Abstract:

In an ever-changing and highly dynamic environment, organizations no longer offer secure lifelong employment, as the needs and requirements for the various positions evolve in unexpected directions. In a "knowledge-based economy", employees are looking not just for an employment, but also for development and career opportunities. Constant personal enhancement through a sustainable process of learning is becoming a priority as a key tool for career management. Continuous scientific and technological innovation has profound implications on the understanding of vocational training as continual and permanent, which enhances the social inclusion and personal development, but also increases competitiveness and efficiency in the workplace, and provides new opportunities for development. Therefore, the topic of lifelong professional learning (LPL) is notably relevant and meaningful. The main purpose of this article is to explore the LPL and the creation of career opportunities at individual and organizational levels, according to EU research data, which will bring clarity to the opportunities for vocational training in Bulgaria, incl. the trends in LPL in the cultural and creative industries.

As a result of this purpose, several research tasks are formed:
1) to study current programs and practical systems for managing the career of the personnel;
2) to identify some of the modern concepts of motivation management as a problem of social psychology and management;
3) to identify the main groups that have different attitudes towards lifelong learning;
4) to identify the specific policies, practices and attitudes to the LPL culture building;
5) to examine the relationship between the career, organizational success and the amount of investment in the continuing educational process;
6) to draw basic conclusions and summaries on the implementation of good practices for creating qualitative LPL in Bulgaria.

The methodology applied in the study includes the methods of content analysis, systematization and summary of studies on existing training programs and practical systems for managing the career of the personnel. The methods of bibliographic research, analysis and synthesis of publications and studies on the theories of motivation management in psychology and science of management are applied; analysis of statistics and knowledge from large-scale case studies is done. Based on up-to-date statistics from the EC, CEDEFOP, the European Parliamentary Research Service, UNESCO, EACEA and more, conclusions and inferences about the level of competencies maintained and developed in LPL programs are drawn. The scope of the survey also focuses on the status of LPL in Bulgaria, in line with competitive needs and changing labor market requirements in both business and budget sectors. Findings and recommendations on Bulgarian conditions are derived on this basis. The research was carried out with the support of the NSF of MES of Bulgaria within the framework of the project "Communication Model for an Interactive Educational Environment for Continuous and Postgraduate Professional and Continuing Education in the Field of Cultural and Creative Industries", Contract No. DN05 / 1 , 12/14/2016 with project head Assoc. Prof. dr. Dr. Rumelina Vasileva, and is based on a wide range of bibliographic sources on the subject.

Keywords:

Career development, career management, organizational perspective, permanent professional education, qualification, training.