Fostering Career Development
posted by ewright
I’m sure many of you understand the importance of developing talent and helping your clients achieve their career goals and ambitions. But when it comes to facilitating personal and professional development, do you have a set way of coaching, or do you adjust your style for each individual client? More specifically, do you use what you know about personality type and the Myers-Briggs® (MBTI®) assessment to aid you during these sessions?
What I’ve heard from several ICONs is that there is no one-size fits all approach when it comes to career counseling. These ICONs understand the importance of keeping their clients engaged by adjusting to the clients’ preferred personality type. Personality type theory, as stated in the booklet Type and Career Development by CPP author Donna Dunning, can enhance the career development process in a number of ways and help practitioners (such as you) identify potential blind spots when guiding others through the process.
The focus of the booklet covers setting the stage, conducting self-assessment, generating and researching options, making decisions, and taking action, all of which are stages that can be applied to other developmental situations and not strictly career counseling. The advice found here is applicable in any situation where a person is solving a problem, assessing a relationship, or looking to change patterns of behavior. By understanding his or her own type preferences, your client will be better equipped to deepen their understanding of the kind of work that will suit them as they begin to better understand themselves.
Here are a few tips to help sensing types generate and research career options. I hope you enjoy!
- When generating options, include realistic and practical work choices that are linked to your clients’ experiences.
- Review and find ideas from existing lists of work options rather than using a brainstorming approach.
- Focus on realities when generating options; they may need to broaden their options and imagine unfamiliar options.
- When doing research, help them find relevant facts and details about the work.
For more information on the booklet Type and Career Development, click here.
