Talking Points Final. Client Background:

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1 Talking Points Final Client Background: The client is a first year master s student in the higher education administration program at the University of Kansas. He holds a Bachelor s degree in business from regional state university. He is currently narrowing down his options for future work within higher education. Strong Interest Inventory (SII) Code Theme: SCE Theme Breakdown Social = 54 Conventional = 54 Enterprising = 45 Realistic = 36 Investigative = 32 Artistic = 28 Top Ten Occupations: 1. Bookkeeper 2. Financial Analyst 3. Financial Manager 4. Banker 5. College Instructor 6. Accountant 7. Business Education Teacher 8. Investments Manager 9. Special Education Teacher 10. Parks & Recreation Manger Top Five Interest Areas Athletics (R) Taxes & Accounting (C) Human Resources & Training (S) Teaching & Education (S) Finance & Investing (C) Personality Scale Preferences: 1. Working with people 2. Working on teams 3. Leading by example and taking charge 4. Practical/hands-on learning environment 5. Dislike taking risks Section Title Strongly Like Like Indifferent Dislike Strongly Dislike Occupations Subject Areas Activities Leisure Activities People Characteristics Total Percentage of 291 items completed; typicality Index: 23

2 Client s Item Response % Mean Strongly Like Like Indifferent Dislike Strongly Dislike The client completed enough of items completed and typicality index output is 23 so results are consistent. The results strongly lean toward dislike and are in fact 3 points from being out of bounds and therefore a just shy of biased result. Specifically, occupation and subject area are heavily leaning towards dislike; perhaps the best way to approach exploring work is through highlighting other areas such as how an occupation includes work with people or characteristics of the position. People and characteristics categories are more evenly distributed, suggesting that environment will play an important role. There seems to be a disconnect between Realistic and work; for example, Athletics is at the top of his interest areas but only shows up in one of his top ten occupations; is this a hobby only? Myers-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI) Reported Type: ISFJ Clarity of Preferences: Introversion = 10 o Attention focused to inner world of ideas Sensing = 30 o Takes in information through five senses Feeling = 4 o Makes decisions based on values; person focused Judging = 30 o Approaches life from a planned/organized perspective Type Description: Practical, realistic, considerate, and responsible Focused on needs of others; takes responsibility seriously and expects the same of others Respectful of established procedures and authority; values harmony and cooperation Sees facts clearly and accurately, especially those that have a personal meaning Makes decisions based on personal values and concern for others Sympathetic, tactful, and supportive of others Seen by others as quiet, serious, conscientious, and traditional

3 S and J are very strong while I and F are much closer to the middle; does he feel these are accurate? The SJ combination (his two highest) is described as the Guardians which emphasizes cooperation and consistency which will be important in considering working environment especially when considering the dynamics of a working team. A higher level in Sensing suggests that the client would enjoy an environment in which there are hands on activities or includes concrete subject matter; for example, if the client decided to do academic work, he might be more interested in studying actual programs and outcomes that include data collection as opposed to developing theories based on others work. StrengthsQuest Top 5 Themes: 1. Harmony values and strives for agreement; avoids conflict 2. Individualization identifies what is unique about each person and shapes group dynamics 3. Discipline focuses on structure and order 4. Developer cultivates strengths of others to encourage individual growth 5. Relator works to develop close relationships with others and finds common ground The client s strengths are very people focus. Four out of five strengths focus on interaction with individuals; it will important for the client to be involved in work that not only includes social aspects, but either has a strong team dynamic or is in a helping profession. His social strengths seem particularly conducive to a helping profession: o All social themed strengths focus on helping as opposed to simply interaction such as competition or service o Mixture of harmony, individualization, and developer provide a strong background for helping profession such as counseling, career development, or student affairs His strengths highlight helping in a way that allows an ability to see growth. Harmony, discipline, and developer also focuses on need for structure and perhaps a need to see incremental improvement; this might shape what type of helping profession for example with an emphasis on helping as opposed to simply caring Self-Directed Search (SDS) Occupational Day Dreams 1. Financial analyst 2. Career Counselor 3. Higher Education Professional 4. Teacher

4 Realistic (R) Investigative (I) Artistic (A) Social (S) Enterprising (E) Conventional (C) Activities Competencies Occupations Self Estimates Self-Est Total Themed Code: CSE Careers of Interest: Accountant (CSE) Underwriter (CSE) Bank Teller (CSE) Director of Student Affairs (ESC) Financial Planner (ESC) Employment manger (ESC) Although S received the highest score, according to the Rule of 8, there is no true distance between the C and S and both should be considered when exploring career options; for example although highly social, working as a child care provider might not provide enough structure or organized, detail oriented work. Congruence is an important factor for C and therefore finding the correct working environment will be just as important as finding the right type of work. Three of his occupational day dreams focus on education while only one of his careers of interest are in education; asking questions about why this disconnect will be important. Workbook only includes additional exploration of one other ESC; if client hasn t already employing the rule of complete exploration, examining other combinations of CSE code might produce more occupational options and points of discussion. Major Themes Personality seems to be consistent across assessments and strongest aspect of assessments o Judging relates to discipline o Low feeling relates to focus on person but also rules o SJ Guardians and strengths align very well Subject of work/occupation appears unclear and perhaps inconsistent o Focus of dream occupations (more education) vs. careers of interest (more business) in SDS o Congruence of S and C on SDS suggests need for both social and conventional aspects of work o StrengthsQuests suggest ability to work in a helping profession

5 o Not complete exploration of SDS code occupations o Educational background and recent shift in focus Importance of Environment team based is very important o Congruence of SDS o Focus on characteristics and environment of SII as opposed to occupations and subject areas o Working preferences focus of SII o Interaction focus of StrengthsQuest o Because environment is so important, informational interviews will be imperative Final discussion The client has a clear interest in people and positive interactions are incredibly important to him. His work should involve people in some way be it as topic or the context of his work. The client has a preference for helping but also has skills in business. This combination will make him a competitive candidate in education fields and he should practice discussing the two in relation to one another. An environment that includes a positive, goal-oriented, team-based will be important once the client begins searching for work; whenever searching for a job, conducting informational interviews or physically experiencing the work space will be important. Although the social aspect of work is important to the client, he should also consider an occupation that is somewhat organized and takes advantage of his strengths in discipline and detail orientation. The client s conventional skills and strengths suggest that work where he will be able to see some outcome will be important. This also distinguishes his interest in a helping profession as opposed to simply a caring profession. The nature of the client s occupational interest needs some exploration. He seems to have a strong understanding of what type of environment suits him best but has conflicting responses to what type of work interests him. Understanding the client s relationship with work will be a good place to start. Asking questions about his new shift in education will hopefully provide background. Additionally understanding expectations of work might shed light on some of the disconnect between his abilities and his interest and how those relate to future work.