From Managing Editor to Volunteer Coordinator
Miranda's journey demonstrates the benefits of how using SkillScan's AI-Powered Enhanced Career Insights generated new career options that led to identifying a new role and successfully making a career transition.
Client Background
- Name: Miranda
- Age: 33
- Education: B.A. in Communications
Experience
Within a span of 8 years, Miranda progressed from an associate writer to a managing editor for a team of 8 writers at a media company.
Challenge
Miranda’s level of responsibility in meeting constant deadlines and supervising a team of writers led to high levels of stress requiring her to rethink her career direction. She had an opportunity to take a buy-out which gave her an opportunity to plan a new direction. In our initial meeting she stated that she was ready to pursue a career that offered greater work balance and where she can:
- Make a difference by working for a mission-focused organization.
- Optimize her strong writing, editing, organizational, managerial and mentoring skills.
Assessment Tools Used
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| SkillScan Drive | Identify her preferred transferable skills from Miranda’s work experience and college to evaluate positions |
| Holland Code | Social, Artistic, Enterprising |
| Values Exercise | Contributing/Helping Others, Creativity, Achievement |
Explore these tools in the Learning Center
Career Profile Summary
| Holland Themes | Drive Transferable Skills | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Social | Relationship: Counsel, Train/Instruct, and Facilitate Groups Communication: Write, Consult, and Persuade | Conducted interviews and wrote engaging stories. Counseled and mentored writers to enhance their skills. |
| Artistic | Creative: Conceptualize, Brainstorm, and Author/Compose | Brainstormed story ideas. Created a development training program for staff to enhance writing skills. Developed innovative strategies to increase readership. |
| Enterprising | Management: Lead, Manage Projects, Build a Team | Facilitated staff meetings and monthly brainstorming sessions to encourage collaboration and teamwork. |
Core Values in Action
- Contributing: Giving back, be a part of a mission
- Creativity: Use my imagination to write engaging and persuasive content
- Influence: Feeling accomplished; my writers earned awards from a prestigious professional association
Career Assessment Supplemented with AI-Powered Enhanced Career Insights
Using the Drive Career Options report and the AI-powered Enhanced Career Insights tool, it validated her interest in non-profit mission-oriented organization where she could leverage her writing, editing and interpersonal skills but also grow into a leadership and management role.
Career Ideas Generated
- Public Relations Specialist in the non-profit sectors
- Community Outreach Coordinator
- Content Strategist
- Learning and Development Specialist
- Grant Writer
Outcome
- Miranda used SkillScan’s Position Analysis Exercise to target her transferable skills and qualifications on her resume for each job.
- In 9 weeks, Miranda was offered and accepted a full-time Volunteer Coordinator role in a non-profit organization serving immigrants.
Key Takeaways for Career Counselors
- With limited time, front-loaded the career coaching process with core assessments including Holland, SkillScan and Values to establish enhanced personal clarity and develop criteria for exploring opportunities.
- Used of the AI-Powered Enhanced Career Insights tool to provide personalized career paths for generating career ideas and guiding exploration.
- Reinforced the importance of targeting resumes and cover letters to each job to accelerate the job search process.