What are some effective strategies to assess clients' career interests, values, and skills?

While I agree that self-assessment is a valuable tool, I caution people not to get so wrapped up in their style that limits them from stepping into activities that may feel outside of their style. Humans have the amazing capability to stretch outside of their preferred style, they just may need a bit of time inside their styles or preferences to recuperate from the stretch. Use self assessments as an awareness tool, not a this-is-all-I-can-do tool!

I agree that self-assessments can be helpful, but remind students it's not end all, be all as it depends on what type of experiences they have already had in their life, or what their interest is currently in. If they binged watched crime shows before their assessment, they might have a strong interest in that field. Or if they want to do a particular field such as HVAC, but healthcare comes up as an interest, I help them see the connection in the two; hands on, helping others, problem solving. Once they see connections between occupations, they feel more confident in their choice of HVAC and see the "why" it might be a good fit.

In my coaching work, I use a DISC assessment with my clients. While I love assessments and taking them myself, they are just a starting point and don't always take the whole person into account. The strength of an assessment comes from the report it generates. If you are interested in taking an assessment with a coach, ask for a sample copy of the report before investing in the assessment to ensure it fits your style and answers your questions. For example, the DISC report I use is tailored for resume development and interviewing. Other DISC reports are for general strengths or career development. There are great tools out there. Just know what you are getting.

Self Awareness is incredibly important but humans don’t stop developing. What can be really useful are tools that give descriptions of the most common traits of that ‘type’. Asking students to read and reflect on the aspects they recognise in themselves at that moment and how that is information they can use in the career decision they are currently making, is much more useful than a restricting list. An exercise I do use asks students to look at a list of values or skills etc. Pick out those they identify with, then we discuss the pattens in what they have selected and word meaning, to generate reflection on what is important to them at that point in time and relevant for their next career decision. This has been really helpful.

I devised a way to make self awareness and self discovery visual so students start by learning to see who they are. This solves the problem of boring and tedious assessments that generate overly specific ideas.

One thing I have found helpful is volunteerism. It not only feels good to help others where you have a passion, it is a GREAT way to "test out" a type of role that seems of interest or to build skills for resume (and life). For example, if you think you want to do Social Media Marketing as a career choice and you love animals, volunteer at an animal shelter to support of take on their social media content and posting.

For experienced professionals, start with multiple informational interviews with people doing the work you want to do. Don't rely on one person. Speak with several people doing the work and look for patterns in the answers. I've found that few experienced professionals have the time for job shadowing or the financial ability to take on an internship. Reading about the job is not the same as speaking with someone doing the job.

It’s so important to remember that you are not alone in your career exploration, and one great way to learn about different roles and industries is to talk to people who are currently working in those areas. My advice is to follow your genuine curiosity and talk to people. Note your reactions to what you learn and fold that into your research.

Exploration is really important, especially for younger people who have less of an experience framework to base decisions on. I do think exploration, especially the more reading, watching, listening types ( as compared to the ‘doing’ or Work experience or volunteering) is much more effective when combined with reflection on that exploration.

The most important part is serendipity. The real discovery of interest comes when person is not working to find it. Volunteering, Community Building Activities are a great way to explore career options

One of the first activities I have my clients complete is a career timeline. I have them think back to childhood - what did they “pretend” to be as a child? Then I have them add all PT and FT jobs they’ve had. We discuss every job on that timeline- what they liked and disliked about each job and why. This activity can help them identify patterns of which they are otherwise unaware.

A well-honed and authentic career story is the secret sauce to job search and identifying opportunities where a client will be most successful. A career story is more than an elevator pitch. It considers what a candidate wants and does not want in the next role, what others view as the go-to skills and strengths, and it encompasses the chronology of the career path. Questions you can journal out that help identify your career narrative are: * What are you known for at work? * What special projects are you asked to do? * How do all of your jobs intersect? * What are the top 3 career stories you are most proud of? The best thing about your career story is that you write it and can change it at any time.

This is really important and when done well can seem so fluid and natural that the skill involved is often underestimated. Helping a client unravel their thoughts, make sense of their experiences, and really think about themselves, is key. But in my experience often it is the reframing of a question to then enable a decision or the challenging of either their self-view or world-view that can really help a client make a good decision and move forward positively. But this could be because most of my clients are young people.

The UK's Career Development Institute is the professional body for career guidance practice in the UK and every member and registered practitioner signs up to their Code of Ethics - https://www.thecdi.net/Code-of-Ethics It is vital in our roles that ethical practice is at the forefront of every encounter we have, whether this is with clients, colleagues, stakeholders or social media presence. Of course, you experience ethical dilemmas, and that is where the CDI and your peers can support you through it.

Don't expect people to work for free. If you think I'm an expert, expect to pay for my expertise. Come on, LinkedIn, this is really embarrassing.

Another important aspect to identify and assess client can be a holistic solutions such as Ikigai, Occult Sciences such as Astrology & Numerology, Biorhytm theroy and Neurobiology to understand things hidden behind silence. These findings can be combined with career models to give a new edge of personalization