Career development

We are in a new era of career development. It is no longer a manager's or a HR's responsibility to develop their employees. It is up to us to develop our career globally, with our skills and preferences in mind.
We have the power to choose our own career development path. In order to do this we must constantly re-evaluate our skills and preferences. Self assessment and people evaluations are the first steps in the career development process. These assessments will help to identify where we stand, and based on our goals, point out the gaps that need to be filled in order to achieve our goals.

We have to realize that sometimes our self perception is not sufficient. The information may be biased because we always want to think higher of ourselves. Only by reaching out to people that we know such as friends or colleagues, will we be able see the truth: mainly, what we actually do well and where we need to improve.
Career development is the total constellation of psychological, sociological, educational, physical, economic, and chance factors that combine to influence the nature and significance of work in the total lifespan of any given individual". (A Policy Statement of the National Career Development Association Board of Directors (Adopted March 16, 1993; revised 2003)) In most instances, career development is reviewed within the person's work place; however, on a larger scale it shows how the person grows their career, from their perspective, related to the work environment as a whole. Our high-speed technology and availability of quick long distance travel has taken career development out of the local scale and placed it in on a global scale. There are now opportunities that are available around the globe to better fit a person's skills and experience, as well as a person's desire to perform certain jobs that appeal to their interests, values and personal preferences. The link between self-assessment and career-development is apparent, knowing your strengths and weaknesses will ensure a better overall performance level and a more satisfied feeling of accomplishment.