Career Coaching for Alastair Knaggs

Click on the following link for your: Vocational Style & Personality Assessment (VoSPA) Click on the following link for your: Values Profile Assessment (VaPro) Click on the following link for your: Mutli-Dimensional Emotional Intelligence Quotient (MEIQ) Click on the following link for the: O*Net Online Career Research Tool Click on the following link for the: List of Questions for Interview Process

Career Coaching Session #1: Wednesday January 16, 2013

- Alastair's E-mail address is alastair.k17@gmail.com - Alastair is 17 years old - He attended secondary school at Maple Leaf from Grade 1 all the way to Grade 12, and he graduated in June 2012 with a 69% average from Grade 12. He said that he didn't really apply himself because he became somewhat despondent with the school with so many changes in the staff over the years. - He took the following subjects at Maple Leaf: Physics, Math, Data Management, Computer Technology (all of which he enjoyed), College English and Business. - Alastair has two older brothers who are both Civil Engineers, and his family life is good. - I asked him about his level of physical fitness, and he shared that he used to play a lot of sports in high school such as soccer and squash, but know that school is over and most of his friends have gone away to university, he does not feel much motivation to play sports. - I also asked him about his spiritual life, and he shared the fact that his family is Roman Catholic, and that he attends Mass on Sundays with his family. However, Alastair shared that he only goes to Mass because his parents want him to go, but he doesn't really believe that God created man, just the universe. He believes that man evolved from more primitive life. We spoke about this at length, and I mentioned to Alastair that the central question that people need to ask themselves is who was Jesus Christ? If he was really the Son of God in the flesh, then his teachings and the Catholic Church are from God, and not from man. - Alastair shared the fact that he can draw reasonably well, and has some artistic talents. - He also shared that he likes the outdoors, especially activities such as camping, hiking, and the ocean. He is not sure if a career related to the outdoors can make him enough money. - Alastair has been taking flying lessons at Piarco Airport since September 2012, but he does not want to pursue his pilot's license since to become a pilot nowadays you need a undergraduate degree, and Alastair does not want to study for that long. - Alastair is not sure about what career path to choose at this point of his life. He does not mind furthering his education if it is in an area that he is very interested in. - I discussed the results of the VoSPA assessment with Alastair, specifically his scores in the various categories of Interests, Intelligence Types, Values, and Work Styles. His scores can be reviewed in the report itself. - Here are the careers that the VoSPA assessment recommended for Alastair and how he rated them in terms of his passion level (1 is no passion and 10 is the highest passion):

Range Managers (4/10)
Energy Engineers (4/10)
Soil and Water Conservationists (6/10)
Forest and Conservation Technicians (6.5/10)
Marine Engineers (7/10)
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health (4/10)
Forest Fire Fighters (4/10)
Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health (4/10)
Fish and Game Wardens (4/10)
Manufacturing Engineers (2/10)
Landscape Architect (7/10)
Diesel Mechanic (7.5/10)

- Alastair seems to lean more toward a career in the field of mechanics pertaining to the underwater. - We discussed how Alastair would rate himself in terms of his emotional IQ (EIQ) and he said fairly well. I suggested that Alastair complete the MEIQ and the Values Profile assessments, and he agreed to do so. Acknowledgements from Session #1: - I acknowledged Alastair for starting the career Coaching sessions to try to determine the best career path to take. - I also acknowledged him for completing the VoSPA assessment. Takeaways from Session #1: - Alastair liked the process of doing the assessment he feels a little clearer about the process of career discovery. Action Plan from Session #1: - Alastair will review the VoSPA report in more detail and research on the Internet using the O*Net Online Career Research Tool the recommended careers above which he scored 6 or more out of 10, and document his research in this password-protected blog. These careers are:

Diesel Mechanic (7.5/10)
Marine Engineers (7/10)
Landscape Architect (7/10)
Forest and Conservation Technicians (6.5/10)
Soil and Water Conservationists (6/10)

- He also agreed to see if any of the careers in the Related section of the O*Net Online website catch his interest, and to put those in the blog as well. - Alastair also agreed to consider doing the MEIQ and Values Profile assessments. - The next session was scheduled for January 23, 2013 at 12:30 PM.

Career Coaching Session #2:

- Alastair shared with me that he has ADHD as well as Dyslexia and this hinders him from the conventional classroom form of learning. He prefers to learn more by hands-on experience, and this was confirmed by the VoSPA assessment results which showed that Alastair's primary Intelligence Type was Bodily-Kinesthetic. - We reviewed the research that Alastair did on the various careers on his shortlist using the O*Net Online website, and here were his comments on the various careers: 1. Diesel Mechanics:

The information given in the O*Net Online website for this career referred more to trucks and cars, and not to generators and marine equipment, which is what Alastair is more interested in.
Alastair plans to find out more about the career of Diesel Mechanic as it applies to generators and marine equipment.

2. Marine Engineers:

Alastair found this career to be interesting, but he does not think that he can handle the four years of intense classroom studying to achieve a Bachelors degree for this career.

3. Landscape Architect:

Alastair found this career to be interesting. He noted that he would need a Bachelors degree for this career, but he is not closed to it at this point.

4. Forest and Conservation Technicians:

Alastair's research on the O*Net Online website showed that there is very little growth for this career in the next 10 years.

5. Soil and Water Conservationists:

Alastair finds this career somewhat interesting, but again his research on the O*Net Online website showed that there is very little growth for this career in the next 10 years.

6. ROV Pilot Technicians:

Alastair finds this career very interesting, and he has two friends who work in this field.
It appeals to him because it pertains to ocean equipment, and the training would be more hands-on as opposed to all classroom-based.
There is a school in Trinidad that offers a 3-week training course to become a ROV technician, and here is the link to it: http://www.underwaterworkstt.com/id49.html
There is a more internationally renowned school in Scotland that offers a 7-week training course to become a ROV technician, which includes the necessary electronics training, and here is the link to it: http://www.theunderwatercentre.co.uk/coursedescription.asp?courseid=16

- The following careers from the VoSPA assessment still interest Alastair:

ROV Technician (8/10)
Diesel Mechanic for Generators and Marine Equipment (7.5/10)
Landscape Architect (7/10)

- In the last half of this session, Alastair also completed the Values Profile (VaPro) assessment, and the results will be reviewed next week. Acknowledgements from Session #2: - I acknowledged Alastair for letting me know about his ADHD and his Dyslexia. - I also acknowledged him for doing the research on the various careers on his shortlist from session 1, and for entering the information into the blog. Takeaways from Session #2: - Alastair is starting to feel that his list of career choices is being narrowed down further. Action Plan from Session #2: - Alastair will continue researching the careers on his new shortlist, which are:

ROV Technician (8/10)
Diesel Mechanic for Generators and Marine Equipment (7.5/10)
Landscape Architect (7/10)

- He also agreed to do the MEIQ assessment. - The next session schedule was scheduled for January 31, 2013 at 12:30 PM

Career Coaching Session #3: Wednesday January 31, 2013

- Alastair and I discussed the results of his Values Profile assessment and the results below are a summary of Alasatair's top values - those that are most important to him and on which he bases his life decisions and goals. His Core Value is his top value overall. His Work Value is his top value in his professional life, and takes into account aspects like career path, work tasks, and job environment. His Personal Value is his top value in his personal life and reflects issues related to relationships, hobbies, and world view. Top Core Value: Realistic Values People with realistic values are most concerned with being productive and useful, and desire to achieve efficient return on the investment of their time, money and effort. They are practical, reasonable, and think their actions through before they act. Investing for their future is one of your top priorities. The affection that people with realistic values share with their family and friends is probably expressed in non-verbal ways, such as putting in time or effort to make a gift, or simply being there when they are needed. Giving themselves is their way of showing that they care and to them, is more meaningful then words. Top Personal Value: Social Values For people whose top personal value is social, their interests, hobbies, home life and general attitude will revolve around people. In their free time they seek to be surrounded by those they care about, as relationships in general are very important to them. On a wider scale, they may start social causes or respect and support those people who fight for them. Those with social values have a knack for networking and connecting with others - they simply cannot imagine their lives without the camaraderie of others. While almost anyone would dislike conflict, people with strong social values are particularly affected by it. It bothers them to see others in pain or to see a relationship break apart, and so they will strive to help, heal, and resolve disagreements. Top Work Value: Realistic Values People for whom realistic values are important in work settings are happiest and utilize their talents best in positions where they can see tangible results of the fruits of their labor. They need to feel that they are accomplishing something with their work, as they desire to be productive and make an impact in some way. Hands-on projects are often their specialty, although they excel at any task that requires a practical and systematic approach. People with realistic values are not afraid of hard work, but like barter systems of old, they want to make sure that they are given fair compensation for their efforts. Given their more down-to-earth personality, projects that require them to think "outside the box" may not be their specialty. They could potentially complement creative people and projects in the sense of making sure proposed visions and ideas are feasible, but they can clash with more unconventional thinkers. - The following is a summarized version of Alasatair's results, categorized according to his Dominant Values (those that are most important to him), Influencing Values (those of moderate importance to him), and Minor Values (those of least importance to him). Dominant Values

None of the values fall into this category

Influencing Values

Realistic Values
Social Values
Political Values
Theoretical Values
Aesthetic Values

Minor Values

Traditional Values

- The suggested occupations for those with realistic values are:

Mechanic (*)
Electrician
Carpenter
Agricultural/Marine/Mechanical Engineer (*)
Landscape Architect
Paramedic
Firefighter
Police Officer
Pilot
Athlete/Coach/Trainer

- The career categories above in bold (*) relate to some of the recommended careers for Alastair from the previous two sessions. So based on the above suggested career categories for someone like Alastair whose main work value is Realistic, we revisited the recommended careers on his shortlist of careers from the VoSPA assessment (and others that were added by Alastair), and here is the new shortlist that Alastair feels comfortable with:

Ship Pilot (8/10)
Diesel Mechanic for Marine related equipment (7.5/10)
ROV Technician (7/10)

- The next step would be for Alastair to interview people who currently work in these three careers to get a better feel for what they do on a day-to-day basis. He agreed to use the interview script that I will provide him with in an E-mail, and which can also be found at the top of this blog. - We also discussed briefly the results of Alastair's Multidimensional Emotional IQ assessment, and the following is a summarized version of Alasatair's results, categorized as Strengths, Potential Strengths, and Limitation. Strengths

He is empathetic
He is able to let go/rise above minor issues
He has a healthy level of self-esteem

Potential Strengths

He was sometimes able to recognize the emotions depicted on the test
He does not ruminate excessively, which is good, but he also may not give things sufficient thought
He is doing reasonably well in the area of Emotional Understanding
He performed relatively well on the emotional integration aspect of the test
He is reasonably self-motivated
He is sometimes able/willing to adapt his social skills to the circumstances around him
He is moderately assertive
He seems to be reasonably content
He shows some social responsibility for the wellbeing of others

Limitations

His overall emotional IQ needs improvement
Improvement is required in the area of Emotional Identification, Perception, and Expression
His emotional self-awareness is limited
He doesn't seem to be entirely aware of his strengths and weaknesses
He is not very comfortable with emotions in general
Improvement is required in the area of Emotional Facilitation of Thought
His approach to problem solving is not always conducive to resolution
He doesn't make it a point to act in accordance with his values
His mindset could stand to be more positive
His social insight ability limited
He did not always choose the most ideal form of resolution for conflict situations on the test
Improvement is required in the area of Emotional Management
His impulse control needs improvement
His self-control needs improvement
His resilience/hardiness needs further development
He needs to work on using more healthy coping techniques
He doesn't seem to be enthusiastically interested in striving for further self-development
The manner in which he would resolve conflict situations on the test were not always the most beneficial
He seems to struggle to act independently
He is not in the habit of setting goals
His flexibility is limited

Acknowledgements from Session #3: - I acknowledged Alastair for completing the MEIQ assessment. - I also acknowledged him for doing some further investigation into possible careers in the marine industry by networking with others in the industry. Takeaways from Session #3: - Alastair is feeling a little better that the list of possible careers has been narrowed down to just three. Action Plan from Session #3: - Alastair agreed to read through the MEIQ report in more detail so that we can discuss it more thoroughly at our next session. - The next step would be for Alastair to interview people who currently work in the three careers on his shortlist to get a better feel for what they do on a day-to-day basis, using the interview script that I will provide him with in an E-mail, and which can also be found at the top of this blog. Ensure that three copies of the interview script are printed, and that the interviews are documented using each of the scripts. Here is his current shortlist of careers:

Ship Pilot (8/10)
Diesel Mechanic for Marine related equipment (7.5/10)
ROV Technician (7/10)

- The next session was scheduled for Wednesday February 6, 2013 at 12:30 at 2:00 PM.

Career Coaching Session #4: Wednesday February 6, 2012

- - - Acknowledgements from Session #4: - Takeaways from Session #4: - - - Action Plan from Session #4: - - -

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