1. Lecturer, Organization Studies
Facilitating Intelligent Career Conversations: Insights from the Bath MBA
Dr Svenja Tams
Lecturer, Organization Studies
U of Bath
Clare Stott
MBA Career Dev Manager
Prof Michael Arthur
Co-developer, ICCS
Suffolk U
Boston, MA

2. Objective
To share insights about intensive MBA career development and use of the Intelligent Career Card Sort (ICCS).
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3. Schedule
Background of the ‘Intelligent Career’ Svenja Tams perspective and integration within Bath MBA
How are students making use of Clare Stott Career Development and the Intelligent Career Card Sort?
How could the Intelligent Career perspective Discussion (& the ICCS) contribute to your existing career development activities?
Using the ICCS as part of online teaching Michael Arthur
Resources
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4. Intelligent Career Perspective
What career investments can strengthen individuals’ career resilience in dynamic and uncertain labour markets?
How can ‘intelligent career conversations’ — as a constructive process of exploring and working with what is — enable a more proactive, adaptable and meaningful engagement with one’s career?
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5. Interdisciplinary Career Development
Knowing Why
… we work
Identity, Values, Meaning,
Adaptability
Knowing How
... we work
Job-related Competences,
Expertise
Skills
Knowing Whom
… we work with
Social capital
Networks
Supportive relationships
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6. Integrating this on the Bath MBA
Personal Leadership & Careers
Introductory 2-day workshop
1 day on ‘Self-directed & relational career development’
Students develop their own learning agenda (assessed by Learning Review)
Follow up activities (1 year)
Careers coaching & focused careers seminars (1-2 days)
Leadership development workshops (1-2 days)
ALS & peer coaching groups
Tutorials
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7. Within organizations Knowing How Job-related competencies
Interpersonal effectiveness & influence
Managing new roles
Knowing Why
Values, norms, stories & language of the organization
What gets rewarded around here
Knowing Whom
Strategic/operational/personal networking for resources, status & support
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8. Beyond organizations Knowing How Positioning for future employment
Signaling expertise
What experiences will enhance mobility to new projects?
Knowing Why
Personal priorities, history & growth
Values, norms, stories & language of the wider field – eg industry and occupational community
Ability to continuously update and morph into new professional identities
Knowing Whom
Networking for social capital, project-opportunities and collaboration
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9. Facilitating conversational learning
Instead of occupational assessment, we adopt a constructivist approach to develop career meta-competences:
MBTI
15 statements exercise
Life-line exercise
Reuters case study
Action inquiry (Fisher, Rooke, & Torbert, 2003)
Developmental network map
Self-awareness through self-assessment
Intelligent Career Card Sort (ICCS)
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10. Activity: In groups of 3 Why
To reflect on your own “intelligent career”
To help someone else reflect on his or her “intelligent career”
Use active listening, peer-coaching approach
Why
Whom
How
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11. Activity: In groups of 3 Why How Speaker
8-10 minutes to explain why he or she has selected the seven ‘knowing why’ and ‘knowing how’ statements.
Witness
Practicing active listening
Asking questions that aim at deepening the understanding behind the selection of these statements.
Observer
Note taking – using the speaker’s own words. Observe patterns.
At end of debriefing, summarize key themes that you heard emerge during the conversation.
Swap roles
Whom
How
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12. Career Learning on the Bath MBA
Why
Whom
How
Career Learning on the Bath MBA
Evidence, from student coursework, of how students have taken on intelligent career ideas in their own work and career
Questions raised and issues to consider
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13. Case Study One: Male, 34
“…a major factor in embarking on the course was to enhance my future career prospects…”
“…tentative and incremental adjustments over time…”
“…the start of a lifelong process of self development with the objective of unlocking and fulfilling my potential…”
“…a change in the way I operate within my organisation…”
“a major factor…”
and yet, at start of MBA, described self as having: no vision, no career plan, no goal, no compelling need to change!
Scott, 34, part of a very hierarchical organisation, (Airbus) needed to focus on his managing upward/influencing skills
Conducted numerous action inquiries, focusing on his personal effectiveness, and influencing skills with senior managers and stakeholders
Increasing confidence, ongoing reflection, increased effectiveness, enhanced credibility
No major shifts but “…tentative…etc” recognising that no ‘one size fits all’ approach
Focus now on ‘making this the norm’
Now very much someone with a plan and ongoing goals
Focus on ‘knowing who’ he needed to influence
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14. Case Study Two: Male, 35
“…my experience of this module has made a positive contribution to my development and my CV, in spite of a rocky start…”
“…the learning from the ICCS, MBTI, and objectives from the module from the outset, have placed more emphasis on my personal development…”
“…a long list of tools I have utilised to increase my self awareness and define actions to develop my managerial competencies…”
Described himself as getting ‘off to a rocky start’ with this module…
Gary, 35: very career orientated, Imperial Tobacco 98-07, Barclaycard 07-09, William Grant and Sons 09-
Used learning papers and peer coaching to focus on action inquiries centred on improving his use of language, mentoring, etc
Was able to contrast his behaviour when commencing at I/Tobacco with that at Barclaycard and identify that he was achieving ‘within weeks’ what had taken ‘a couple of years’ at Imperial
Focus on ‘Knowing How’
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15. Case Study Three: Female, 31
“…reflection has been essential for me to understand my career choices and ambitions…”
“…never fully grasped what the catalyst behind this belief was until I engaged in this exercise…”
“…it has made me set new career expectations of myself…it has led me to build a personal development plan based on the theories which underpin the ICCS model”
Younger than case studies 1 and 2. Newer student hence based on first learning paper rather than portfolio built over two years.
Nicole, 31, very articulate, very driven and perceived as a high flier/fast track candidate in her organisation
Working in IT sector, (Intel) already undertaken a lot of development within her own organisation
ICCS provided her with a framework and gave her insight into her high value on status and recognition as well as a new language and self awareness
‘new awareness of what my perception of career success is’
Focus on ‘Knowing Why’. She identified that her number one career priority in this area was ‘I seek status through my work’
Through peer learning group coaching, and reflective journalling, achieved a recognition that this was ‘a driving force that keeps me motivated’
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16. Observations and Insights
Influence of ICCS often implicit rather than explicit
Provides language and vocabulary
Complementary processes
Horses for courses
Different ‘entry points’
From resistance to appreciation
Scott focused on the ‘relational’ the ‘Knowing Whom’
Gary focused on the ‘Knowing How’
Nicole focused on the ‘Knowing Why’
The ICCS and other tools give our students the language and vocabulary to articulate their career thinking
Students value all the complementary processes, e.g. peer coaching groups, action inquiry, reflective journalling, MBTI, etc.
Different students respond to different tools, some more and some less sophisticated
Different students have different ‘entry points’ to their engagement with the process, we see the influences of age/prior experience, values, motivators, etc
Some students started from a place of resistance but came to appreciate the process over the longer term
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17. ‘Buzz groups’ (6 min)
Why
Whom
How
How could the Intelligent Career perspective (and the ICCS) contribute to your existing career development activities?
Given the issues we raised, what could you do to maximise learning benefits and outcomes for students?
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18. For further information …
Related to the Bath MBA:
Related to the ICCS:
Dr Svenja Tams
Lecturer, Organization Studies
U of Bath
Clare Stott
MBA Career Dev Manager
Prof Michael Arthur
Co-developer, ICCS
Suffolk U
Boston, MA