Career planning

Utilizing Mindfindr in career guidance and planning

The use of Mindfindr as a support for the recruitment process has been described above. When used as a support for career guidance, the technical steps required to invite the person being guided and to send test invitations are practically the same. On the other hand, the perspective on interpreting the results of the tests and their wider use is different. As a rule, test versions should be used in career guidance that do not specify a single target profession. On the other hand, long lists of occupations and professions viewed at different educational levels can stimulate a broad discussion without excluding any option.

It is useful to introduce the use of Mindfindr to the supervisee, explaining that it can be used to raise for discussion and reflection in other ways the characteristics, tendencies and competences that support the development of various skills that the supervisee may be unaware of or that come as a complete surprise. Similarly, during supervision, aspects may be found that do not seem as favorable for progress in studies or working life based on the supervisee’s inherent tendencies. It is good to emphasize to the supervisee that competences comprise three components: natural tendency and talent, motivation and the desire to practically implement these strengths.

It is essential from the point of view of supervision to emphasize that the information obtained from the supervisee using Mindfindr can enhance their progress in studies or working life in a direction that matches their natural tendencies and, on the other hand, appears profitable based on the meeting of the requirements of the field and the strengths of the supervisee. It is equally important to emphasize, especially to young people, that test results do not provide the whole picture of an individual’s many strengths and that the personality of young people in particular matures and develops.

Guidance process

It is often practical that the supervisee or mentee and the mentor or career counsellor can agree on the confidential use of the information provided by Mindfindr as a basis for discussion and guidance. This important theme has been discussed more extensively elsewhere in the material. The widest possible openness and maximum sharing of views promotes the achievement of the guidance goal. In guidance, it is important to agree on a relatively clear goal and to promote this, a practical framework is of importance, such as meeting times, preparation tasks, themes in different meetings, practical exercises and the mentee’s independent search for information and familiarization with the results obtained.

Usually, the starting point in career guidance and planning is that the supervisee may not be at all aware of which field of study or job would be suitable, interesting or motivating for them. On the one hand, it is good to discuss which level of professionalism or which educational level the supervisee may be aiming for or which level of professionalism.

Based on these kinds of discussions, the guidance can end up with very different tasks and trainings with the supervisees who have very similar Mindfindr test results. This is based not only on the supervisees’ willingness to invest time and other resources in different ways to achieve their professional goals, but also on the differences in previous studies and the foundation they provide. It is therefore desirable that the supervisor could also link these aspects to the guidance discussion. This avoids, on the one hand, unrealistic or seemingly too demanding goals, and, on the other hand, setting goals at too modest a level with a young supervisee who has excelled in basic studies.

Technically, it is practical to use the ISCO links or codes in the listings in guidance. By setting the ISCO and the occupation number displayed by Mindfindr in the browser, the guidance counselor receives a description and listing of the key requirements and tasks of the occupation. In addition to other sources of information, the guidance counselor can also familiarize himself with the requirements of the tasks that are high on the supervisee’s occupational listings in this way in his or her preparations. These practical task descriptions provide a good basis for discussion and also for comparative reflection on the Mindfindr results and task descriptions obtained by the supervisee.

Similarly, the supervisor can stimulate the supervisee through appreciative inquiry methods, and by utilizing the questions provided by Mindfindr, get the supervisee to reflect on how strengths have emerged in practice, thus strengthening the supervisee’s confidence in their relative strengths and future perspectives.

With the help of the descriptions provided by Mindfindr, the supervisee’s personality, natural orientation, and competence potential, together with work behavior and team preferences, enable navigation in discussions in a range of possibilities.