HANDOUT 4 CAREER

• Career can be defined as a pattern of work experience comprising the entire life span of a person and which is general seen with regard to a number of phases or stages reflection the transition from one stage of life to the next (Weinert, 2001).
• Similarly, Collin (1998) explains that the term career arises from the interaction of individuals with organizations and society. This interaction, as Savickas (2009) proposes, is no longer merely just a sequence of jobs but is now a story that working people build about themselves.
• Goal setting is a major component of the career planning process. The definition of goal setting is the process of identifying something an individual want to accomplish and establish measurable goals and

  timeframes. In this context, the goals can be career objectives, for example a particular occupation with specific salary bracket earnings.
• Goal setting is a technique pioneered by Locke (1968) which affects

  performance in four ways:

  1. focuses attention

  2. mobilizes effort in proportion to the demands of the task

  3. enhances persistence

  4. encourages the individual to develop strategies for achieving their goals