Understanding Your Personality Helps Those Who Have Been Laid Off to Move on to NewBeginnings

25 Apr

Understanding your personal strengths helps those who have been laid off to find their next jobs. This is especially crucial in today’s extremely competitive job market, says outplacement coach Kati Stenius.

Being laid off often comes as a shock. Outplacement and career transition coach Kati Stenius helps those affected to find their new jobs and knows that emotional support is often needed at the start of the coaching process.

Professional self-confidence may take a hit, and the path forward is not always clear.

“When change like this happens, it’s always a good time to pause and reflect—what do you truly want to do next in your career? At the beginning of the coaching process, we have these values-based discussions,” Stenius explains.

It starts with self-knowledge

Once the client’s goals are clear, Stenius will carry out a WorkPlace Big Five personality profiling.

Its purpose is, among other things, to increase the clients self-awareness of their own strengths and thus help them move forward in the job search process.

It’s also important to make the client realize that there is no “good” or “bad” personality profile—strengths and weaknesses are always situational.

“I use WorkPlace Big Five profiling with all my clients — every client benefits from it. It’s really a must-have tool for these coaching sessions,” she says.

Eye-opening moments about your strengths

When the profile is complete, Stenius sets aside ample time to discuss the results with the client. The goal is to evoke eye-opening moments from within the client about their personality and the ways they naturally work.

“For example, someone who is highly reactive might see it as a burden, but in the workplace, reactivity often means attentiveness and consciousness. Or someone who is highly adaptable may struggle with conflict in their personal life but excel in customer service roles,” Stenius explains.

According to Stenius, one of the best things about the WorkPlace Big Five Profile™ tool is that it allows her to clearly articulate clients’ strengths and their situationality, making them easier to grasp.

“Without the tool, describing strengths to the client would be much more abstract. The profiling tool provides me with a concrete and tangible way to reassure the client of their strengths. In Finnish society, especially, people tend to trust information more when it is backed by facts and figures,” Stenius says.

There’s more to you than that

When a person understands their personality traits, they will be able to search for a role and organization where they can use their strengths, and where, on the other hand, they do not need to step too much outside their natural comfort zone.

“For example, an introvert should not necessarily apply for a job that requires them to be in an open office five days a week or that involves a lot of customer service”, Stenius explains.

On the other hand, the personality profile may also indicate that the person has the potential for more demanding tasks.

Lay-offs often impact professional self-esteem, and those affected may not immediately see opportunities for career advancement or change.

“It’s great when, as a coach, you can help someone realize that they are capable of so much more“, says Stenius.

Help with Job Interview Preparation

Outplacement and career transition coaching isn’t just about identifying strengths—it’s also about learning to articulate them confidently in job interviews.

When a client understands their personality, they can better connect their strengths to past achievements and communicate them effectively in an interview setting.

“Competition in the job market is fierce. With the insights WorkPlace Big Five profile provides, I can offer my clients concrete value and a stronger foundation for their job search.”, says Stenius.

Additionally, using WorkPlace Big Five helps Stenius to differentiate herself in the coaching industry.

“Using a scientifically validated assessment method gives credibility to my own work and proves I work professionally”, she explains.

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Kati Stenius is a candidate-driven recruitment professional and an experienced outplacement coach. She has been using the WorkPlace Big Five tool since 2015.

WorkPlace Big Five

A modern personality research-based, practical and efficient personality profiling tool for individuals and teams
Well suited for career planning and defining recruitment needs, for example
Enhances the effectiveness of coaching.

Learn more about Workplace Big Five and start using the tool.