Horizon Point Consulting

Category: FCD Training/Career Practitioners

We have NCDA Certified Instructors who deliver the Facilitating Career Development (FCD) Training for career practitioners. Read this category for stories and best practices specific to FCD and career development providers.

  • 3 ways to embrace Diversity & Inclusion in Career Development

    3 ways to embrace Diversity & Inclusion in Career Development

    Working in career development, I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to work with individuals from all over the U.S., and I occasionally have clients that live or have lived abroad. It is eye opening to see how different cultures and areas of the country approach career planning. Embracing diversity and inclusion is important for job seekers, employers and career practitioners.

    Here are 3 ways to embrace Diversity and Inclusion:

    1. Job Seekers – Seek out companies that are searching for candidates based on culture fit. You can often recognize these organizations because their culture is evident in their marketing, mission statement and by their selection process. Look for companies who offer realistic job previews and/or have applicants complete a pre-screening assessment; these are often predictors of organizations who prioritize diversity and inclusion.
    2. Employers – Employers should make diversity and inclusion a priority by ensuring employees and potential employees know they work to make sure the right people are in the right seats on the bus. They seek candidates who bring something to the table that others in the organization do not. This practice, in and of itself, will allow for diversity. In addition, companies who offer training in diversity and inclusion often prioritize the practice.
    3. Career Practitioners – In our work to help others find employment or make employment changes, we should be abreast of diversity and inclusion efforts. And, we should work to be inclusive of the clients and students we work with. In the Facilitating Career Development course we offer with Horizon Point, we discuss helping skills and their importance in working with individuals who are different than we are. Having knowledge of cultural diversity is also important; this is also a key component in Horizon Point’s course (NCDA approved). For more information or if you would like to register for the course, click here.

    For more information on Diversity and Inclusion in relation to Career Development, check out these articles:

    Building a Culture of Diversity and Inclusion in Career Services

    Creating a Culture of Diversity and Inclusion: Start with Small Wins

  • 3 Steps for Growing Future Leaders with a Job Shadowing or Internship Program

    3 Steps for Growing Future Leaders with a Job Shadowing or Internship Program

    Do you want to grow tomorrow’s talent today? Some of the best companies know the value of an internship program to their talent management strategy. And current research shows that 40% of interns return to the organization they interned with for full-time employment   If you’re a college student, participating in an internship(s) is one of the best methods for ensuring job offers come your way before you graduate.   In fact, choosing a college based on their relationships with top employers and their established, quality internship programs should be a key factor in vetting a college.

    If your organization is considering how to best maintain a talent pipeline, establishing a job shadowing and internship or Co-Op program is a great way to groom and vet talent.  If you’re a university career center professional, establishing relationships with employers, launching successful internship programs is a critical factor in your success.  Starting small and growing a program may be the best route instead of trying to do everything at once.

    Step 1:  If you are an organization, start a job shadowing program through a simple bring your kid(s) to work day once or twice a year.  This can be as simple as having announcing to your staff the day that this will occur and encouraging them to bring their kid(s) to work to observe what they do all day.

    If you want to make the program more robust, consider surveying the students about what they want to be when they grow up and working to match the students interests with people in those roles instead having them simply shadow mom or dad.   Better yet, provide career assessments to students and use that to help match students to talent in your organization.

    Step 2:  Form a partnership business and school partnership to establish a job shadowing day for high school students and an internship or Co-Op program for college students.   Start with one at a time. Work to understand goals of each entity and then design and establish the program meet mutual goals.

    Step 3: This step really goes hand-in-hand with Step 2, but establishing a structured program that best fits the needs of both parties is important.  The structure needs to involve requirements to be a part of the program, application procedures, a calendar for the program and individuals within your company that agree to mentor an intern. Some things to consider when you structure a program are:

    • Model your program after some of the best out there
    • Focus on critical skill development areas where your organization is lacking or will be lacking in talent.  Worried about engineering, computer science or nursing positions, for example, then partner with those departments for your program.  It does not have to be a program that is open to all.  If you’re a college professional, you probably want to establish internships in the “fuzzier” program majors like the liberal arts.  Placement for these majors is more difficult, so establishing relationships with employers who want to take students from these majors is wise.
    • Provide training to those that are acting as mentors to students and allow them time to focus on development of that intern, which may mean removing some responsibilities from them in order to do so.
    • Focus on soft skill development through teambuilding, communication and problem solving activities and assignments.
    • Focus on exposure to a variety of people and experiences throughout the program, including fellow interns.
    • Focus on promoting the company as an employer of choice through exposing interns to the benefits of working with your company.  This may involve education about what “benefits” really are beyond what is traditionally focused on like salary and healthcare.
    • Design a way for high performers to get job offers before their internship experience is over- don’t loose them.   College professionals should help employers structure this, which will help with first destination rates for the school.
    • For college professionals, be careful about the partnerships you create around the issue of paid vs. non-paid internships.   Based on the current legal environment, we recommend you partner only with those who offer paid opportunities given that the definition of a non-paid intern is established, but gray at best.
  • 4 Ways to Take LinkedIn to the Next Level

    4 Ways to Take LinkedIn to the Next Level

    You’ve gotten a LinkedIn account set up, created a stand-out profile, built your network and have started searching for jobs.  Now what?

    Ideally your job search should lead to people seeking you out instead of you having to search and apply for openings.  This is done by creating a stellar profile and maintaining a personal brand that is consistent with your career goals.   Be active in your use of LinkedIn so that people will come to you.

    1. Manage your Skills & Endorsements to ensure the ones you want to be known for are seen (How to reorderthem)
    2. Get Active with Groups
    3. Get Active with Recommendation
    4. Be a Content Driver

    Have you taken your use of LinkedIn to the next level?  If so, what results have you seen?

  • Career Spotlight: Mechanical Engineer

    Career Spotlight: Mechanical Engineer

    Have you always been curious about how machines work? Do you take things a part and put them back together? Do you like to design things? Do you enjoy figuring out why things are broken and fixing them?

    If any of these describe you, then Mechanical Engineering may be the career field that would make you tick.

    What do you need to be a Mechanical Engineer?

    Education:  At least a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering

    If you are a high school student, make sure you are focused on taking higher-level math and science classes. Be sure to take Calculus and Physics if available at your school.  A drafting class would also be a plus.

    Skills: As referenced on Columbia University’s website, “Perhaps the one skill that is the mechanical engineer’s exclusive domain is the ability to analyze and design objects and systems with motion.”

    Mechanical Engineers know how to:

    • Solve complex problems
    • Create and interpret designs of things as small as a bolt to as a large a complex manufacturing process
    • Research and test the performance of objects, equipment and systems
    • Diagnosis and troubleshoot equipment and machinery

    Is the field growing?

    Nationally, the field is growing 3-7% annually.

    What is the pay like?

    The average annual salary in the United States is $82,000.

    What’s the Holland Code* for a Mechanical Engineer?

    Interest code: IRC- Investigative, Realistic and Conventional

    Investigative — Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

    Realistic — Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

    Conventional — Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

    Source: http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/17-2141.00

    If you are interested in learning more about Mechanical Engineering, check out:

    O*Net

    BLS

    US News

    Would you want to be a Mechanical Engineer? Why or why not?

     

     

     

    *Holland Codes are a way to classify a person based on their skills and interests as well as jobs based on the nature of the work. If you have an interest in knowing what your Holland Code is in order to match yourself to careers to pursue, you can read more about our assessment process.

  • 3 Highlights from the 2014 NCDA Conference

    The 2014 National Career Development Association Conference in Long Beach, CA was a tremendous experience.  Here’s what I learned along with some thoughts on leadership actions for us all to consider:

    1.  Career Development in an Employee Engagement Strategy. I heard about how Boeing and GM are setting up systems (mainly through online tools) to facilitate employees to take ownership of their careers and for leaders to take ownership of facilitating career development discussions and planning with their employees as a part of performance management.

    I personally learned how true this lesson is through an experience a friend had before we departed.  The organization he works for has a new CEO. He had a one-on-one meeting with him, and the first question the CEO asked him was, “What are your career goals?”  He then engaged in a discussion with my friend about how he could help him facilitate the growth of his career. This is the first time my friend has experienced this and his engagement with his organization is now renewed.  He called it “refreshing.”

    ACTION ITEM FOR LEADERS:  Ask your employees,  “What are your career goals and how can I help you reach them?”

    2.  Planned Happenstance Happens.  As a career development theory I’ll have to admit I wasn’t immediately drawn to, I saw it in action when a lady attended one of my sessions with a desire to put a plan in place to facilitate business and industry connections with schools.  The session I was speaking about wasn’t on this topic, but the roundtable I presented earlier in the conference was. I was able to provide her with the handouts and resources for this hopefully enabling some food for thought for her on how to do this in her community. She shared with me how her community set up a program where teachers were immersed in business and industry that I was able to learn from.

    ACTION ITEM FOR LEADERS:  Put yourself in a position to interact regularly with others you wouldn’t routinely get the chance to interact with. You can be a resource to them and they can be a resource to you. We all have something to learn from those around us.

    3. “If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”  -Richard Buckminster Fuller@BryanLubic did a fanatic job in a roundtable illustrating how you can use tools to create experiences that lead to career decisions and actions instead of telling people what career path they need to take.  Teach people how to fish, don’t give them a fish.

    ACTION ITEM FOR LEADERS:  Show and do, don’t tell. No one likes a dictator or a know-it-all.

    Agree?  You may like this post.

    What take aways did you have from your last conference or professional development experience?  How did you act on them?