We love the Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment. We’ve mentioned it in a few posts, we provide it to all of our participants, and we even divided them into the Divergent factions. You know that we love the assessment, but we haven’t told you why we think it’s important for people to be aware of their natural talents.
Why Strengths are Important:
At Global Experiences, we believe that the definition of success is changing. Younger generations, particularly Millennials, are no longer putting an emphasis on making money simply to make money and working for a well-known brand. Success means being happy, having a job with a sense of purpose, and having the time to spend with loved ones.
We want to help our interns become successful by providing them with the resources they need, career development, professional experience, and a sense of independence, to help reach their personal and career goals. Along with the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment, we also use surveys to gauge factors linked to a happy life. The three measures we track and consider to be most important are:
- Hope for the Future — Hope is a strategy for success
- Career Well being — Career well being means liking what you do
- Self-Understanding — Discovering your unique self, and your Strengths, can help you develop a career path that involves using your natural abilities.
How We Cultivate Strength-Based Internships:
Throughout the entire process, we provide our participants extensive career development. Prior to departure, our Program Advisors work with each student individually to discuss career goals, resume and cover letter edits, and Strengths. During their internship abroad, our Location Coordinators visit each employer for performance reviews and use of Strengths within the internship. Each group also takes part in on-site orientations and program debriefing.
Our Findings:
Last summer, we surveyed over 100 of our participants that took part in every aspect of the career development including taking the assessment, joining webinars, site visit with employers and taking part in pre and post-surveys about hope, well being and Strengths. Out of that sample group:
- 78% reported feeling an increase in hope
- 86% reported feeling an increase in overall well being
- 78% reported feeling a increased understanding of their Strengths
These finding are very exciting for our team. It means that are efforts are succeeding, but more importantly, it means that our interns are seeing real benefits of a Strengths-focused internship experience abroad!
