Personal Development
Career Development
You may still be not sure about the career path that you want to take. The choice of an
appropriate career is one of the many issues that an adolescent faces. The choice of career is a
prelude to entering the workforce. This will contribute to the potential quality of life that you
will have. This is a crucial decision since the courses that you will choose will allow you to have
opportunities that will pave the way for you success and a satisfying way of life.
According to Sigelman and Rider, there are two factors that you consider when
choosing a career. These are:
1. Environmental factors. The available opportunities and the demands of the market
constitute this factor. The varying trends in the environment, which includes the natural
changes in your surrounding areas, technological discoveries and advancement, and
commercial demands, make you more practical in choosing the course that you will take. There
are teenagers who do not only consider their interests alone when choosing a course. Rather,
they also look at the viability and the potential earning that they will make once they graduate
from college.
2. Personal factors. Young individuals also take into consideration their own strengths and
limitations when mapping out their career plans; their skills, socio-economic status, their
personal values and physical capabilities are strong indicators of what their potential career is.
Career: Its Definition and Elements
A career was described by Santos as having a job that suits the skills, the goals, and the
personality traits that a person has. It could be a profession that the adolescent has always
aspired for or it can be a means of earning an income. Thus, it is possible for an adolescent to
pursue his lifelong ambition of becoming a lawyer while it is also possible that an education
student will shift to information technology course because of the high salary it promises.
A Career Begins with a Plan
A successful career is built along several components. These components are:
1. Life goals. Life goals play a key role in determining the choice of career of an adolescent.
Nair defined them as conditions or states that an individual wants to achieve, avoid or sustain.
Life goals are created in a conscious manner, which means that they are easily remembered by
a person. They serve as aspirations that prompt an individual to take proper steps in achieving
them one by one. The attainment of life goals has a profound effect on the health and
happiness of a person; the successful completion of a goal contributes to happiness while the
failure to do so can lead to frustration.
2. Career planning. It entails the selection of appropriate steps necessary in meeting specific
career goals. The interests, skills and potential possessed by a person are matched to the
course that he or she would take. However, as Santos reiterated, factors like economic
conditions, personal limitations, and other external factors can affect the career path of a
young individual.
3. Career development. According to Garcia-Cox, graduating with a bachelor’s degree is not
the ultimate goal of career development. It includes joining the professional world, meeting the
demands of the work, enhancing the skills, and preparing for advancement or promotion.
Hansen in 1976 defined career development as a lifelong process dedicated to finding out and
processing information regarding one’s identity, the educational and occupational opportunities
and alternatives that are available, and also, the roles and lifestyles that one can adapt.
Types of Goals
There are many types of goals and this lesson will focus on two basic kinds:
1. Short-term goals. These goals do not involve a long period of time to achieve.
The time allotment for this type can range from several days to several months but
will not take more than a year. These goals are very precise. They can also serve as the
stepping stones in achieving the long-term goals.
2. Long-term goals. Goals that take a long period of time to accomplish belong under this
type. These goals typically require more than twelve months for completion and need careful
planning
Personal Factors Influencing Career Choices
Choosing a career is not just about going to college. Most of the time, there are many
considerations to think about before you can finally enroll in your preferred, and sometimes
not-so-preferred, course. In Lesson 1, the theories discussed the need to match the personal
characteristics of individuals with their potential profession to ensure a satisfying career
development. Let us try to explore more about these personal characteristics. Below are some
of the personal factors that play significant roles in your career path:
I. Personality
Personality as defined by Gazzingan et. al is the unique combination of emotions, thought
processes and patterns, and even the actions that people display across different situations
over time. It is more than just having a certain appearance, mind and disposition. Personality is
the totality of an individual; it makes him or her distinct from other people who also have their
own brand of identity
II. Motivation
Success is an alluring thought to anyone. It serves as an impetus to do more or adapt
methodologies that would help them meet their goals. Motivation is defined as the force that
pushes people to find or act in ways that would make them achieve their goals.
Types of Motivation
a. Intrinsic motivation is influenced by internal or intangible incentives like job satisfaction,
happiness, or contentment.
b. Extrinsic motivation is influenced by external factors like earning a huge amount of
money, buying an expensive car, or even simple pleasures like receiving a high grade.
Motivation gives a person a sense of direction. In the case of career planning, being motivated
pushes the individual to use his or her energy in seeking out activities and manifesting behavior
that would make his or her dream a reality.
III. Perceptions about the Ideal Job
Your idea of your ideal career helps you choose a profession that suits you. Perceptions are
usually formed based on what you read, hear or experience, or even from what influential
people in your life may have experienced. The impressions that are formed about the best job
that would provide for your needs and would make you motivated to go to work every day adds
to your career planning.
IV. Self-Perception
Self-perception. Is also known as self-concept. It is the belief that an individual makes about
himself. This encompasses the person’s views about his overall capabilities including his
competence, his physical appearance, and his unique qualities and other attributes. Life
experiences play a major role in the formation of a self-concept. The interaction of an individual
with different life situations or challenges and the outcomes of these events dictate how a
person would view himself. If a person always triumphs in his or her endeavors, a positive
self-concept is produced while constant defeat can result in having a negative self-perception
and low self-esteem.
Career Preferences and Personality
The Importance of Assessment
When you were still a child, you are not expected to have full understanding of your personality.
But it is a different story when it comes to adolescents. At this stage, you must have knowledge
of your nature, eccentricities, and other qualities that make you unique. The life goals that you
make, including your potential career, are your extensions. They are reflections of who or what
you are.
Measuring the Self: the Use of Psychological Tests
The advances in the field of Psychology have produced assessment tools that measure the
different dimensions of human behavior. Levels of intelligence, personality traits, reflex actions,
degree of aggression and even emotional states are just some of the variables that can be
measured. In this lesson, you will describe some assessment tools.
Psychological Assessment
The American Psychological Association defines personality assessment as “the administration,
scoring, and interpretation of empirically supported measures of personality traits.” Assessment
has several purposes wherein one involves the accurate prediction of the behavior in different
settings or situations, like in educational and organizational settings.
Psychometrics
It is a field in the study of human behavior that deals primarily with the creation of
measurements for behavior or psychological tests. It relies on theories to explain different
psychological concepts. These theories are used as guides in the actual development of a test.
The behavioral dimensions to be measured can include knowledge, personality traits, attitudes,
and abilities. The main concern of psychometrics is to find the individual differences among
people.
Psychological Tests
Anastasi defined psychological tests as standardized instruments used to measure samples
of behavior (or different dimensions of behavior). These tests are standardized because specific
and uniform instructions are given which means that the procedures do not change. Also,
psychological tests were tested to different groups of respondents in different areas or places
so that a convincing comparison between the examinee and the previous respondents can be
made.
Significance of Psychological Tests
Psychological tests have many uses. In the educational setting, they provide information about
the impact of teaching methodologies - whether they are adequate or if they can still be
improved. The specific people who handle and administer psychological tests are the school
psychologists, guidance counselors and psychometricians.
In business and organizational settings, psychological tests are used for the purposes of
recruitment or the process of choosing the job candidates to be hired, advancement or the
process of promoting individual employees, and evaluation of the overall status of the
recruitment division of the company and the employees.
Self-Assessment
The process of choosing an appropriate career is part of one’s life goals. To reach this goal,
imagine a flight of stairs that you have to climb in order to reach the top. Your interests may
represent the bottom part of the stairs. The succeeding steps symbolize the process of how a
career is developed.
The 16 Personality Types
Isabel Briggs Myers created the 16 personality types with the help of her mother. Katharine
Briggs, and the theories of Carl Jung.
The Myers-Briggs Personality Types Indicator (MBTI) has been used in identifying
which career to choose based on an individual’s personality.
Setting-up Goals and Career Planning
Every career begins with a plan. Determining your prospective profession takes several steps.
An adolescent can begin career planning by setting up short-term and long-term goals:
- Determine the activities that the adolescent enjoys. In doing so, the skills that are usually
shown while doing these activities can also be determined.
- Once he/she is aware of these activities and the skills, the adolescent must identify the
kind of quality of living that he/she wants to achieve after graduating from college. He or
she can consult his/her family and friends for insights.
-Researching about the pros and cons of the professions like salaries, work hours, and
job expectations are also relevant things to consider. Reading the newspaper articles and books,
watching significant television programs, and surfing the internet can be done to have a
thorough understanding of what each profession requires. Interviewing professionals is
also a valuable help.
- Find out his/her strengths and weaknesses by visiting the school’s counselor for a
session regarding job placement or taking up a simple online selfassessment test/s. The
guidance office can help the student by giving psychological tests, giving suggestions about the
universities where the student can enroll and also listing down the requirements for college
application. Last but not the least, discussing his qualities and how they match with the
profession in mind is one of the most important services that the counselor gives.
- Practice or develop significant abilities/skills that are needed in the workplace like
communication skills, punctuality, cooperation, risk-taking, problem-solving, analytical skills,
proficiency, planning and organization. These workplace attitudes and skills are mandatory in
all professions and must be cultivated even at a young age. Remember, practice makes perfect.
- Once the specific course is determined, it is now time to make the next step which is the
enrolment in the desired course. Once college begins, maintain a good set of grades and join
school organizations that foster development or enhancement of the strengths that the student
has.
Career planning can be a daunting task. However, one must just remember that the
establishment of goals and the commitment in pursuing these goals are the key ingredients in
attaining the dream profession aspired, and enjoying a high quality of living as well.
