Running Head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Career Development Plan

Don Sorrell
LDR610 Career Development and Mentoring
Dr. James Loughran
March 2, 2015

Running Head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Table of Contents

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Introduction
Communications
Analysis
Synthesis
Valuing
Execution
Communication
Conclusion

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Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 9
Page 10

9. References

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Introduction

Running Head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

My career development plan is based on CASVE Cycle (Reardon, Lenz, Sampson Jr, &
Peterson, 2009). CASVE is an acronym for Communication, Analysis, Synthesis, Value and
Execution. In this paper I will be examining my career plan based on the CASVE Cycle and
reflecting on where I started in my career planning, where I am in my plan, and where my plan
will take me in the next year.

Communications
In 2006 the company that I worked for decided to start moving its manufacturing
operations out of the United States to South America. When this happened I had a wife and two
small children, no job and no education to fall back on. This was the gap in my situation
(Reardon, Lenz, Sampson Jr, & Peterson, 2009). I never wanted to be in this situation again, and
deep inside I knew the only way that I could ensure that this did not happen to me again, was to
go to college. I decided that no matter what it took, I would go college and get my degree so that
I would always be able to find work and have a good job so I would be able to take care of my
family. Because I was a displaced autoworker I qualified for the No Worker Left Behind grant
program from the State of Michigan. I had to choose careers from a list of about twenty careers
that were approved by the state as a career that would be in demand in the future. This was the
external force that guided me into the Computer Information Systems, it was one of the choices
from the list that I was allowed to choose from for the program (Reardon, Lenz, Sampson Jr, &
Peterson, 2009). I enjoyed working with computers and decided that if I was going to go to
college and get a degree, I was going to do something that I enjoyed doing. At that time I set my
educational goals.

Running Head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Analysis
In hind sight I believe that I did make the right decision. I have learned that I do enjoy
working in this field. In fact most days that I go to work I really feel that I am not working at all
just doing things on the computer. I have also decided to set my career goals to become a leader
in the organization that I work for. I want to move up to a director or to a vice president position
and to do that I will need additional education. This is why I have chosen to pursue a Masters
degree in Organizational Leadership. I feel that this degree will allow me the opportunity to
advance at work. I know realistically that I will have to work my way up to obtain a higher level
in my current company. In the company that I work for, many of the high level executive worked
in Human Resources. In my current world of work I think that since the leaders in my
organization had both worked in Human Resources and have advanced degrees that I should try
to get a position within the Human Resources department before I graduate, so that when a
leadership position becomes available, my degree will put me in a good position to reach my
career goals (Reardon, Lenz, Sampson Jr, & Peterson, 2009).
For my current situation I would say that if I used the CASVE Cycle plan that I would
currently be in the Execution phase of this plan. I am already back in college to get an advanced
degree, and I am applying for leadership positions at the company where I work, and once I get a
leadership position, I will have experience I need before I graduate with my Masters. I believe
that by doing this I will be able to utilize my education immediately since I will already have two
years of experience as a leader before applying to more advanced positions.
The current challenge with this part of the Execution phase is that the positions that I am
applying to require you to have several years of leadership experience in the area you are
applying, and a degree in business or leadership. I have the experience but my current degree is

Running Head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

not in business or leadership. I the only option that I have at this point is to take on additional
projects and demonstrate that I do have the necessary skills to be in a leadership position, or wait
until I graduate before I apply. I am adding the additional projects to my resume with the hope
that the organization will see the additional projects as an added value and advance me to a
leadership role.

Synthesis
I do have a few other ideas on how to get into a leadership role. One is to get additional
training and certification that complements my current position and my Bachelors degree. The
first training would be for a Six Sigma Black Belt. Six Sigma is data-driven approach and
method that can be used to eliminate defects in products and introduce process improvements in
industries such a manufacturing and customer service (i Six Sigma, 2015). A Black Belt in Six
Sigma works as a project manager under the guidance of a Master Black Belt. This would give
me experience as a project leader where I could improve processes and reduce overall costs in
the area that I am assigned, while working with senior level leaders. This would also tie in with
my current position as it relates to manufacturing.
The second way would be to get certification as a Database Administrator. A Database
Administrator is a high level information technology position in most companies because of the
sensitive data that you have access to (US News & World Report, 2015). This position is a much
harder position to obtain and it is usually given to trusted members of the organization since you
will have access to all electronic documents that are stored in the database, including
employment record, salary information and business plans. The Data Administrator usually has
several developers that report to them, and generates reports for many senior level executives.

Running Head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

For this position having certification is necessary since every company has a different vendor
that services their database.

Valuing
Now that I am considering getting additional certification to help my career, I need to
decide when I should start and how it will affect the time that I spend with my family (Reardon,
Lenz, Sampson Jr, & Peterson, 2009). First, we plan a family vacation for one week a year, and
this year we are going in August, so I do not believe that I could start taking course toward my
certification until after that vacation. I am also taking an executive accounting course next
semester and I believe that this will be a very challenging course for me. So realistically I will
not be able to start classes for certification until the fall. Six Sigma training is relatively in
expensive other than the time that is needed to complete the training, that takes from what I have
been told is about six months.
Database Administration courses on the other hand are very expensive costing as much
as a thirty-five hundred dollars for a five day course (Oracle University, 2015). Though the
training is expensive I believe that the benefits of the certification outweigh the costs of the
courses, and will give greater opportunities for future career growth. Both certification will give
me options that will help me achieve my career goals. Six Sigma training would lead me into
more of an operations position because of the emphasis in project management would be in
manufacturing based on my current position. The Database Administrator position would leaded
me more toward an information officers role and position within my current organization. Both
roles would be acceptable to me. I am currently leaning toward the Database Administration role,

Running Head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

first because of my background in information technology and also because I think that the role
has less competition, and because of the cost of training and the skills that are needed to obtain
this role.
There could be one other option that I have not covered yet and that would be that I
would have to change organizations to achieve my goals. If there are no leadership positions
available within the organization I currently work for I may need to leave my current
organization and move to company where I can get the positon that I want. Depending on the
industry this could involve different certifications or even an additional degree so that I can get
the role that I am working for. If I have to leave my current position, because of the changes in
the healthcare laws from the Affordable Healthcare Act, I would start by looking for an
information systems position in the healthcare field. This could involve learning a variety of new
software programs like Informatica, or Epic, and would involve different certification for
different types of coding, charting or reporting that is done in the healthcare field.

Execution
To get my Database Administration certification I would first have to decide which
training program I would want to utilize. With having to get certification while I am in graduate
school I think that I will have to go with the 5 days of training on demand (Oracle University,
2015). This will give me the flexibility to be able to complete my college assignments, my work
assignments and then study for my certification when I have free time. I would be looking at a
start time in September or October of this year. My next step would be to see if I could get my
current company to pay for the training. We do have tuition assistance, but I am not sure if they

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would pay for certification. If they agree to the tuition assistance, I would try to get the company
to consider it time at work it so that my time training would be paid. This would allow me to
work on my certification during the day, and be able to still complete my graduate studies in the
evening. If my company would not pay for it, I will probably borrow against my 401K
retirement account so that I can just pay myself back instead paying for it directly out of pocket.
If I pay for the certification myself I will have to schedule time to work on the training daily until
it is complete. I will have to make sure that I coordinate with my wife to make sure that I can
have a few hours a day to complete my training. This may be difficult since my wife also plans
on going back to school this year. If all goes to plan, I should be complete by no later than the
end of October. After the training is complete I will then start applying for positions as a
Database Administrator.
If I have to change industries I will have to borrow from my retirement account to get any
additional training that I feel that I might need. When I reach the conclusion that I need to change
industries, I will go into the healthcare industry. I did work in the healthcare field for a short time
and I think I would like to work there again. I would base the certification that I need on the
requirements of the area where I decide to work. There is certification for Information
Technology in Health Information Technology, Electronic Health Records, Health Information
Exchanges and several others (Health IT Certificaiton, 2015). I believe getting certified in a
healthcare field would give me a better chance of getting a position since I would be moving into
an industry that I have already worked in.
I believe that the biggest challenge to me implementing this alternative plan will be time
management. I know that I can do the work and pass the exams, it is just the matter of making

Running Head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

the time to get this accomplished while taking care of my family, going to graduate school, and
working.

Communication
The next question that I need to ask myself is Where do I want to be in a year?
(Reardon, Lenz, Sampson Jr, & Peterson, 2009). In the next year I would like to have finished
most of the courses that are necessary for me to receive my Masters Degree in Organizational
Leadership, and to have my Database Administration certification. I would like to be in a
leadership role where I can gain the experience I need, so that when I graduate I have the
necessary experience to move up in the organization that I work for, or to be able to get a new
position in a different company. I am currently working toward a May of 2016 graduation date,
so I need to start transitioning into a leadership role soon. I have already been applying to roles
within my current company and if I do not get the results that I want from applying there, I will
need to start looking for a new position with a new company. My current plan is to start looking
for a new job with a different company in the next month to make sure that I have at least a year
of experience before I graduate. This may involve looking in a different industry too. So far
most of my information systems career has been focused in the automotive industry. The other
experience that I have in information systems has been in the healthcare field. My minor for my
Bachelors Degree is in Healthcare Management, and I may need to move over to that field to
meet my goals. If this happens I will have to change my certification choices too. Process
improvement is a valuable skill to have in the healthcare industry so I would change my
certification to Six Sigma Black Belt. I believe that the combination of my education, training

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and experience, would make me an ideal candidate for any position that I was interested in an
organization.
Conclusion
I think that based on my past experience with goal setting and what I have accomplished
since 2006 in my education and in my career this Career Development Plan is a very realistic
plan for me to follow. I believe that I have set realistic goals for myself and my career, and that I
can achieve them as long as I stick to the plan. I may have to make minor adjustments to the
plan based on some of my future goals, but I believe that this is a sound one year plan for me to
follow and I believe that I will be able to complete this plan within the timeline that I have laid
out in my Career Development Plan.

References:

Running Head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Health IT Certificaiton. (2015, March 8th). Health IT Certificaiton. Retrieved from
healthitcertification.com: http://www.healthitcertification.com/
i Six Sigma. (2015, March 8th ). What is Six Sigma. Retrieved from isixsigma.com:
http://www.isixsigma.com/new-to-six-sigma/getting-started/what-six-sigma/
Oracle University. (2015, March 8th,). Oracle Database 11g Administration Workshop 1,
Release 2. Retrieved from Oracle.com: http://education.oracle.com/pls/web_prod-plqdad/db_pages.getpage?
page_id=609&p_org_id=1001&lang=US&get_params=dc:D50102GC20,p_preview:N
Reardon, R. C., Lenz, J. G., Sampson Jr, J. P., & Peterson, G. W. (2009). Career Development
and Planning: A Comprehensive Approach. Mason: Cengage Learning.
US News & World Report. (2015, March 8th). Database Administrator. Retrieved from
usnews.com: http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/database-administrator

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