Emerging need for career guidance across ones lifetime

Choosing ones career is one of the most important decisions individuals make. The decision has significant implications on one’s lifestyle, economic and social status, and also impacts one’s emotional welfare and life happiness. Career guidance and planning has thus always been relevant. However as there are significant changes to the traditional paradigm and the world of work is fast changing, we believe that it is becoming an essential life skill.

With increasing life spans, the concept of lifelong purposeful employment is the emerging not just as a new trend but also a necessity (Gratton & Scott, 2016). Individuals are also pursuing multiple vocations (some estimates put it upto five to six different ones) in their lifetime and increasingly taking up free lance work (gigs). This is being called as the new career paradigm where more and more individuals are looking for work that aligns to their interests and values and is, in essence, more meaningful and fulfilling.

Research also suggests that there has been a move to Protean and boundary less careers. In simple terms Protean implies that the individual (and not the organization) has to be responsible for the career and one has to continuously predict what the job market needs. Boundary less refers to the concept where individuals work across multiple organizations (e.g. a gig worker), in less hierarchical organizations and are not bound by geographical borders.

Given the above trends, and accentuated by the fast changing world of work ( thanks to the fourth industrial revolution ), the need for continuous learning is also increasing by leaps and bounds. Thus in this new age where the individual takes the responsibility of his/her skilling and re-skilling needs, the need for career guidance and planning is becoming extremely important. In fact, we put forward, that it is emerging as an essential life skill to develop and master across different stages of our life the most important being

Career Guidance after 8th, 10th and 12th class

Subject, Stream and Course selection, addressed through our Career Spark solution

Career Guidance during graduation & post graduation

Specialization, Industry and career path selection, addressed through our Career Ignite solution

Career Guidance for working professionals

Career path, Re-skilling & role suitability selection, addressed through our Career Energize solution

So what is career guidance and planning? In simple strategic planning terms, one has to think through his/her strengths, weaknesses (internal assessment), opportunities, threats (environmental scan) and devise actionable plans. In the new paradigm the same is required more often and with agility to mitigate risks and threats and leverage on the opportunities. Typical approach follows a six step process and we will discuss the same in later blogs on career planning model.

In the next blog we look at career decision making research and the emerging need for its internationalization

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References

  • Gratton, L., & Scott, A. (2016). The 100-year life: Living and working in an age of longevity. Bloomsbury Publishing.