“charting an effective course for success”

CHARTING AN EFFECTIVE COURSE

FOR SUCCESS

About your instructor

Alex Harrington, GCDFGlobal Career Development Facilitator

National Career Development Association, NCDA

Center for Credentialing & Education, CCE

CBP safeguards America's borders by protecting the public

from dangerous people and materials, while enabling trade

and travel.

The Federal Career Connection program was created in 2011 by volunteers to

provide facilitator-led workshops to equip job seekers with the right mix of

information and resources to enhance their federal job search.

Federal Career Connection Workshop Series• “Charting an Effective Course for

Success”Know your bearing

• “Planning and Navigating your Career

into Public Service”Know your terrain

• “Targeting Federal Jobs”Know your target

• “Writing a Competitive Federal

Government RésuméKnow your brand

FURTHER READING

This presentation is designed to encourage ownership and responsibility in managing your career and helping you accomplish what you want to accomplish by showing how to:

learn and understand the importance of career development and management; and

introduce how to plan your vocational pathway toward fulfillment and success.

Introduction

Gain awareness of many contributing factors that create a

highly competitive work environment

Learn the importance to develop and implement your life and

career goals

Understand the importance of a well-developed career plan

Introduce the SABRE Vocational Framework© and how it can

help chart a pathway toward life and career success

Course Objectives

Federal government hiring trends and the competitive

work environment

Importance of establishing your life and career goals

Value of a career management plan

The SABRE Vocational Framework©

Course Agenda

Federal government hiring trends and the competitive

work environment

FedScope

“Information serves the mind. Knowledge serves

the will.” (Dick Bolles, “The Career Counselor’s Handbook”, 2007)

47.3

AVERAGE AGE FOR NON-SEASONAL FULL-TIME PERMANENT EMPLOYEES

AVERAGE YEARS OF LENGTH OF SERVICE FOR FULL-TIME PERMANENT EMPLOYEES

13.9

72%

FULL-TIME PERMANENTS COVERED UNDER CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT (EXCLUDING HIRES SINCE JANUARY 1984) ARE ELIGIBLE TO RETIRE

RE

TIR

EM

EN

T

25%

THOSE EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE VETERANS PREFERENCE (4.44% ARE VIETNAM ERA VETERANS)

VETERANS

56.5% MEN

43.5% WOMEN

HIRING AND SEPARATION TRENDS

FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Accessions 322,969 305,926 260,829 218,543 185,279 204,570

Separations 215,730 231,197 251,395 241,699 229,107 222,090

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

Th

ou

san

ds

Axis Title

BETWEEN FISCAL YEARS 2012-14, ON AVERAGE, SEPARATIONS HAVE OUTPACED HIRING BY

14.6%

PERCENT DECREASE IN NEW HIRES SINCE 2009

46.4%

2013 FEDERAL JOB LOSSES

70,000

TOP 10 OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS FOR NEW

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

26.9%

12.8%

6.5%

5.6%

4.7%

4.4%

4.4%

4.0%

4.0%

3.7%

MEDICAL,DENTAL AND

PUBLIC HEALTH

ADMINISTRATION,OPERATIONS ANDGENERAL MGMT.

OTHEROCCUPATIONS

SOCIAL SCIENCESAND PSYCHOLOGY

ENGINEERING ANDARCHITECTURE

ACCOUNTINGAND BUDGET

INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY

BUSINESS ANDCOMMERCE

INVESTIGATIONAND INSPECTION

LEGAL ANDCLAIMS SERVICES

EDUCATION LEVEL

Importance of establishing your life and

career goals

“…if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit every

time!” (Bob Kelleher, “Employee Engagement for Dummies”, 2014)

Henry Wilson (1873-1875)18th Vice President of the United States

“During the eleven years of hard service on

the farm, he had become rich in manly

thought and aims. Every moment of

leisure, and many hours at night, when he

ought to have been in bed, he devoted to

reading and study. At 21, he had read

nearly a thousand volumes, including all

the numbers of the North American Review

published at that time.” (William M. Thayer,

“Gaining Favor with God and Man”, 1893)

Inform effective decision making

for your life and work transitions

Equip you to face major changes

during entry, middle, and encore

work transitions

Give insight and understanding of

who you are (Knowing Thyself)

Assess and reassess your life and

career situations

Instill a sense of ownership and

responsibility, thus erases ‘victim-

hood’ mindset

Help invent and/or reinvent your

personal brand

Illuminate how your past

experiences support your career

pursuits (Transition Cohere)

It’s important to develop and implement life and career goals

because they ...

Value of a career management plan

“Gone are the days when a company would dictate your career path. Now, with

employers more focused on their business plans than on employees’ career plans, career development is another item all

workers need to have on their to-do lists.”(John Rossheim, Senior Contributing Writer, “Take Charge of Your Own Career Planning”, Monster.com)

James A. Garfield (1831-1881)20th President of the United States

“To a young man [or woman] who has in

[him or her] the magnificent possibilities of

life, it is not fitting that [you] should be

permanently commanded, [you] should be

a commander. You must not continue to be

the employed, you must be an employer.

You must be promoted from the ranks to

the command … Do not, I beseech you,

enter upon any business which does not

require and compel constant intellectual

growth”.

Helps you meet your career goals

Helps you with decision-making

Helps you use accurate, current and unbiased career

information

Helps you focus on, and master academic, occupational

and universal employability skills

The Benefits of a Career Management Plan

Henry W. Longfellow

(1807-1882)American poet and educator

“The heights by great men reached

and kept were not attained by sudden

flight, but they, while their companions

slept, were toiling upward in the night”.

Personal Strategy for Your Career Managing your career is 100% your responsibility, and

you need to act accordingly

Incorporate short- to long-term goals in your life

Be wary of conventional wisdom

Have faith that, although justice may not prevail at any

given point in time, it should generally prevail over time

Self-

Exploration

Knowing Thyself

Life & Work Values

Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivators in You

Favorite Transferable Skills & Knowledge (Core Competencies)

What Others Say About You

Career & Vocational Tests

Personal Strategy for Your Career

Meaningful Career & Life

Assess

Workforce & Hiring trends

Know the Job Terrain

Occupational Alternatives

Experience & Educational Requirements

Information Interviews

Volunteer, Job Shadowing & Internships

Finding & Landing Your Dream Career

Professional Associations & Community Groups

Academics & Vocational Training

Certifications & Credentials

Career Mentors & Job Advisors

Experimental Employment


Reanimate

Inventing / Reinventing Your Personal Brand

Integrated Job Search Approach

Continuous Networking

Best Résumé Formats

Interviewing & Negotiating


Endure

Maintaining Your Personal Career Plan

Continuous Skill Development & Personal Growth

Keep in the Know of Changing Employment Trends,

Societal Needs, & Economic Conditions

Keep in the Know of Current & Unbiased Career

Information

Endure

Workshop Summary Gained better understanding of contributing factors in

the work environment

Learned the importance of life and career goals

Gained better appreciation of a career plan

Learned that you must take systematic steps to establish

a career path