Move onto the right career path

Sunday Business Post - Recruitment Section - Feb 08 2009

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Career coaching services, such as psychometric testing, can help people who are made redundant to devise a viable career plan.

‘‘For many, the goal is getting straight back into employment, thus job-hunting strategies are critical,” said Paul Mullan, director of Measurability.ie. ‘‘Companies may provide professional support, but if not, individuals can pursue the professional support option themselves.”

Joe MacAree, managing psychologist at Pearn Kandola, said career coaching had particular appeal for candidates looking for work in a tight and highly competitive market.

‘‘If there are more people vying for fewer jobs, those who are successful will have to be better prepared,” MacAree said. ‘‘Unfortunately, it is a numbers game, and any advantage that you can get is very valuable.”

Re-entering the job market
Individuals who are made redundant following long-standing service with one employer or in one particular role often need help to decide how best to re-enter the jobs market, according to Joe Ungemah, regional manager for Ireland, SHL.

‘‘Maybe someone has not had to change job or role for 20 years and is looking to understand what their preferences are,” said Ungemah. ‘‘Psychometrics and career coaching can be a good place to start.”

Ungemah said the technique could help candidates to understand fully what they have to offer a prospective new employer. It can help to give them a clearer picture of how they will be perceived in terms of their working style, competencies, skills and experience.

‘‘This means giving them a diagnosis of what they have to offer, and using that to present themselves in the best possible way in an interview or meeting with their potential next company,” he said.

Candidates who have been in one position for a protracted period may not be aware of all they have to offer a new employer.

‘‘Some people may not always realise the depth of experience or skills and attributes they have developed if they have been in a job for some time,” said MacAree. ‘‘They might be able to look at other jobs and see how those would now apply to a new position. In that way, we can see opportunities for people.”

Testing approach
A career coaching process typically begins with the candidate filling out a s et of psychometric questionnaires, according to Ungemah.

‘‘People are already familiar with their qualifications, their work experience and the usual CV stuff,” said Ungemah. ‘‘There is another type of information, and that is the stuff that psychometrics is particularly useful for. Usually these will be around personality, motivation, interests and values. These allow the individual to ask questions that they have never really asked of themselves.”

Psychometric techniques used by career coaches include motivational questionnaires, personality tools, interest inventories and emotional intelligence guides. The aim is to help to establish the candidate’s natural competencies, vocational leanings and personality traits, as well as their fit with different working environments and job tasks.


MacAree said psychometric tests were formulated to help the individual learn more about their own personal strengths and preferences.

‘‘Individuals can find out their own strengths, and areas they would like to work in,” he said. ‘‘That can be a range of things from personality questionnaires or broad based questionnaires that can help people to see where their natural strengths bring them towards.

‘‘Then, by talking to them about that, you can help to align them with particular roles or career options that might be a good fit for them.”

Combined strengths
Psychometric test results are usually combined with other information from the candidate’s career history to create a rounded picture. ‘‘The personality questionnaires are a very good starting point, but you need to then look closely at the CV as well to get an understanding of their experience,” MacAree said. ‘‘For example, the coach would ask the person how they had demonstrated a particular competency in the past.

‘‘If a person was quite extrovert, you would look at their communications skills or their people or leadership skills and experiences. By putting those two together, you would see that the person would be interested in roles with a high people content, and there perhaps might be opportunities to lead or direct other people.”

Active role
During coaching discussions, candidates plays an active role in identifying valuable information or options for themselves.

‘‘In coaching, the person themselves is very much in control,” said MacAree. ‘‘The role of the coach is to help them see what the information is telling them or suggesting to them. It is about bringing out options and potential future directions with them, in a very collaborative way, as opposed to a career guidance teacher in school who may have just told someone what job was for them.”

In some cases, Mullan said psychometric testing confirmed a candidate’s own view of their strengths and competencies.

‘‘My role is facilitation,” he said. ‘‘Individuals have the answers, they know what they want and what they enjoy. For some people, the goal could be to earn more money. For others, it could be to relocate, but others are genuinely looking for a job that offers more satisfaction and fulfilment.

‘‘Quite often, they cannot see these things through the haze of everyday life and work. A lot of the time, people have an idea what they want to do, but they need confirmation and someone to just say: ‘Go for it.’ “

Likely outcomes
Career coaches often use the information gleaned using a number of psychometric techniques to suggest potential new career directions for individuals, rather than specific roles.

‘‘If someone shows a strong preference for people, and enjoys working in groups, they are likely to enjoy activities like caring for people or helping them with their problems,” Mullan said. ‘‘This can lead into roles within, say, education and training or medical and health or travel and hospitality.

‘‘It can provide direction, but there are a lot of different roles within those. If they are then socially confident, good with people and competitive, it could then be worth considering a sales role within the health or education sector.”

Targeted selection
Mullan said the results of psychometric tests could also be used to focus on particular roles within one profession or sector.

‘‘Some people could be in field sales, and enjoy selling, but they do not enjoy the remoteness of the role,” he said. ‘‘To use a term from the personality questionnaire, they could be high-affiliated, which means they need the interaction of people and to have people around them. The sales element of the job might be right, so if you bring them into an office based sales role, it can help improve their situation.”

The coaching process can help to guide candidates out of one sector and into another that might suit them better.

‘‘We were working with somebody who came from a marketing background, who ended up moving into a HR role,” he said. ‘‘There is some overlap between the skill sets between the two jobs, but there are also some differences.”

Costs and options
The cost of psychometric assessments or career coaching varies depending on individuals requirements.

‘‘Private one-to-one career coaching can range in cost frome60 to €100 per hour, with career tests an additional €30 to €100 depending on the type of assessment,” said Mullan.

Ungemah said it was more likely for senior candidates to source career coaching services directly. Other candidates typically avail of psychometric services as part of an outplacement programme.

‘‘A process like this is quite expensive, and can be quite detailed and long,” he said. ‘‘You may have four or five meetings with your coach, and one session can cost more than €200 per hour.’ ‘The whole process might cost €1,000, which is a lot for an individual just to get a sense of what type of career they might want to go into.”