|
Special Reports
Recruiting and Training
Birkman Method Assists Job Hunt
Matching skill sets.
By Alton Gary Simpson
With tens of thousands of workers in the mortgage industry now facing unemployment,
the Birkman Method for personality assessment can help them reconnect with a new position by determining their
work style, and helping them find a new job in a similar "job family."
As the subprime lending collapse continues to echo and rebound, taking jobs with it, there are more than just commissioned
mortgage brokers affected. These include everyone from information technology, human resources, accountants, marketers,
graphic designers and property managers responsible for branch office locations. "Devastating losses in the
nation's financial sector as a result of trouble in the housing market has left many without jobs, and searching
for where to go next," said Sharon Birkman-Fink, CEO of Birkman International Inc., developer of the Birkman
Method. "By determining strengths, stressors and work priorities, people may not only find a new job in their
field, but may find a job that more completely suits their needs and plays to their strong points."
The Birkman Method uses a combination of factor analysis and statistical regression to ascertain a person's preferred
method of working, and then matches their skill set and job experience to a set of similar jobs, or "job families,"
within which a person will thrive.
Birkman International COO Richard Goldman noted, "When people lose their jobs for reasons that are sometimes
out of their control, it's a perfect time for them to look at, 'What really interests me? What turns me on? What
career should I be pursuing that is more in line with my own internal needs, my work style and my preferences for
me to find a satisfying career?'"
Ms. Birkman-Fink said that it's important to realize that people in the financial sector are needed everywhere
and their skills are transferable to other industries. "The job market can seem daunting and fraught with
dead ends, unless you know what you are looking for," she added. "The Birkman Method lets people zero
in on the career that fits them, and helps them figure out where they will succeed without any guesswork."
"What we tend to do is give people a greater sense of who they are and what opportunities there may be,"
said Mr. Goldman, who stressed that Birkman International is not an employment agency. After receiving an assessment,
job seekers are on their own when it comes to actually finding employment.
The Birkman Method accurately measures social behaviors, underlying expectations of interpersonal and task actions,
potential stress reactions to unmet expectations, occupational preferences and organizational strengths. According
to Mr. Goldman, the reliability and validity of the assessments stands at 85%. It has been in use for more than
50 years and has been used by more than 2 million people and 5,000 organizations worldwide. Right Management, a
division of Manpower Inc., the largest outplacement firm in the world, uses the Birkman Method as do some of the
largest manufacturing, retail and packaged goods employers in the United States.
|
