Career strategy workshops

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Career strategy workshops

• October 2006
• Cecile Buckenmeyer

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Benefits of workshops

• Raise awareness
• Create time for reflection
• Provide frameworks
• Create momentum
• Help sustain focus and motivation
• Opportunities for peer check and feedback
• Manage stress!
• Complementary to one-to-one coaching

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Developing a career strategy...

• Self-assessment (including competencies)
• Career vision
• Understanding roles, industries, work
  environments
• Identifying an ideal job, second best, fall-back
  option
• CV writing, cover letter, interviewing
• Assessment centres, case study exercises
• Managing relationships with key career
  stakeholders
• Networking unsolicited applications

• Self-awareness
• Career planning
• Self-marketing
• Job-hunting techniques
• Review

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Self-assessment

• Step 1 hold an exercise (group exercise, that
  also requires analytical skills) or use a
  self-assessment test
• Step 2 write a shield with
• What are your strengths?
• What are your areas of development?
• What achievements demonstrate your strengths?
• What do you intend to do to work on your areas of
  development?
• Step 3 discussion in pairs and/or review

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Career vision

• Career vision defined through Interests, Values,
  Skills.
• Provide examples for each
• Explain significance in career choices
• Write down own Interests, Values, Skills.
• Introduce a few companies' visions (e.g. mission
  statement) and try to identify their interests,
  values and skills.
• Ask to write a tentative career vision.

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Skype created a little piece of software that
makes communicating with people around the world
easy and fun. With Skype you can say hello or
share a laugh with anyone, anywhere. And if both
of you are on Skype, its free.
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Help our clients make distinctive, lasting, and
substantial improvements in their performance and
to build a great firm that attracts, develops,
excites, and retains exceptional people.
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Understanding roles, industries

• Workshops with alumni, recruiters
• Introduce a day in the life
• Alumni QA panels
• Run case study workshops (e.g. consulting)

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Ideal choice, second best, fall-back

• Job is defined through Role, Industry and Culture
  (public/private, SME/bluechip, geographical
  location)
• Write options (3 choices for each)
• Create a scale of risk
• Discuss in pairs and review

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CV writing, cover letter, interviewing

• Presentation followed by work in pairs
• Use actual job ad or apply for ideal job role

Assessment centres, case study exercises

• Introduce feedback rules
• Run exercise and act as observer
• Facilitate feedback session
• Invite recruiter

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Career stakeholders

• Identify stakeholders
• Internal network (if currently employed)
• External network
• Recruitment industry
• Coach/mentor
• Work in groups to discuss ways of managing
  relationships with these stakeholders
• Report from each group and review with additional
  feedback

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More networking workshops

• Write unsolicited applications
• Identify target organisation
• Identify project / contribution
• Write a project proposal in a cover letter
• Peer review
• Networking skills
• How to pitch yourself
• Practice self-introduction
• Write a personal profile
• Business etiquette

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Review - Job Club

• Job-hunting process
• Identify Role, Industry, Culture
• Make list of target companies
• Establish a strategy for each company
• Review
• Job Club meets regularly
• Share progress
• Give feedback and tips

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Any questions?