Career Planning

The process of career planning can help you to:

1. Learn how to research different career paths in the marketplace
2. Find out which careers are a good fit for your talents
3. Understand how to find careers that will provide you with the level of work/life balance that you desire
4. Develop a plan to meet your career goals
5. Figure out what type of work environment or boss will help maximize your capacity for success
6. Evaluate your capacity to be an entrepreneur

Good career planning involves an assessment that helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses, the best career options for you, and support to implement your plans. At DVCS, we know how important a good assessment can be in career planning and we tailor all of our assessments to your needs.

●    The Assessment Process

The process begins with a meeting to explore your career goals and review your work, educational, and family history. Based on your history, the next step is to complete a customized set of inventories and other activities. This part of the process serves two purposes. First, it provides material to stimulate self-reflection and encourage thinking about your skills, interests, values, and preferences. Second, it will provide a new context in which to consider your strengths and current limitations, allowing you to consider their relevance to specific career directions you are considering. Ultimately, this information will help you  to structure or fine tune your career plan.

The assessment results are reviewed in a comprehensive feedback meeting, designed to answer your questions and lay the groundwork for taking action.  A report summarizing the career findings is available for an additional fee.

●    360 Degree Feedback Option

Most people have difficulty evaluating their own strengths and weaknesses as others see them, resulting in numerous “blind spots”.  The 360 Degree Feedback Option is designed to overcome some of the limitations inherent in self-report inventories.  You are asked to identify a group of personal and professional colleagues who receive a tailored survey or interview. Their “outside-in” perspective can help you to better appreciate your strengths and illuminate any weaknesses that may interfere with success on the job.

●    Decision-Making Support

With all the decisions we need to make on a daily basis, it is surprising how difficult it is for some people to make critical decisions about their life plan. If this is the case, we at DVCS can teach you how to make better decisions. We can help you define what constitutes a good decision for you, and we can help you to develop a range of possible career paths to explore further. Then we can help you to reduce the options to a manageable number.  You will also learn how to research careers on the Internet and how to conduct informational interviews.

This systematic process will allow you to understand your skills, interests, personality and values—how they relate to each other—and how they align with viable career paths. DVCS is an ongoing partner in this process, which can make a big difference in your ability to achieve your career goal as efficiently as possible.

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