世纪商务英语unit 9.docVIP

Unit 9 职场 Background Knowledge I. Career Career is a term defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as an individual’s “course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)”. As of 2006, the word usually only pertains to one’s remunerative work (and sometimes also formal education). A career is traditionally seen as a course of successive situations that make up a persons worklife. One can have a sporting career or a musical career without being a professional athlete or musician, but most frequently career in the 20th century referenced the series of jobs or positions by which one earned ones money. It tended to look only at the past. As the idea of personal choice and self direction picks up in the 21st century, aided by the power of the Internet and the increased acceptance of people having multiple kinds of work, the idea of a career is shifting from a closed set of achievements, like a chronological résumé of past jobs, to a defined set of pursuits looking forward. In its broadest sense, career refers to an individual’s work and life roles over their lifespan. In the relatively static societies before modernism, many workers would often inherit or take up a single lifelong position (a place or role) in the workforce, and the concept of an unfolding career had little or no meaning. With the spread during the Enlightenment of the idea of progress and of the habits of individualist self-betterment, careers became possible, if not expected. II. Career Assessment Career Assessments are tests that come in a variety of forms and rely on both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Career Assessments can help individuals identify and better articulate their unique interests, values, and skills. Career counselors, executive coaches, career development centers, and outplacement companies often administer career assessments to help individuals focus their search on careers that closely match their unique personal profile. Career counseling advisors assess