Work in the New Economy

E. Career Paths And Occupational Mobility

If a curious person took the time to question people about their careers, he or she might hear a story like this one: "Yes, I very much enjoy my position as a journalist writing for several newspaper chains. I used to be a high school English teacher." Or: "My career as a small business consultant grew from my love of training employees in my chain of donut shops. Before that I was a police officer."

Moving from one occupation to another is called occupational mobility. There can be several routes within a certain family of occupations, or a move can be made outside the group as in the police officer to the retail store operator. Occupational mobility can be complex. "The mobility patterns across and among different jobs or occupations describe a giant lattice of interrelated movements rather than single, isolated, and clear-cut tracks" (Herr, nd. p. 3).

Counsellors will want their clients to be aware of the possibilities for mobility with any occupational choice. Clients, therefore, need to be guided to research more than the type of program to study. They also need to be guided to find out - from libraries, associations and interviews with people who work in the field - what family of jobs may be open to them. For instance, a person interested in a public relations program should know about the diversity of job titles and the variety of organizations where public relations positions may be found.

Examples of Variety of Titles for Public Relations Employees Because it is such a broad field, only a sampling of titles are listed here. Descriptive words that accompany these titles, however, may provide clues as to whether the position is entry level or requires several years of experience. Basically, there are three tiers, from junior through senior levels. Tier 1: Assistant, co-ordinator, officer Tier 2: Consultant, advisor, specialist, supervisor Tier 3: Director, manager, vice-president Any of the above descriptions may accompany the following. Public Relations (i.e. public relations assistant, public relations consultant, public relations manager Communications Marketing Corporate communications Marketing communications Internal/employee communications Community relations Customer relations Donor relations Government relations Industry relations Investor relations Media relations Member relations Public affairs Corporate sponsorship Development Promotion Social marketing Special events Web site development The above may be departments or sections of departments, and they can be found in a variety of sectors, including government, corporations, agencies, not-for-profit organizations (charities, associations, unions, health care institutions, arts organizations, churches, political offices, schools, etc.), sports clubs, and communication service providers (clipping services, media list providers, software vendors, Web sites, etc.) Titles that often stand alone include: Publicist - mass media, film and television production company, publisher, record label, sports club Information officer - government, association Editor - internal communications department in government, corporations and not-for-profit organizations Writer - communications and marketing departments in corporations and associations Researcher - communication services providers Legislative assistant - politician Account executive - mass media, agency Project manager - association, government The public relations field also offers entrepreneurial opportunities for experienced practitioners who want to run their own consulting firms. Courtesy of Claudine Wilson, Co-ordinator, Public Relations Program, Algonquin College, June, 2000.

Intra-occupational Mobility

Mobility within the same family of occupations is called intra-occupational mobility and occurs when there is a similarity of job duties that can be applied in a new industry or to a job with a different focus. An example of movement within a family of occupations is provided in the textbox A Career Path in Public Relations.

Knowledge of a variety of job titles encompassed in an occupational family can extend the career planning exploration. In one case, a high school student was able to broaden her options considerably. Interested in graphic design, she originally imagined her choices to be in an advertising agency or graphic design studio. From chats with a few graduates and human resource people, she learned how graphic designers work their way into these areas: architectural rendering, editorial illustration, book or album cover design, credit panels for videos and TV, medical illustration and animated computer graphics.

Inter-occupational Mobility

What about movement outside an occupational family group? How easy is it? It depends on the fields and the transferable skills that were developed in the first part of the career. Moving outside the occupational family is called inter-occupational mobility.

The police officer who opened a chain of donut shops had developed excellent communication skills as a law enforcement officer. He also had superior record-keeping skills, accurate and detailed, which translated into bookkeeping and stock-keeping abilities. He had developed the capacity to read people and predict their needs - a helpful skill in serving customers and getting the most out of staff. Investigative skills transferred to the capability to search out the best supply sources.

All these competencies plus other social and economic factors enabled this man to make a successful inter-occupational transition.

The trucking industry can provide a good example of how occupational mobility affects and is affected by the economy and the supply of workers in a field. A 1990 report on the Canadian Trucking Industry pointed out that certain occupations are a source of drivers: construction workers, heavy equipment operators and material handling workers. It also explained that the economic base of a region usually provides a source for truckers: loggers in British Columbia; product fabrication, assembly and repair workers in Ontario, agriculture workers in the Prairies. (Steering Committee of the Canadian Trucking Industry, 1990, p. 48).

A Career Path in Public Relations Position 1 A new worker may enter the labour force as a public relations/marketing assistant at a not-for-profit organization. Position 2 The individual may then move on to become a business promotions officer in government, marketing the department's products and services to a variety of clients, using traditional media and new media, such as the Internet. Position 3 From here, a possible move could be to investor relations specialist at a high-tech firm, communicating specifically with the investment community, including analysts, the financial press and investors. The marketing and business experience coupled with the Internet communications know-how would be an asset. Position 4 The next career move could be to director of corporate communications for a dot.com or bricks-and-mortar national or multinational corporation. The employee's mobility is a result of previous experience which allowed her/him to develop several transferrable skills, including excellent communication, problem solving and critical thinking ability, computer and Internet literacy, and a demonstrated ability to plan, implement and evaluate. Claudine Wilson, Co-ordinator, Public Relations Program, Algonquin College, June, 2000.

The domino effect of a lack of workers in one field not being available to move into another as numbers decline due to economic and demographic factors is evidenced in this industry today. The trucking industry is facing a shortage as retirement looms for the average trucker. And there are too few workers in those source occupations to call on for replacements. "Traditional skill pools for the industry have dried up. Many drivers used to come from farms and the military but fewer people are going into those jobs, leaving the industry with fewer prospects." (Duffy,1999.)

Implications for Career Decision Making

The sources of worker supply vary for many occupations, and it is helpful for the practitioner to be aware of some of the non-traditional or unfamiliar ones in certain career paths. Such knowledge can raise awareness and stimulate investigation of new routes in other career areas.

For example, persons with a strong desire to be involved in the excitement and bustle of the retail business, who know they do not want to settle down in one store to sell a specific product, could look for employment in a shopping mall and get there by one of several routes: creative advertising, marketing, public relations, retail management, experience in retail. Where can the client get this information? Information interviews with people in the business may give them new ideas. Another source is the list of industries where graduates get hired in Job Futures, Part 2 - Outlooks by Fields of Study. NOC has lists of related occupation titles to expand awareness of new career horizons.

Workers who do not have specific, marketable skills in high-skilled, high-demand jobs will have to consider traditional service jobs from which to build a permanent career. They need to be encouraged to see all the beneficial skills attached to their first position and to look for challenges that will give them more skills as a way to open up further options. For example, a position as a waitress can lead to being a maitre d', which can lead to manager and purchasing, which can open the door to other areas of the tourism industry.

Workers can carve out their own paths by being alert to what is going on in the company they work for, the developments taking place in their occupational field and the trends in their industry. An excellent example of the many options available in a tourism career path is demonstrated in Table 12. Other examples of industry career paths are provided here by the logistics sector and FITT. More can be found by contacting sector councils for their occupational information. See Appendixes F and G.

Table 10: International Trade Occupations

Table 11: Logistic Career Matrix

Table 12: Career Paths in Tourism