Test helps map career plans

Hopes, fears and dreams may have as much to do with career success as skills and experience, but they can be hard to capture.

That is what makes Wellington applied psychology company FutureSelves' software different from other psychometric testing and career evaluation products.

Managing director Geoff Plimmer says the FutureSelves product is based on academic research round the idea of possible selves, visions of the future people have and that they can train themselves towards.

It is used in schools and businesses here and in Britain. Working with software development company Equinox, FutureSelves has developed an online version which will mean customers can use it anywhere in the world.

Plimmer says the web version means FutureSelves gets raw data on how different groups respond, which helps with development.

"The feedback we are getting is New Zealand students have a well developed sense of self, but we occasionally come across confidence problems, mood problems, and a sense they have limited career aspirations - there is a lot of focus on getting a career in professional sport or the media," Plimmer says.

"All over the world, we can see career choices constrained by parents, or young people taking too linear an approach."

Plimmer says though many psychometric tests try to measure personality types and match them against occupations, "they haven't predicted job satisfaction or how long a person will stay in a job. They ignore other factors like organisational culture.

"We try to take a more holistic approach, and the software allows us to work through it systematically."

Barbara Stewart from the Rotorua School for Young Parents says she has used FutureSelves for four years to help her students plan their studies.

"Most of them come to us when they are 17 or 18, though we have had girls as young as 14. FutureSelves is very pertinent when we choose subjects which move them on to the next level," Stewart says.

"I use FutureSelves and other tools to give me an idea about where the girls' interests lie."

She says the students are often wary of speaking to people in authority, but they will respond to the tool.

While her experience as a school guidance counsellor means she may come to the same conclusions and offer the same advice, "the tool confirms it for you and the girl. They don't believe us, but this way you can give them something in hard copy they will accept.

"It asks about things they are scared about, how they feel about being on a benefit, what sort of family they want. The career quest material put out by the Government doesn't go into that psychological stuff," Stewart says.

"When you ask many of these girls: 'What do you want to do?' this is the first time in their lives someone interested in what they want to do.

"The thing is, when they have this baby, they don't want to be dumb mothers, they want their baby to have a better life than they did. They come to me because they want to be there, they want to be learning."

Sue Mitchell, the gateway co-ordinator at Kelston Girls High School, says FutureSelves has proved a valuable tool for mapping a career path for her students, older girls who may have returned to school to get a second chance at entering the workforce.

"It looks at the whole person, so we get a better idea of the issues which may get in the way of achievement," Mitchell says.

"It is especially good for building a rapport between me and the students so I can match them with suitable jobs."

FutureSelves puts a range of statements before users and asks them to grade them on relevance.

"It makes them think about things they would not normally think about," she says.

Barbara Morris from Wellington training and development firm Admore Associates uses FutureSelves for work in organisational development.

"It is very easy to use and gets issues out in a fast way," Morris says.

"Because it looks at likely fears and hopes, it has a completely different outcome to other psychometric tools."

Morris says if there is already a high level of trust in the firm or team she is working with, there can be complete disclosure of the results.

"If there is not, I can aggregate the results so it becomes non-threatening.

"For example, if you are trying to handle situations of high stress and bad management, people may not want to be identified as the source of particular criticism."

She also uses FutureSelves for staff development or for individuals wanting more out of their career.