Career Development

Proverbs 22:29 (NKJV)
²⁹ Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men.

A person without a commitment to personal development will never have reasonable career development. Let your development be discipline-driven and not envy-driven. If the only time you think or wish for development is when you see another person’s success, then you are likely to be envy-driven. Career development requires a lifelong discipline. 

Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners in 2012 defined career development noting that “Career Development is the lifelong process of managing learning, work, leisure, and transitions in order to move toward a personally determined and evolving preferred future.” It is a continuum of interactions between self-assessment, career awareness, goal setting, skill training and performing. Your personal growth and satisfaction on your job should determine your passion for development. You must be continually improving, changing for the better within and outside your organization. If you don’t change, you will be changed.

Carter Cast said, “We are now in the era of do-it-yourself career development,” so take a personal responsibility to develop yourself. Whatever you are doing in life, if you don’t have a library for it, you can never truly succeed. Invest in books, go for training, and don’t wait for your company to send you.

Note the following vital tips:

      1.      Love to learn and grow. Commit to a lifelong learning.

      2.      Love what you do or do what you love.

      3.      Prayerfully get a career mentor or coach.

      4.      Let money be your least motivation.

      5.      Have a vision of what God want to do with your career.

      6.      Develop a SMART plan.

      7.      Be strategic about your development plan.

      8.      Go for value and not title.

      9.      Learn mastery in something every day.

      10.  Invest part of your monthly income in self-development.

      11.  Do a constant self-evaluation.

      12.  Hate mediocrity and commit to excellence.

      13.  Hang around developing friends.

      14.  Have some rookies you are mentoring.

      15.  Be yourself, but be your best self.

Conclusion

            Always remember that you are on a mission to the world through the instrumentality of your career. It is your platform to serve God and fulfil your purpose in life. Therefore, it should be chosen carefully and pursued to the apogee so that you can be a great influence for God in this world. Friends, may the LORD clear every confusion in your path and give you grace to be the very best you can be for God in the name of Jesus. I celebrate you. See you at the top.

Adesina Abegunde.