The CPP Education Blog has moved to http://www.cppblogcentral.com/category/education-blog/. You will be redirected to the new blog.

Friday, February 25, 2011

From CPP to dot.com to back at CPP - by Jim Larkin

Bookmark and Share


Written by Jim Larkin (JL), Education Inside Sales Representative for CPP

Hi, I am Jim Larkin. I am an Education Inside Sales Rep (EISR) for CPP. I’ve been in this position since March 2003. I started with CPP as a temp in the mail room! Eventually moved up to the Customer Relations team and left for a “.com” startup. That was in 1998 – 99. When the .com company was bought out and I lost my job, I wrote to my previous manager at CPP for a reference for another job that I was applying for. She suggested I look into this position if my interview didn’t go as planned. And here I am!

I was introduced to the MBTI® assessment during grad school when my wife was going through her own graduate program; MFCC (MFT). She fell in love with the instrument and of course I had to take it! She was shocked at my result when I came out as an ISTJ. As I reflect on how I took it and my mind-set at the time, I was either not clearly instructed in how to take it or I didn’t know myself well enough to identify my own preferences. In defense of my wife, I believe it was the latter. I was answering in ways that I thought I should. Today I am definitely sure that I am an INFP.

I went through the certification programs for both the MBTI® and the Strong Interest Inventory® assessments shortly after being re-hired. I have used both assessments myself in working with high school students preparing for college and have had wonderful experiences with students who have had some real eye-opening experiences through both assessments.

I look forward to interacting with you all through this blog and our other social media sites.
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Conquering My Writer's Block Using the MBTI® assessment - by Jack Powers

Bookmark and Share


Written by: Jack Powers (JP), Education Inside Sales Representative at CPP, Inc.

Staring at a blank page is intimidating, especially when you’re expected to compose something piquant and intelligent. Writing my first entry for CPP’s Education Blog reminds me of my days as an undergraduate comparative literature major when I would do exactly what I’ve been doing for the last twenty minutes: staring at the blank page, wondering how to fill it without resorting to a thirteen-point Courier font. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy writing. More accurately, I enjoy writing the body of an essay, but writing the opening paragraph of an essay always presented a problem for me. I would waste too much time worrying about a clever first sentence. I would have so many lofty phrases and ideas floating around in my head that I didn’t know which one to choose. After conquering that ordeal, I would then carefully craft my grandiloquent thesis. Invariably I would have to amend this overwrought thesis or abandon it altogether because, upon revision, I would find that my arguments did not support it. The alternative thesis would never resonate the way the original had; what’s worse, by the time I realized my original thesis no longer worked, I had to come up with something quickly because by that time, the final, polished version of the essay would usually be due in class in about fifteen minutes (and I probably hadn’t even left for campus yet -- did I mention that I tend to procrastinate?).


How frustrating! I knew I should start with the body of the essay, and that the thesis should arrive organically from the points I argued. So why didn’t I just start with the body? My knowledge of MBTI® type would have helped me to understand. No, I do not have a preference for Sensing, which might explain somebody’s inclination to proceed linearly from writing the opening, then the body, and finally the conclusion. In fact, I have a preference for iNtuition. I thought the opening paragraph was the most important, since a writer only has one opportunity with this opening paragraph to captivate the audience. In looking back, I now see that writing papers was an experience that placed me “In the Grip.” Knowledge of my type would have helped me realize that I was exaggerating my dominant function, Extraverted iNtuition (Ne). Armed with that knowledge, I could have practiced one of the many strategies I have learned while reading more about my type. Do you have students who are struggling with writing papers? Encourage them to visit the advising center on your campus and take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® assessment. CPP publishes many materials to help students throughout the span of their academic career and beyond. In addition to In the Grip, the book about stress and type, I also recommend Introduction to Type® and Learning as well as Introduction to Type® in College. Don’t wait too long – the sooner your students possess this gift of self-awareness, the sooner they’ll be able to use that knowledge to their advantage, and the sooner they’ll be better at dealing with stress, whether it’s studying for an exam or writing that daunting term paper.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Some useful tips from our “Using MBTI® Type to Develop Interviewing and Job Search Skills” webinar

Bookmark and Share


Last week, Judith Grutter delivered a fantastic webinar for CPP titled “Using MBTI® Type to Develop Interviewing and Job Search Skills” (part of our Ask an Expert webinar series). I love everything she shares with us, but this one has to be one of my favorites – especially since job search and preparing for interviews are such hot topics right now. Here are just a few of the many things I picked up:
  • There are six job search basics and type plays a valuable role in each one: 1- know yourself, 2- target, 3- research, 4- resume, 5- interview, and 6- negotiate. 
  • There are never right or wrong MBTI® results – each preference and type identifies normal and valuable human behaviors. They are just a way to describe both differences (as well as similarities) with one another and learn to work through those.
  • The heart of type defines WHO we are and WHAT our natural interests are. These 4 hearts are ST, SF, NF and NT. 
  • Judi presented a list of college majors each of the four hearts of type are attracted to and their preferred interview and resume style. 
  • Learn some cues on recognizing the four heart of type interviewers and how to respond to them the moment you walk in for the interview. 
  • Judi stressed that a key thing to learn is to teach your students to communicate TO type and not FROM type.
Now go ahead and view the webinar to pick up your own useful tips! Go to our webinars page at www.cpp.com/askanexpert to view this webinar under “archived webinars” and check out some other ones from the series as well!
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

14 Years and Counting at my Dream Job - by Catherine Rains

Bookmark and Share


Written by Catherine Rains (CR), Education Regional Sales Consultant for CPP, Inc.

I may be new to blogging, but not to CPP. I’ve been happily employed by CPP since 1997, first as a Regional Consultant serving corporate and education customers throughout the Southeast, and later as a consultant and trainer serving the Education market nationwide, which is what I do today with CPP. Some of you may know me from the workshops I taught in most major US cities starting in 2005. These series began with introducing the Newly Revised Strong, and then the MBTI® assessment for career development, career counseling to type, and many other topics (my name was Catherine Holmes in those days).

Before I worked for CPP, I was a customer. In my last job, I was the Director of Career Service at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, where I used both the Strong and MBTI assessments with students and alumni. When my job with CPP became available in 1997, I knew it was mine as soon as I read the job description because it contained all the elements I had envisioned for my “dream job”. I wanted to have a home office, not supervise anyone but an admin, travel the country, and teach a topic like the MBTI to career counselors. Needless to say, this is exactly what I get to do, along with many more fun things like meet with college counselors to help them use assessments more effectively, and get paid to do it! Even after 14 years, I still consider this my dream job.

Now that I’ve introduced myself to you, I look forward to fully participating in this community of MBTI and Strong devotees. Always fun to converse with those who I share so much in common with, and who share my passion for supporting others to find their dream job.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)