Diana and Jack

Case Study 1

Over the past few decades there has been a shift in workforce characteristics. Factors such as equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, legislations, and a rise in females as role models in the corporate world have opened new challenges in the management of careers as the number of dual career couples have increased. Increased work demands and working hours can cause conflicts, over load, and stress (Kundu, Phogat, Datta, & Gahlawat, 2016). Career management can assist dual career couples with finding the right career paths for them and a balance of family and reaching set goals. The usefulness of career management can be demonstrated in the case of Diana and Jack.

Diana and Jack have both experienced successful milestones in their careers. Jack started his career with Weller Steel in 1982, after graduating from the University of Michigan as a junior engineer. He worked his way up the ranks in the company taking an interest in sales where he created sales innovation within Weller and got promoted to a team leadership role and eventually became the vice president of the industrial business unit after spending thirty years with the company. Diana also had many successful milestones in her career but her career path is different than her husband Jacks. Diana graduated from Yale and then attended Law school only for a short while after realizing that Law school was her dads dream and not one of her own. She took a job as a teacher and later began working at a small brokerage firm which inspired her to go back and obtain a Masters leading to her employment at Weller Steel. Diana landed a job as senior sales manager where she experienced great success leading her to the position of President of Wellers branch Ztart in 2001. With both Jack and Diana dedicating themselves to successful careers family time was scarce. Jack was based out of an office in a different town and Diana’s new position required even more travel then before. The only time they had together was on their sailing trips. Jack soon realized that it was time for him to make a choice in his career Diana just experienced a promotion and he was stagnant. Diana was in charge of 650 employees and made 750,000 a year with a bonus between one and two million where Jack managed only 70 employees and made a fraction of Diana earning 250,000 a year with a bonus between 250,000 and 500,000. Jack had narrowed down his next move to three choices. Should he continue in his position and try to support his wife, should he look for employment outside of Weller, or should he speak to his boss about a generous pension and devote his time to supporting her and other activities that he enjoyed (University of Navarra, 2004).

Individuals are continuously having to manage their careers. Jack is in a situation where he must make an effective career decision. Fortunately for Jack there is a frame work that will help him manage his career effectively. According to Levinsons eras of development Jack is in the mid-career transition period in the stages of career development. Once a person has reached their forties they have experienced enough in life to access progress towards goals (Greenhaus, Callanan, & Godshalk, 2010). Jack has successfully climbed the ladder with his company and is now taking time to reaffirm or modify his career choices to fit his current lifestyle needs. To effectively manage his career jack needs to have a deep knowledge of himself and his environment. He also needs to develop realistic conceptual and operational goals and then develop and implement appropriate career strategies while getting continues feedback. (Greenhaus, Callanan, & Godshalk, 2010). Informal self-exploration would help Jack in his career decision. He could create a 24 hour diary to get a better look at his day to day activities, create a lifestyle collage to see the lifestyle he wants to lead, also an analysis of his peak life experiences would help. When making his career choice Jack needs to create short-term and long-term goals. When creating his goals Jack needs to make sure that his goals are in line with what he wants and that they do not exclude total lifestyle.