Job orientation activities: what they are and how they work

When approaching the world of work, it is possible to find oneself confused, as it is not easy to understand what one’s skills and competencies are in the professional field. One valuable aid is job orientation, which aims to help people start or rebuild their employment path.

While job orientation is useful at the beginning of one’s professional career, immediately after completing high school or college studies, the activity also supports and guides professionals who find themselves at expected or unexpected turning points during their careers and need to rethink their work.

No age limit, then, for an activity intended to improve the practitioner’s ability to self-assess. Knowledge of oneself and one’s qualities, and awareness of one’s professional goals, are increasingly useful skills in a changing and competitive marketplace.

How to do job orientation

Depending on the age of the professional,job orientation activities can use different tools and methodologies, which have a common goal: to define a project in which the worker is connected to concrete job possibilities. Activities are led by increasingly in-demand figures, such as career counselors, human resource management experts and career coaches, who can understand the work environment, stimulate and provide useful advice. They use three main activities to do this: the guidance interview, skills assessment and job search seminars.

The job orientation activities, the interview

The most widely used tool is the career guidance interview, which is useful as a job orientation activity and as a study orientation activity. The interview also provides guidance and support during the professional’s career, when the worker is faced with reorientation, and can be of two types:

• the informational interview: the purpose of which is to gather information about the context, from the job search method to the techniques used, via the resume;
• the supportive interview: which aims to guide and support the professional or student in making a job decision.

Job orientation activities, skills assessment

The skills assessment is a guided activity that provides clarity on the abilities and aspirations unique to the individual seeking help. The skills assessment is a useful tool for professionals and companies to understand which career direction is best to take or which workers are best suited for changes, transfers and promotions.

Within the skills assessment, skills already developed in the professional are identified, individual self-assessment skills are improved, and coping skills in the face of change are enhanced. The assessment is then processed and incorporated into a tailored professional project.

Job orientation activities: the active search

Included within the active search are all those activities that can support the worker in identifying new jobs and career outlets. The tool encompasses activities such as writing or revising resumes, developing techniques for self-presentation and assertive and effective communication, and researching job openings in the area.

Job orientation according to Phyd

Phyd provides its members with the best experts in coaching, tutoring and mentoring. Life Coaches help people to make concrete changes in their lives, Career Coaches to identify the most suitable career path, Business Coaches to improve their approach to work. Finally, theExecutive Coach is dedicated to managers and entrepreneurs, while the Student Coach is designed to help students identify the perfect course of study for them.

Also available to members is a free mentoring service, to further the profession, and free tutoring, for those who want to enter a new profession or those entering the workforce.