Career Planning: Never Too Early Essay

That path might change throughout the course of one's life in response to personal changes, or external stimuli such as social, political, or economic pressure.

The key is, it does not matter exactly which career a person chooses, so long as that career reflects their developmental stage and their core beliefs about self. Since the psycho-social developmental theories of Erikson coincide with the career development research by Stone and Gottfredson, it remains important to approach the topic of career development from a more general psycho-social perspective. Internal factors such as personality and taste are combined with external factors like economic need and social pressure.

Ethics related to career path development also need to be taken into consideration, which is why developmental theories of career planning are important. Erikson described how a person needs to achieve a sense of personal identity in terms of political beliefs, gender, and religion. However, Erikson person also needs to discover a sense of meaning with regards to relationships with others.A career is different from a job on precisely that point; with a job, a person is simply carrying out a task. With a career, a person is helping others, leading others, healing others, guiding or counseling others, or teaching others. Career planning and development are ongoing processes in a person's life.

References

"Erik Erikson's 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development." Retrieved online: http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/erik/sum.html

Meindl, S. (n.d.). Circumscription and Compromise - Gottfredson's Theory of Career Development. Retrieved online: http://ezinearticles.com/?Circumscription-and-Compromise-Gottfredsons-Theory-of-Career-Development&id=3197774

Super, D.E. (1953). A theory of vocational development. American Psychologist, Vol 8(5), May 1953, 185-190

Super, D.E. & Brown, D.B. (1990). A life span, life-space approach to career development. Career choice and development: Applying contemporary theories to practice (2nd ed.). The Jossey-Bass management series and the Jossey-Bass social and behavioral science series., (pp. 197-261). San Francisco, CA, U.S.: Jossey-Bass, xxi, 624 pp......