Career Advisory postgraduate studies – after the second weekend
A client comes to a Career Consultant and asks, “I have a Gallup test report. What job should I look for?”, “We did a series of tests at work this year. Can we discuss them?”, “The report says I’m a good manager. Why am I not being promoted?”, “I have to take the Hogan test as part of the recruitment process I am in. Can you help me prepare?”. The second session of the Career Advisory postgraduate studies was about a wide range of tests, their role in career advisory, and their usefulness when working with clients.
The role of tests in Career Advisory
The first day of the second weekend was hosted by Anna Zadrożna, who focused on the topic of “Tools and tests in identification and verification of career goal”. The formula of this session was slightly different from the previous ones, as each student prepared a description of a test of their choice from a pool of the most common tests used on the market, to, among other things, assess their usefulness when working with clients who are just starting their career path or those professionally experienced, who, for example, are at a crossroads. After each mini-presentation, we discussed the pros and cons of the presented diagnostic tools.
Among presented and discussed tests were the following: Extended DISC, MBTI, Facet5, SHL OPQ, Hogan, Insights Discovery, Reiss, IQ, Schein Anchors, HAT, CliftonStrengths (Gallup) and FRIS.
That session’s guest speaker was Joanna Chrobak, who discussed recruitment processes from the perspective of a headhunter. Joanna uses a series of Thomas tests in her daily work.
Briefly about Joanna Chrobak:
Managing Director at HR Level Up and career mentor. Business practitioner with over 25 years of experience as, among others, Sales Director and General Manager in FMCG industries; she managed teams of up to 200 people. For several years now, she has been running her own company as a trusted partner of many international and Polish corporations in the field of personal consulting. She supports managers in their personal and professional development and skillfully combines business experience in sales and company management with the competences of a professional mentor. Moreover, she specializes in assessment and development of management competences, supports clients in search and development of talents and executes outplacement projects.
Career View by Decision Dynamics
Ania Zadrożna started the second day of the second session asking the following question: “What is your definition of career success?”, to which the students answered, among other things:
“For me, success is when I achieve my goals”.
“Doing things that match my values, give me a sense of purpose and benefit others”.
“When there is a balance between values, development and earnings”.
“Success is when I work on things that give me joy […] and opportunities to grow”.
“When at work I feel that what I do is meaningful […] and in line with my potential and values”.
This question was an introduction to the topic of career path management, based on over 40 years of research. It distinguishes between:
- four career patterns: Expert, Linear, Spiral and Transitory
- two perspectives, the so-called Career Motives and Career Concepts
In the practical part of the meeting students undertook exercises such as:
- analysis of sample profiles that often appear in the work of a Career Consultant
- preparation (“drawing”) of profiles based on descriptions
- modeling competences based on job advertisements
- job crafting based on the so-called “job fit”.
We also discussed how to define and identify different organizational cultures based on the company’s strategy and structure, and how employees are assessed and rewarded.
In addition, we compared how well a person’s career profile fits into the culture and how important it is during changes within an organization. Read more about career management here.
Reflections after the second day of the second weekend
“I was struck by how important culture is for an organization and how it determines the employees’ engagement”.
“After this weekend, I realized that tests are very important, and understood that they are the basis for working with the client”.
“I was very pleased with this review of tests – thanks to this, I was able to supplement my knowledge about them”.
“The class on tests prompted me to self-reflect on my own career”.
“I realized that tests are not meant to categorize people; they are only the basis for further work”.
We will keep you informed about our students, as well as the progress of our studies.
PS. Read more about the first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh sessions.
Are you interested in this field and don’t want to wait until our next edition? Follow information about our courses – also in-house – on this site:
https://careerangels.eu/become-a-certified-career-consultant/
