In a conversation with a university professor today, I was struck by his comment that his high achieving students know what general field they want to go into (finance, engineering, nursing) but they actually have no clue what different career options are available in the fields of study they have chosen and they don’t have a clue what working in these fields would involve on a day-to-day basis. If this is the case, most of us, even the high achievers out there are making careers decisions based on hope and prayer, on what just sounds good, not actually on
Have you always been curious about how machines work? Do you take things a part and put them back together? Do you like to design things? Do you enjoy figuring out why things are broken and fixing them? If any of these describe you, then Mechanical Engineering may be the career field that would make you tick. What do you need to be a Mechanical Engineer? Education: At least a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering If you are a high school student, make sure you are focused on taking higher-level math and science classes. Be sure to take Calculus and Physics if available
The 2014 National Career Development Association Conference in Long Beach, CA was a tremendous experience. Here’s what I learned along with some thoughts on leadership actions for us all to consider: 1. Career Development in an Employee Engagement Strategy. I heard about how Boeing and GM are setting up systems (mainly through online tools) to facilitate employees to take ownership of their careers and for leaders to take ownership of facilitating career development discussions and planning with their employees as a part of performance management. I personally learned how true this lesson is through an experience a friend had before we
The HR world has been all a buzz with SHRM’s announcement of a switch to a competency-based certification. In an email to members, the SHRM CEO stated, “We believe a competency-based certification is the new standard for HR professionals around the globe. Our members have told us this; and we have listened.” Regardless of whether or not you agree or disagree with SHRM’s move, competency models are prevalent. The career development world has been competency-based through its Career Development Facilitator Training for quite some time. What is a competency? Good ole Wikipedia provides us with this definition: “A competency is
One of the reasons I love CDF training is because the competencies that the training emphasizes fit together so nicely. Not only that, but they also spur action through behaviors as any good competency model should do. An example of 2 CDF competencies in action Take these two competencies: “Helping Skills – Be proficient in the basic career facilitating process while including productive interpersonal relationships.” And “Program Management/Implementation – Understand career development programs and their implementation, and work as a liaison in collaborative relationships.” In the CDF training, you learn that helping skills includes being competent in helping others