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AGORA International Journal of Economical Sciences, http://univagora.ro/jour/index.php/aijes 

ISSN 2067-3310, E-ISSN 2067-7669 

Vol. 18, No. 2 (2024), pp. 44-49 

 

44 

 

GENERAL PERSPECTIVES OF CAREER MANAGEMENT 

 

G. L. BÎRLĂDEANU 

 

Gheorghina Liliana Bîrlădeanu  

Faculty of Economic Sciences, Agora University of Oradea, Romania 

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6810-6563, E-mail: gheorghina_birladeanu@yahoo.com  

 

Abstract: The best way to predict the future is to build it. (Abraham Lincoln). Each of 

us, the moment one focuses its attention on a field, aspiring to have a certain profession, 

implicitly thinks about a certain profession. Career management integrates career planning 

and development and also, in a broader sense, implies multiple functional interdependences of 

planning the career individually, of planning the organizational career and the career 

development. Career management is a point of interest both for the employee and the employer, 

representing a planning and implementation process of targets, strategies and plans, which 

allow the organization to satisfy its needs of human resources and the people to fulfill their 

career purposes. There are individual differences regarding career orientation. Humans are 

not all the same, they differ when it comes to abilities, values, objectives and preferred 

activities. Although different from one another, people do have many things in common. 

Starting from this approach, specialists in this field have revealed modalities of classifying 

people, modalities that focus on the major models of resemblances and differences regarding 

career orientation. 

Keywords: career, career management, career orientation, individual career planning, 

planning organizational career, career development, career strategies. 

 

1 INTRODUCTION 

All definitions from specialized literature, through their content, point out 

psychological domains that are related to aptitudes, aspirations, individual ambitions, in 

connection with the requirements of the system where the subject works. The important area 

is the one of individual perception, in relation with its own career, correlated with personal 

aptitudes and realization possibilities. Here it is about to the realism of the person when it 

comes to its own assessment, an aspect which the counsellor can identify, as well as the 

aspiration level and the individual motivation (Baban, 2003). 

The field of human resources management defines professional career as a succession 

of stages, which after being got through, will take the person to an important position, with a 

better social recognition and better paid. If we also take into consideration the psycho-social 

aspects hatched by a professional career, from the need to give importance and safety to the 

individual, the foreign specialists have led the conclusion that this aspect has different 

connotations, that actually constitute different modalities of individual perception on career. 

 

2 CAREER MANAGEMENT 

Therefore, we identify more ”senses” of career: advancement, profession, succession 

of positions during lifetime, a series of roles during lifetime, connected with experience, 

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6810-6563
mailto:gheorghina_birladeanu@yahoo.com


Gheorghina Liliana BÎRLĂDEANU 

45 

 

individual perception of the succession of attitudes and behaviour (subjective career), the 

dinamic frame where life, as a whole, is perceived by a person. From here, we have the 

distinction between objective career (that includes the development of personell and implies 

promotion, specialisation, motivation, human resources planning etc.) and subjective career 

(that focuses on self perception and the role of profession in each person`s life). 

We consider that it is not desired to emulate such a difference unless from scientific 

and pedagogical aspects, since practice does not differentiate  between social and individual. 

The only disparity is the one of the perspective of question – of the person or of the 

organisation. In 1995, V. Lefter and A. Manolescu stated that ”a paper that intends to approach 

a certain field of management is, undeniably, an act of courage” ( Lefter et al., 1995). This 

statement refers, both the multiple senses of management, and the special complexity of its 

problemtics. Later on, the variety of the approaches of this field rises. The issue studied is to 

what extent this activity is seen fair and organised as a normal usance, by employees and also, 

by employers. It is certain that a huge evolution has happened and there are companies that 

take this activity to the level of normality. 

Regarding this aspect, professional managers can be identified, but an insufficient 

number compared to the existing possibilities. Thus, the problem that arises is a matter of 

flexibility and adaptability to dynamics and of being open and receptive towards newness. We 

understand that in order to define career, it is necessary to take into consideration: 

 individual contribution to career development; 

 the contribution of the organizations where they evolve; 

 the contexts they encounter; 

 the quality of specific legislation and the modality of applying it. 

The career dimension integrates a succession of activities and professional positions 

that a person can reach, such as attitudes, knowledge and other associated components, which 

develop throughout time. Specialized literature presents three important elements in order to 

understand what a career is: (Johns, 1998) 

 Career is a dynamic process along time, which has two dimensions: external career 

represented by the objective succession of positions that the person has along the years 

and the internal career resulted from the interpretation that the person gives to the 

objective experiences by means of his subjectivity; 

 Career represents the interaction between the organizational and the individual factors. 

The perception of the position, as well as the position taken by the subject depend on 

the compatibility between what the subject sees as suitable for oneself (aptitudes, needs, 

preferences), and what the position really represents. 

 Career offers an occupational identity: profession, position held, organization where 

the person works, all are part of the person`s identity. 

Undoubtedly, people are different, but at the same time, we also have the possibility to 

identify aspects that they have in common, this leading to the appreciation of similitudes and 

differences regarding career orientation. Therefore, career orientation is a relatively stable 

pattern of talents, values, attitudes and occupational activities. 

The career orientation of a person is relevant when we compare it to the profession that 

the person has. From the compatibility area of the two, we discover important consequences 



GENERAL PERSPECTIVES OF CAREER MANAGEMENT 

46 

 

for the subject, such as one`s behavior and attitudes at one`s workplace, and also for his state 

of balance and fulfillment. It is of major importance that each person chooses cautiously his 

profession; the approach has to be a long term one, activities to be specific, types of 

organizations, opportunities, possibilities that allow the valorization of natural potential; it is 

possible to exist a difference between the perception about what the respective profession 

represents and what it actually means. The career, a term that comes from French, is understood 

in Romanian as profession, occupation and, by extent, either as a good situation, or a position 

in society. It is different from careerism, perceived as the tendency to make one`s way in the 

world, no matter what, no matter how. The English dictionary of human resources defines it as 

a job that you have been prepared for and that you expect to practice your entire life. 

 In a broader sense, the career concept is related to the idea of evolution or advancement 

of a person in a certain field of activity with the purpose of obtaining increased incomes, higher 

responsibility, more prestige and more power. The term of career is given different authors 

multiple meanings (Constantinescu et al., 1999): 

 Regarded under the mobility aspect, of ascension in an organization, career is seen as 

an “advancement”; 

 Regarded as an occupation, it is appreciated that certain occupations represent a career 

(military people, teachers, managers), while other occupations are designed as 

positions (waiter, driver, shop assistant etc.); 

 In another vision, career is seen as “a succession of jobs along lifetime” or a “a 

succession of positions” in a ranking order of the prestige that the employee has based 

on a predictive rule; 

 With respect to the person, the career is considered “an evolving succession of 

professional activities and professional positions that a person reaches, as well as the 

attitudes, knowledge and competences developed throughout time”. 

 In a subjective perception, the career is presented as a series of roles connected to life 

experience (one`s own conceptions, aspirations, successes, failures etc.), a succession 

of a person`s roles in the field of work or a succession of separate experiences, 

correlated among them; 

 From an individual perspective, career is seen as a succession of attitudes and types of 

behavior, connected with the work experiences and activities along personal lifetime. 

This approach refers to the subjective career given by the experiences and roles that 

appear in a subject`s life and also to the objective career which is based on the job 

attitudes and behavior; 

 Other authors, in a subjective way, see career from the perspective of the dynamic 

frame where a person perceives one`s life and gives sense to personal qualities, actions 

and things that have happened to him or her. 

Carrer management reflects in the progress made in the field of human resources 

management alongside with the areal of career management. Human resources, by their 

functional values, have become the essential element of competitiveness, at the level of 

organizations and also at a national level, “becoming the only ones able to differentiate the 

contribution of each stat in the global competition of technologized economy”, realizing the 

difference between the success and failure of the organization. 



Gheorghina Liliana BÎRLĂDEANU 

47 

 

It is of outmost necessity that career management is approached from a point of view 

of people`s interest and also the one of organizations. Within this context, career management 

takes into account both the career planning process that regards the employee` modalities of 

advancement in an organization as per its necessities, employees` performances, their potential 

and their preferences, and also ensuring the managerial succession with the purpose to provide 

the organization, as long as possible, with the people that it needs so as to reach its objectives. 

With a view to these interests, the field of career management imposes three general purposes: 

 To ensure the fulfillment of the organization necessities in the matter of managerial 

succession; 

 To offer its employees that have a potential practical instruction and experience in 

order to prepare them for the level of responsibility that they could reach; 

 To offer its employees that have a potential the guidance and encouragement they need 

to develop or not a successful career in the organization, according to their talent and 

their own aspirations. In such an approach, career management is understood as a 

process of planning and implementation the purposes, strategies and plans in order to 

provide the needs of organization in terms of human resources and also the people`s 

fulfillment in terms of their career purposes. 

The exactness of career management imposes planning and adjusting the employees` 

progress in the organization in accordance with the organizational needs analysis, but also in 

accordance with the potential performances and the employees` individual preferences. Sure 

enough, in the theories of human resources management, career management represents a 

model that implies multiple functional interdependencies between individual career planning, 

organizational career planning and career development. With regard to this, a relevant example 

is Michael Armstrong`s model who begins with self-assessment, continues with career 

planning, induction instruction and initial experience and then get to managerial development, 

career guidance, mentoring and managerial instruction, culminating with career progress. 

 Thus, the evolution dynamic regarding career targets the career progress modality, the 

way in which employees build their professional career, advancing by means of promotion, 

enlargement or enrichment of roles, taking on higher responsibilities and utilizing the available 

potential and aptitudes. In this context, the career approach takes three stages: expansion at the 

beginning of career, stabilization of career path and maturing. (Marinescu, 2003) 

The organization policies from career management perspective impose decisions 

regarding the proportions to which it forms and develops its own managers (internal 

promotion), it recruits systematically from exterior and it is forced to bring employees from 

exterior, then a future deficit is previsioned (Manolescu, 2001). In the career planning process, 

specific procedures are used, these referring to: planning personal development, managerial 

instruction and development, mentoring, career guidance. We understand that career 

orientation is a pattern of talents, values, attitudes and preferred occupational activities.  

A company that implements an efficient career management system has the following 

advantages: 

 Rising the employees` motivation level with direct effects on work productivity and 

their fidelity level; 

 Lowering of personnel fluctuation; 

 Rising the image capital of the company; 



GENERAL PERSPECTIVES OF CAREER MANAGEMENT 

48 

 

If we ask ourselves what is the modality to implement a career management, we 

understand that there is a need for: in-puts, transformations and out-puts. In-puts are translated 

as previsions regarding the personnel need on different hierarchic levels, in the results of 

assessments of employees` potential which give a clear image of the level to which a person 

can assimilate a type of personal development, a development that can be used as a basis of his 

or her ascension in the organizational pyramid. 

The area of assessment is poorly understood and implemented, the firms having to 

assess performances as in-put in the career management system. The segment of 

transformations imposes knowledge of company need on all hierarchic levels. The instruments 

used to go through the journey of employees` development differs according to the employee`s 

psychological profile, and also according to the intensity of transformations that are necessary 

to be made by him. Therefore, we emphasize the following instruments: 

 Modifications in the structure of tasks/responsibilities at the level of the positions; 

 Rotating the positions; 

 Extension of positions: rising the number of tasks related to the position and/or rising 

the level of accountability; 

 Enrichment of positions: modifying the structure of accountabilities and/or adding new 

levels of accountability; 

 Training – it is, probably, the most efficient instrument of transmitting knowledge and, 

partially, of developing certain abilities; 

 Coaching 

 Mentoring; 

 Delegating – eventually, represents a real simulation of the way in which the employee 

can handle tasks, that, as some point will be attributed to him. We also need to mention 

that, in spite of the fact that it seems simple and quick, the pathway of professional 

development of an efficient career management system can last between 1 and three 

years for each hierarchical stage. 

Outputs are represented by human resources professionally prepared to cover 

responsibilities that are of superior importance in the company. 

The career strategies define the following objectives: 

 Developing competences for defining career strategy; 

 Identifying and correctly analyzing the strategy determinants for career management; 

 The possibility to establish and justify the role and specific features of didactical career 

management strategy.  

Career strategies intend to anticipate problems and to plan on a long term. We 

enumerate some of these aspects below: (Mathis et al., 1997) 

 Know yourself proposes an in-depth analysis of career orientation, of week and strong 

points, of the position in the company. 

 Take care of your professional reputation means to emphasize your abilities and 

realizations, everything that makes you unique, everything that demonstrates special 

qualities, the possibility to invest and the capacity to finalize projects. 



Gheorghina Liliana BÎRLĂDEANU 

49 

 

 Stay mobile, vendible, always in evolution means to follow the correspondence between 

personal competences and those wanted on the job market, those that can easily be 

transferred. 

 Be both a specialist and a generalist refers to developing a field of expertise, of 

speciality, but keeping a certain flexibility, without limiting yourself. Mastering a 

narrow area makes you inflexible and vulnerable. 

 Document your own successes means to be able to offer the proof of what you have 

already achieved, the results and identifiable realizations that are more valuable on job 

market. 

 Always prepare a back-up plan and be ready to take action refers to the will to always 

be active. 

 Be financially and mentally stable means to always have a secured basis, a comfort and 

a balance from a mental and financial point of view. These strategies refer to the person 

and the role of the organization is to care for its internal need but also for the employees` 

career. 

 

3 CONCLUSIONS  

Career development is the result of interaction between aptitudes, the subject`s desire 

to succeed and the opportunities offered by the employer. This means that the more possibilities 

and professional routes the employer can provide to valorize his studies and to develop his 

aptitudes, the more the person is satisfied with his career. Some specialists in the field regard 

career development, firstly, as the person`s experience, not related to the organization, this 

meaning that the responsibility for career development belongs to the person, although the 

organization can play an important role in facilitating and sustaining the individual career. 

All these come as a consequence of rapid and continual development of technologies 

and services, that directly influence career development more and more, and for maintaining a 

job mentoring and coaching activities are necessary. The development process of a successful 

career is not an easy thing, it is something built throughout lifetime. Nowadays world imposes 

flexibility and adaptability. 

 

REFERENCES 

1. Baban, A. Coordinator – Educational Counseling – SC. PSNET SRL Publishing House, 

Cluj Napoca 2003  

2. Constantinescu, D., Dobrin, M., Nita, A. – Human Resources Management – Techinical 

Publishing House, Bucharest, 1999;  

3. Johns, G. – Organziational Behavior – Bucharest, Economic Publishing House, 1998, 

p.560. 

4. Lefter, V., Manolescu, A. – Human Resources Management – Didactical and Pedagogical 

Publishing House R.A., Bucharest, 1995;  

5. Marinescu, P. – Public Institutions Management – lithographed course, Bucharest 

University 2003.  

6. Manolescu, A. – Human Resources Management – ediţia a III-a, Bucharest, Economic 

Publishing House, 2001, pp.322-323.  

7. Mathis, R.L., Nica, P.C., Rusu, C. – Human Resources Management – Bucharest, 

Economic Publishing House, 1997, p.135.  


