God’s Plan for Your Career Development

God created work, career, and vocation. In society, we reflect God’s image and accomplish His purpose in the world through those avenues. Career and vocation counseling is about assisting individuals in achieving their desired career goals and developing a process that helps individuals understand and know themselves through the guide of career assessment tests.

As we change in and out of different careers, the changes should be directly interconnected to discovering our God-given talents. We cultivate and polish our skills into practical proficiencies for the glory of God and the benefit of others through various occupations and career development.

Benefits of taking time to focus on career development

Your job is God’s purpose.

Your career should not be based on such status symbols. But were created with a divine purpose to work. In Gen 2:15, we learn it was part of God’s plan to work. Remember that we serve God’s purpose when we work and do daily routines.

Career development that allows you to grow in Christ.

Try to avoid choosing a career that will not let you grow in Christ and hinder your joy of salvation and fellowship with Christ. Career Development will help you discover your skill set and talents. Commit it to the Lord in prayer, leading you to your desired career. God has pleasure in you and is as interested in your career development as yourself.

It is essential to remember that Career Development can shift depending on economic changes. Changing with the systems around us may lead us to continue revising our career choices. Racial and ethnic background, culture, local community, regional area, and extended family may impact career decisions and how we focus on our career development.

Our culture often shapes our expectations and values as they relate to various parts of our vocation and careers and how we develop. Counselors should be aware of these factors’ impact on career development and be prepared to help clients process them.

Career assessments

Career assessments are not a test and can be an excellent tool to help people learn about finding a career, and development within that career could be used to encourage learning. The assessment needs to account for interests or skills we have yet to acquire; employment and interest assessments have limitations like any assessment.

The results are based on valid input. Some assessment interest tests must consider circumstances, cultural differences, or socioeconomic barriers. As with any diagnosis, career and interest assessments have the potential to misdiagnose, which can cause frustration.

When analyzing the assessment results, it is essential to focus on the pattern of results, which reflects a person’s interests and abilities. The career assessment results are not set in stone. People’s interests and skills can change over time as they explore new areas and learn new things.

Therefore, the career assessment results should not be considered deterministic or set in stone. A person’s career assessment results may change dramatically throughout a lifetime, so it is a process we may want to complete several times throughout our lives.

Another perspective to remember in this process is God’s word and where it fits. However, the Bible does not tell us about specific career choices, but it does provide some principles about making career choices. Consistently putting God first eliminates most anxiety-producing decisions before they become crises.

They re-examined how relevant your current experience and skills are in your career. By re-examining, you may find new excitement and developed goals to lead to improvement and gain some additional confidence in the end; the self-awareness that helps you choose a career path in the first place is the same as what the tests/assessments used to generate job lists.

The word “career” refers to pursuing an activity as a lifework. It’s a vocation or a calling.  Career development is often understood to mean the work we do for a living or the career we pursue. Regardless of the nature of the work we do, if we are going to advance in our careers, we must pursue a strategy of appropriate preparation, strategic positioning, acceptable performance, and proper perspective.

Proper preparation is the first essential step for a successful career.  Abraham Lincoln said, “I want to live in such a way that when I am called, I am ready.” If you want to be a doctor, you must undergo many years of study in a medical school.  Every career path requires a certain level of appropriate preparation.

Of course, before you can prepare for a career, you must decide what you want to do. Career selection is not an event but a process.  And that process begins by first getting to know who you are. You need to know your abilities, interests, and values.

You can engage in this self-discovery process by seeking feedback from your school counselors, advisors, pastor, family, and other trusted friends. Ask them what they perceive to be your strengths and weaknesses. There are aptitude tests you can take that will give you some clues about careers in which you are likely to succeed.

Career positioning means putting yourself in a place where you are at a competitive advantage for your next career move. Each position you take must prepare you for your next assignment in your career path. God is at work in your life. Hold your ground and learn what you can in your current position while developing hard and soft skills. It may be the experience you need for your next career move.

Developing hard and soft skills.

A “hard skill” refers to those skills that are measurable and specific, such as learning how to weld, nursing accounting, creating blueprints, or learning how to drive a truck. “Soft skills,” including communication, leadership, or strategizing, could be more measurable.

Hard skills usually make it easier to predict their market value but also typically have a cap on how much money and impact a person can create with these soft skills. Soft skills can be challenging to find positions for, but they also have tremendous potential for more significant impact and revenue creation.

Hard skills are more predictable, so having something to fall back on is beneficial. Soft skills can be developed over time. If you only develop soft skills, you risk not finding a good fit, and it might be challenging to make the ideal amount of money you envisioned.\

Additionally, many careers value age and maturity when the job needs softer than hard skills. Therefore, it is wiser to start with hard skills and then, over time, develop the soft skills, which will simultaneously coincide better with job opportunities that will come later in life (leadership, management, strategizing, etc.).

No matter what job you hold or what profession you pursue, you need to demonstrate your competencies if you are going to advance in your career. Those called to the works should bring them a full measure of energy, diligence, and creativity. Yet our pursuit of excellence should come from a different motivation—our calling as Christians.

Conclusion

A fulfilling career can dramatically increase happiness, self-confidence, and productivity and improve a company’s performance. A career self-assessment is an essential tool that can help identify possible avenues on a career path for an employee and be the instrument that opens communication between the employee and their employer on how best to proceed.

When the manager works with his employee to find the career path most rewarding for them employee, they are setting the stage for a long-term productive partnership.

Taking control and appropriate action on your career development can mean the difference between feeling and staying stuck in your current career that does not fit you well and moving into more meaningful work toward what God calls you.  God uses your work to add value to the lives of others and to meet the needs of others. In our service to others, we are also serving Christ.

Please remember that your work matters to God. Keep your ears, eyes, and spirit open to God in the midst of your career development.