An Examination Of Citizens’ Awareness And Perception Of The Estate Management Profession In Anambra State

2.3.2 PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION AND AWARENESS

Professional orientation is defined as one’s attitude toward certain professional interests or jobs (Ryynänen, 2001). Professional orientation can also be defined as "the process used in describing the nature of a person's orientation and attitudes towards his future career, which can be formulated through information gained through individual education and counseling."

Professional/Career Awareness It is the system composed of images, beliefs, thought, feelings, and attitudes which are inherent in the individual and directed towards a specific profession. (Оleg 2011)

Professional orientations are the trends and behaviors that express an individual’s desire to pursue or apply one to a specific occupation and, together, these orientations affect the individual’s decision-making process with respect to occupational choice (Gerber, Wittekind, Grote, & Staffelbach, 2009)

Professional orientation is thus considered one of the determinants that guide the personal choices that individuals make. Furthermore, it is perceived as an indicator of the degree of democracy and individual freedom one has in determining his or her professional career and, ultimately, his or her future (Lami & Mile, 2013).

Professional orientation should begin in the school environment, as it increases student awareness of the varied natures of different jobs and helps to identify the jobs that are most suitable for the individual student. Such orientation is considered even more important with respect to the social environments associated with various careers. Institutions of higher education are responsible for developing students’ specific skills, such as being aligned with the chosen career workplace requirements. This continuity creates a connection between the actual framework of the study and the expectations of the external labor market (Milloshi, 2013). As a result of this important role played by university environments, institutions of higher education should provide programs that aim at constructing students’ professional orientations and developing their administrative skills (Palade & Constantin, 2012).

The results of the previous studies confirmed the importance of offering programs aimed at developing professional orientations in higher educational institutions, as these programs have been found to change students’ professional orientations and improve the competencies required for various professional cultures and to enhance individual growth (Nikolaou, 2008). Therefore, it can be concluded that a failure to develop students’ professional orientations may result in a lack of student awareness of the nature of various jobs available in their societies and that this lack of awareness results in confusion and, hence, a lack of focus on specific objectives among students. In McKnight’s (2009) study of students in their final year of high school, it is determined that the failure to introduce and develop professional orientations during the early years in school environments has resulted in delayed planning on the part of students with respect to careers. When students were not introduced to professional orientations at an early age, they could not effectively define future jobs and careers. It was also found that insufficient financial resources were allocated to activities and training programs aimed at increasing student awareness with respect to professional orientations.

The factors that influence professional orientation are myriad, and these factors differ according to the individual and to the varied social and economic pressures, which may cause individuals to select one job or career over another. The results of another study (Nagy, 2008) further identify certain factors that influence the professional orientations of students. Among these factors are the individual’s beliefs regarding the social nature of their future profession; the individual’s personal characteristics, abilities and skills; the professional awareness and knowledge that the student acquires from the university; and the future expectations of the profession.

A professional orientation towards a specific job involves many factors, including personal motivation and a personal desire to pursue the job which, in turn, entail gaining an in-depth understanding of what the job requires and adopting the values and principles inherent to the job. The individual who has reached this level of understanding with respect to a specific job or career has acquired a high degree of professional awareness that incorporates a system of images, beliefs, ideas, feelings and approaches constituted within the individual (Оleg 2011). In this sense, professional awareness is a variable that attracts many researchers from both the educational and the regulatory fields due to its potential to improve the individual’s level of knowledge and skills in a way that positively impact professional development (Wiroterat, 2013). Professional awareness is considered a complicated factor insofar as it is the result of various interactions among numerous factors, such as professional knowledge, professional perfectionism, and emotional aspects related to the profession, professional beliefs and professional preparation.

Furthermore, there are many other factors that affect an individual’s level of professional awareness, such as the individual’s degree of motivation, the nature of the work environment and the extent of transparency and clarity regarding the profession (Li, 2012). Accordingly, professional orientation and professional awareness are closely interdependent insofar as one's personal characteristics, desires and efforts are concerned