoid several problems. Focusing more on the effective listening without any disruption than aggressive communication is the best strategy, and it looks the development in the light of this understanding. In the recruitment process, I must have to understand the company’s structure and culture through employer presentation and other exercises. I can make the interview process quite successful with the perception of the candidate.
7-What is networking and why does it matter? How are you mapping and extending your networks including online?
Developing the career network is necessary, as it is a key source of career resilience and adaptability. The career networking is a process of acquiring different sources to find the best places to get a job. It is a fact that networking matters in the career planning process, as meaningful integration with other can boost the resilience. The module has helped me to increase my communication skills to exist in a strong professional network. The psychologically resilient can be created through the professional network to face different types of shocks. It has been observed that the professional networking is a good process to make people bounce back from different, unexpected events. It helps to integrate with people and evolve with the passage of time. Mapping and extending my network, including several online platforms is essential for me to avoid different, unexpected events in the career development process. I am mapping my network through evaluating the existence of professionals from different industries. People with different opinions and thoughts are emerging online platform, and the most important thing for me is to have easy access to these professionals. I am also extending my network through integrating with the technology (Kuntz et al., 2017).
8-What are your values relating to work? What do you want from work? What kind of organization would you fit into?
Some behavioral strategies trigger my work values in an organization. Through some effective behavioral strategies, the job satisfaction and relationship with others can be enhanced. For Instance, I would like to create the best relationship with my boss at work. Also, undertaking some suitable training and development opportunities in the workplace is a good approach for me to depict good career growth and sustainability. With the perspective of the workplace, efficiency, honesty, productivity, and effective relationships with people are some core values, which are to be carried to develop the best career path. I want the most attractive and flexible working conditions in an organization that can help me to work effectively. I like to collaborate with different people in the workplace. Through flexible working conditions and collaborations, I can increase self-efficacy, which goes in favor of growth, both personal and organizational performance. I like to work in a manufacturing company. The most important thing for me is to integrate with the core values of the company and make some outputs quite predictable. Interestingly, the combination of hard and soft skills can help me to emerge strongly in the manufacturing company (Jackson et al., 2007).
9-In light of the changing nature of work, how will you prepare yourself and build your resilience to this changing world?
In light of the changing nature of work, I have to prepare myself to increase or build the resilience. Two prominent concepts adversity and vulnerability in the workplace are in the limelight, and to increase the resilience, I have to keep these elements in mind. For instance, when working in an organization, I can face stress or any tragic event. Accordingly, I must have come up with some key alternatives to get rid of these problems and enable the sustainability. For me, the goal of the resilience is the workplace sustainability, and it can be justified through preparation. I like to determine suitability or favorable outcomes in the workplace. Keeping things simple in the company can also boost the resilience, and it can also enhance the visibility of some predictable outcomes (Mallak & Yildiz, 2016). In different complex workplace situations, positive attributes must be developed to get things in the loop. Thus, determining the suitable outcomes for the company and depicting positive or and personality attributes are two key factors, which are visible in the preparation process. The workplace adversity and vulnerability can be encountered through these strategies. In an organization, I have to predict some unexpected events or uncertainties as well, as it is also a part of the effective preparation (Seibert et al., 2016).
10-Looking forward and using your learning what do you need to learn next? Where are the gaps in your current skills and experience and how do you plan to address these?
After learning these aspects, I am looking to reach the next level of the learning process. For instance, I want myself to be the manager of the company. I have to learn how to think strategically about the company to make different decisions. In this contemporary business era, business owners manage, and directors intend to improvise when making some strategies and decisions. Thus, at the initial phase of my career, the strategic planning is my next goal. Interestingly, I can redesign my career goals and paths along with some strategic consideration. The big gap regarding my current skills and experience is the versatility and adaptability. Instead of sticking to certain skills, and I have to develop or adopt some other skills, which are ultimately related to the different jobs. Being a management graduate, I have to increase my experience through knowing or adopting some technical skills. In a firm, the modern trend is the work delegation, and I can fulfill the expectation of the management through demonstrating the versatility of knowledge and skills. Obviously, I have to evolve regarding skill and experience, and it is a good decision for career development, personal growth, and sustainability (Colakoglu, 2011).
References
Barnett, B.R. & Bradley, L., 2007. The impact of organisational support for career development on career satisfaction. Career Development International, 12(7), pp.617-36.
Colakoglu, S.N., 2011. The impact of career boundarylessness on subjective career success: The role of career competencies, career autonomy, and career insecurity. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79(1), p.47.
Jackson, D., Firtko, A. & Edenborough, M., 2007. Personal resilience as a strategy for surviving and thriving in the face of workplace adversity: a literature review. Jam Review Paper, 60(1), pp.1-9.
Kuntz, J., Connell, P. & Näswall, K., 2017. Workplace resources and employee resilience: the role of regulatory profiles. Career Development International, 22(4), pp.419-35.
Mallak, L.A. & Yildiz, M., 2016. Developing a workplace resilience instrument. Work; Shannon, 54(2), pp.241-53.
Pearson, C. & Ananthram, S., 2008. Career Development, Job Satisfaction, and Career Commitment: Evidence from the Singaporean Hospitality Industry. Paradigm, 12(2), pp.12-28.
Seibert, S.E., Kraimer, M.L. & Heslin, P.A., 2016. Developing career resilience and adaptability. Organization Dynamics, 45(2016), pp.1-13.
Taber, B.J. & Blankemeyer, M., 2015. Future work self and career adaptability in the prediction of proactive career behaviors. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 86(1), p.20.
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