DOi: 10.2478/orga-2013-0024 Career Planning as a Building Block for Personal Excellence Marija Turnsek Mikacic1, Marija Ovsenik2 1grm Novo mesto - Centre of biotechnology and Tourism, College of agriculture and landscape Management, sevno 13, 4000 Novo mesto, slovenia, marija.turnsek-mikacic@cultos.net institute for Management, ulica bratov škofov 12, 1000 ljubljana, slovenia, mara.ovsenik@gmail.com The narrow field of research here is the development of a model for the building of personal excellence using a career plan that is empirically tested and confirmed, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The purpose of this study relates to the writing of a career plan, for the determination of the factors that influence the feeling of personal excellence of participants in career planning education, in relation to other participants who are not. The qualitative analysis consists of basic experience data that was collected during the education process, through 20 essays, and the paradigmatic model, with the final theory defined, and based on this, a questionnaire was created. The quantitative analysis involved a total of 547 participants. For the statistical analyses of the data, bivariate analysis was used to assess the linear connection of individual pairs of variables. The search for differences between the two groups used t-tests for independent samples. Factor analysis was used to determine whether the relations among the examined variables can be explained with a smaller number of indirectly examined variables. The final model consists of three elements: (1) relation with career; (2) self-esteem; and (3) perception of personal excellence. Management can use the results of this study for management decisions. The increased success of every individual organisation benefits the whole of society. This study represents an original contribution and offers a new approach that is based on the paradigm of the understanding of a career and the importance of its planning as a motive for excellence. Key words: career planning, personal excellence, career break, qualitative analyses, quantitative analyses, neurolinguistic programming. 1 Introduction The final goal of a career is the psychological success, the feeling of pride, and the personal achievement, which all come from the attainment of the most important goals in life: success, family happiness, and inner peace. There are an infinite number of possibilities for the achievement of psychological success; indeed, as many as there are unique human needs (Maslow 1948, pp. 433-436). Our career and personal career plan is managed by ourselves, not by any company. The security of the work place is becoming less important, and is being substituted by another goal - employability. The idea for the model is derived from the model of experience learning. It consists of tools, that were tested and developed here during the education process, through four activities for the participants: (a) recognition of their own potential; (b) a more thorough understanding of themselves; (c) development of their own concrete career goals; and (d) their self-promotion and self-branding. In our research, we set the following hypotheses: Individuals who have made a personal career plan and after the act: change their attitude towards careers and take control of their life, achieve a high degree of self-reliance and self-confidence, achieve a perception of personal excellence to a greater extent than individuals who are not career educated and have not made a career plan. We show that a career plan can be a building block for their personal excellence. This is expressed through a changed attitude to their career, and through taking over the control of their own life. They also show high levels of self-trust and self-confidence, through their experiencing of a higher level of personal excellence, in relation to the individuals who did not participate in the career-education process and who had not made a career plan. Received: 28th June 2013; revised: 16th September 2013; accepted 8th October 2013 2 Theoretical background and survey of the literature 2.1 The potential of a personal career plan as a building block for personal excellence (3) (4) The potential of a personal career plan was described by Noer (2009, pp. 22-27) who determined that a 'career contract' is not a contract with any company, but with oneself and one's own work. 'The path to the top' has been exchanged for 'the path to the hearth'. Shepard (2011, pp. 25-46) used this expression for the description of success, in the sense of one's own vision and values. In the 21st century, the demands on the labour market will shift from those who have the knowledge and experience, to those who learn constantly (Hall, 1996, pp. 10-14). The most important career management powers are identity and adaptability (Hall and Chandler, 2005). For the realization of a new career, individuals develop new management powers regarding the management of themselves and their career. With the new career, the process of learning becomes more and more stable, and the individuals who learn constantly will be the first to find out how to develop their own new knowledge and adaptability (Hall and Chandler, 2005, pp. 155-176). The personal career plan of any individual is based on their own characteristics, experience, tasks, knowledge, training, skills, goals and philosophy. Career planning is intended to improve the ability of these individuals to make career decisions (Savickas and Porfeli, 2012, pp. 748-753). Meta-analyses have shown that career planning provides as great an improvement in people as the improvement that is achieved generally with well-developed psychological, educational and behavioural techniques (Lipsey and Wilson, 2001). 2.2 Career theories and models In her theory of personal development, Roe claimed that people do not work only for survival, but that "they prefer much more what they expect of the fruit of their labour than of the receipt of the payment" (Roe, 1956, pp. 123-178). She showed that people's professional work represents a focus of their own life. She took as a basis the hierarchy of Maslow (Maslow 1948, pp. 433-436) and to the physiological needs, and the needs for safety, membership, importance, respect, and self-confidence, she also added the needs for love, independence, information, understanding, beauty, and self-realisation. Roe (1956) developed this theory extensively, although others summarised this as follows (Osipow, 1983; 1990, Walsh and Osipow, 1983): (1) The limits of possible development are determined by genetic inheritance, intellectual capability, temperament, interests, and ability. (2) The general cultural background and socio-economical status of the family influence the unique individual experience. The individual experience is determined by the pattern of the development of interests, relations and other personal variables, with the exception of genetic ones. Early satisfaction and frustration originate from family circumstances, and most importantly from the relations with parents, and these can be expressed through over-protection, avoidance of children, or the loving acceptance of children. The levels of satisfaction of these needs determine which of the needs according to Maslow (1948) will become the main factor in the motivation. (5) The pattern of physical energy (e.g., the ability to pay attention) is the main factor for the interests. The intensity with which the individual feels the needs and the satisfaction of the needs determines the level of motivation for the achievement of their own goals (Walsh and Osipow, 1983, pp. 82-85). The social cognitive theory of behaviour was developed by Bandura (1969, 1977), with the intention being to explain how personality and behaviour develop from the unique individual learning experience and effects, and what influences represent positive and negative experiences. The Krumboltz theory, which is based on the work of Bandura (1969, 1977, pp. 25-29), developed Krumboltz's own revised theory that "assumes two basic types of learning experiences, which come from individual behaviour and cognitive abilities and advantages, and which enable people to successfully interact in the world" (Krumboltz, 1994, p. 25). First, there are the useful learning experiences, which "appear when the individual feels successful or is punished, because of certain patterns of behaviour and with their connected cognitive capabilities" (Krumboltz, 1994, p. 27). Secondly, the individual develops associative learning experience, which "appears when people connect certain emotionally neutral situations with stored emotional situations" (Krumboltz, 1994, p. 29). Hackett and Betz (1981, 1997, 2005), Taylor and Betz (1983), Multon, Brown and Lent (1991), Hackett and Lent (1992), Lent, Brown and Hackett (1994, 1996), and Betz (2007) all worked on the improvement of Bandura's general theory of the cognitive social process (Bandura, 1969). The work in this field can be summarised from proposals, as described in Lent, Brown and Hackett (1994). The results of expectation influence the choice of goals and actions, both indirectly and directly. People will try to achieve a certain professional or academic field, which is in agreement with their possible goals under the conditions whereby they are determined that this is their goal, and that this goal is clearly expressed, possibly right from the beginning (Lent, Brown and Hackett, 1994, p. 93). Super (1990, p. 199) saw the theories of learning as "cement which connects various segments of development of career theory". Parson (1909) created a three-level scheme, which was the basis for the first conceptual framework of career decision making (Brown 1990) and the professionally oriented movement (Srebalus, Marinelli and Messing, 1982; Super, 1990). Parson's three-level model promotes personal analysis, where individuals recognise their own advantages and disadvantages, characteristics or features. In the analysis of positions according to their properties, their conditions for success in professions, and their matching with the scientific advice, which means that they recognise professional choices, based on the information that represents the basis for career decisions (Brown and Brooks, 1990, Herr and Cramer, 1988; McDaniels and Gysbers, 1992). The personality theory of Holland (1985) claimed that every individual belongs to one of six basic types that are based on the principle of knowledge and characteristics. There are six types of environment: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, entrepreneurial, and conventional. People search the environments that will let them enforce their knowledge and capabilities, express their opinion and values, solve positive challenges, and have good roles. The behaviour is established through the interaction between the personality and the environment (Holland, 1985, pp. 12-42). All six types of personality are represented in the common profile of the individual, but Holland (1985) developed the system for the definition of personality that is found in every individual, which is based on three of the most common types. He used a three-letter code for the description of the personality types. The code RAI, for example, describes a person who is realistic, artistic and investigative (Holland, 1985, p. 27-35). Super (1963, p. 51) defined the concept of self-esteem. Super (1963) states that the formation of self-esteem is carried out in several phases: (a) research; (b) interpretation; (c) implementation and (d) actualisation. When individuals finish their education, they move into their chosen profession, for which they have studied and trained. Nevertheless, in the case of individuals who did not manage to prepare themselves for the career, the insufficient care for their self-esteem will often be accompanied by low paid jobs or the loss of a job (Super, 1963, pp. 121-178). Super's proposals (1963, pp. 199-203) are: people distinguish themselves through their abilities, personalities, needs, values, interests, characteristics, and self-esteem. The different life phases are marked as sequences of growth, research, introductions, maintenance, and diminishing. Career maturity is a hypothetical construct. Its operational definition is maybe so hard to determine, as is, for example, the concept of intelligence. Job satisfaction and life satisfaction both depend on the volume in which individuals find their own niches according to their abilities, needs, values, interests, personal characteristics, and self-esteem. Super (1963) first indicated the problems of elderly people, who actively respond to the world even after their retirement. Career education is spreading, which again influences the formation of the attitude of individuals towards their career, which depends on their perception of the environment and their values. Generally, there is an increase in responsibility of individuals for their employability, and wider still, also for their career (Makuc, 2004). Chaos theory within career development was established at the turn of the millennium, with the purpose of studying the complexities, changes and opportunities in the development of a career. To a large extent, existing career theories do not account for these factors, or do so only with limited insight into their activities and organisation, and into the opportunities that they represent (Savickas et al., 2009, pp. 749-751). Chaos theory within career development claims that it is more probable to find satisfaction at work as a result of coincidental events, as opposed to strict career planning (Prior and Bright, 2007, p.165). This tries to express the scientific importance of self-organisation and changes. This arises because in the 21st century, great changes have occurred on the work place, through the rapid development of the use of new technologies that demand constant learning and faster and more frequent communication. 2.3 The building of personal excellence 2.3.1 The path of positive development of the own-self To have a positive model of personal excellence there is the need for (Hammet, 2011): (1) Exact knowledge, understanding and evaluation of the own-self; (2) Development of positive, healthy and effective mutual relations; (3) Work well with others during the achievement of good results; (4) Manage the stress of everyday life and work (Hammett, 2011, p. 299). Now let us connect the personal excellence with the business excellence. Excellent people create excellent partnerships, which in the business field, create excellent processes and products that together determine the characteristic of excellent organisations. 2.3.2 The role of neurolinguistic programming for the development of personal excellence People are inclined towards empathy, cooperation and philanthropy under conditions that we develop our possibilities and capabilities for a change in our own life for the better. Excellence grows through careful, subtle cultivation. Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) is the art and knowledge of personal excellence based on the study of successful communication and exceptional success, which has been achieved by people in different fields. The basic starting points of NLP are the set of technologies of excellence and success in life and work. To achieve this we need: (1) To be focussed, to be successful, and to get what we want; (2) Good contacts, to establish and maintain intrapersonal relations with mutual trust and support; (3) Understanding and emotional sharpness, to know where we are and what is happening; (4) Behavioural flexibility, to be able to adapt to different and unpredictable life circumstances. Bandler and Grinder (1975, 1976) were the fathers of NLP, and they found out as early as the beginning of the 1970's that if we change our beliefs, we also change our behaviour. They were especially interested in the beliefs of the most successful people. They showed (and this was also confirmed later by others) that if we accept for our beliefs these beliefs of successful people and if we use them through our own behaviour, we can experience an 80% change in behav- iour. There is no failure, only feed-back information. When we treat and experience all that is happening to us in our life as feed-back information, this represents a good signpost as to which path we need to take to achieve success. Earlier, Huxley (1942) claimed that our senses (sight, hearing, emotions, touch, smell, taste) are the doorway of our perception of the world. These are our connection with the external world. The more open our senses are, the more we can see and understand other people and everything that the surroundings are communicating to us (Huxley, 1942, p. 36). With this we are able to see small details of and small changes (for NLP, this is known as calibrating) in other people (e.g., partners, family members, co-workers, friends, neighbours), and so we can more rapidly adapt our communication with the world. Through matching with other people we can achieve what we want, which can be through words, through non-words (e.g., body language, mimicking, breathing) and through para-words (e.g., colour and tone of a voice). Through matching ourselves such as to 'step into the shoes of other people', we can understand them on the same wavelength, and we can support them, thus communicating with them easily. We get what we have focussed on. After life-long research in the field of leadership, teamwork, cooperation, communication, and learning, as a psychologist, Csikszentmihalyi and Nakamura used modelling to determine the inner state of flow (Csikszentmihalyi and Nakamura, 2011). The successful state of flow comes if there is equilibrium achieved between abilities, demands and challenges. In communication, we take three perceptive positions: empathy, association and disassociation (Bandler and Grinder, 1975, 1976; Batson, 2009). These are distinguished among themselves according to the way we perceive the world and the current situation. They enable us to see the situation from different angles. In everyday life, we manage our feelings more easily. In conflict situations, we keep our head clear because we can make a wise decision. According to the Pace, Report, Leading, Leading strategy, the most important aspect is good contact among the people who effectively and actively communicate, which is a prerequisite for successful communication. To achieve this good contact, we need to use all of our senses (i.e., the sharpness of the senses) (Dilts, 2010). 2.3.3 Connections between the findings of neuroscience and neurolinguistic programming The findings of neuroscience over some 90 years of the previous century spoke about 'the friendly brain', and again confirmed the advantages of NLP, which various authors put together in the 1970's (Gray, 2008). The nerve bridge to the brain allows us to influence our brain, and through this, also our body. Each person we come into contact with, and also the brain of those people, has an effect on us. Even the most ordinary meetings work as regulators in the brain, and can elicit emotions; some of these are desired, and some of them are not. The more we are emotionally connected with someone, the stronger is the interpersonal interaction. The strongest interaction is achieved among peo- ple with whom we spend most time together, every day, year after year, and especially those who are the most important to us (Skolnick et. al., 2008, p. 473). Our social contacts work as our mutual thermostats. Until we manage our feelings, they constantly determine the common elements of our brain functions. The emotions that derive from this have significant influences, which we can feel through our whole body, in the same way as the waves of hormones that regulate the functioning of various biological systems, from the heart to the immune system (Panksepp, 1990, 2003). To a great extent, our connections to and relations with people shape not only our experience, but also our biology. This connection is a two-bladed sword: good relations have a beneficial effect on our health, whereas bad relations function as a poison, which can slowly poison our body. The newly discovered class of neurons, the fusiform cells, function the fastest of all. They are typical for intuition. They manage social decisions, which we make in an instant (Lieberman, 2000). Fusiform cells regulate the functioning of the neuron network and are activated every time we choose the best answer among many. Due to these properties, intuition is nowadays one of the most essential abilities when making business decisions, and indeed, all other decisions. The condition we can strive for is to actually detect these messages, to be in close contact with ourselves (Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee, 2002, p. 43). Another type of brain cell, the mirror neurons (Iacoboni, 2009), predict not only the movements of other people, but also their feelings, and these cells prepare us at the same time to mimic those movements, to express our empathy. Mirror neurons allow the very effective transfer of knowledge. In society, these neurons create the feeling of mutual experience. This biological change is believed to be the one that created a tremendous break in human history some 50,000 years ago, which has been referred to as the beginning of a sudden extremely high intensity, non-biological transfer of skills and other information among people (Chiao and Ambady, 2007). The mirror neurons are the cells that allow us to feel the emotions of others. They are sort of 'mind readers of the people in our surroundings', and if they do not work properly, we function very poorly in society. Social interactions have important roles in the restructuring of our brain through 'neuroplasticity', which means that repeated experiences determine the shape, size and number of neurons, and their synaptic connections (Song, et al., 2007, pp. 3407-3412). The social reactivity of the brain demands that we are wise, that we understand that other people in our lives can shape and influence our feelings, and also our biology, which demands us to question ourselves in terms of how we influence the feelings and biology of other people (Panksepp, 2003). This biological influence that is being transferred from one person to the other demonstrates a new dimension to our life, and shows us how to live it well (Panksepp, 2003, p. 7). Our brain carries out automatic scanning to determine if there are any signs that might predict imminent danger. This state of hyper-caution is being managed in its biggest part by the amygdala, an almond-shaped part of our brain that promotes a caution sign for danger, for the 'fight, flight or freeze' response. Of all of our feelings, the feeling of fear is the one that influences the functioning of the amygdala the most. The emphasised caution that leads to signalling from the amygdala strengthens our sensitiveness to emotional schemes we receive from other people. They can strongly influence our feelings, and the road towards our emotional infection is ready. These moments of fear and caution mean that we become more sensitive to other people's feelings (Wright, 2007). This emotional infection travels over the so-called 'low road' of our brain (Pessoa and Adolphs, 2010). The low road is the connections that function below the level of consciousness: automatically, and with high speed. The great majority of all that we do is regulated by a large neural network that functions through this low road, especially in terms of our emotional life. On the contrary, the 'high road' runs through the nerve structures, which function more systematically, and gradually, and with conscious endeavour. The low road uses the nerve ganglia that travel through the amygdala and similar automatic ganglia, whereas the high road sends its information into the prefrontal cortex, the executive centre of the human brain, which contains our abilities for intention, and in which we can think about what is happening to us (Pessoa and Adolphs, 2010, p. 773-778). 3 Methods 3.1 Qualitative analysis This study used a qualitative research approach in order to develop a theoretical framework for the exploration, interpretation and identification of the impact of education on career plans, on changing attitudes towards careers, the raising of self-esteem and perception of personal excellence. Merriam (1998) says that "often carried out qualitative studies because there is not enough theory or because existing theory does not adequately explain the phenomenon. Thus, qualitative researchers build theory from observations and intuitive responses obtained in the field of study questions." Since the design of specific education using the tools of Neuro linguistic programming has not been studied and is a novelty, it is important for future studies that first appear to explore the theoretical foundation, which broadly explains the importance of concepts, definitions, characterisation and descriptions of things. The qualitative approach is an effective way to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between the introductory organised career education, thereby providing the greatest opportunity to build a theoretical framework that is used to conduct research on matters such as the education Career Plan as element of personal excellence. The basic experience documentation was collected through the educational process, with descriptions in words and narratives in the form of essays. The documentation was processed and analysed through the words. The qualitative research ended with the formulation of a justified theory. We had four focus groups of five people involved here. Qualitative research uses the words of a limited sample of study participants to explore the "whys" of a research question. Focus groups have become a valued and frequently used tool for collecting qualitative data. Focus groups gather infor- mation and insight on a predetermined subject from a small group of participants using a trained facilitator. The interaction between group members becomes an explicit part of the method. Focus groups usually are conducted with groups of six to 12 individuals who share similarities but who do not know each other personally. They are chosen because they can speak confidently about their personal experiences with the research topic. (Gibbs, 1997; Stewart et al., 2007). The procedure of the qualitative analysis was divided into six steps: (1) editing of the documentation; (2) determination of the units for coding; (3) open coding; (4) selection and definition of the relevant concepts and categories; (5) relational coding; and (6) formulation of the final theoretical premise. Using this, we based our findings mainly on the procedure described by Glaser and Strauss (1967, 2005), and afterwards summarised by Strauss and Corbin (1990, 1998), Corbin and Strauss (2007), and Morse, et al. (2009). For the implementation of the qualitative research, we carried out the data processing using the ATLAS.SI programme. The purpose of ATLAS.ti (http://www.atlasti.com/index. html) is to help researchers uncover and systematically analyze complex phenomena hidden in unstructured data (text, multimedia, geospatial). The program provides tools that let the user locate, code, and annotate findings in primary data material, to weigh and evaluate their importance, and to visualize the often complex relations between them. The first steps of theory building take place much earlier, often already during coding. Ideas are developed further during the process of querying the data. Visualization and theory-building tools encompass predominantly the various network view functions. One of the most attractive properties of graphs is their intuitive graphical presentation, mostly in form of two-dimensional layouts of labeled nodes and links. In contrast with linear, sequential representations (e. g., text), presentations of knowledge in networks resemble more closely the way human memory and thought is structured. Cognitive "load" in handling complex relationships is reduced with the aid of spatial representation techniques. ATLAS.ti uses (Friese, 2011) networks to help represent and explore conceptual structures. Networks add a heuristic "right brain" approach to qualitative analysis. The study uses a qualitative research approach to develop a theoretical framework for the study, with explanation and determination of the influence of career education on the changes in the attitudes towards career, increase self-esteem, and perception of personal excellence. Merriam (1998) said that "qualitative studies are frequently carried out because there is not enough theory or because the existing theory has not appropriately explained the phenomenon. The qualitative researchers therefore base their theory on observations and intuitive answers, collected from the field of research questions." As the concepts of concrete education through the means of the tools of NLP have not been studied and represent a novelty, it is important for all future studies that a theoretical premise is first established that broadly explains the importance, concepts, definitions, characterisation, and descriptions. The credibility, transferability, and reliability of this qualitative research can be determined using 'triangulation'. Triangulation refers to the use of several sources and meth- ods for data collection (Creswell, 1998; Leedy and Ormrod, 2001, Merriam, 1998). The data sources for triangulation included interviews, essays, articles, and questionnaires. With triangulation, we use several sources and methods (Creswell, 1998) and strengthen the reliability and credibility of the data (Merriam, 1998). 3.2 Quantitative analysis With the questionnaire, we collected data according to the occasional samples where the condition was generalisation: the units of the sample do not differentiate according to any relevant characteristics from the units of the population (the partial population, which is typically taken as representative for the whole population): regarding gender, age, education, employment status, number of years of service (SI-Stat Data Portal 2013). We analysed the data from 547 participants who completed the questionnaire, of which 273 were participants in the career-education course, about the making of personal career plans and their influence on their career, and their achieving of high levels of self-esteem and self-confidence, with the perception of personal excellence. Then, 274 people comprised Non-participants, who were people who had not attended the course, but who responded to our request to fill in the questionnaire. We pre-tested our questionnaire on a smaller sample of 50 participants and non-participants and we tested the internal consistency or homogeneity of the questionnaire and its validity of. The analyses has shown that for both groups the measurement instrument is reliable, consistent and homogeneous (Cronbach alpha coefficient 0.7 < a < 0.9). The questionnaire measured with validity the views of participants (The value of the Spearman-Brown coefficient for both groups was higher than 0.8). While studying the influences of the career plans, we worked with this questionnaire that we developed ourselves, based on our experience in the education of the course participants and the results of the qualitative analyses. After the questionnaire data had been collected, we carried out an analysis for the internal consistency, to exclude all claims that there was a low level of consistency. In our study we could not find claims with low level of consistency, therefore we didn't exclude any claim. We carried out these tests of the internal consistency of the questionnaire as a whole, and within the individual factors. As a measure, we used the Cronbach alpha coefficient for each variable separately. Furthermore, we used a method to divide the questionnaire into two halves. Then we tested for three variables: the impact of the relation with the career (K); the increase in self-confidence and self-esteem (L); and the perception of personal excellence (M). The questionnaire was divided according to the principle of odd and even numbers, and a Spearman-Brown coefficient was calculated for every variable in both of the participant groups (participants, non-participants). The questionnaire consisted of general demographic questions and questions regarding the samples of behaviour after the educational course was finishing. The individual dimensions of different samples of behaviour were expressed by the participants using a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 represented the lowest level of agreement with the question, and 5, the highest. We researched the frequency distribution of the structure of the participants according to various dimensions. For the analysis of the individual claims, which refer to different dimensions of behaviour and the determination of the satisfaction of the participants, we used a descriptive statistical method with frequency distributions. For each dimension and claim, we used variance analysis, with which we tested the significant differences among the mean values of the populations in both groups (participants and non-participants). At the recruitment of the participants according to their participation in the career education, we tested the differences between the arithmetical means with t-tests for independent samples. This was intended as the comparison of two independent groups. With the t-test, we tested if the two arithmetical means of groups participants (course) and non-participants (no course) were statistically significantly distinguishable between them. For all of the tests, we used a 5% level of significance. We also used factor analysis, which studies the connections among the variables, so that we could find and construct a new set of variables (less than the measured variables) that represented what was common to all of the observed variables. We determined whether the connections among the observed variables (covariance and correlation) can be explained by a smaller number of indirectly observed variables or factors. Adequacy of the data for factor analysis was checked by the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test (KMO) and Bartlett's test. The KMO test tells us whether the data is suitable for analysis. The higher the rate of the KMO test (the test range of 0 to 1), the more suitable the data is for analysis. If the rate of the KMO test is greater than 0.8, the adequacy of the date can be considered optimal. 4 Results 4.1 Qualitative analysis 4.1.1 Survey of contents in the Atlas.si programme Rudimentarily empirical material was gathered during the educational process (participants), and is presented as word descriptions and narratives. At the end of the educational process the participant wrote five essays: (1) Five provocative questions to myself. (2) Bright avenue of my future. (3) Life-line. (4) My dream professions. (5) My sub-personalities. Essays are one of the types of instruments to carry out qualitative research, which is characterised by a direct approach (the purpose of the research participants found or it is evident from the agreed content of the essay). Its content and form are unidentifiable or arbitrary. Can essayists write about everything. Even the style and technique of writing not specified. Analysis of essays is concrete, detailed and colourful. Qualitative research is clearly evident and procedures describing reasoning and gradual abstracting concepts of different levels of abstraction from the empirical material. Every concept, form and decision can be seen in the elements of the empirical material. This is intended for the qualitative analysis of different techniques that are illustrations (tables) of both the relationship between empirical and theoretical concepts. 4.1.2 Network survey of the effects of the career education Impact of relation with career (K). Qualitative analysis and interpretations: we analysed the characteristics of concepts, selected the most relevant concepts, defined them, searched for relations among them, and finally formulated corrections, formularies and theoretical explanations. Figure 1 shows the network display of effects of the career education for the dependent variable 'relation with career'. In a network view editor we are linking all objects to each other. Code-code and quotation-quotation links are named and commented. A network is defined as a set of nodes and links. A node in a network are linked to an arbitrary number of other nodes. Formal property of a network is its order: the number of its nodes. We make practical use of the degree of nodes by using it as a sorting criterion in the codes list window. 'The impact of relationship with career' has been formed to the participants of education, who expressed their relation by a written essay by 'changes of relation with career', which was determined by 'open way to my dream professions' and on this road they were lead by 'thinking about career with a new approach to life' and 'own priorities'. Transitive relation is the is-cause-of relation: if C1 is-cause-of C2 and C2 is-cause-of C3, C3 is-cause-of C4, it follows that C1 is-cause-of C4. C5 is-cause-of C4. Legend: C1 = 'My relation with career' (supercode) C2 = 'The changes in their relation with their career' (one link to a node) C3 = 'Open the way to my dream professions' (24 link to a node) C4 = 'Thinking about my career with a new approach to life' (9 link to a node) C5 = 'My own priorities '(5 link to a node). The network survey of the effects of the career education for the dependant variable 'the increase in self-confidence and self-esteem' (L) is shown in Figure 2. Increase in self-confidence and self-esteem (L) of the participants in the career-education course who expressed their attitudes in a written essay, basing the form on 'The increase in self-esteem and self-confidence' when they 'Listened to their intuition' and 'Trusted in their abilities', with a view to 'My bright avenue of for the future'. Transitive relation is the is-cause-of relation: if C1 is-cause-of C2 and C2 is-cause-of C3, C3 is-cause-of C4, C5 is-cause-of C4, it follows that C1 is-cause-of C5. Legend: C1 = 'High degree of self-confidence' (super code) C2 = 'Increase of self-confidence' (one link to a node) C3 = 'I listen my intuition' (7 link to a node) C4 = 'I trust my capabilities' (13 link to a node) C5 = 'Along splendid avenue of my life grow big trees'(11 link to a node) The network survey of the effects of the career education course for the dependant variable of the perception of personal excellence (M) is shown in Figure 3. Perception of personal excellence (M) was expressed by the participants in the career-education course who wrote about their relation in an essay and found out with the analyses of the 'Life line' that they are 'Encouraged by the opportunities for change'. 'The opportunities for change' also influenced the process 'I nurture personal excellence' and 'I am satisfied with my career plans'. A feeling that further contributes to the 'Perception of personal excellence' relates to 'I feel abundance of love and want to share it', the process 'If I don't take care My relation to careerf*-1) Figure 1. Network for the evaluation of the impact of the career education: impact of relation with career (K). I trust my capabilities (13-2) Along splendid avenue of my life grow big trees (11-1 Figure 2. Network for the evaluation of the impact of the career education: increase in self-confidence and self-esteem (L). of myself, I cannot take care of others' and to this also: 'I take care of my health'. Transitive relation is the is-cause-of relation: if C1 is-cause-of C2 and C2 is-cause-of C3, C3 is-cause-of C4, C5 is-cause-of C4, it follows that C1 is-cause-of C5. Simetric relation is C5 is-condition-for relation: the C5 is-condition-for C1, C5 is-condition-for C2, C5 is-condition-for C3, Transitive relation is-part-of relation: C6 is-part-of C1, Transitive relation is-a relation: C7 is-a C1, Transitive relation is-property-of relation: C8 is-property-of C7 Legend: C1 = 'Perception of personal excellence' (super code) C2 = 'Lifeline' (8 link to a node) C3 = 'I care for my personal excellence' (19 link to a node) C4 = 'I am satisfied with my career goals' (7 link to a node) C5 = 'Opportunity for change, stimulate me'(21 link to a node) C6 = 'I am full of love and I want to share it'(11 link to a node) C7 = 'If I don't care for my self, I can't care for others' (5 link to a node) C8= 'I take care for my health' (1 link to a node) 4.2 Quantitative analysis 4.2.1. The course of the analysis For the implementation of the quantitative analysis, we chose a web questionnaire with the tool FluidSurveys (http://fluid-surveys.si/). We chose a panel who were all participants in the career-education course. For the panel of non-participants Figure 3: Network for the evaluation of the impact of the career education: perception of personal excellence (M). in the career-education course, we had an address list that was provided by the participants and included their friends, co-workers and acquaintances who did not participate in the career-education course. 4.2.2 The testing of the questionnaire Internal consistency test, or homogeneity: to what extent does the questionnaire measure the attributes in a systematically and repeatable way. Here, the Cronbach alpha coefficients were calculated, with the data given in Table 1. Table 1. The internal consistency test for the Cronbach alpha coefficients. Variable Cronbach alpha coefficient Participants Non-participants Impact of relation with career (K) 0.85 0.90 Increased self-confidence and self-esteem (L) 0.87 0.91 Perception of personal excellence (M) 0.89 0.90 The analyses showed that for both of these two groups, the measurement instrument is reliable, in that it measures the attributes in a systematic and repeatable way. The value of the Cronbach alpha should be >0.5, and for the participants it was >0.8, and for the non-participants it was >0.9 (Table 1). The questionnaire is therefore consistent and homogeneous. Criteria for evaluation of the results: Cronbach and Shavelson determine (Cronbach and Shavelson, 2004): Cronbach's alpha Internal consistency a > 0.9 Excellent 0.7 < a < 0.9 Good 0.6 < a < 0.7 Acceptable 0.5 < a < 0.6 Poor a < 0.5 Unacceptable The validity of the questionnaire test: to what extend do the received results correspond to the intention, and does the questionnaire measures what it is supposed to measure. The method looked at the distribution of the questionnaire, in two halves. The questionnaires were halved using the principle of odd and even numbers, and the Spearman-Brown coefficients for each variable of each of the groups were calculated, as given in Table 2. Table 2. The validity of the questionnaire test. Variable Spearman-Brown coefficient Participants Non-participants Impact of relation with career (K) 0.73 0.81 Increased self-confidence and self-esteem (L) 0.72 0.80 Perception of personal excellence (M) 0.81 0.83 The analysis showed that with both groups the questionnaire measured the valid views of the participants (Table 2). The value of the Spearman-Brown coefficient should be >0.5. For the participants it was >0.7, and for the non-participants it was >0.8. 4.2.3 Statistical data processing The questionnaire data were collected from a dedicated sample of 320 participants in the career-education course, where there was a choice for certain individuals who had characteristics that were relevant to the study (from whom we were able to get useful information to reach the goal). We obtained the questionnaire answers from 273 of them, which represents 85%. The non-participants sample included 420 non-participants, from whom we obtained 274 questionnaires answered, as 61%. Sample units for each of the relevant properties did not differ from the units of the population (partial population of the typical, average and representative economically active population). Based on this analysis, participants and non-participants were well matched by gender, age, education, employment status and number of years of employment (Table 3). The standard deviation shows a slightly higher distribution for non-participants. Compared to the average working population in Slovenia, these surveyed groups were older and slightly higher educated. 4.2.4 Impact of the three tested variables: K, L and M. The questionnaire included questions that concerned the patterns of behaviour after the end of their education, to the experience of any changed attitude towards career (K), self-esteem and self-confidence (L), and the perception of personal excellence (M). For the various dimensions of these samples of behaviour, the participants expressed these through a five-level scale, where they had the following options: Not at all (1); Agree partially (2); Partially yes, partially no (3); This is true for me (4); This is absolutely true for me (5). 4.2.5 Mean and standard deviation The group of participants from the career-education course had higher means for all of the indicators of the variable 'Impact of relation with career', compared to the non-participants in the career-education course (Table 4). The standard deviation shows a greater distribution among these non-participants. Affirmations: 'When you think about your career, do something for yourself' achieves M = 4.37 in participants and M = 2.79 in non-participants; 'I think about my career' achieves M = 4.27 in participants and M = 2.91 in non-participants. Such relations are achieved in all 13 affirmations which Table 3. Sample descriptions for the career-education participants and non-participants Variables Participants Non-participants n Mean n Mean Gender 272 35 % M 65 % F 273 34 % M 70 % F Age (average) 272 49 years 273 50 years Education (average) 272 52.2 % College-Faculty 273 54.3 % College-Faculty Employment status 271 61.8 % Employees 273 58.2% Employees Number of years of service 272 30 years 273 33 years Involvement in education 272 45.2 % 273 33 % Computer course 272 30.1 % 273 32.2 % Language course 272 29.4 % 273 33.3 % Course effective communication 272 55.9 % 273 24.2 % Personal career plan 272 79.8 % 273 NA Education of management 272 29.8 % 273 20.1 % Education Business Plan 272 39 % 273 NA Education Career Planning 272 68.8 % 273 50.9% Europass 272 76.1 % 273 45.1 % Workshop personal development plan 272 82 % 273 40 % confirms our first hypothesis: Individuals who have made a personal career plan and after the act, change their attitude towards their career and take control of their life to a greater extent than individuals who are not career educated and didn't finish the career plan. The standard deviation shows higher distribution among the non-participants of education. A large standard deviation o = 1.219 ('I think about my career') indicates a high dispersion of units in the non-participants, i.e. units are arranged on a large scale around the arithmetic mean. A smaller standard deviation o = .778 ('I think about my career') in participants represents a large concentration of statistical units around the arithmetic mean. The group of participants in the career-education course had higher means for all of the indicators of the variable 'Increased self-confidence and self-esteem', compared to the group of non-participants in the career education (Table 5). The standard deviation shows a greater distribution among these non-participants. Affirmations: 'I live in the inner abundance. My inner world is rich' achieves M = 4.39 in participants and M = 3.1 in non-participants; 'I'm responsible for my life and happiness.' achieves M = 4.29 in participants and M = 3.00 in non-participants. Such relations are achieved in all 16 affirmations which confirmed our second hypothesis: Individuals who have made a personal career plan and after the act, achieve a high level of self-confidence and self-esteem to a greater extent than individuals who are not career educated and did not finish the career plan. The standard deviation shows higher distribution among the non-participants of education. A large standard deviation o = 1.027 ('I'm responsible for my life and happiness') indicates a high dispersion of units in the non-participants, i.e. units are arranged on a large scale around the arithmetic mean. A smaller standard deviation o = .730 ('I'm responsible for my life and happiness') in the participants represents a large concentration of statistical units around the arithmetic mean. Participants also had higher means for all of the indicators of the variable 'Perception of personal excellence', compared to non-participants (Table 6). The standard deviation shows greater distribution among the non-participants in the career education. Affirmations: 'I make part of myself in everything I do' achieves M = 4.53 in participants and M = 3.31 in non-participants; 'Help others' achieves M = 4.51 in participants and M = 3.38 in non-participants. Such relations are achieved in all 23 affirmations which confirmed the third hypothesis: Individuals who have made a personal career plan and after the act, achieve personal excellence to a greater extent than individuals who are not career educated and didn't finish the career plan. The standard deviation shows higher distribution among the non-participants of education. A large standard deviation o = 1.061('There is no reason to anything or anyone in my life hated') indicates a high dispersion of units in non-participants, i.e. units are arranged on a large scale around the arithmetic mean. A smaller standard deviation o = .820 ('There is no reason to anything or anyone in my life hated') in the participants represents a large concentration of statistical units around the arithmetic mean. The arithmetical means of both of the independent variables differed statistically significantly. Table 4. The 'attitude to career'for the career-education participants and non-participants Variable Participants Non-participants n Mean score SD n Mean score SD I think about my career 272 4.27 0.778 273 2.91 1.219 I have an idea about my different career paths 272 3.84 0.824 273 2.42 1.034 Thinking about a career, I open a new outlook on my life 272 3.96 0.743 273 2.44 1.045 The performance of my career makes me more confident 272 4.06 0.734 273 2.38 1.026 I feel more accepted 272 3.79 0.831 273 2.30 1.011 When thinking about my career, I feel that there is light at the end of the tunnel 272 3.67 0.969 273 2.23 1.007 I can feel my energy 272 4.12 0.730 273 2.45 1.080 I learn from others 272 4.20 0.727 273 2.84 1.102 The path to my dream professions is open to me 272 3.60 0.944 273 2.24 1.000 I know my own priorities 272 4.16 0.700 273 2.60 0.958 I know and appreciate my talents 272 4.09 0.784 273 2.70 1.011 When I think about my career, I do something for myself 272 4.37 0.701 273 2.79 1.067 I am aware of my responsibilities 272 4.32 0.674 273 2.79 1.050 SD, standard deviation. Table 5. The 'increased self-confidence and self-esteem' for the career-education participants and non-participants Variable Participants Non-participants n Mean score SD n Mean score SD I am able to recognize my new personality 272 3.59 0.859 273 2.43 0.953 I have faith in the future, and I have faith in my abilities 272 3.97 0.721 273 2.69 0.982 My assertion is that life is made up of 10% of what happens to me, and 90% of how I react to it 272 4.24 0.557 273 2.92 0.984 I agree with: I am aware of the opportunities that are before me 272 4.04 0.710 273 2.62 0.990 I am following my intuition 272 4.28 0.680 273 3.06 1.000 Along my glittering avenue life path there are large green trees 272 3.95 0.820 273 2.60 1.013 I appreciate myself more 272 4.04 0.699 273 2.78 1.011 My life mantra is: "I am a happy, peaceful and prosperous person" 272 4.21 0.730 273 3.00 0.972 I am responsible for my own life and happiness 272 4.29 0.730 273 3.00 1.027 I am unreplaceable and valuable to myself and others 272 4.19 0.680 273 3.07 0.973 I am following myself and my needs 272 4.29 0.693 273 3.12 0.978 I agree with the statement: "If I do not let my dream come true, I will never reach it" 272 3.86 0.898 273 2.63 0.922 I live in inner abundance. My inner world is rich 272 4.39 0.689 273 3.10 1.083 The only source where I get advice, after which wonder is tracking my inner voice, is intuition 272 4.00 0.817 273 2.72 0.961 I am able to recognize my new personality 272 4.16 0.709 273 2.90 0.980 Valid n (listwise) 272 273 SD, standard deviation. Table 6. The 'perception of personal excellence' for the career-education participants and non-participants Variable Participants Non-participants N Mean score SD N Mean score SD I am unreplaceable and valuable, to myself and others 272 4.20 0.685 273 2.82 0.919 I am full of love and I want to give; give to my family, friends, the people who surround me 272 4.26 0.706 273 2.88 0.947 I am satisfied with my career goals 272 4.06 0.716 273 2.75 0.796 Every day I say thank you... 272 4.08 0.845 273 2.55 1.049 I can analyse and find solutions to difficult problems 272 3.55 1.044 273 2.29 0.975 I want to help others 272 4.51 0.643 273 3.38 0.997 I do not store useless stuff (e.g., unread mail, materials, newspapers) 272 3.86 0.945 273 2.66 0.966 If I cannot take care of myself, I cannot worry about others 272 4.34 0.737 273 3.08 0.958 I look at my exercise goals 272 4.26 0.687 273 2.95 0.887 I can step into the shoes of another person 272 4.20 0.795 273 2.88 0.993 I am responsible for my career 272 4.42 0.677 273 3.15 0.916 I nurture personal excellence 272 4.21 0.720 273 2.77 0.976 I put part of myself into everything I do 272 4.53 0.582 273 3.31 0.867 I care for my health 272 3.88 0.793 273 2.80 0.877 I know what I want 272 4.32 0.663 273 2.98 0.903 I use my time well 272 3.91 0.810 273 2.74 0.802 I make good use of my energy 272 3.96 0.777 273 2.76 0.803 I do not cultivate resentment 272 4.14 0.840 273 3.00 1.020 There is no reason for anything or anyone in my life to be hated 272 4.29 0.820 273 2.90 1.061 My mind is my most important tool 272 4.40 0.737 273 3.19 0.999 I encourage the opportunities for change 272 4.25 0.656 273 2.87 0.888 I have fast concentration 272 4.15 0.707 273 3.00 0.945 Valid n (listwise) 272 273 SD, standard deviation. 4.2.6 Bivariate analyses As the variables are numeric, we tested the linear correlation matrix between individual pairs of variables. The Spearman's correlation coefficients for each pair indicate whether there are any connections between them. This is defined as the interval from -1 to 1. A value of 0 means that there is no relationship, a value of -1 means the maximum inverted correlation, and a value of 1 means the maximum proportional relationship. Values from 0 to 0.3 represent weak linkage, from 0.3 to 0.6, medium linkage, and strong links above 0.6, to 1 as a very strong relationship. In participants, with less than 0.1% of significance, we can claim that there is a medium to strong correlation between the attitude towards the career and the self-esteem, which show Spearman's correlation coefficients of 0.465. Better self-esteem leads to a better attitude towards the career, and vice versa. With less than 0.1% of significance, we can argue that in participants there is a medium to strong correlation between the attitude towards the career and the perception of personal excellence, which show Spearman's correlation coefficients of 0.340. A better attitude towards the career leads to a better perception of personal excellence, and vice versa. With less than 0.1% of significance, we can argue that in participants there is a very strong correlation between the self-esteem and the perception of personal excellence, which show Spearman's correlation coefficients of 0.652. So better self-esteem leads to a better perception of personal excellence. and vice versa. 4.2.7 T-test for independent variables For the determination of the influence of the personal career plan and business plan together on the relation with career (K), Table 7. Spearman's rho correlation for participant. K L M K Impact of relation with career Correlation coefficient 1.000 0.465** 0.340** Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0000 N 272 272 272 L Increased self-confidence and self-esteem Correlation coefficient 0.465** 1.000 0.652** Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000 N 272 272 272 M Perception of personal excellence Correlation coefficient 0340** 0.652** 1.000 Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000 N 272 272 272 **, Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). self-esteem (L) and the perception of personal excellence (M), t-tests for independent samples were used. The first group is the who attended the seminar of the personal career plan and business plan (participants of career education), and the second group is the participants who did not attend the mentioned seminar (non-participants of career education) . Between both groups we compared the average values of variables K, L and M. With the t-tests, we determined whether the arithmetical means of both of the groups for all three of the variables (K, L, M) differ statistically significantly. With all of these tests we used a 5% level of significance. From Table 8 we can see that in non-participants and for the variable K, the mean is 2.55, while for the variable L the mean is 2.84, and for the variable M the mean is 2.90. In participants, for the variable K the mean is 4.03, for the variable L the mean is 4.10, and for the variable M the mean is 4.17. The group of participants in the career education (OKN+PN) has on average higher values of the variables K, L and M (Table 8). These differences are statistically significant, with Sig, <0.005, so we can conclude that the attending of the career-education course has a highly positive influence on the relation with career, on the self-esteem, and on the perception of personal excellence. 4.2.8 Factor analysis With the factor analysis of the variable 'Relation with career', the connections among the observed variables (the correlations) can be explained by three common factors. With the identification of the common factors we can explain 44.9% of the total variability of the observed phenomenon. The biggest load lies with the first factor, which has the highest value in explaining the variable, which is then follow by the second and third factors, with each of these in order explaining a smaller part of common variance. Factor 1, which has a highest value, can be named as 'Relation with career', and it is marked by the variables 'I recognise my own priorities', 'There is light at the end of the tunnel' and 'The career plan has made me more confident'. With the factor analysis of the variable 'Increased self-confidence and self-esteem', the connections among the observed variables (the correlations) can be explained by three common factors. With the identification of these common factors, we can explain 42.7% of the total variability of the observed phenomenon. Factor 1, which has the highest value, can be named as 'Increased self-confidence and self-esteem' and is represented by the variables 'I learned to listen to myself and to my needs', 'I have changed for the better, I Table 8. T-test group statistics for both groups and all three variables. Career_business_plan n Mean SD SEM K Impact of relation with career OKN+PN total 272 4.0348 0.46595 0.02825 without OKN+PN 273 2.5449 0.72953 0.04415 L Increased self-confidence and self-esteem OKN+PN total 272 4.1000 0.43583 0.02643 without OKN+PN 273 2.8425 0.63667 0.03853 M Perception of personal excellence OKN+PN total 272 4.1715 0.41185 0.02497 without OKN+PN 273 2.8956 0.53982 0.03267 SD, standard deviation; SEM, standard error of the mean OKN + PN = Participants without OKN + PN = Non-participants value myself better, I am playful and responsible' and 'I have started to trust in the future'. With the factor analyses of the variable 'Perception of personal excellence', the observed variables (the correlations) can be explained by six indirectly observed variables. With the identification of the common factors, we can explain 60.6% of the total variability of the observed phenomenon. Factor 1, which has the highest value, can be named as 'Perception of personal excellence', and it is represented the variables 'I put part of myself into everything I do', 'I nurture personal excellence', 'I know what I want', 'I manage my energy well' and 'I use my time well'. 4.3 Model of a career plan as a building block for personal excellence The conceptual model for making career plan derives from Kolb's model of experiential learning (Kolb, 1985, p. 57). Contains tools we have tested and developed for education in the context of four activities: a) concrete experience, b) reflection on experience, c) abstract conceptualization, and d) active experimentation. Model of experiential knowledge is a spiral, which means that knowledge builds. As Parsons three-level model speaks for personal analyses, where the individuals recognise their advantages and disadvantages, characteristic or features Parsons (1909), The ideal model for the definition of a career plan (Figure 4) consists of the recognition of one's own potentials (e.g., European, curriculum vitae, portfolio, competence). Then there follows a deepening understanding of the own-self (e.g., wheel of equilibrium, analysis of lifeline, Myers-Briggs indicator of personality). The participants in this career education determine what they really want to do (Table 9), and what job makes them happy and is at the same time in agreement with their personal values. They make measurable and very concrete goals for themselves in connection with their career (e.g., career goals, career anchors, SWOT analyses), they define their own career portfolio, and they make out a personal career plan. They train themselves on how to act in public (self-promotion) and how to present their own marketing brand (self-branding). 5 Discussion 5.1 Key findings from the qualitative analysis For the qualitative approach, we focus on getting insider views of the phenomena that require a deeper understanding. Figure 4. Model of a career plan as a building block for personal excellence. Table 9: Didactic model specification Informative objectives Formative objectives Participant: Participant Define the concepts of careers, career development, planning and career management (1) Critically analyse the concept of a career in modern society. Distinguishes the newest career theories (2) In practical situations justifying the essential social factors that have influenced the development of career theories. Used career tools: Introduction to careers, career transition and career break, career goals, career anchors, competencies, career portfolio, SWOT analysis, self-promotion, career coaching, career development within the organisation, Networking, Career trademark, Personal Career Plan, Career Management (3) Analyses the necessary skills for different jobs. (4) Analyses best practice enforcement systems for employee career development. Learning takes place in the classroom and in the e-classroom, participants at the end of the seminar work individually to create a theoretical practical collection of case studies - Study Guide, which contains the following units: My personal career plan. The determination (identification) of personal skills for career development. Needs assessment of lifestyle (work and lifestyle). Explore interesting careers Construction of career skills. Career Network and the preparation and implementation for a job interview. Selection of target career and a personal education plan (mission statement). Development of long-term career plans and education / training We have tried to identify the essence of the research, which is closely linked to its source, so as to identify the most relevant information. Because the study focuses on learning and self-regulation, the qualitative approach is essential for understanding the perspective of individual learners. For qualitative research, we started with a theoretical framework and then use the lens to create additional concepts and theories. "It is important to note that qualitative methods are very systematic". (Berg, 2001, p. 7). Using qualitative analysis, we identify the elements of design criteria for the construction of the questionnaire; we measured the effect of education on career plans. We found three important areas, and a series of questions: attitudes towards career, degree of self-confidence and perception of personal excellence; they have already been presented in this article in the tables: table 4, table 5, table 6 in the column 'Variable'. 5.2 Key findings of the quantitative analysis We formed a paradigmatic model with the final theory, based on which we created a questionnaire. Individuals who have made out a personal career plan and then act accordingly, change their attitude towards their career and take better con- trol of their life, achieve a high degree of self-confidence and self-esteem, and achieve personal excellence perception to a greater extent than individuals who are not career educated and who have not made a career plan. People can speak confidently about their personal experiences with the research topic (Gibbs, 1997 and Stewart et al., 2007). The final theory is an integral element of the questionnaire. Participants has a higher average values for all variables that indicate the attitude to career than non-participants. Participants are better prepared for the challenges of the 21st century and great changes occurred on the working place: the fast development with the use of new technologies, which demand constant learning and faster and more frequent communication. With the statistical analyses of data, we used the bivari-ate analysis to test the linear connection of individual pairs of variables. With less than 1 % level of significance can be argued that there is a medium strong to very strong correlation between all tree variables. Spearman's coefficient r> 3 between K and L and > 6.5 between L and M indicates a very strong positive correlation self-esteem and perception of personal excellence, that confirms the idea Lipsey and Wilson to career planning provides a good mental state of people (Lipsey & Wilson, 2001). While searching for the differences between both group: participants and non-participants we used t-test for independent samples. Between both groups we compared the average values of variables K, L and M. The group of participants of education with (OKN+PN) has in average higher values of variables K, L and M. Those differences are statistically significant, with Sig, < ,005, So we can conclude that the attending of education influences highly positive the relation towards career, self-esteem and perception of personal excellence. With factor analysis, we tried to find out weather the relations among the examined variables can be explained with the smaller number of indirectly examined variables. In variable 'Relation to career', we found out that connections among the observed variables can be explained by three common factors: 'I recognised my own priorities', 'The light in the tunnel switched on' and 'Career plan made me more confident'. In variable 'Increase self-confidence and self-esteem', we found out that connections among the observed variables can be explained by three common factors 'I learned to listen to myself and my needs', 'I changed to better, I value myself better, am playful and responsible' and 'I started to trust the future'. In variable 'Perception of personal excellence', we found out that the relations among the observed variables (correlations) can be explained with six indirectly observed variables: 'Part of myself I put into everything I do', 'I nurture personal excellence', 'I know what I wish', 'I manage my energy well' and 'I use my time well'. 6 Conclusions Personal career plan is based on own characteristic, experiences, tasks, knowledge, trainings, skills, goals and the philosophy of each individual. Career planning is intended for the improvement of the ability of the individuals to make career decisions. The research of career education based on the ideal model of a career plan as a building block of personal excellence has shown that individuals who have defined a personal career plan and afterwards have act accordingly, change their attitude towards their career, take over the control over their lives, achieve a high level of self-esteem and self-confidence, and achieve a higher perception of personal excellence, than individuals who did not attend career education and did not make out a career plan. A career plan as a building block of personal excellence, based on the model of career education with the in-built elements and tools of NLP, which has been confirmed by the most recent studies in neuroscience. This represents a novelty, and therefore this study offers a genuine contribution and is an indicator of contemporary knowledge, and is based on the results of research. The findings of this study will be practically useful for solving social problems for people, and for the rationalisation of costs of public institutions and employment agencies. Above all, this is useful for individuals, to avoid a career break, which is represented by unemployment, and replace it with career transition, which offers different samples of different careers. These findings will also be useful in career management, as a process of planning and formation of promotion of individuals within an organisation in accordance with the needs of the organisation and the wishes, options, knowledge, skills, and capabilities of the individuals. With career education of individuals, these findings show that this will contribute to the success of an organisation, as individuals will strengthen their self-confidence and goal orientation, and thus enable themselves to be promoted within the organisation. On the other hand, the managers and the organisations will recognise the advantages of individuals (e.g., their knowledge, skills), and can coordinate and bring together the wishes of the individuals and the needs of the organisation, thus to develop new roads for promotion of individuals and to help them to prosper again when signs of their stagnation appear. Our society, which will in a broad sense stimulate the definition of career plans within companies, will avoid numerous inconsistencies among the unemployed and the compensation they get in certain periods. Instead of facing a career break when becoming unemployed, and to be under constant stress, they can instead take more care, with the help of a career plan, of their smooth transition from one career to another. Slovenia has been investing large amounts of resources for a long time for the sanitation of companies, but thousands of workers stay on the roads. 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Career choice development (2nd. ed.). (pp. 197-261). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Walsh, W. B. & Osipow, S. H. (ed.) (1983). Handbook of vocational psychology. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Wright, A. (2007) Limbic System: Amygdala. Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy. The UT Medical School at Houston. Retrieved March 15, 2013, from http://neuroscience. uth.tmc.edu/s4/chapter06.html Marija Turnsek Mikacic is a university graduate in Economics (B.Sc.) and received her Master of Science degree in Business Policy and Organisation Sciences (M.Sc.). She has had extensive experience working for one of the major Pharmaceutical Companies, Lek, the major Publishing house Delo, and for the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia. She has worked as the Head of Market Research and Development, Director of the Organisation and Planning, and the Secretary-General. Recently she has been examining general management, management of business processes, management of innovations and quality, and management of personal and business excellence. in 1999, she became lecturer at Grm Novo mesto - the Centre of Biotechnology and Tourism, Higher School for the Countryside and Landscape Management. She has mentored and some 20 diploma assignments. She managed for the Agricultural Colleges in Slovenia a Leonardo da Vinci international Project for European Mobility. She is a lecturer and a postgraduate/ Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Organisation Studies, Novo mesto. Marija Ovsenik received her Master degree in Organisational Sciences in 1985, and her Doctorate in social policy and social management in 1990. in 2002, she became Full Professor at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Work. She managed the TEMPUS project, which resulted in the educational programme Management in Social Work at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She has also taught at the University of Maribor and at the University of Primorska, where she was Dean of the Faculty of Tourism for four years. Currently she teaches and manages the programme Social Gerontology at Alma Mater Europaea, European Centre Maribor, and teaches at the Faculty of Organisation Studies, Novo mesto. She has published nine books and several articles in journals indexed in SCi, Scopus, CSA, and she has mentored 27 Doctoral theses, over 70 Master theses and several hundred diploma assignments. She has participated in the preparation of several higher education curricula, 11 of which have received accreditation. She managed a Leonardo da Vinci Project and participated in international projects with the University of Goetheborg. She has given invited talks at the University of Goetheborg, Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, USA, Lyn University in Boca Raton, USA, and St. Thomas University in Miami, USA. in 2013, she obtained her second Doctorate in quality management from the Faculty of Organisational Studies in Novo mesto. Karierni načrt kot gradnik osebne odličnosti Ozko področje raziskave je zgraditi model model gradnje osebne odličnosti s pomočjo kariernega načrta, ki je kvantitativno in kvalitativno empirično preverjen. Namen raziskave je določiti faktorje, ki vplivajo na občutek osebne odličnosti udeležencev izobraževanja in izdelave kariernega načrta v primerjavi s tistimi, ki se niso karierno izobraževali. Pri kvalitativni analizi je osnovno izkustveno gradivo zbrano med izobraževalnim procesom v 20 esejih in oblikovan paradigmatski model s končno teorijo, na podlagi katere smo izdelali vprašalnik. Kvantitativna raziskava je izvedena s 547 udeleženci in neudeleženci izobraževanja. S statistično analizo podatkov smo z bivariantno analizo testirali linearno povezanost posameznih parov spremenljivk. Pri preverjanju razlik med obema skupinama smo uporabili t-test za neodvisne vzorce. S faktorsko analizo smo ugotavljali, ali se zveze med opazovanimi spremenljivkami lahko pojasnijo z manjšim številom posredno opazovanih spremenljivk ali kazalnikov. Končni model vsebuje tri elemente: (1) odnos do kariere, (2) samopodobo in (3) zaznavanje osebne odličnosti. Vodstvo lahko takoj uporabi rezultate te raziskave pri odločanju. Povečana uspešnost vsake posamezne organizacije je v korist celotne družbe. Raziskava predstavlja izvirni prispevek in daje nova spoznanja, temelječa na paradigmi razumevanja kariere in pomenu njenega načrtovanja, kot motiva odličnosti. Ključne besede: karierno načrtovanje, osebna odličnost, karierni prelom, kvalitativna analiza, kvantitativna analiza, nevrolingvistično programiranje.