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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-1980’s, 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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