Employability Skills, Career Theory, and Reflective Career Planning

This essay reflects on the integration of employability skills, career development theory, and personal experiences in the context of career planning and management. It begins by highlighting the importance of problem-solving, teamwork, and cross-cultural competency in enhancing employability. It then discusses five major career development theories: Trait Factor theory, Holland’s psychological theory, Bandura’s Self-efficacy theory, Super’s Developmental theory, and Gottfredson’s Theory of Circumscription and Compromise. The author reflects on how completing an Employability Development Profile and learning about these theories has stimulated their career interest and helped them identify competency areas and areas for further development. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for adaptability, backup plans, and continuous monitoring of job advertisements for successful career development.

Running Head: CAREER PLANNING
Career theory, planning, and management
Name of the Student
Name of University
Author Note

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CAREER PLANNING
Task 2
Problem solving skills contribute of productive outcomes where the wrong one is fixed
out Moon (2013). Problem solving skills will help in contingency situations, strategic planning,
continuous process improvement and research and finding the best solution to the problem Buck,
Sobiechowska and Winter (2013). High problem-solving skill adds value to the job role. It also
shows the practicability and out of the box thinking process of the individual.
Team work contributes to productive work outcomes and healthier work relationships. It
lessens the degree of conflict in workplace. Team work increase diversified work profiling at
workplace help in increasing cross-cultural competency. So better team support will increase
higher employability.
Cross cultural competency is another major attribute that attracts employability.
Diversified work environment increases work cohesion and results in higher performance in
workplace. Diversified workforce will increase individual morality in employees and this will
boost up ethical support in workplaces. Discrimination related to sex, religion, gender, race and
culture will lessen and employability will increase considerably. More openness to adopt new
things and new people adds extra point to the employability index Patton and McMahon (2014).
Task 3
The 5 major Career development theories include,
 Trait factor theory that ties personal traits to occupations. Parson’s vocational counselling
paradigm help in matching personal traits with job requirements.

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CAREER PLANNING
 Holland’s psychological theory that combines personality type with work environment
Patton and McMahon (2014). The theory provides a simplified typology framework on
career choices and environment for better career counselling.
 Bandura’s Self-efficacy theory of decision making-situational or sociological. Individual
self is responsible for controlling their feelings, thoughts and actions. Self-efficacy
beliefs play crucial role in shaping the human behavior.
 Super’s Developmental theory of self-concept and life span. Self-concept is a complex
interaction of a number of factors like personal experiences, physical growth, mental
maturity, and environmental stimulations. and
 Gottfredson’s Theory of Circumscription and Compromise Blustein (2013). The main
idea of this theory is that the process of career choice requires a high level of cognitive
proficiency.
Recently I completed my EDP, read about the employability skill scenarios and also learnt
the major five career development theories. All these activities stimulated my career interest
further and has helped me in reflecting upon my competency areas and areas that need further
development. I could relate how personality traits are connected to life stages and how they both
help in sound career decision making. I could easily understand that no single theory is enough
to support career development but a holistic approach of all the theories help in best career
choices. Super’s development theory of self-concept and life span help in relating myself to the
outer world and trait’s factor theory helped me in matching my personal traits to my job role. But
things might not work as supposed to and for that practicability and adaptability is necessary to
be successful. What I have learnt from all these is that I need to have back up plans for my career
development as well and need to consult job advertisements regularly.

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CAREER PLANNING
REFERENCES
Blustein, D., 2013. The psychology of working: A new perspective for career development,
counseling, and public policy. Routledge.
Buck, A., Sobiechowska, P. and Winter, R., 2013. Professional experience and the investigative
imagination: The art of reflective writing. Routledge.
Moon, J.A., 2013. A handbook of reflective and experiential learning: Theory and practice.
Routledge.
Patton, W. and McMahon, M., 2014. Career development and systems theory: Connecting
theory and practice (Vol. 2). Springer.