The Career Planning Process

The Career Planning ProcessThe Career Planning ProcessChoosing a career is a big deal. Its about so much mora than deciding what to do to make a living. When you think about the amount of time you will spend at work, it will become clear why this decision is such a big deal. Expect to be on the job approximately 71% of every year. Over your lifetime, this comes out to roughly 31 1/2 years out of the 45 years you will probably spend working, from the beginning of your career until retirement. As you can see, a substantial portion of your life will be spent pursuing your career so you certainly do not want to underestimate the importance of selecting a career that is a good fit for you. In making this personal decision there are a few key things to consider. To increase your chances of finding a satisfying career, it is suggested that you follow the four commonly used steps below Step 1. Self Assessment During this first step, you will use a variety of tools togather information abou t yourself. Learn about your Interests The things you enjoy doingWork-Related Values The ideas and beliefs that are important to you and guide your actionsPersonality Type Your social traits, motivations, strengths and weaknesses, and attitudesAptitudes A natural talent or an ability learned through training and educationPreferred Work Environments The type of workplaces you prefer. For example, indoors or outdoors, office or factory, and noisy or quietDevelopmental Needs Your cognitive abilities that have an impact on the type of training or education youcan complete and what kind of work you can do Realities Circumstances that may influence your ability to train for an occupation or work in it You will identify career interests that might be a good fit for you during the self assessment, but you will need more information before you can make a final decision. Step two will help you do that. Step 2. Career Exploration Career exploration focuses on learning abouttheoccupationsthat seem to be a good fit based on the results of your self assessment and any other professions that interest you. Use online and print resources to get a job description, learn about specific job duties, and gatherlabor market informationincludingmedian salariesandjob outlooks. (See also Employment Skills Listed by Job) After completing thispreliminary research, you can start eliminating professions that dont appeal to you and get more details about those that do. This is an ideal time to conductinformational interviewsand arrangejob shadowingopportunities. During an informational interview, you will ask people who work in an occupationthat interests you questions about their jobs. Job shadowing involves following someone around at work in order to learn more aboutwhat they do. Step 3. Match Finally its time to make a match During step three, you will decide which occupation is the best fit for you based on what you learned during steps one and two. Identify the occupation in whi ch you are most interested and one or two alternatives on which to fall back if, for any reason, you cant pursue your first choice.Give serious thought to how you will prepare to enter your chosen career, the costs associated with education and training, and whether you will face any barriers, which are the realities discussed during step one.Go back to step two if you find you need to explore your options further before making a decision. Once you have chosen a career, you can go on to step four, which will lead you toward your first job in your new career. Step 4. Action During this step, you willwrite a career action plan. It will serve as a guide to reaching your ultimate goal of getting a job in the career you deemed to be a good match during step three. Identify what long-term and short-termgoalsyou will have to reach to get to the ultimate one. departure investigating appropriate education and training programs, for example,colleges,graduate schools,orapprenticeship progr ams. Then start preparing for required entrance examinations or applying for admission. If you are ready to seek employment,developajob search strategy. Identify and learn aboutpotential employers.Write yourresumeandcover letters. Begin toprepare for job interviews. What Else You Should Know about Career Planning It is important to note that the career planning process never ends. At various points in your career, you may seek additional training or designations that can help you continue to pursue your goals. In some cases your career may take new turns or you may choose to redefine yourself and your goals. Whatever phase you may be at in your career, taking the time to plan will help to keep you focused and on a goal-oriented path. You can attempt to go through the career planning process on your own, or you can work with acareer development professionalwho will help facilitate your journey. Working with a mentor or career development professional can be a great way to better understand the work your chosen career involves and also to learn about new opportunities you may not have been aware of within your industry.

How to Source and Interview Information Technology Managers

How to Source and vorstellungsgesprch Information Technology ManagersHow to Source and Interview Information Technology ManagersHow to Source and Interview Information Technology Managers RossheimAre you looking tohire a information technology manager?These recruiter tips will help you source and interview the IT talent you need.How to Source Information Technology ManagersGiven their involvement in both management and technology, good candidates for IT manager may emerge from a broad array of corporate rolesIT managers at larger organizations are often willing to consider the right offer from smaller organizations, where they can expect to wield more powerRecruiting TipsWe find available candidates by sourcing through many channels we have our own database of almost 2 million professionals, and we use job boards, referrals from candidates and word of mouth, says John Sliger, recruiting director at Randstad Technologies.We check their resume to make sure theyve done what they say the yve done, and HR managers should check references, including from people the candidate has supervised, says Alex Benario, a managing director with search firm Ascendo Resources.How to Conduct the Information Technology Manager InterviewCandidates should be asked to talk their way through a number of complex technical and managerial scenariosA technologist should be called in to assess the candidates technical depthRecruiting TipsRecruiters can use a technical interviewing service like Derrico to assess a wide range of abilities of candidates for IT manager, says Tom Becker, vice president of recruiting for ManpowerGroup in North America. Or you can bring in someone in IT whos passionate about the company and have them conduct a technical interview.Assessing soft skills is about having a conversation, says Becker.More Resources Information Technology Manager Sample Job DescriptionHow toHire Information Technology Managers Job SkillsHow Much to Pay Information Technology ManagersCondu cting the Interview Why Soft Skills CountInterview Tips for In-Demand Skills

Maintainer

Maintainer14E Patriot Fire Control Enhanced Operator/MaintainerThe Patriot missile is a highly technical piece of equipment that requires an entire team of soldiers to operate. The ordnungsprinzip has a power plant, a communication relay group, a control station and launching station. The Patriot Fire Control Enhanced Operator is military occupational specialty (MOS) 14E, and it is parte of the Armys air defense artillery team. Duties of MOS 14E As part of the Patriot missile team, soldiers in MOS 14E have specific technical duties that are part of launching the missile system. They include initializing and operating the Patriots information and coordination center, its engagement control station, its radar set, and the antenna mast group. Part of the job involves maintaining and conducting preventive checks on the Patriots fire control section and related equipment, an obviously important part of the job dealing with delicate parts of the missile system. These soldiers also eval uate target data and then identify and engage targets. Theyll also perform operation and intelligence duties on the Patriots fire control section. MOS 14E also provides technical guidance to lower grade personnel. This is not an exhaustive list of the duties of MOS 14E, but this list provides insight into how complex and technical the various jobs involving the Patriot missile are.Soldiers in this role need to be able to focus for long periods of time on detailed parts and machinery so that the missile system is always in top working condition. Training for MOS 14E Job training for a Patriot fire control enhanced operator requires ten weeks of Basic Combat Training (otherwise known as boot camp) and 20 weeks of Advanced Individual Training (AIT) with on-the-job instruction. As with most Army jobs, part of the training period is spent in the classroom, but since this job will deal with missile systems, recruits for MOS 14E can expect to spend a good portion of their training in t he field, often under simulated combat conditions. The training takes place at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. Some of the skills youll learn while training for MOS 14E include Operating Patriot technology and rocket systemsCalculating targets manually and electronicallyArtillery tactics and battle strategy Qualifying for MOS 14E To be eligible for this job, a soldier needs to be able to qualify for a secret security clearance. This involves a background check, and some past criminal activity, especially drug-related offenses, may disqualify candidates from this clearance. Youll need a score of 104 in the mechanical maintenance (MM) area of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test, have normal color vorstellung (meaning you cant be color blind) and have to be a U.S. citizen to make the cut for MOS 14E. MOS 14E Similar Civilian Occupations Since youre dealing with Patriot missiles in this role, there is no civilian occupation that is directly equivalent to MO S 14E. However, the following civilian occupations make use of the skills developed through MOS 14E training and experience Electrical and electronics repairers for commercial and industrial equipmentFirst-line supervisors or managers of mechanics, installers, and repairers