CREATE A REALISTIC and ACHIEVABLE CAREER PATH
Building a Career might not be straight forward; but Anyone can do it
It is a mistake to think that getting their “dream” job or “career” is simply a matter of choosing and doing the right course; then everything will fall into place. This is a simplistic message, that gets pushed all too often by colleges, parents and others.
Success can be far more complicated
Learn How to Plan a Career
It is important to understand the place of education in the whole career development process.
- Education does not alone make a person capable of doing the work.
- Education does provide an ability to understand the work; but to get good at doing the work, a person needs time to think about and practice applying work in different contexts, and in doing so they eventually become capable of doing the job.
One should never assume that a student will go from being incapable to being capable by just completing a course. The real world is not so simple.
Understand the Work, then Discover the Context, and finally Add some Experience.
You may well make mistakes as you develop experience; but if you have a good foundation beforehand, you may make fewer mistakes and learn faster from your mistakes. You are likely to be better at the job sooner this way.
If you understand how the world of employment really works; you have a huge advantage – you won’t waste time & money doing things that simply won’t help you; your risk of failure will decrease and your likelihood of success will increase.
A career is a bit like walking along a windy path that you have never been on before.
You can’t see the end when you start; and it’s impossible to be fully aware of what is around the next turn even; but the only way to reach the end is to keep moving forward, no matter what the experience is along the way.
We all know that a career begins with learning something about the industry or discipline you are entering. At that starting point, most people will anticipate an “end point” to their journey, where they have a “dream” job, own a business, have become an expert, or are receiving employment rewards they have always aspired to, whether that be job satisfaction, financial rewards, happiness, security or something else.
A Career Path Might Look Like This
- Imagine a curvy line - At one end is you, beginning your journey; and at the other end is you achieving your goal.
- To traverse that curvy path may involve less than a couple of years, or more than a couple of decades.
- No matter how long it takes though, there will always be a range of different stages that need to be moved though.
STAGE 1.
The first stage is always to learn the fundamentals through both formal and informal study.
That may happen by doing a foundation course, but there are lots of other ways people learn those fundamentals -for example, hobbies, informal learning (reading, watching educational TV, hobbies), voluntary work, internship, apprenticeship, etc. For some this stage may take years (eg. studying a diploma or degree) and for others it may happen much faster (a steep learning curve in a new job).
STAGE 2.
The second stage is developing an awareness of options to move forward. Seeing the possibilities realistically for your future, will only be possible after you have a firm grasp on the fundamentals.
STAGE 3.
The third stage is gaining experience, -expanding your ability to apply knowledge in an expanding variety of contexts. Through experience your perception of what is possible expands, your skills (physical and mental) sharpen; you get faster and better at doing things.
STAGE 4.
The fourth stage is professional development – further learning (through more advanced courses, training, informal learning and experience), broadens and deepens your capacity to do the job, and your awareness to see and find career possibilities. For many, if not most people; this stage may take them off on tangents in directions they may not have anticipated.
Talk to us
We have a wide selection of courses offering professional training and development. These range from 100 hour introductory courses to Advanced Certificates and Diplomas. These high quality courses are available to start at any time and are studied by distance learning - whether online or by eLearning (USB memory stick). Our highly experienced and knowledgeable horticulture tutors provide students with personal feedback on their assignments as they work through their course, and are on hand to provide guidance and support whilst students are studying.
If you have any questions or would like to know more, please phone us on (UK) 01384 442752 (or, outside UK - +44 (0) 1384 442752 or use our FREE COURSE COUNSELLING SERVICE to connect with our horticulture tutors.
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