DHS offers IT career path guide
CIO Richard Spires announces the release of a document that explains how IT professionals can have a successful career at Homeland Security.
Employees at the Department of Homeland Security are getting some help navigating the often complex IT career path at the agency.
In a Feb. 8 blog post on CIO.gov, DHS CIO Richard Spires introduced "IT Career Path – You Are IT!" It's a guidance document that explains how to have a successful career at DHS. It includes career profiles for 11 IT functional areas at three career levels: individual contributor, manager and senior leader.
The profiles help employees determine how to prepare for new opportunities in a particular function and provide details on roles and responsibilities. Career maps enable employees to consider options within and beyond their current positions by showing the relationships between functional areas and offering insight into related roles and competencies.
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The tools "simplify a sometimes convoluted path and enable employees to chart a course for developing the right skills, as well as how to best prepare themselves for their next career opportunity," Spires wrote. DHS officials incorporated input from more than 100 IT and human resources professionals, and focus groups contributed their insights into what it takes to advance an IT career at DHS.
The guidance is part of DHS’ IT Strategic Human Capital Plan, which was launched two years ago to create a departmentwide vision for programs and processes related to the IT workforce.