Career Coaching for Michael Matouk

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

Career Coaching Session #1: Thursday January 31, 2013

- Michael's E-mail address is michael_matouk@hotmail.com - Michael is 18 years old - He attended secondary school at ISPS from Grade 3 to Grade 11, and left in June 2012. He somewhat liked History, English, and Tech, but none of the subjects like Math and Science that he took in High School. - He then enrolled in RoyTech for business, but after a few months he left because he didn't like it. - He has been managing his father's bar called Stumblin's for the past three months, and says that it is hard work because of constantly having to keep an eye on his employees in terms of their productivity and their trustworthiness. He said that if he had free reign, he would hire all new staff. - He said however, that managing Stumblin's is more of a short-term job for him. - I discussed the results of the VoSPA assessment with Michael, 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 Michael and how he rated them in terms of his passion level (1 is no passion and 10 is the highest passion):

Aerospace Engineers (1/10)
Energy Engineers (1/10)
Survey Researchers (1/10)
Range Managers (2/10)
Industrial Engineering Technicians (1/10)
Surveyors (2/10)
Soil and Water Conservationists (1/10)
Industrial Engineers (1/10)
Marine Architects (3/10)
Electronics Engineering Technologists (1/10)
ROV Technician (6/10)
Entrepreneur (7/10)
Manager at Stublin's (4/10)

- Michael seems to lean more toward a career in the field of sales, the outdoors especially the ocean, and he also has an interest in cars. He stressed that his main strength is that he believes that he can sell almost anything to anyone! - I also asked him if he would be willing to complete the Values Profile assessment as this would also help him in discerning the best career path to match his values, and he said yes. Acknowledgements from Session #1: - I acknowledged Michael for completing the VoSPA assessment - I also acknowledged him for coming to these Career Coaching sessions to get a better understanding of what career path he would like to pursue. Takeaways from Session #1: - Michael liked the process of doing the assessment he feels a little clearer about the process of career discovery. Action Plan from Session #1: - Michael will review the VoSPA report in more detail and research on the Internet using the O*Net Online Career Research Tool (www.onetonline.org) the recommended careers above which he scored 3 or more out of 10, and document his research in this password-protected blog under the section at the end called “Leave a Reply”. In particular, you should at least copy and paste the following sections from the O*Net site into the blog: Tasks, Knowledge, Related Careers, and Wages & Employment Trends. The careers on your list are:

Entrepreneur (7/10)
ROV Technician (6/10)
Manager at Stublin's (4/10)
Marine Architect (3/10)

- 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. - Michael also agreed to the Values Profile assessment. - The next session was scheduled for Thursday February 7, 2013 at 11:00 AM.

Career Coaching Session #2: Thursday February 21, 2013

- We discussed Michael's research using the O*Net Online website and brought his research printouts for the following careers:

Entrepreneur
Manager
Marine Architect
Manager

- I asked Michael to re-rate the careers on his shortlist and he said that Marine Architect has gone from a 3/10 to a 1/10 and so is now officially off the list. His current careers and ratings are:

Entrepreneur (7/10)
ROV Technician (6/10)
General Manager (6/10)
Manager at Stublin's (4/10)

- Next we discussed the results of Michael's Values Profile assessment and the results below are a summary of Michael'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 Michael'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
Political Values
Social Values
Traditional Values

Minor Values

Aesthetic Values
Theoretical 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

- I asked Michael how he felt about an entrepreneurial idea such as importing bug screens for doors and windows of people's homes in Trinidad, and he said that he would definitely research the idea. - We discussed how Michael would rate himself in terms of his emotional IQ (EIQ) and he said that he tends to have more extreme swings of emotions as to opposed to being more in control. I stressed the importance of developing a healthy EIQ as Psychologists have recently discovered that it is as important and maybe even more important than having a high IQ score. I asked him if he would be willing to do the MEIQ assessment and he said yes. - We also discussed Michael's spirituality, and he said his whole family does not go to Sunday Mass, not even at Christmas or Easter, although there was a time when his father used to go to daily Mass. I shared with Michael my own spiritual journey and how God touched my life when I was 24 years old and an atheist, how I came back to the Catholic Church after a powerful dream that God gave me, and that I started to attend daily Mass about 26 years ago, and never stopped. I explained to Michael what is really happening at the Mass, and if he had "spiritual glasses", he would see angels and saints around the alter, and during the consecration he would actually see the bread and wine turn into the actual body and blood of Jesus. I sent him a web site link to the most famous Eucharistic miracle at Lanciano Italy for him to view: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PJ8BORx1p8 - The following careers from the VoSPA assessment still interest Michael:

Entrepreneur (7/10)
ROV Technician (6/10)
General Manager (6/10)
Manager at Stublin's (4/10)

Acknowledgements from Session #2: - I acknowledged Michael for completing his career research using the O*Net Online website. Takeaways from Session #2: - Michael is feeling better about his career patch discovery process. Action Plan from Session #2: - Michael agreed to complete the MEIQ assessment before our next session. - He agreed to research the entrepreneurial idea of importing bug screens for doors and windows of people's homes in Trinidad. - The next session schedule was scheduled for Thursday February 28, 2013 at 11:00 AM.

Career Coaching Session #3: Tuesday April 9, 2013

- I discussed with Michael the three ingredients for bringing about positive change in one's life:

Self-awareness
Desire to change
Having the work ethic and perseverance to effect the change

- Next I asked Michael if he thought he had all three ingredients for bringing about positive change in his life with regard to his career and life skills. He said that it depended on what he wanted to change. If it was important enough to him, he would make the effort to change. - We discussed Michael's MEIQ report, and the five most important limitations that Michael would like to work on are:

His self-control needs improvement
He did not always choose the most ideal form of resolution for conflict situations on the test
He has difficulty adapting his social skills to the circumstances around him
His mindset could stand to be more positive
His social insight ability limited

- We also discussed import business proposition with Michael and he is very interested in the bug screen business. The following is a link to one such company's website, which Michael said he was willing to investigate as a possible business opportunity: http://www.bugoffscreen.com/ Acknowledgements from Session #3: - I acknowledged Michael for completing the MEIQ assessment. Takeaways from Session #3: - Michael said that the three sessions have helped so far to understand himself better and to have a better handle on possible career paths for himself. - He said that the MEIQ report highlighted things about himself that he knows he needs to work on. Action Plan from Session #3: - Michael agreed to read the MEIQ report in more detail. - He agreed to look into the following bug screen company as a possible import business opportunity: http://www.bugoffscreen.com/ - He also agreed to work on the following five limitations from his MEIQ report, using the advice from the last section of the report which has been inserted under each of the five limitations to help Michael to know what to work on: (1) His self-control needs improvement

Stay in touch with your feelings. Pay attention to what triggers them and how you react.
Pay attention to your body when you're upset, sad or angry. What are the signs? Learning to recognize how you react in response to different sentiments can help you become more in tune with your emotions.
Step back. If you're prone to losing control of your emotions, try taking a step back from heated situations. Give yourself some time to gain control rather than reacting immediately.

(2) He did not always choose the most ideal form of resolution for conflict situations on the test

Understand that everyone has his or her bad days. Sure it can be hard to overlook it when someone snaps at you or is otherwise unpleasant, but remembering that nearly everyone is unpleasant sometimes when under stress (even you!) can help you learn to take things less personally.
Put yourself in the other person's shoes. Think about how your actions will affect others before you act. If you are unsure, ask! Not everyone thinks the same way you do. If your actions will have an effect on others, ask them if they are ok with the decision before you act.

(3) He has difficulty adapting his social skills to the circumstances around him

Don't try to avoid confrontation at all costs. This results in a buildup of unresolved anger and frustration for both people. Sulking and denial do not accomplish anything either. Besides, bottled up frustration finds its way out, one way or another.
Take a time out. "When angry count to ten; when very angry count to 100." It's not always easy to maintain your composure when you feel like your "buttons" are being pushed, but it is essential that you make an effort to do so. It's important to cool down emotionally when a situation makes you upset or stressed. As time passes, you will be able to be more objective about the issues and to sort out the situation more clearly. Count for as long as it takes for you to reach a state of mind conducive to the cool, rational consideration of possible consequences of your actions. This counting technique can be used no matter what the intense feeling is.

(4) His mindset could stand to be more positive

View setbacks as short-lived. Whenever you are feeling overwhelmed and find yourself plunging into negativity, remind yourself that things can get better. If you're having a hard time in a class you're taking, for example, or you're having relationship problems, look at it as temporary. Whatever the situation, you can take proactive steps to deal with the underlying issues. Even if you are faced with something that you will have to deal with for a lifetime (like a health problem or family issue), there is always some way to improve the situation. You will grow stronger, heal, or find better ways to cope.
Refuse to be a victim. Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman, renowned author and noted expert on positive psychology, states that the feeling of being a victim leads to learned helplessness. If you blame your problems on other people or circumstances, you will avoid taking personal responsibility for your life. While it may be true that there are things beyond your control, the majority of what happens in your life is up to YOU. Life may throw you many curveballs, but it is you who decides how you'll react to them.

(5) His social insight ability is limited

Remember that communication involves a lot more than what is just said. Our gestures, expressions and tone of voice send just as strong (or even stronger signals) than the words we choose, and can let us know how others are feeling (and lets other know how we are feeling).

- The next session was left to be scheduled by Michael if necessary.

Career Coaching Session #4:

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

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