How do you assess your client's career interests and values?

I absolutely agree! ?? Assessing your client's interests and values is crucial in guiding them toward a fulfilling career. However, it's important to recognize that interests and values can evolve over time. Encouraging your clients to regularly revisit and reassess their interests and values can lead to new insights and opportunities for growth. Moreover, helping them explore the intersection between their interests, values, and skills can uncover unique career paths they may not have considered before. By staying attuned to their evolving interests and values, we can provide tailored guidance and support to help them navigate their career journey with authenticity and purpose. ????

There are four pillars of career satisfaction that tell us How we do what we do, What we like to do, Why we do it, and Who we are. Our "how" is tied to our strengths and natural talents (CliftonStrengths), our "what" are our skills we are motivated to use, our "why" is tied to our values - which drive our behaviors. Finally, "who" we are is tied to our personality. The best way I know to get a holistic picture of all four pillars of career satisfaction is to take the YouMap Career Profile Assessment. This can be found at www.MyYouMap.com

I also recommend using design thinking as a methodology to assess current interests and future possibilities. Often, people need to try out experiences before they know if they are interested in specific areas. Prototype, job shadow, experiment with a small project in the area of interest to see if it is something worth pursuing longer term.

Brene Brown has a list of 100 values online that can be easily found with a web search. While she recommends doing the work to get down to just two, I find refining the list down to six is a good start. I often ask clients looking for career clarity to do this exercise, to ensure they consider their values when choosing which jobs to apply for (and which offers to accept).

I recommend honing your values list to 3-5 and defining what each means to you. Consider how your top values will play a role in selecting future career opportunities. Then, ask yourself if you need to have that value reciprocated by those around you. For example, if "trust" is a top value, then you may need to give and receive trust in order for your value to positively play out. If a top value is "autonomy," you may not need others to have the same desire for autonomy in their work.

For those in Product or Engineering in tech, I recommend they create a set of prioritized requirements for their next role. These groups are very accustomed to collaborating on "specs", and documenting what's important to you can help during this highly emotional process.

The best way for me to support a client's interest is to help them hone in on their strengths. We have many interests, but not all can be applied to a job. Based on a client's career goals, some interests should remain as hobbies or side hustles. Sometimes, the coach has to help the client see options. We can help them understand why pursuing an interest could or not help them achieve what they want in their careers. For example, if you are an accountant and want to grow in that career, and have an interest in fitness, figure out if one can help the other. Or use the day job to help you feed the side hustle before you leap into that business idea full-time.

When working with clients we have a deep dive conversation. No prep beforehand on their part. I am comfortable that the questions being asked will elicit the type of responses that can lead us to greater focus and clarity.