Career Advisory postgraduate studies – after the second weekend
A client comes to a Career Consultant and asks, “We did a series of tests at work this year. Can we discuss them?”, “I have a Gallup test report. What job should I look for?”, “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 weekend 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 the presented and discussed tests were the following: Extended DISC, MBTI, MPA, Decision Dynamics, Thomas Aptitude, SHL OPQ, Hogan, Insights Discovery, IQ, 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:
“I feel successful when I have a stable job with good salary, when my work makes me satisfied, when I receive a promotion, or take up my dream position”
“Success can include leaving a corporation job and starting your own business”
“When I feel like I have achieved something”
“Success is when I get up in the morning and want to go to work that gives me a sense of security, where my commitment is appreciated”
“When at work, I feel that what I do impacts other people in a positive way and is consistent with my 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 realized that tests are merely tools supporting our work, and that I am the one responsible for the client’s profile”
“The second weekend left me wanting more – I would like to expand my knowledge even further”
“I was very interested in the organizational culture from Decision Dynamics’ perspective”
“Some of the tools we’ve discussed were completely new to me – I had never had the opportunity to use them before”
“The knowledge I gained during the second weekend will certainly be of use to me”
We will keep you informed about our students, as well as the progress of our studies.
PS. Read more about the first session.
PPS. Registration for the 2nd and 3rd modules of our studies (in Polish) is still ongoing! You can find information here – CV & LinkedIn and Navigating the Job Market.
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/
