Why is Career Guidance necessary?

The main aim of career guidance is to give you a career goal to aim for. Once you define your career goal, you can plan your journey.

+Why can’t I do this for myself?

Of course, you are generally aware of what you can do and what you don’t like doing. However, just as we cannot easily see the back of our own heads, we may not fully appreciate the breadth and depth of our own talents.  Even when we do, we may not know how to put them to good use in the work place.

· Career Guidance gives you an objective pattern of your gifts and talents and shows you how to put these to good use at work.
· Career Guidance helps you to identify your natural skills and talents and how to use these to best effect in the work place.
· Career Guidance also provides you with the opportunity to look objectively at yourself without any agenda or interference from others.

+How can the Career Assessment System help me?

Through our expert Career Assessment System you identify your natural skills and talents and plan how to use these in work you love.

· You identify which career activities excite you and which work environments would suit you best.
· You discover which work environments compliment your personality to the maximum.
· You explore what motivates you on a deep level and research what career would allow you to develop this passion.
· Perhaps for the first time, you discover which intelligences you are strongest in. These are natural intelligences that you are using all the time, perhaps without realising it. We show you      how to put these intelligences to work in ways that you will really enjoy.
· We look at what you would like to achieve in your personal life and plan for a stimulating interaction between your personal life and your career goals.

+Do you offer Skype calls?

Yes we do! As many of our clients are based all over the country, and often outside Ireland, it is far easier for them to work with us on line. We also offer Skype consultations outside working hours during weekday evenings. You just need to have a good broadband connection and access to a laptop as our career consultation will last 2 hours.

+Do you help fill out CVs as part of the Career Assessment System?

We consider CVs as being very important documents that you will use again and again. That is why they deserve a separate service.

Our service is unique in that we help you:

· Present the information on your CV in the most relevant and compelling way.
· We study the competencies that the company is looking for in their job search.
· We then ensure that your CV reflects these competences most accurately and compellingly.
· We will also indicate the most important points of your CV that you will then prepare for your interview, (See our Interview Preparation Link)
· We will then format your CV using the most modern and efficient lay-outs.
· You now have a relevant and compelling document that will open the door to a career you love.
· We have designed a Skype service that will provide you with the convenience of being able to do this from your own space yet keep the in-depth exploration that will provide you with a unique and effective CV.
· Because we take CVs so seriously this is not a quick fix. You need to be ready to invest time and effort into the process. We can guarantee that you will be glad that you did!

+Is this the same kind of Service as the one I received in Secondary School?

Our service is different in the following ways:

· This is an in-depth psychometric assessment, with four different assessments, including Personality Profiling, Motivation Questionnaire, Interest Inventory and Natural Intelligence Questionnaire. This in-depth approach can help even the most indecisive client choose the next best step towards a career they love.
· It is tailored to suit you, the client: We appreciate that everyone’s needs are different, so we are able to devote special attention to your own particular needs and career situation.
· We use the most up to date, sophisticated Psychometric tools: The tests we use are of the same standard as those used in large corporates. People ask us: why do we need to use such sophisticated tools? We know that you are making not only a career choice, you are making a life choice. It is really important for you to choose the next best step. This next best step will put you on a path where you can continue to develop your career throughout your life. At this point you need to make the most informed decision possible. We provide you with the best tools to ensure you receive the best information.
· We provide expert advice. We have advised thousands of clients. We have dealt with every scenario and built up a huge database of career options! We have dealt with clients from all career backgrounds. You can therefore trust our experience and our expertise.

+What Tests do you use?

We use the most up to date, sophisticated Psychometric tools: The tests we use are of the same standard as those used in large corporates. People ask us why we need to use such sophisticated tools. We say that we know you are making, not only a career choice, you are making a life choice. It is really important for you to choose your next best step. This next best step will you on a path where you will continue to develop your career throughout your life. At this point you need to make the most informed decision they can. We use the best tools to ensure you have the best information.

+Do I get a Report?

Yes you do. You get a comprehensive written report of:

· The pattern of your strengths that emerge from each assessment.
· A full written account of all that was discussed during the session. This means that you do not have to take notes, you can participate fully in our feedback session.
· A comprehensive list of Careers which would call for your natural skills and talents.
· A detailed list of website links of the most efficient and effective courses that would enable you to access this new career area.
· We help you construct a comprehensive Career Plan that details the steps you will take to make your new career a reality.

+The Course I chose was totally different to what I thought it was going to be. What if I do this again?

This is probably the most frequent question that third level students who are about to change course ask us. Their biggest fear is: “I made a mistake the last time, so there’s a high likelihood of doing the same this time.” When working with you, we go through, not only the subjects covered on the course, but also the experience of actually studying the course contents. We can study the results of your assessment and then work out what mind-sets are required to actually study this course successfully. We can then see whether you would actually enjoy the course content or not. So you can put your mind at rest about making a mistake second time!

+I hadn’t a clue what I wanted to do in college, so I picked any random course. I still don’t know what to do, so I’m afraid of going back to college. Can you help?

This is why we work backwards. We start by asking:

• What career you would like to work in?
• What course would this career need?
• Do you have the natural attributes to happily study this course and to work comfortably and productively in the eventual career area?

Because we work backwards, we make sure that having made this huge investment, you actually end up really where you want to be. There is no point in embarking on a course and investing so heavily in it if you can’t use it in the end. We make sure that you have that information. So many students that we work with tell us this. Do not be afraid of not knowing what to do. That is what we’re here for! None of our clients, when they come to us, know exactly what they want to do next – and that is how we help! Doing a third level course is a huge Investment, in terms of the time energy and money. It is very important that you get something tangible and productive at the end of this course. We make sure that your course is going to lead you where you want to be.

+I actually loved my Course and I loved the Subject Content, but now I can’t find a Career I love. Can you help?

This is actually quite a common experience. You can study a course that has subject content that you love. Learning more about this subject is a very enriching and fulfilling experience. The problem can be that this course can lead to careers that do not suit you at all. I am sure that are still grateful that you chose the particular course you did. Students normally say that they know so much more about this subject area that really fascinated them, but they don’t want to bring this any further. They also say that starting this course has enriched their mind and allowed them to have wonderful social experiences, but now they are finished with this phase of their lives. Your next challenge is what do you do with this particular course?

How do you move your life forward? It is very important to know that having a degree is of itself a very valuable thing to possess. If you have an undergraduate degree at honours level, this can open up a whole panoply of courses in the postgraduate area. Doing a postgraduate course is probably the quickest and most efficient way of changing your career. Your undergraduate degree will, in many cases, allow you to do a postgraduate degree in a different discipline. Your postgraduate degree and your undergrad degree have to be a cognate discipline. In other words there has to be an academic correspondence between your undergraduate degree and your postgraduate degree. for example doing an undergraduate degree in art history will not qualify you to do a postgraduate degree in Engineering. However an undergraduate degree in science will be a very beneficial for Medicine once you have taken the aptitude test.

However you might have taken a degree in history and politics and really enjoyed this course. When you finish, you realise that you never want to be a teacher, nor do you ever want to be part of the political system. However when we assess you, we might find a serious legal interest. You can then do postgraduate studies to convert to a career in Law. This can happen with an abundance of postgraduate courses. So if you have done a degree that you really enjoyed, don’t despair, this can lead you to a number of different career opportunities. We can explore all of your options and choose the career path that would suit you.

+I have done one year in College and realised that College isn’t for me at all. Do I have any options? Can you help?

We have worked with many students in a similar situation. We find particularly with students that are very practical and task-oriented, they might find the college is too academic and theoretical. They lose interest very quickly in the course.

• We broaden out your options.
• When we gain a pattern of your natural skills and talents, we identify what work environment you would be most comfortable in.
• When we identify that particular work environment, we look at all types of training options that will allow you access this area.

We could look at the option of:

• Working straight away: Joining a company or organisation on the bottom rung, gaining experience and working your way up.
• Apprenticeship: We would look at you working with a person who is skilled in a particular area. Linking in with a training course 2 days a week in order to get more expertise in that area.
• Task Oriented: We would look at more practical practically oriented courses such a course in the Post Leaving Cert or Springboard system.
• Going abroad: In a small number of cases, we have worked with students who want to specialise to such a degree that they might need to look for training and that high level of expertise in another country. We would provide you with training options in this case.
• Setting up your own Business: We sometimes work with young people who are very entrepreneurial and who want to start their own business. We would normally suggest two things. We can help you with both of these steps:

1. Doing a “start your own business” course: This will introduce you to how to set up a structure for your business and avoid the common pitfalls of starting your own business.

2. Working in a similar area: We would normally suggest working in a similar area for a short while. This would give you the confidence to really know your area, explore potential markets, make valuable contacts and identify pitfalls you need to avoid in your own business.