Seminary President
A large seminary contacted IDAK seeking assistance for the leadership coaching of their students. The seminary was concerned about several graduates who had made poor choices of ministries and were being criticized by their churches and ministry organizations. The president made a bold decision to do everything possible to ensure that every graduate would have proper guidance and accountability regarding their choice of ministry leadership service. IDAK was contracted to develop a three year program of assessment, field education evaluation and final student accountability. The program was also to integrate communication from each student’s academic advisor, dean of student’s office, and field education mentors. IDAK’s services began with department head meetings and several sessions with the president’s cabinet. The final approved program included student coaching for all three years beginning with three hours of individual student assessment with a certified counselor. IDAK screened, trained and certified three counselors at the campus’ location. After the assessment, each student was provided with his/her top 10 matches to research further to determine compatibility. Students were given instruction on how to locate actual ministry organizations and churches which matched their ministry passion and gifting. As each student narrowed the options, he/she was to share their findings with their faculty adviser and ultimately with their IDAK certified coach. The coach became the validation assurance which the seminary president wanted. Each student was then instructed to pursue various levels of field /internship experience. Mentors who supervised the students provided feed-back to the student’s coach using the same nomenclature and traits which matched the original assessments. Upon graduation, each student met with their coach for a final exit interview to present their selected ministry leadership vision. The coach provided written feed-back of his/her opinion regarding the student’s selection. This program has been so successful that it has continued for over 15 years, being modified by new adademic deans and significant student growth.
College President
A new college president was hired to help the school grow its program and student enrollment. He contacted IDAK requesting assistance with upgrading the leadership development program as well as increasing student retention. IDAK recommended training and certification for one of the campus faculty. Once completed, IDAK provided a license agreement for its campus course, use of course materials and power point slides. IDAK also recommended implementation of the Ministry Web Directory for those students seeking ministry leadership. The Ministry Web Directory gave the campus a significant advantage in new vacancy postings as well as internship opportunities. The website also provided a vital link to alumni of the campus helping them with job placement needs. The success of the program helped the president gain confidence from his board as well as strong support for the studentbody. IDAK assisted a new preside to bring a major upgrade for his students in a short period of time.
State University President
A large State University was being criticized by its alumni for not providing sufficient support for its alumni. IDAK was contracted to provide its Mid-Career Advancement seminar to help meet this need. The seminar provided a free first evening to present the basic steps to finding one’s ideal career. At the end of the evening, participants were invited to purchase the seminar. Approximately 80% or more purchased the seminar and took home the IDAK Career Match. One week later, the alumni returned for two additional hours of instruction. The completed Career Match answer booklets were returned. One week later, participants returned to receive their Career match results and to learn how to interpret the reports. Each alumnus was also instructed how to match the results with names of companies and non profits in their city of residence. IDAK assisted also the alumni office to improve their public relations by providing help for those needing a career change.
Private College
A private college contacted IDAK requesting assistance in overhauling its career services for students. IDAK completed an evaluation of the department and staff. IDAK’s recommendation included training for the center director, enhancement of the field education program and special assistance for alumni. Over the period of 15 years IDAK continued to provide assistance for the campus in different ways including alumni seminars and business Leadership Development seminars. The campus continued to grow and received one of the top ten national campus awards for its academic excellence. IDAK contributed a very small part in helping this campus gain national recognition.
Bible College President
A prominent Bible College was seeking to upgrade its assessment service for students. The president contacted IDAK for assistance. After meetings with the campus leadership council, IDAK recommended a two credit hour career course, supplemented by individual student sessions with the instructors. Any students who appeared to be struggling with their decision making were referred to IDAK trained campus counselors who provided more in-depth coaching and support. The course material was prepared by IDAK and licensed to the campus. Content included aptitude assessment, research of best matches, how to contact organizations and obtain information, how to prepare a resume and how to prepare for job interviews. The course instructor, trained by IDAK commented that after four years the campus experienced a significant improvement in student retention and gave a large portion of the credit to IDAK and its help to those who would otherwise dropped out. IDAK assisted a campus improve it’s student career program as well as increase student retention.
College Graduate School Faculty Member
A midwestern college was seeking to upgrade its career services for its graduate students. One of the graduate school faculty contacted IDAK for assistance. This campus was financially stretched, so it could not afford to pay for IDAK services, the cost would have to be met by the students. IDAK contacted a local IDAK certified counselor to discuss the request. After several conversations, The Mid-Career Advancement seminar was proposed which would be paid directly by the students who wanted the assistance. In addition to the seminar, the counselor was also available to assist with individual sessions on a pay-by-session basis. The seminar was so successful, that it was incorporated into the graduate school’s program, provided in the Fall and Spring terms. After several sessions, the graduate faculty member contacted IDAK requesting training for himself so he could also provide assistance for his campus’ students. IDAK was able to provide important career advancement help for graduate students with no cost to the school.
Community College Director of Career Services
A community college wanted to improve its course offerings for mid-career adults considering career re-direction. This college was located in a community which had several large defense contractors and engineering companies. The normal student seeking re-direction was a professional in a technical field. The director of career services contacted IDAK for assistance. IDAK recommended its Mid-Career Advancement seminar with the bonus that students could sample the course before they purchased it. The program gained a remarkable success in that over 90% of attendees who attended the “sampler” session, purchased the course. The campus director had the option to complete training with IDAK to teach the seminar, however, she requested that IDAK provide the certified instructor for each of the scheduled presentations. IDAK assisted a community college meet the needs of its local community engineers and technical professions pursue career re-direction.
Denominational College President
A church denominational college was seeking to provide a better approach to preparing its graduates for pastoral ministry. The president contacted IDAK asking for assistance. IDAK recommended training of one of the campus’ faculty to add to an existing class the IDAK Career Match along with three class hours of instruction. The training was completed and the course material was prepared in less than six months. The faculty member adapted very quickly to the instruction. The outcome was a win-win for the students, for the campus as well as the denomination. IDAK helped this campus guide its students to the ministry leadership role which best fit that person’s strengths.
State University Campus Career Office
A large State University wanted to improve its services for alumni seeking career advisement. The campus career office was not equipped with staff which had experience with mid-career professionals. IDAK was contacted to discuss this important need. IDAK recommended that one of the alumni office staff attend an IDAK counselor Level I, II training session to learn how our services could be structured to provide assistance at different cost leverls as well as by seminar, by telephone or in a counselor’s office. Following the training, the alumni office contracted with IDAK to train a counselor near the campus tp provide the IDAK Career Match as a features service for alumni. The campus screened several counselors and selected one who had several years experience coaching adults in career advancement and also was an adjunct faculty instructor teaching for a master’s career guidance program. This counselor completed IDAK’s Level I, II, III training and certification. The counselor commented that she had never experienced sucha a thorough complete service as the IDAK Career match provided. IDAK assisted a major University reach out to it’s struggling alumni to bring value added to their career advancement.
Private College Professor
David was a professor for a private southeastern college. He was actively involved in using IDAK Career Match with his students. He also had completed training including Level I, II and Level III. He began to develop a hypothesis regarding his student’s academic performance and their natural talents. He wanted to evaluate the correlation between student academic success and their natural talents. He felt that by completing this study, he would also gain insights on early signs of student attrition . After corresponding with IDAK, David was given permission to use copyrighted materials for his study and for the completion of his findings. This report and findings became the focus for a future doctoral dissertation. David tested a selected sample group of freshmen students with the Talent Discovery Guide and also administered the Autobiographical Interview assessment. He then summarized his assumptions and findings. He identified those who were more adaptive in their relational strengths versus those who appeared to be more reserved and withdrawn. His assumption was that the more withdrawn would have a harder time in adjusting to campus life and would probably drop out after the first year. His assumption proved to be correct, there was a higher correlation of drop-outs among the more withdrawn group that the more relational group. A second evaluation was to identify those students who appeared to be more innately creative versus those who were not. David proposed that the creative students would succeed academically more so that those who were not creative. David’s assumption was statistically affirmed. IDAK’s Talent Assessment Instruments and Autobiographical Interview helped a professor determine a profile for predicting future success for his students.
College Career Guidance Counselor
Pat was a Career Guidance Counselor at a large Midwestern college. His campus had not been addressing the needs of alumni who were asking for career re-direction assistance. Pat contacted IDAK for assistance and followed up with attending Level I, II and Level III training. This training equipped Pat with four different levels of services for alumni. He could recommend a Self Guided Mid-Career Advancement service (which did not require any of his time for coaching), an in-office Mid-Career coaching service (approx 3 hours of his time), a telephone Mid-Career Advancement coaching service ( approx 3 hours of his time), and lastly a small group or seminar version using the IDAK Career Match. These different levels of service equipped Pat with the flexibility he needed to meet the requests of alumni and also to provide a graduated scale of fees for service. Once Pat announced his availability for alumni Mid-Career coaching, in addition to alumni requests, he was surprised to have campus employees and prospective (older) students asking for assistance. IDAK provided for Pat a way to meet the different career advancement needs of his campus alumni.
Seminary Graduate School Field Education Director
Phil directed the field education office of a seminary graduate school. Part of his job description was to provide aptitude assessment for his students in order to assist them in selecting the appropriate internship opportunity. Phil wanted to empower each student as much as possible to choose the best hands-on experience which would provide the learning preparation for ministry serviced after graduation. Phil had completed Level I, II Training prior to his employment on this campus. He had used the IDAK Career Match in his church where he served as an associate pastor. Once Phil assumed his new position, he wanted to add Natural Talent assessment to the assessment instruments which the campus had traditionally offered to its students. Since his department was on a limited budget, Phil purchased the IDAK Talent Discovery Guide. For several years this assessment process met the needs of his students. When IDAK developed the on-line version of the Talent Discovery Guide, Phil noted the increased validity of that assessment process over the paper/pencil version. He evaluated the instrument and did a comparison with other companies publishing assessment systems which featured natural talents. After a careful, detailed analysis, Phil selected IDAK as the preferred talent assessment provider. He also upgraded his purchase to the on-line version. IDAK assisted Phil with different levels of talent assessment to meet his department budget needs.
