When you want to make a career change, and you want to do it properly, choose an award-winning career change programme.
The Gold Career Change Programme is based on the systematic use of reputable assessments, coaching and career guidance. It was developed to offer a comprehensive service to help people who want to make a career change to really understand who they are and to enable them to be better placed to make career decisions. In November 2007 it was awarded a National Career Award (sponsored by The Independent Newspaper). This popular programme takes a systematic approach to enable you to understand who you are and clarify your future career direction.
Great for Students and Graduates
Leaving University and getting a job, but what job will best suit your needs and abilities? How can you find a job that allows you to play to your strengths? This programme will help you to make career decisions and get you started towards a fulfilling career.
Great for Career Changers
You’ve had a successful career and you earn a good salary – perhaps people even envy where you are – and yet you’re no longer happy. Your career no longer works for you, perhaps never did. In fact, it’s starting to cause you stress. It’s impacting other areas of your life – your relationships, your family, even your health and happiness. This programme will give you clarity on making career decisions and deciding where to go next.
Where could you go from here?
My clients have made career decisions and moved from high-stress lawyer to pro sports player, from PR to Interior Design, from Teacher to Estate Agent, Buyer to University Researcher, from Project Manager to chef on a yacht. Some clients have moved up into a higher level in the same career. And some have started their own business. A few even have discovered that they can remodel their current job into something far more enjoyable without quitting. Every story is unique, just as is yours.
Clients have successfully fulfilled their desire for something more creative, more meaningful, less pressured. Use my creativity and knowledge to identify options as you make your career decisions.
Now read some feedback from satisfied clients:
Richard
“Whatever the outcome I am so pleased that I came to you. I had been so down and thinking there was something wrong with me changing jobs and not knowing what I wanted to do. This whole experience has been brilliant thank you.” Read the feedback letter
Colette
“I cannot speak highly enough of the combination of assessments that you provide on the Gold Programme as pieced together they provide an amazing insight. This, mixed with your knowledgeable, helpful and patient coaching is a potent mixture for instigating change. For the first time I feel assertive about who I am at work and, importantly, who and what I am not. I feel confident in my abilities and released from the need to be anything other than myself in defining and enjoying my future career.” Read the feedback letter
Sylvana
“What can I say other than what a truly remarkable, knowledgeable and professional woman Denise Taylor is. Denise is an expert in her field and she really does know how to channel this expertise. Her service is personal to each individual and this is what makes her programmes such a success. After 8 years of searching I have finally got back my life and a vision of a remarkable life and career at that. I owe this to Denise’s expert guidance. I would still be searching and wasting more valuable time if it wasn’t for Denise. Denise, thank you so much. I will never forget all that you have done for me.” Read the feedback letter
Read more feedback from clients who have completed the Gold Career Programme.
Career theory underpins the Gold Career Programme and draws on three major domains of individual differences – cognitive (ability), conative (motivation and interest) and affective (personality). These are assessed via ability tests, personality questionnaire, and interest inventories and drawn together by a skilled psychologist to enable you to make effective career decisions.
We go beyond this, we consider the wider environment, values, skills, constraints, career history, and the current job market. We also look deep into your career story, what has brought you to where you are today and gain clarity into the key requirements of a career move (location, stress levels, people, prospects). The more you understand who you are the better able you are to take advantage of opportunities that arise and to seek out steps to reach your personal career objectives as you make effective career decisions.
You have the option to be less focused on the results of assessments and more focused on increased personal discovery. The more you understand who you are the better able you are to take advantage of opportunities that arise and to seek out steps to reach your personal career objectives.
Updated for a changing world: It’s 15 years since I first created the Gold Career Change Programme, and on a regular basis I review what I offer and make changes. The world has changed, there is less stability of employment and an increasing range of new jobs being created.
The Gold Career Change Programme is refocused. It’s more about understanding who you are so you can take advantage of opportunities including identifying potential self-employment and freelance options.
As new jobs are being created, so it is less about identifying ‘the one’ job (that might be lost to technology in the next 10 years). BUT you still get career options to explore!
Values and identifying your ideal work environment are an essential element of any career change, understanding what is important so you can use this to aid decision-making.
Career exploration for career change needs to be considered alongside your wider life. It is not a ‘done once’ activity but a part of your ongoing career development.
This career change programme combines 3 phases and is personalised for you after the first sssion to ensure the most relevant exercises and assessments are chosen.
Career change – is this you?
Many of the people who contact me are at a career crossroads, unhappy in their job and not sure what to do next. But they know they want to make a career change.
As a new graduate or younger, a person has many choices. As we progress within a career our choices can be more limited. We can be constrained by family and financial commitments.
I’m not going to tell you to make a radical change, although some clients do, but I can tell you that spending time to understand who you are can provide powerful insight to help you decide what to do next as you make your career change.
When you consider a career change, next steps can include
- Stay where you are – the job is quite secure, you are well paid and you will develop other interests.
- Move to a different but similar job – it might be the organisation/environment rather than the job so move to something similar elsewhere.
- Move to a job that builds on skills, experience, career history– I’ll use my creativity to help you demonstrate to a potential employer why your particular background makes you a strong contender for this new role.
- Move to something new – clients have made radical changes, and you could too, but I’d make sure you had considered it in detail, gaining awareness of risks and challenges and with a robust plan. you then make a considered career change.
Step 1: Your Career Story (90 minutes)
It’s rare to have an extended conversation with someone who will truly listen and reflect back on your life. This session includes completion of a personal information form and a review of 3 exercises: Character Strengths, Personal Values and Saboteurs which you complete and return at least one full working day before our session (For a Monday session this should be returned by Thursday evening).
We also cover:
- Critical Success Factors – preparation work and full discussion.
- Skills and experience – Some of our skills are those we want to continue to use, our motivated skills. There are other skills that we don’t want to use, burnout skills. It’s important to differentiate between these.
- Interests – going beyond the Strong Interest Inventory.
- Family background – This includes family expectations (explicit and implicit) which can affect and influence our choices.
- Goals – If you have other life goals, we need to understand these and incorporate into our work.
- Ideal working environment: You consider the type of company, location, ideal manager and much more. Your results are not fixed and can be adapted as you move into your research phase.
We also consider constraints: These could be personal constraints – financial, family etc. but can also be internal such as recognising a lack of drive, a fear of change. Sometimes people are of the ‘yes, but style …’ and don’t take any action. Being honest will enable the programme to be enhanced to suit your needs.
Step 2 – Assessment phase
The assessments are taken from your home computer and full instructions are provided.
The ability of any single assessment to predict career direction increases dramatically when there is agreement between several tests. Analysis will seek out these areas of agreement. E.g., if each assessment points towards a career in law or sales, then clearly this is a priority area to explore.
The discussions are recorded and uploaded to enable you to download and save to your computer. You also receive comprehensive reports and supporting materials.
Ability: The Highlands Ability Battery
The ‘Gold Standard’ to objectively identify natural abilities and talents. This is an objective assessment of your natural ability and consists of 18 different work samples. It’s extensive, taking around 3 hours (you don’t need to complete it in one session) and the results will help you to really understand yourself. You get 3 full colour reports (over 100 pages) and a personalised 1-page summary. The Career Exploration Supplemental Report identifies possible career paths aligned with your natural abilities.
Interest: Strong Interest Inventory
The Strong Interest Inventory measures your interests using 291 different questions to explore your likes and dislikes with regard to categories such as careers, leisure activities, school subjects. Your responses are compared to a representative sample of occupations followed by people who enjoy their work, have worked in that area for at least three years and who do typical work for the field. You get a prioritised list of occupations which match your interests. The Strong Interest Inventory is a very straightforward assessment and you get guidance notes along with the report rather than a discussion. Useful information to help you with your career change.
Complete MBTI Step 2
The MBTI is a self-reporting personality inventory, designed to help you understand yourself, your natural preferences, motivations, and potential areas for growth. Step 2 goes into much greater depth than the free versions available online. It divides each of the 4 scales into 5 facets, resulting in an in-depth understanding of your personality characteristics and a detailed personal development plan which provides suggestions related to communication, decision making, managing change and managing conflict.
Interested in more self-understanding? You may also like to take
The Firo-B
The Firo-B® is a fantastic instrument to help you understand your own behaviour and the behaviour of others. It is ideal for anyone wanting to improve relationships with other people, whether just one other person or with a group of people. It can also help with personal understanding when you make a career change.
Or SWAP the MBTI Step 2 for the 15FQ
To understand personality via assessments used in recruitment choose The 15FQ. This draws out career implications, and potential pitfalls in terms of the work environment, the job itself, and the organizational culture. It provides a good assessment about what a person is usually like and can also cover additional information on things like team role, leadership and negotiating style. I think this can be very valuable when making a career change.
You receive over 175 pages of personalized reports
These are in digital format for you to review, and I provide comprehensive report interpretation for all assessments.
You receive all these PDF full colour reports based on the Highlands Ability Battery
- Main Highlands Report – 21 pages
- Personal Career Exploration Supplement – 29 pages
- Personal Work Types – 6 pages
- Leader Report – where are your strengths as a leader? – 38 pages
- Highlands Explored – 30 page booklet taking you beyond your report (created by and available only from Dr Denise Taylor)
- Critical Career Implications – a 1-2 page personal summary of the key points from your highlands ability battery results (created by and available only from Dr Denise Taylor)
You also receive these PDF full colour reports
- MBTI – 17 pages
- Strong Interest Inventory – 19 pages
- MBTI Explored (created by and available only from Dr Denise Taylor)
Session 2: The Ability Battery Feedback Session (2 hours)
I carefully take you through the 3 reports based on your Highlands Ability Battery assessment, ensuring you fully understand your strengths and how you can use this information in both education and career orientated decision making. I also talk you through your personal one page summary and ensure you are clear on your next steps, to look beyond your report.
Session 3: Psychometric Feedback Discussion (1 Hour)
In this discussion we carefully review the results of both the personality assessment (MBTI Step 2) and the Strong Interest Inventory ensuring you fully understand what they mean with time for us to provide context to deepen your understanding.
Stay focused – Twice weekly ‘office hours’
To keep you focused you can send a question by email and receive a video reply. The question must be received by 12.00 on Monday or Thursday and you will receive a reply by 6pm the same day.
Step 3 – Bringing it together
Session 4 (45 minutes)
In this session we will discuss the work done to date. Bringing together three assessments results in triangulation – you understand why jobs are being suggested. We then look broader and include your responses from Step One.
You undertake your research assignment – deeper exploration and making choices. You leave this session with a comprehensive plan to explore a list of jobs, with the comprehensive Next Steps Booklet guiding you through what to do. I’m available by email for questions on this process.
Session 5 (45 minutes)
A further 45 minute session is included to take place within 4 weeks of session 4 to discuss your findings. In this session we will review your research, and support you into making a decision. We will discuss how to stay resilient in times of setbacks. We will create a new action plan if required.
You also get complimentary access to 2 online courses: Create a Successful CV and Get Interview Ready. These are like guided coaching sessions with Denise taking you through all the steps you need for a successful and effective CV and to ensure you are much more confident for upcoming interviews.
Bought individually this Gold Career Programme would cost well over £2000, buy as a package for £1697.
Once payment is received you will be sent details by email to enable you to schedule your sessions. You will also receive access to the assessments. These need to be set up by a real person so please allow a few hours for the email to be sent.