Career satisfaction is a major part of life satisfaction. Why not invest in your future success and happiness, or that of a loved one?

Stark & Associates’ Career Counseling Services will benefit you (or someone you love) if you are a mid-career changer who is dissatisfied with your present job or career situation, or if you are a student who is undecided or unsure about which career is right for you. In either case, we strive to obtain as comprehensive a picture of you as possible, because the more pieces of the puzzle we obtain, the clearer the solution becomes.

So, our assessments and recommendations take into account your work-related values, personality characteristics, general intellectual capabilities, specific job-related aptitudes, past performance in school and work, and current economic and job market conditions, as well as your career aspirations and goals.

There are three steps to the counseling process:

Step 1: Assessment.

There are four main ways in which we gather information about you:

• Tests assess your general reasoning, critical-thinking (logical and analytical reasoning), reading/writing, math, and planning abilities, and ingenuity/innovativeness.
• Inventories gather information on your personality characteristics, work-related values, leadership style, and career/vocational interests.
• Self-Assessments gather information on how you view your strengths, limitations, personality characteristics, and personal and professional goals.
• An In-Depth Interview is also conducted. Here, Dr. Stark will review several of your written biographical and self-assessment papers, and ask questions to help him better understand your educational and work history, career-related likes, dislikes, and attitudes, and career/vocational preferences and aspirations.
• Step 1 is usually completed in two sessions lasting 3 – 3½ hours each.

Step 2: Synthesis & Report Development.

This is the only step in which you are not directly involved. After the tests have been scored and your educational and work history, values, personality characteristics, and career interests have been assessed, these separate pieces of information are carefully synthesized by Dr. Stark to form a complete picture of you and your career prospects. Dr. Stark then generates a comprehensive written report based on this review and synthesis. The report is typically 75-100 pages in length.

Step 3: Feedback Session.

The feedback session usually occurs within two weeks of the final information-gathering session. Here, Dr. Stark gives you the report and discusses it in detail. Major areas covered include your work-related interests, skills and abilities, career-related values, leadership style and potential, and personality characteristics.

A written list of specific recommended occupations is then shared and discussed. This list represents the specific occupations/careers for which you are best-suited—in other words, for which you stand the best chance of being both satisfied and effective. Dozens of pages of information about these recommended occupations are also provided, such as:

• job descriptions;
• salary ranges for new and experienced employees;
• projections of job demand;
• education, training, certification, and/or licensing requirements; and
• how to access additional information about these careers (including pertinent web sites).

Specific, step-by-step instructions on how to conduct an effective job search campaign, as well as job search references, are also provided. Naturally, you may have questions about your report or about certain jobs or career opportunities. The balance of the session is devoted to discussing these questions.

Scheduling

Day, evening, or weekend hours are available. Call (513) 300-8585 to schedule an appointment, or for additional information.

Other Services

Job search coaching, resume development, job interview preparation, and other career-related counseling services are available at additional cost. Please inquire if interested.

About the Counselor

Dennis Stark, Ph.D. is an industrial-organizational psychologist with extensive experience as a consultant to business, industrial, educational, healthcare, and public-sector organizations (having conducted over 4,.000 in-depth assessments for over 100 organizations), and 25+ years’ experience as a career counselor (having conducted nearly 800 career counseling assessments).

He also taught in the Business Department at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Evening & Continuing Education for seven years.

Hundreds of people have benefited from our Career Counseling services. Here are what some of them have to say.