Career
A career is traditionally seen as a course of successive situations that make up a person's worklife. One can have a sporting career or a musical career, but most frequently "career" in the 20th century referenced the series of jobs or positions by which one earned one's money. It tended to look only at the past.
As the idea of personal choice and self direction picks up in the 21st century, aided by the power of the Internet and the increased acceptance of people having multiple kinds of work, the idea of a career is shifting from a closed set of achievements, like a chronological resume of past jobs, to a defined set of pursuits looking forward.
In the relatively static societies before modernism, many workers would often inherit or take up a single lifelong position (a place or role) in the workforce, and the concept of an unfolding career had little or no meaning. With the spread during the Enlightenment of the idea of progress and of the habits of individualist self-betterment, careers became possible, if not expected.
Career counseling advisors assess people's interests, personality, values and skills, and also help them explore career options and research graduate and professional schools.
Career counseling provides one-on-one or group professional assistance in exploration and decision making tasks related to choosing a major/occupation, transitioning into the world of work or further professional training. The field is vast and includes career placement, career planning, learning strategies and student development.
By the late 20th century a plethora of choices (especially in the range of potential professions) and more widespread education had allowed it to become fashionable to plan (or design) a career: in this respect the careers of the career counsellor and of the career advisor have grown up.
For a pre-modernist "career" structure, compare cursus honorum.
See also
- Career development
- Career management
- Description of a Career
- [Career development tips]
- Peer pressure
- School counselor
References
- Bolles, Richard Nelson. What Color Is Your Parachute? ISBN 1580086152
- Lore, Nicholas. The Pathfinder ISBN 0-684-82399-3
- Jackson, Tom. http://www.careervictory.com/