Career development
Career development is the ongoing process of building skills, making work-related choices, and pursuing goals across a working life.
Career planning: The process of setting work-related goals and deciding how to pursue them. It turns broad development aims into choices about direction and next steps.
Career anchor: A pattern of values, motives, and abilities that shapes a person’s preferred career choices. Career anchors help explain which kinds of work and advancement feel worthwhile.
Individual development plan: A structured plan linking a person’s development goals to learning activities and milestones. It converts career aims into specific development steps, often within an organization.
Career management: The process of directing and coordinating career choices and development activities. It emphasizes deliberate management of a career, while development also includes learning and change over time.
Career counseling: Professional guidance that helps people explore occupations, make career decisions, and address work-related concerns. Counselors support decisions at transitions or when goals and options are unclear.
Self-efficacy: A person’s belief in their ability to organize and perform actions needed for a task. Belief in one’s capacity affects which career challenges seem attainable.
Career lattice: A career model that includes lateral and diagonal moves as well as upward advancement. It broadens progression beyond the conventional climb up a hierarchy.
Human resource management: The organizational function responsible for managing employment, workforce practices, and employee relations. It provides the institutional setting for many employer-led development programs.
Goal setting: The process of defining desired outcomes and specifying actions for achieving them. Concrete goals give career plans direction and criteria for progress.
Career adaptability: Resources for handling career tasks, transitions, and disruptions. Adaptability helps people respond when plans or labor-market conditions change.