Empowering career search and enrichment

Demonstrate competence. That is YOUR competence, not theirs!  Before someone with a Thinking preference can settle into the counseling process with you, they need to make sure you have the expertise necessary to work with their presenting concerns.  What are some quick ways to do this?

Do you have any other ideas for how you demonstrate competence to Thinking preference students? What are YOUR best suggestions for working with a student who prefers Thinking?

Let’s continue the discussion on how to motivate a student who prefers Feeling to buy in to the career counseling process. Here are a couple more suggestions: 

Written by Catherine Rains 

What are some strategies you can use to motivate a student who prefers Feeling to buy in to the career counseling process?  Here are a few suggestions:

We'll continue with a couple more suggestions on counseling to Feeling preferences next week. 

Here are some suggestions you might try: 

Brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm!  This preference loves to discuss possibilities around almost anything.  Asking them questions like “what would an ideal work day look like?”, or a similar open-ended, future focused question will open most Intuition preferences up to a long, enjoyable discussion about their career.  

Career lists are jumping off points for discussion.  The same concrete list of suggested careers that you gave a Sensing preference will seem limiting to the Intuition student unless you offer it as a jumping off point to discuss all the possible options available for someone with their personality preferences.  The list itself is simply the tip of the iceberg for what could be available. 

Review overall process.  A good place to start with an Intuition preference is to start with an overall description of the process that you will be taking them through, without getting into too many specific details. Then observe what part of the process they grab onto, or want to start discussing before you have even finished your description. This is where you begin the process, rather than at step 1, as you would do with Sensing.  An Intuition preference wants to jump into any process where they have an interest, so start the discussion where they show energy and excitement.

Show how things link together.  When helping an Intuition preference research options, help them find general information about the careers they are considering, and then help them see the pattern between all the options and what that could mean, or where it could lead them to next. 

Can anyone provide a concrete example or description of an appointment they had with a Intuition preference student?  What did the session look like?  What are YOUR best suggestions for working with a student with a Intuition preference?

Can you provide a concrete example or description of an appointment they had with a Sensing preference student?  What did the session look like?  What are YOUR best suggestions for working with a student with a Sensing preference?

Back to our series on tailoring our counseling strategies based upon the type of student we are supporting!  This week we tackle the Sensing preference.

Here are some suggestions for working with students who prefer Sensing: 

by Jim Larkin and Jack Powers

People don’t learn the same way, and much of what’s required in school favors certain learning preferences over others. One common place where we see conflicting learning styles play out is the famous -- or infamous --  “study group.” You know the drill -- the teacher breaks you up into random groups and assigns a theme -- the Holy Roman Empire, it was neither holy, nor was it Roman -- and then leaves you to talk amongst yourselves. 

People’s reactions to this experience are often polarized, and for good reason. The human population is roughly equally divided between those with a preference for Extraversion, who are energized by social interaction, and those with a preference for Introversion, who have to expend mental and emotional energy in social settings. Those preferring Extraversion, not surprisingly, operate much more naturally in group study. If one or two people dominate the conversation, it doesn't mean they’re smarter, more interested, or harder working than the others -- most likely it just indicates they’re predisposed toward Extraversion. Likewise, if other members of the group aren't talking, it doesn't always mean they’re less engaged in the assignment -- just that they prefer Introversion, and don’t operate as naturally in a group study setting. 

Does this mean we should abolish group study? Certainly not. Not only does it provide a valuable learning experience, but it also allows us to explore how those preferring Introversion can more effectively engage with Extraverts, thereby gaining communication skills that will serve them far beyond school.  

Today I will be wrapping up the discussion from our last two posts, Part 1 and Part 2, about how to work most effectively with students who have a preference for extroversion:

One last thing – what happens when a counselor who prefers Introversion works with a student who prefers Extroversion?  I often hear from my Introverted preference colleagues that one of their talents as a counselor is the ability to listen really well, which means they will end up talking much less than their client.  But to an Extroverted preference student, listening means you are actively engaging them in conversation.  Silence is experienced by the client as disinterest, judgment, or daydreaming. 

So what have I missed?  Please share your suggestions for what has worked for you when working with students who prefer Extroversion.  Next week we’ll talk about how to effective work with students who prefer Introversion.

Written by Catherine Rains 

Before I knew how to use Type for career counseling, I basically used the same counseling strategies with every client.  One student at a time (also known as the  road of hard knocks), I learned that clients responded more positively when I flexed my counseling strategies to meet the type preference of my client, rather than use a “if it works for me (and others like me), it will work for you” approach. For the next few months, we’re going to delve into specific ways to tailor the career counseling experience to the individual preferences of each client. 

Let’s start with students who prefer Extroversion.  What specific thing can you do to work most effectively with this preference?  Let me start with the first two suggestions: 

Provide lots of verbal interaction.  Seems obvious, but this preference is uncomfortable with silence, so I put more energy into keeping the conversation going.  I also count on this session to last longer, or to require a 2^nd or 3^rd session to finish the discussion that we started.

Allow client to think out loud.  This can appear like the student is scattered sometimes, but hearing their own words, and even having those same words repeated back to them by you, helps them sort out what they really mean.  They can start with one idea, and through thinking out loud, end up with a decision in a very different direction.

Can you list some examples of how to go about this? Stay tuned for more suggestions for Extroversion.