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University Technical and Related Staff
“Career Planning”
A reality check
2008
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Contents
Guidebook Exercises: Synopsis 1
‘Career Planning’: A Reality Check 2
Introduction: A personal perspective 2
Exercise: Thinking about career options 3
So, what’s stopping you? 4
Exercise : Will I jump, or be pushed? 5
Career Change: Your Decision 6
Career Change: External Factors 7
Career Change: To consider the outcome of change 9
Questions for Managers of Technical Services 9
Exercise: Career Planning, The fundamentals 9
Thinking about your strengths 9
Exercise: What am I looking for? 9
Skills Analysis: Thinking in detail 9
Waddle we do now, exercise? 9
Training and Development Options 9
Career Planning Assistant 9
Career planning: essentials 9
Career planning: Points to avoid 9
Exercise: What next; the real test! 9
Appendix 1: Resource List ix
Useful Websites ix
Appendix 2: Career Management in Context ix
Career Management: Issues and Key Questions ix
Further points for consideration ix
Appendix 3: Example of Role Profile ix
Manager of Technical Services and Resources Role Profile ix
The Author’s Career at a Glance ix
Author’s Note
This guidebook has been made freely available to used and distributed by trainers, HR and managers of technical resources throughout UK universities. Universities and/or Staff Development Units may opt to contribute an optional donation based on their assessment of its usefulness. I stress that this is not conditional. I remain committed to encouraging a culture of career development among university technical and related staff. Therefore I hope that this guidebook will serve as a useful asset towards that end.
Ken Bromfield MBE Chartered FCIPD,
Email: Telephone: 0208 748 8231
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Petra Dodd for her advice and notes. Her CP course was also an invaluable source of ideas.
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Guidebook Exercises: Synopsis
All of the exercises are designed to help you to examine your current work roles and to plan the next stage in your career whether it is promotion to a more senior job, or changing your career path altogether. Most can be attempted individually -Marked (I). Some, however, are best tackled by working in groups, Marked (G), in the context of a seminar, forum or conference of up to 100 people.
Notes / Pg No(I)
(G) / Thinking about career options
This starter exercise invites you to consider a wide range of potential career moves. The examples are based on reported case histories of technical staff who have moved upwards and onwards. / 3
(I)
(G) / Will I jump, or be pushed?
There are many internal and external factors that may influence career direction. Careful assessment of those issues may well provide you with a powerful incentive to actively engage in Career Planning. / 5
(I)
(G) / Questions for Managers of Technical Services
The purpose is to explore the extent to which the Managers of Technical Services see their role in the Training &Development function, and how this translates into involving them with their staff in the career planning process. To what extent is this an essential strategic approach to leadership? / 9
(I) / Career Planning, The fundamentals
This is a standard method entailing detailed preparation for career planning and change. / 9
(I) / What am I looking for?
This is where you create a clear picture as to what will really give you job satisfaction. You will weigh up the significance of your preferred environment and lifestyle. You may use this analysis to help you to decide whether or not to proceed with a specific career move. / 9
(I) / Skills Analysis: Thinking in detail
To prepare successfully for a specific job or career change, you will need a clear understanding about the competencies that will enable you to proceed successfully. This exercise will enable you to reflect about the competences that underpin the roles within your job description. / 9
(G) / Waddle we do now?
Completing a training course or event may be useless unless there is a subsequent opportunity to practice and build on what has been taught. Sometimes this vital step needs some lateral thinking! / 9
(I) / Career Planning Assistant
How do you know that you are on the right track regarding career planning? This exercise enables you to focus on positive examples whilst being aware of negative pitfalls. / 9
(I) / What next; the real test!
This is by far the most important exercise in the guidebook. Whether you are carrying out the exercises on your own, or taking part in a seminar, forum or conference, unless you follow through, you may well have been wasting your time. The exercise provides a framework for this important step. / 9
‘Career Planning’: A Reality Check
Introduction: A personal perspective
A working life spanning well over 45 years was bound to have a bearing on my approach to leading Career Planning (CP) events for university technical staff (See Author’s Career at a Glance, appendices, page ix). To me it would be unrealistic to confine the issues to the traditional CP linear approach. Generally speaking, this focuses on career objectives, whilst excluding the consequences of external pressures and major organisational change. Of course, objectives are important for anyone with career ambition. However, in my experience, external influences can render irrelevant the best laid career plans. It is highly likely that they will dictate the content of our day to day work, or might even raise the spectre of job insecurity. For example, institutional and departmental mergers can present occupational risks as well as opportunities. This was frequently the case at King’s College London where I worked. I am sure that this has been so for many universities in the recent past, and can be anticipated with reasonable certainty.
The very nature of many technicians’ jobs means that we often see ourselves as specialists, sometimes within very narrow fields. Should a doubt arise over our job security, we may have misgivings as to whether we are equipped to compete for employment prospects outside our area of expertise. It follows that we may ask; Are events beyond my control? What support can I count on, to enable me to be better prepared for emerging opportunities? How can such contingency planning benefit me, or for that matter, the university?
This guidebook is addressed directly to you to be used in conjunction with a conference or forum involving committed participating technical staff. As such, it should serve as a useful springboard. It will provide optional ideas and concepts that will get you actively involved in CP. As a professional trainer, I commend practical exercises. These are designed to give you an appetite for exploring your professional future. It is by no means a complete insight. You should look at the references and further reading listed in appendix 1. nb if you want to pursue PDP, explore the HEaTED links.
Your career momentum may well depend on what you are prepared to learn and do so as to support your aspirations. Can you plan your career? How can you plan when everything seems to be so uncertain? How can you be sure what you want to do; surely this will change according to circumstances? . Your initiative will determine the outcome to these important questions. So, you will notice that there is a strong flavour of ‘do-it-yourself’ included in this guidebook.
You should start with the premise that conscious planning will be the first step in a process to take you from ambition to reality. The clearer you are about what you want from your career, the more likely you are to prepare a plan and to achieve objectives. The more you are aware of what is going on around you, locally in your organisation or in the external employment situation, the better equipped you will be to be able to spot and seize opportunities as they come up.
You may not achieve your precise planned objectives.. Your long term aims will almost certainly change. The key point that I would want to explore during a CP forum, is how a holistic vision of cause and effect will enable you to gain the experience and skills that will help you to pursue your career objectives. The effort is not only worthwhile, it is also enjoyable. The notes and exercises in this guidebook are designed to help you on your way in your chosen technical field or beyond.
Exercise: Thinking about career options
Introduction
The purpose of this basic exercise is to encourage you to think about the potential direction of your career and to consider some of the key issues that affect progress. It is not meant to identify personal career objectives in precise terms. Furthermore, in a seminar or conference setting, it is important to note that the outcomes of the exercise will depend on the composition of, experience and input from, the cohort of participants. It will also be influenced by the introduction and technique of the facilitator.
Technicians successfully negotiate careers that move along a ‘traditional’ linear path from, say, trainee technician to chief technician/ departmental superintendent, or towards a professional field such as NMR/ EM experimental officers or research specialists. This is sketched out in the centre column of the schematic diagram. This process is often carried out using a system of reassessment of job content/ role, or recruitment to vacant posts. It should be noted that, junior posts are often filled with graduates who carry out teaching or research duties, often a combination of both. School leaver trainee appointments are relatively rare.
In recent years, recruitment into the more senior roles such as technical resources manager or departmental superintendent has not necessarily been supplied via technical grades. The people responsible for their selection weigh the advantage of well grounded scientific and technical experience against imported business and senior management expertise. This may signal a more flexible, not to say challenging, approach to promotion and recruitment in universities. The formal situation within universities is outlined in Appendix 2: Career Management in Context (page ix). In practice this makes a strong case for more regular movement across career categories; ie from the centre, towards the outer columns in the diagram.
A 2008 technical staff careers conference at Manchester University cited examples of technicians migrating into careers within the Higher Education sector shown in the left hand column. Other contributors outlined their career paths outside HE, including the private sector. These were grounded in their experience gained as university technical staff. Examples are shown in the right hand column. This demonstrates that technical staff can and do compete for jobs across a wide range of career options.
So, what’s stopping you?
This exercise can be used for a forum for up to 100 participants. It starts with the premise that they have already contemplated a job change or promotion.
The exercise starts a brief overview of the roles listed in each column. This can be lead by the facilitator, or be delegated to participants or the forum organisers. Some jobholders from external enterprises can be invited to briefly describe their experience in migrating from their time in post as university technicians to their current job. This session is followed by a question and answer session during which roles that are of significant interest to the audience can be identified. This should take up to 40 minutes.
Individuals are invited to write down, within 10 minutes, one or two preferred career path options, and two reasons why they might be attracted to their choice. At this point simple answers are required. Example reasons for choice of career target could include:-
1) “I think it is well within my capability to achieve this aim“
2) “It enables me to move on, and make good use of my experience ”
3) “This is the sort of role that I believe I would enjoy”
4) “The role would bring me into contact with more people”
5) ”I would earn more money”
6) ”I want to continue using the technical and scientific skills that I use now, and to develop them in a more challenging role”
7) ”At some stage I want to be in a position to manage a team”
Participants organise themselves into pairs or small groups to discuss what each person has written down. The pair or group will brainstorm the question “What is stopping me from going ahead with my preferred career path option(s).right now”. Remember, in a brainstorming session, anything goes! For example, if the answer is ‘I have no idea’, it is as valid as a highly structured answer that pinpoints detailed relevant challenges and opportunities.
Depending on size of the participating audience and the time available, the groups can aggregate
(4-8) or deal with the response in a plenary session, to identify common themes along the following lines:-
1. The roles that have been chosen for career objectives
2. The reasons for the various choices
3. Potential barriers that might inhibit or block the perceived career path
The ensuing discussion in a plenary session should be used to identify a number of themes that will serve to lay the foundation to the exercise “Will I jump or be pushed” on page 5.
Exercise : Will I jump, or be pushed?
Introduction
The purpose of this exercise is to explore a range of issues that could affect your career, and to consider the extent to which you will be able to take steps to shape the outcome to your advantage. The end result may be used to provide a basis of reflection and discussion.
The exercise has been divided into three parts, each consisting of three related scenarios. You may find it helpful to try out the set tasks on your own. However they are most usefully undertaken with 25-80 participants, involving individual, group and plenary activities.
Participants should prepare themselves by exploring information and materials that are already widely available, (see page ix – appendix 1). This offers advice and practical steps to help you to plan your career and place this in the context of structured career management[1]. However the extent to which these resources are used may well depend on whether individuals recognise a pressing need to pursue a plan for their career. As you go through the exercises, you may become more aware of the significance of becoming further involved in thinking about, or taking active steps to promote your future.