solved Question 1 Are career and life stages still relevant today?

Question 1
Are career and life stages still relevant today? Why or why not?  Explain the learning cycles as they relate to middle and late careers. Give an example to support your answer.

Discussion Expectations:
Initial response should be at least two (2) paragraphs in length.
Your initial responses are due by Wednesday at 11:59pm CT.
You are required to respond/give feedback to at least two (2) of your peers, which should add value, analysis or recommendations, as this is how we learn best (experiential learning).
Your follow-up responses are due by Sunday at 11:59pm CT.

Question 1
Describe three take-aways that you are leaving with this course; how will your new knowledge of careers and career management impact your future career? Are there any trends you see now or in the future that will impact the workplace that HR will have to deal with? (Give examples as necessary).

Question 1-Student 1(Abby)Are career and life stages still relevant today? Why or why not? Explain the learning cycles as they relate to middle and late careers. Give an example to support your answer.I can honestly say that career and life changes are still relevant today. Now is everyone in the same boat? Probably not but we all would like to grow one way or another whether it will be internally, externally, growing into a new/higher position or to grow into a new position, moving to another state, going back to school, or taking on bigger projects/responsibilities. Along with career and life changes, it will give one a view about life (home or work) when changes are made or chosen, we all look at how it will affect our future whether it has been with home life or work life. Per our text, Harrington and Hall (2007) made the statement “that career and life stages are still relevant to modern careers, but they have more complex interactions and overlays” (p. 180).To me this means that I need to consider various items that would affect my work/life at home as well as have a backup growth plan if something hinders my growth and development. I tend to always go back to my growth plan every so often to ensure I am staying on path or decide what I can hold off on or even jump ahead in my path. Or possibly take a different career path.I think when it comes to the stages, it depends on not only what stage of the career life they are in, but the stage/age cycle of their life. Again, this may not be the same for everyone.ExplorationThis could be considered one’s stage era such as their mid-twenties or a person enter their college life to the work environment. The person chooses their work preferences based on the directions shown by their parents, friends, family, teachers. At this stage, several expectations about the work are created that may be the fantasies, or unrealistic beliefs about the work, very much before entering the firmEstablishmentDuring this state, roughly around the age of 25, one it feels the work culture in his first job. Here, all the expectations and fantasies come to an end, and one must face the reality of life. It is considered the learning stage of a person because they need a guide or a mentor to teach them, so that they will learn,Mid-careerDuring the years 35 to 45 years, an individual is no longer considered to be a fresher and mistakes are taken seriously by management. The employee wants to take advantage of career improvement and look for the future career prospects while also managing a work-life balance due to children and their spouse.Late -career During the late career stage, one has probably reached the organizations position hierarchy and is a growth stagnation. At this stage the person becomes mentor to his colleagues and guide other through his experiences.DeclineThis is the last stage of career development. At this stage, a person gets a retirement from his work and commitments and step out of his work. It is very difficult for a person to leave the organization who are doing excellent even after their late career.In my career path, I would be in the late stage of establishment/the middle career person as I am striving to improve my career/development. I am going back to school to obtain a master’s in human resource management and human resource development to build my knowledge and skills. I wanted to take the change to widen my knowledge and use my skills and knowledge to be promoted from within the organization.

Question 1-student 2(Tanya)Are career and life stages still relevant today? Why or why not? Explain the learning cycles as they relate to middle and late careers. Give an example to support your answer.     Career and life stages are still relevant today, just don’t happen at the same times that they happened in the past. Many women in particular (me) have found themselves in the middle part of their life with a respectable list of accomplishments without a spouse or children to speak of. When my parents were my age, my brother and I were adults and out of the house. Only our youngest was still at home and was approaching her teenage years. This is not the case for me. I will be in my late career by the time my children are out of the nest, if I’m fortunate enough to have a family in the next few years.      As far as learning cycles are concerned, they are always relevant to the person who embraces a lifestyle of learning. My father taught us that as a chef it wasn’t enough for him to know how to make seafood gumbo, but to know how it is made at the restaurant he works at. I can walk into an organization with an understanding of planning, analyzing, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (PADDIE) as it relates to curriculum development, but knowing how the organization where I work does each stage is essential to being successful in THEIR organization. Through the learning cycles of exploration, trial, mastery, and exit from one position to the next inside or outside of the organization we can develop core competencies.     Our presence here at Webster means that we have embraced the concept of lifelong learning, adaptability, and flexibility needed to be successful regardless of the stage we are at in our life.
Question 2-Student 1 (Anthony)Describe three take-aways that you are leaving with this course; how will your new knowledge of careers and career management impact your future career? Are there any trends you see now or in the future that will impact the workplace that HR will have to deal with? (Give examples as necessary).This course has provided a number of take-aways, and I believe more will emerge as I progress though my career. One of the take-aways was learning how to assess myself and the associated work-life balance discussion. that topic shed new light on how I look at that topic from an employee perspective. A second take away is what I learned from many of the experiences shared by the other students in the course. The lessons they learned and shared definitely helped me see things from a variety of different perspectives. Probably the most important take-away is the variety of tools, templates, and surveys available to HR professionals as well as employees. As an example, I registered for and took the Campbell Interest and Skill Survey during the course to help with part of my project and I found it easy to use and informative even for someone nearing retirement. The results helped me reshape my career goals over the next several years.
Question 2-student 2-(Derrick)My favorite one is the work-life balance.  I have had to stop and smell the roses myself.  I was trying to put too much in and getting not much out.  Work life balance is really about feeling content. . . in who you are and the decisions that you’re making.  It begins with your mindset.  And it’s not something that you find.  Balance is created by YOU (through making tough choices). You have to be the one that wants to change and the one that wants to make the difference.  I have learned if you don’t slow down, something or someone will slow you do.  You don’t let the work work you, you work the work. I know that sounds crazy but it just means that you have to slow down, yes get the work done but don’t let it overwhelm you, take it slow and it will be done.  The other take away I have from the class is career planning.  I had to stop and look at myself and evaluate what do i want in my career.  What I do I want to achieve in life, what is is that I really want to do.  Therefore, after looking at this, I have begun to take the steps in my life to move forward nd do what is necessary for me to do what I have the passion for and that is to service children.  Last take-a-way that I have from this class is simple and did not come from a textbook, it came from life’s experiences.  Things and people in life are going to come and go.  Jobs are going to come and go, but what we must keep in mind is that we must do what makes us happy.  Driving a Mercedes to a job you love everyday is not being happy it just shows that you make enough money to afford it.  Do what is fulling to you.  Do what you heart desires for yourself.  Take the time and think about it, put your plans or paper, begin to work those plans and see what type of fulfillment you will have in life, you will understand that a happy you is all you  need.