Career Path
What is a career path?
A career path is a list of steps you can take in your professional life to progress into different or more advanced roles at work. A career path is made up of a series of jobs and experiences that help employees reach their ultimate career objectives and future goals.
Career paths provide a clear roadmap for progression and skill development. When employees actively shape their career pathway, both they and the employer benefit. This enhances engagement, morale, and organizational performance.
What are the different career paths?
The definition of a career path can be vertical or horizontal, depending on a person’s opportunities, preferences, and aspirations.
- Vertical career paths are good career path progression to upper-level positions, or movement to a lower one. Higher-level positions typically require experience in one of the preceding positions. Responsibility and time commitment generally increase with each level.
- Horizontal career paths are when an individual moves laterally along the same level. This can be at the same company, in a certain sector, or across various industries. This depends on how much the individual wants to train to develop new skills, or enrich their career with new experiences, and seek alternative career routes.
How do you choose a career path?
To choose a career path, an employee must consider their personality, career goals, and future plans. Here are three steps for HR professionals to consider when supporting an employee with making intentional, strategic choices for their career pathway:
Encourage them to reflect on their personality
What are their core values? What type of work brings them fulfillment? Do they enjoy specializing in one or two niche areas, or would they rather be a generalist? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Are they an introvert or an extrovert? What type of people do they enjoy working with? The way the employee answers these questions will determine the types of roles they should aim for in their career path.
Help them decide on their key career goals
Do they want to eventually become an executive, or will they be happier with a less demanding position? What job classification do they strive to have listed after their name on a business card? Is there a specific salary they want to earn (and in what time frame)? What's their preferred work schedule and location?
Knowing what goals the employee wants to achieve gives you direction as their supporter and something tangible to aim for.
Determine any future plans that must work with their career path
Are they willing to go back to school if needed? Are they determined to retire early? These can impact the route they take on their career path and even where they work, depending on the benefits on offer that support their plans.
Answering these questions will guide your employee toward or away from certain career paths that do or don't fit their personality, career goals, and plans.
What is “career pathing” and how is it different from creating a career path?
The biggest difference? “Career pathing” is employer-led, career paths are employee-driven. An organization maps out the employees’ career trajectory on the corporate ladder and considers what higher level positions they can get promoted to. This can also be called succession planning. For example, if an employer is at a managerial level in HR, the next level up would be an HR director.
Is career pathing the same as employee development?
No, career pathing isn't the same as employee development. Development focuses on skills, while a career path focuses on next steps. Skills cover elements of a role such as time management. Next steps can be actionable steps—like “advance to a senior role within a two-year timeframe.”