Career Anchors

1. Career Anchors St. Joseph’s College Graduate Management Studies MGT 500 – Leadership & Managerial Development Slide show created by Diane Pfadenhauer , Esq., with Some additions by Dr. Coty Keller

2. Overview • Each person’s career is “anchored” by his/her self-image of his/her competencies, motives and values • During one’s career one may learn that his career anchor is out of line with his current opportunity in terms of challenges, opportunities and rewards. • Our career anchor is an understanding of what we are good at, want and value • Our anchor is the combination of our competence, motives and values that we would not give up if given a career choice that would not allow is to fulfill it.

3. Stages of a Career • Pre-career choosing of a field and educational preparation • Formalized training • Entry into the occupation • Learning, apprenticeship and socialization • Full use one’s talent (licensure, tenure, etc.) • Productive employment • Becoming a leader • Disengagement, retirement

4. The 8 Career Anchors Technical/Functional Competence • Are “turned on” is the exercise their talents and the satisfaction of knowing they are experts • Build a sense of identity around the content of their work • Preferred type of work – must be challenging to them and test their abilities and skill or it will become boring • Administrative and managerial work are tolerated as long as it enables them to get the job done • Rewards – typically want to be paid for their skill

5. The 8 Career Anchors General Managerial Competence • Management, per se, interests them • View specialization as a trap • Motivated by advancement up the corporate ladder, contributions to success of the organization, high income • Requires analytical, interpersonal/group and emotional competence • Work is valued based upon its importance to the success of the organization • Identity rests on having an organization to manage • Rewards – seek promotion, greater responsibility

6. The 8 Career Anchors Autonomy/Independence • Overriding need to do things their own way, at their own pace, against their own standards • Find organizational life to be restrictive, irrational and intrusive • Gravitate toward autonomous professions • Enjoys clearly defined goals, but not defined method of accomplishing them • Terrified of “Golden Handcuffs” • Promotion/Reward = more autonomy

7. The 8 Career Anchors Security/Stability • Organize one’s career so he/she feels safe and secure. • Seek jobs in organizations that provide tenure, avoid layoff, good retirement plans, etc. • Welcome the “Golden Handcuffs” • Give job/career responsibility to their employers and identify with their employers • Rewards = consistent and steady, seniority based

8. The 8 Career Anchors Entrepreneurial Creativity • Overriding need to do create a venture of their own = new organization, new products an services. • Career fulfillment is premised on creating a venture closely identified with her own efforts. • Will sacrifice autonomy and stability for this opportunity • Rewards = ownership, accumulation of wealth

9. The 8 Career Anchors Service/Dedication to a Cause • Focused more on values than talents or competence. Desire to improve the world in some way. • Helping professions. • Want work that lets them influence their employing organization in the direction of their values. • Rewards = external equity, fair pay

10. The 8 Career Anchors Pure Challenge • Prove over and over that they can conquer anything • Success is defined as overcoming impossible obstacles, solving the unsolvable, winning out over opponents. • Can be very competitive – “naval warrior” • Reward = constant opportunity for self-tests.

11. The 8 Career Anchors Lifestyle • Seeks balance between career and their total lifestyle. • Seek flexibility in their career choices • Prefer to work for organization with flexible attitude toward family and flexibility • Typically will not more geographically if it conflicts with lifestyle demands

12. Common Questions • Are there other anchors? • Generally everyone has a “true” anchor, but each person is unique. • No need to force yourself into one anchor • Important issue is to determine the one thing you would not give up • Can you have more than one career anchor? • Generally people have only one, but your particular career/position may allow you to operate in or fulfill other anchors

13. Career Anchor Thought Process

14. Common Questions • Do anchors change? • Generally anchors do not change • Major midlife career changes may be an attempt to actualize what the person’s career anchor was all along • Can one have more than one anchor? • No. Career anchor is defined as “the one thing a person would not give up if forced to make a choice.” • If no anchor emerges clearly for you, another possibility is that you have not had enough life experiences to develop priorities that determine how to make those choices. If this is you, go to page 25 of the Workbook for guidance.

15. What do do with Career Anchor information? Put it to good use Use it in life and report in your MGT 500 SMAC • Section 1: • How your Career Anchor affects your decisions, your direction and your development plan • How well your Anchor and job fit with each other • Roles/issues and action steps • Optional: plans for future career options • Appendix • Questionnaire scores • Your career anchor