Career counseling and guidance: From job application to starting a new job

Did you just finish university and are looking for your first job? Are you switching careers and need a new challenge? No matter in which stage you are, going from looking for a job to starting your first day is a long and tedious procedure requiring dedication, the right framing of your skills and talents, and that certain something to stand out among the crowd. 

CQ Net - Management skills for everyone! is here to help you in every step of the way - from writing a job application, preparing for an interview, to making a great first impression on your first day.

Why should you consider career counseling to support your journey?

It is great to know your skills and talents, but it is even better to receive an outside opinion and advice rooted in science to ensure you are on the right track. Most organizations have a rigorous system for recruitment and selection in place. To navigate this system effectively, you need to show recruiters your personality is the right fit for the organization, that you have a short-term and a long-term vision, and that you benefit the organization in many ways.

We help you to navigate rigorous recruitment and selection procedures and to use them for your advantage.

This career counseling service combines three distinct one-on-one sessions, each lasting 60 minutes. Every one of the three steps - writing a job application, preparing for a job interview, and starting your first day - is crucial to ensuring your job is not only a way to make money, but a way to kick-start a career.

What are the three steps of landing your dream job?

1. Writing a job application is an art and a science. It is crucial to know about your own personality strengths and weaknesses, and to be able to market them in a way that make you an indispensable asset for any job you are applying for. Apart from being creative, you need to be strategic and tactical to pass the first step of the selection procedure.
2. Landing a job interview is an incredible success and brings you one step closer to starting your dream career. While there is countless advice available on how to make an impression, consider that these tips are all very similar and routinely. In a job interview, you must stand out and know what interviewers look out for. Being secure about what you can do, what you want to learn and how you can contribute to the company are vital in ensuring you get an offer.
3. Your first day at work sets the scene for the rest of your journey. From making the right personal connections to positioning yourself within a new team, your first day may be frightening. To ensure you can have fun, you should go in well-prepared, with an open mind, and with a plan.

What will you learn in this step-by-step career counseling service?

• How recruitment and selection works, and what recruiters look out for
• Pinning down and establishing your short-term and long-term career goals
• Learning about your personality traits, strengths and weaknesses and how to relate them to long-term and short-term goals
• Tactics you can use to market your skills, potential and goals in writing and in person
• Guidance relating to your first day considering evidence from organizational science

What are the key outputs of this career counseling service?

• three one-on-one online counseling sessions lasting 60 minutes each, that will enable you to
  • understand what recruitment and selection standards businesses tend to use
  • evaluate and understand your goals, your skills, your strengths and weaknesses
  • use these insights to write a stand-out job application
  • strategically convey your talents and potential in your job interview
  • leave a lasting impression on your first day of work
• a comprehensive report based on cutting-edge science on your own personality strengths and weaknesses, using the NEO-PI-R psychometric test. The NEO-PI-R is a so-called “personality inventory” that examines your personality and its facets.

How does the step-by-step counseling work?

 After registration, payment and fixing times and dates, we will provide you with details to take the comprehensive NEO-PI-R psychometric test online. This will be the basis for the three sessions.

• Session 1: In the first session, you will learn all about recruitment and selection procedures, including the five factor model of personality and common screening methods. We will evaluate the results from your psychometric test and help you understand and frame your strengths and weaknesses for your job application.
• Session 2: In the second session, we will determine together what are your goals and visions, and create a plan to determine what is relevant for your intended job. We will provide you with information on what recruiters look for in selection interviews, work together on preparing you for a potential interview and equip you with tips and tricks so you can respond to every question.
• Session 3: In the third session, we will tackle tips, tricks and strategies for your first day at work. We will point out some explicit and implicit factors to look out for in finding your place in a new team, help you to set expectations and boundaries, and make the first day an enjoyable one that will set the scene for your future career.

Your job success consultants

Dr Markus Nini - Co-Founder of CQ Net - Management skills for everyone!
Dr Markus Nini is a management practitioner by day and a researcher of organizational behaviour at all times. He holds a Master and Doctoral Degree in Economics and Computer Science from the Technical University of Vienna and a MSc in Organizational Behaviour from Birkbeck College, University of London. Markus is a RQTU member and provides management trainings and career counseling services for professionals around the globe.

Wanda Tiefenbacher, MSc - trainer and project officer at CQ Net - Management skills for everyone!
Wanda is a political scientist and sociologist by training, who has a long background in the third sector. She holds degrees from King’s College London, the University of Edinburgh, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Having worked in a range of initiatives, non-profit ventures and start-ups for over a decade, Wanda is particularly interested in helping young professionals unlock their full potential combining her work experience, academic expertise and international background to provide career support.

Who is this step-by-step career counseling for?

Being well-prepared for a new job, regardless of the context you are starting from, is crucial to ensuring you won’t have to send countless applications. This career counseling service is for anyone who is seeking support and guidance in getting a new job, who is curious about learning about their personality, and who wants to stick out from the crowd. Everyone is welcome.  We value diversity and hope to attract people from various backgrounds.

Our career counseling approach

CQ Net - Management skills for everyone! makes high-quality management education available and affordable for everyone. We base our counselings on cutting-edge science and ensure everyone can access our counseling offers through our competitive pricing. Our sessions are one-on-one to ensure that you receive answers to your specific questions that you can use straight-away. We want to understand your concerns and support you in becoming your best, professional self.

Once you have signed-up for one of our career counseling sessions, we will get back to you personally to arrange the registration process. For this, you will receive a short questionnaire from us regarding your background and your expectations from the counseling. In addition, we will settle on the times and dates for your one-to-one online sessions*. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

*Please note that these sessions are only available as a set of three. It is not possible to book only one of the three sessions, as the they are designed to complement each other.

Satisfaction guarantee

Your success is our priority. If you are not happy, we are not happy. Make use of our 14-day satisfaction guarantee and claim your money back if you are not satisfied with our services.