Career
Development and Planning
Organizations
want to retain and develop good people. But it is often
difficult to determine what will be the best career direction
for bright and motivated employees, and what is needed to
make significant progress towards these goals. Since the
mid-1980s, many companies have solved these issues
by offering the services of Sayer & Associates to their
management and professional staff.
Case
Report: Career Development and Planning
Individual
Assessment and Counselling
Interviewing and assessment is used to establish priorities
in the four areas of abilities, interests, personality and
values. These strengths and priorities are used to generate
realistic options for successful career plans and choices.
Clients learn not only about themselves through testing
but also about the process of making effective decisions
in career planning. It is both an assessment and learning
process, that Dr. Sayer has developed through over 20 years
experience in research, teaching and practice in career
development.
The
Career Assessment process includes:
- An
initial 1.5 hour interview to discuss past educational
and work experience, and to set the goals for the assessment
- Ability
assessment requires 2 4 hours of testing in our
offices, and these are chosen based on the profile of
the client
- Materials
to assess Interests, Personality and Values are completed
by the client on their own time with an expectation that
these will take 4 5 hours to complete
- A
draft report is generated from the results of the assessment
- A
two hour feedback session is held to discuss the results
of the assessment and the career options that have arisen
from the data
-
A follow-up session of 1 to 1.5 hours is provided to discuss
the next steps that the client is considering, after having
had time to review the results in depth and to do some
preliminary career research
- More
counselling sessions can be arranged if necessary to provide
coaching on job search techniques
Case
Report: Individual Assessment and Counselling
Career
Planning Sessions for Employee Groups
The assessment and learning used in the individual career
assessment have been modified to be used in group sessions.
These sessions have the added benefit of discussing with,
and learning from, others with similar concerns. These sessions
have been customized and conducted successfully for a large
number of public and private organizations with participants
from a range of professions and occupations. It is recommended,
however, that career-planning sessions within organizations
include participants of similar levels in order to facilitate
comfortable discussion and a shared focus. Sayer & Associates
has received consistently high satisfaction ratings over
the years from session participants, many of whom have said
it was the most important development activity ever offered
by their employers.
The
Career Planning Sessions can include all or part of the
following:
- Exercises
to help participants understand their past career choices
- A
framework of Career Planning and decision-making to guide
their self-assessment
- Guidance
and discussion on effective goal-setting and decision-making
- The
impact of demographic and generational realities on their
planning
- Exercises
to help them determine their strengths and priorities
in the areas of Skills/Competencies, Interests, Personal
Style and Life Values
- Methods
to research careers and jobs of interest, including Networking
- Effective
resume-writing and interviewing
Career
Transition and Relocation
The organization and/or the employee may decide that
a job or career change is needed. In this case, a process
similar to the individual career planning is offered but
with enhanced support and learning around the career change
and loss process. In addition, our associates have extensive
experience in the relocation business and are able to provide
guidance and structure in the steps to marketing oneself
successfully.
These
clients determine a range of specific and realistic "next
job" goals, receive feedback from former employers
through confidential counsellor interviews, direction in
key self-marketing techniques (resumes, networking, information
interviews, etc.) and ongoing coaching to ensure their job
search is focused, organized and effective.
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