Topic Summary

This topic contains information on how to

identify your core business interests, work reward values, and skills
identify the career opportunities within your current role or organization that will let you
express those interests, achieve those rewards, and use or develop those skills
benefit from career-development resources and processes like career counselors,
mentors, networking, informational interviewing, and professional development reviews
help others manage their careers.

Topic Index
Topic Overview
What Would You Do?
Where Should You Focus?
Topic Index
Topic Summary
About the Mentors
Using the Topic
Core Concepts
What Is Career Development?
Taking Charge of Your Career
Knowing Yourself
Identifying Your Core Business Interests
Clarifying Your Work Values

Assessing Your Skills

Finding Development Opportunities at Your Company
Helping Others Manage Their Careers
Frequently Asked Questions
Steps
Steps for Clarifying Your Work Reward Values
Steps for Defining Your Career Target
Steps for Defining and Obtaining New Skills
Steps for Preparing for an Informational Interview
Steps for Sculpting Your Job
Tips
Tips for Choosing the Right Development Opportunities
Tips for Choosing a Career Counselor
Tips for Choosing Mentors
Tips for Networking
Tips for Informational Interviewing
Tips for Getting the Skills You Need
Tips for Staying on Course
Tips for Talking with Your Supervisor about Change
Tips for Conducting a Professional Development Review
Practice
Instructions
Scenario
Tools
Discovery Log
Skills Assessment
Informational Interviewing Worksheet
Rewards Worksheet
Career Self-Assessment Worksheet
Test Yourself
Instructions
Questions
To Learn More
Harvard Online Article
Notes and Articles
Books
Other Information Sources
eLearning Programs

About the Mentors

James Waldroop, Ph.D. and Timothy Butler, Ph.D.
The Directors of MBA Career Development Programs at the Harvard Business School,
Waldroop and Butler are co-founders of Peregrine Partners, a consulting firm that focuses on
business psychology. Peregrine helps people find the most productive career paths and
succeed in pursuing their goalsand helps companies hold on to those people. Specifically,

they provide organizations with sophisticated, customized career self-management programs for
their employees. Their Internet-based interactive career program, CareerLeader, is used by
more than 130 corporations and MBA programs around the world.
Waldroop and Butler are the authors of three highly acclaimed Harvard Business Review articles
("Managing Away Bad Habits," "Job Sculpting: The Art of Retaining Your Best People," and "The
Executive as Coach"), the books Maximum Success: Changing the 12 Behavior Patterns That
Keep You From Getting Ahead (Currency Doubleday, 2000) and Discovering Your Career in
Business (Perseus, 1997), and articles in Fortune, Fast Company, and other magazines. They
are interviewed frequently on CNBC and in other popular media on issues related to career
management, retaining talent, and maximizing effectiveness, and are frequent speakers to
corporate audiences on those topics.
Their firm works with a wide range of organizations in both the manufacturing and service
sectors, from Fortune 50 corporations to smaller high-growth firms. Their clients include Becton
Dickinson, Boston Consulting Group, Fidelity Management Research Company, Genuity,
JAFCO Ventures, and Sony Music Entertainment.

What Would You Do?

David had an epiphany. He no longer wanted to work in advertising. He liked the people, but he
didn't find his career stimulating anymore. Then reality set in. He thought to himself: "I'm too old
to start from scratch. Too old to learn new skills. And too old to go back to school." Yet he
realized that he had years of valuable knowledge and experience. Everyone said he was a great
manager, and he had a knack for understanding client needs. Then it hit him. "I'm not too old to
start something newI'm too young to give up on my dreams!" But where should he start? What
should he do to move himself in the right direction? What would you do?
What Could You Do?
As David begins the process of thinking about a new career, he might ask himself the following
questions:

What are his core business intereststhat is, what types of work is he most passionate
about? For example, does he prefer problem solving, working with people, or making
decisions?
What are his deepest work values? For example, does he care more about having
autonomy or earning a big salary?
And, what are his strongest skills?

Once he has identified the answers to these questions, he will be on his way to defining and
navigating his career path.
In this topic, you'll find ways to determine what direction you want to take, learn how to assess
your current skills and abilities, and find tools that will help you get on the path to more
rewarding and meaningful work. After you have explored the ideas in this topic, be sure to click
"Practice," where you can participate in an interactive scenario, make decisions, and receive
immediate feedback on your choices.

Where Should You Focus?

Where Should You Focus? is an online, interactive exercise that helps you identify areas within
the program where you might concentrate. For further information, please visit this exercise
online.

Using the Topic

Topic Structure
The content for Managing Your Career is divided into the sections listed below. Links to these
sections appear across the top of your screen.
Topic Overview
Click Topic Overview for an introduction to the topic. Review a hypothetical situation, What
Would You Do?, followed by a response, What Could You Do? A brief exercise, Where Should
You Focus?, helps you identify areas where you might concentrate. The Topic Index provides a
"site map" with links to all the elements within the topic.
Core Concepts
Click Core Concepts for a comprehensive presentation of the main ideas in the topic. You'll find
background information on key concepts in career development; the importance of knowing
yourself; and the role of business interests, values, and skills in navigating your own career, as
well as helping others navigate theirs.
Steps
Click Steps for procedures that help you clarify the work reward values that most motivate you,
define the skills you need to move forward in your career, identify exciting work possibilities with
your current role and elsewhere in your organization, and prepare for informational interviews.
Tips
Click Tips for quick advice about networking, mentoring, and career counseling; staying true to
your professional path; strategically choosing the best career opportunities at your company;
working with your supervisor to define and move toward your goals; getting the skills you need to
move forward; and conducting informational interviews.
Practice
Click Practice to participate in an interactive scenario where you assume the role of a manager,
make decisions, and receive immediate feedback on your choices.
Tools
Click Tools to view and print worksheets that can help you identify your core business interests,
clarify your highest priority work reward values, ask the right questions during an informational
interview, assess your current and potential future career situation, track your professional
preferences as you learn, and assess your skills.
Test Yourself
Click Test Yourself to see how far you've come in learning how to manage your career. You will
receive immediate feedback on the choices you make. A summary page provides links to
reference material.
To Learn More
Click To Learn More to read an article related to the topic. You will also find an annotated list of

articles and other resources.

Topic Navigation
To navigate through the topic, click the links at the top and on the left of your screen. When you
click a link at the top of the screen, the links on the left will change.
Getting Started
Depending on your needs and available time, you can explore the topic in any order you prefer.
Two possible paths through the program follow. If you have limited time, the first option suggests
how to focus your learning. The second option presents a comprehensive, linear path through
the topic.
Focused Path

Click Topic Overview at the top. Click Where Should You Focus? on the left.
Complete the Where Should You Focus? exercise.
Print your results.
Review the recommended Core Concepts.

Comprehensive Path

Visit each section in the topic by clicking the links at the top, from left to right.
Review the information within each section by clicking the links on the left, from top to
bottom.
In the Practice section, click Next to continue through the scenario. When you reach a
decision point, make a choice and read the feedback. Then examine the other choices
for additional information. Again, click Next to continue.
In the Tools section, click on an icon to open a tool. You can print a copy of the tool to
use offline. Or, you can complete the tool online and save it to your hard drive.
Finish by taking the quiz in Test Yourself and reading the Harvard Online Article in To
Learn More.

Other Information Sources

www.Careerdiscovery.com
This site, created by the subject matter experts of "Managing Your Career," is the home
of CareerLeader, the most comprehensive and sophisticated business career selfassessment program available. Used by more than 125 corporations and MBA
programs worldwide, CareerLeader is an interactive online "expert system" that (1)
assesses your core interests, work reward values, and abilities; (2) directs you to
specific careers to explore; and (3) provides you with information about those careers. A
"guided tour" on the site demonstrates what the program offers.

eLearning Programs
Harvard Business School Publishing. Leadership Transitions. Boston: Harvard Business School
Publishing, 2001. Online program.
Whether taking on a new position in your current company or starting in a new
organization Leadership Transitions will help you succeed. This performance support
resource, built with the expertise of Michael Watkins, arms managers with the
knowledge they need when they need it. Managers will learn to diagnose situations,
assess vulnerabilities, accelerate learning, prioritize to succeed, work with a new boss,
build teams, create partnerships, and align units. The program consists of a wide array
of assessments and planning tools that learners can use throughout a transition period.
Harvard Business School Publishing. What Is a Leader?. Boston: Harvard Business School
Publishing, 2001. Online program.
What Is a Leader? is the most tangible, relevant online leadership program available on
the market today. You will actively and immediately apply concepts to help you grow
from a competent manager to an exceptional leader. Use this program to assess your
ability to lead your organization through fundamental change, evaluate your leadership
skills by examining how you allocate your time, and analyze your "Emotional
Intelligence" to determine your strengths and weaknesses as a leader. In addition, work
through interactive, real world scenarios to determine what approach to take when
diagnosing problems, how to manage and even use the stress associated with change,
empower others and practice empathy when managing the human side of interactions.
Based on the research and writings of John Kotter, author of Leading Change and other
of today's top leadership experts, this program is essential study for anyone charged
with setting the direction ofand providing the motivation fora modern organization.

Source Notes
Managing Your Career
Core Concepts

Laurence G. Boldt. Zen and the Art of Making a Living. New York: Penguin/Arkana, 1999.
Richard N. Bolles. The Three Boxes of Life and How to Get Out of Them. Berkeley, CA: Ten
Speed Press, 1981.
Timothy Butler and James Waldroop. Discovering Your Career in Business. Cambridge, MA:
Perseus Books, 1997.
Timothy Butler and James Waldroop. "Job Sculpting: The Art of Retaining Your Best People."
Harvard Business Review, September-October 1999.
Katie Carlone. Personal communication. September 13, 2000.
Caela Farren. Whos Running Your Career? Austin, TX: Bard Press, 1997.
Cliff Hakim. We Are All Self-Employed. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler, 1994.
Linda Hill, "Managing Your Career." Harvard Business School Publishing, December 15, 1998.
Product no. 9-494-082.
Robert H. Waterman, Jr., Judith A. Waterman, and Betsy A. Collard. "Toward a Career-Resilient
Workforce." Harvard Business Review, July-August 1994.
Steps
Laurence G. Boldt. Zen and the Art of Making a Living. New York: Penguin/Arkana, 1999.
Timothy Butler and James Waldroop. Discovering Your Career in Business. Cambridge, MA:
Perseus Books, 1997.
James Waldroop. Personal communication. October 12, 2000.
Tips
Jim Billington. "Meet Your New Mentor: Its a Network." Harvard Management Update, August
1997.
Laurence G. Boldt. Zen and the Art of Making a Living. New York: Penguin/Arkana, 1999.
Richard N. Bolles. The Three Boxes of Life and How to Get Out of Them. Berkeley, CA: Ten
Speed Press, 1981.
Timothy Butler and James Waldroop. Discovering Your Career in Business. Cambridge, MA:
Perseus Books, 1997.
Katie Carlone. Personal communication. September 13, 2000.
Caela Farren. Whos Running Your Career? Austin, TX: Bard Press, 1997.
Linda Hill, "Managing Your Career." Harvard Business School Publishing, December 15, 1998.

Richard Koonce, "How To Prevent Professional Obsolescence." Training & Development,

February 1999.
Morgan W. McCall, Jr. High Flyers: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders. Cambridge:
Harvard Business School Press, 1998.
Barbara Moses. The Good News about Careers: How Youll Be Working in the Next Decade.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1999.
James Waldroop. Personal communication. October 25, 2000.

version 2.0, 2003 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved.