Blog
The Top 5 ways to get started on the ImproveMe Development Portal
If you’re reading this article, it’s likely that you have signed up as a subscriber to the ImproveMe Development Portal. Congratulations – we’re super excited to have you on board!
The purpose of the portal is two-fold – firstly, it’s designed to help you identify potential careers of interest (matched to your two key competencies identified through the ImproveMe Competency Assessment) and provide guidance on the wide variety of ways you can seek to explore these careers further.
Secondly, it’s filled with content to help you develop and grow your key competencies (strengths) further. Not to mention providing motivational content to help you maintain your enthusiasm for improving yourself and planning for your future.
One of the common questions we get asked by portal users is “Where should I start?”. Here’s our list of five activities you should undertake on the Development Portal to get the ball rolling on your personal development journey:
1. Explore your career lists
Visit the Careers tab to review each list carefully and use the Further information links to learn more about what each role entails, including job descriptions and links to relevant industry associations. Use the Notes column to jot down any thoughts you would like to remember. When considering occupations of interest to you, consider how your second competency might be useful in that role. Once you have explored a role, mark the role according to your level of interest – whether that be Interested or Not for me. You’ll receive a point per job for undertaking this action, and any careers you are interested in will automatically be listed on your portal Dashboard.
2. Watch a TED Talk
Originating from a Technology, Entertainment and Design conference in 1984, TED Talks today cover topics from science and business to personal growth and social change. Leading thinkers in their field of expertise are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging way they can, resulting in some very powerful speeches.
Under the TED Talks tab, you’ll find a range of talks that relate to your two key competencies. You will also find a selection of content to assist with your understanding of motivation, success and more. Why not start by listening to two short TED Talks – Success is a continuous journey: by Richard St. John and Try something new for 30 days: by Matt Cutts – to give you a flavour of how they work. Then work through the lists provided and watch other talks as you have time available. Keep your eye out for new content that will be added on a regular basis too.
3. Listen to a podcast
Listening to podcasts is a brilliant way to pass the time on your commute, relax at bedtime, or even distract yourself while at the gym. Importantly, they are an awesome way to broaden your horizons and learn from people from all walks of life. All you need is your smart phone (and maybe a pair of earphones).
Under the Podcasts tab, you’ll find a selection of podcasts relating to your competencies, as well as others that the ImproveMe team think you might enjoy. There’s also some instructions on how to get started if you’ve never listened to a podcast before.
If you’re an athlete, we strongly recommend you get started by listening to The Wide Open Road Podcast (Ep2): How athletes can effectively transition to life after sport with David Parkin. Another interesting one for all users is Becoming SuperHuman: How to shortcut your career success and lean directly from industry transformers.
4. Learn about influencers
When we say “influencers” we don’t mean people who are famous just for being famous. We mean people who are (or were) truly revolutionary and unique, who achieve amazing things as a result. Whether it’s someone old-school like Steve Jobs, or someone currently experiencing the height of fame like Ariana Grande, our Influencers tab provides a list of people who use the same competencies you possess to their very fullest advantage. Follow the links provided to learn more about each person, and search and follow them on social media for ongoing information.
5. Take action
Under the Take Action tab you’ll find hints about way to expand your knowledge and explore potential industries and careers of interest. Read these tips to collect small points, and then earn more significant points by actually following the suggestions (whether this be setting up a chat with someone over coffee, or arranging to shadow someone at their job for a day, for example).
Final thoughts
Be sure to mark the tick box for each piece of content you watch or listen to on the portal, and use the Notes functionality to record any observations that you learnt from the content.
On the Dashboard tab, you can track how many activity points you need to reach your next milestone (rank). Your Recent Activity and Careers of Interest will automatically show up on the dashboard, as will Notes you make about any of the content.
If you need help at any point, please reach out to the ImproveMe team via help@improveme.com.au and we’ll be happy to assist. Remember, just one small action is all it takes to kick of your personal development journey. Good luck!
Why is ImproveMe relevant for all of us?
Personal development is a well-used yet frequently unexplained term. It refers to our ability to be proactive, managing ourselves effectively, regardless of the challenges thrown our way, and removing any reliance of waiting for others to ‘make things happen’ for us. The reality is that we may not always achieve our personal objectives, but we will certainly experience richer and more rewarding outcomes when we make that commitment to pursuing our own development.
ImproveMe is designed to be the vital tool that can help drive your personal growth, maturity and success, whilst helping you achieve any or all of the following:
- Understanding yourself better
- Managing your future better
- Allowing you to build better relationships
- Creating milestones and opportunities to achieve your goals
To find out more about how ImproveMe works and why you should use it, read on here.
How can I make the most of my peer assessment results?
You may have chosen for your ImproveMe journey to include a ‘peer assessment’ from a close friend, family member, teacher, coach or other trusted person who wants to support your personal development. If you did, congratulations! Peer assessment typically leads to an increase in ongoing motivation to continually improve.
It can be common for us to deliver quite a critical perspective of ourselves and our competencies in self assessments, and peer assessments can help balance this view for us. Similarly, many of us have ‘blind spots’ (or unknown opportunities for improvement) that may only become evident through a peer assessment. Therefore you may find that the assessment given by your peer is different to the results of your own self assessment for some assessment questions.
Differing results creates an excellent opportunity for you to sit down and discuss the outcomes with your peer. Depending on the level of variation in your answers, this can be quite a confronting discussion for both you and the peer! However, if it’s approached in a open, honest and positive manner, based around a philosophy of self improvement, it can be an incredibly valuable conversation to have.
Ask why they rated you as they did for the questions highlighted on the comparison email you received, and listen carefully to their answer. You may find they were thinking of different examples than you were when they rated you, in which case you can ask why those examples were the ones that sprung to mind for them.
You might be able to uncover ‘blind spots’ that you have (both positive and negative) and discover important things about your skills and talents that you were not aware of before. You’ll be amazed at what you could learn.
After your discussion with your peer, consider the new perspectives you have been given and how you can use that information as you embark on a path of self improvement. Reflect back on the feedback from time to time, or check in with your peer to see how their opinions may have developed or changed. Personal development is all about continuous revision and improvement, whatever your chosen field!
Congratulations for exhibiting the courage to include the independence of a trusted peer assessor in your journey. Your commitment to personal improvement is well and truly underway.
Don’t forget to collect points in the ImproveMe Development Portal for undertaking peer assessment and discussing any variation in results with your peer.
What is competency based testing and why is it so important?
The ImproveMe Online Personal Improvement Assessment is designed to identify the competencies (skills, talents and abilities) you possess and have practiced (knowingly or unknowingly) to a given level.
Competencies focus on the personal attributes or inputs of an individual. They are the behaviour that lies behind competent performance. In other words, competencies are the skills and technical attributes that individuals must have, or must acquire, to perform effectively at work.1
How is this different to a personality test or behavioural based testing?
A personality test or behavioural questions are trying to find out more about your personality. They aim to find out your personal preferences and what drives you to behave in a certain way. They help to assess whether you would fit the culture of a certain job or organisation, based on your personality and things like your communication and your decision-making style.2
Why is it important to understand your own competencies?
There is an old saying that “you don’t know what you don’t know”. Whether you’re a professional athlete, a school/university student or an everyday person on the street, you possess a range of skills and technical attributes (competencies) that you have developed over the course of your life. However you may not be fully aware of what your competencies are, or how a skill you learned in one area of your life would apply in a working environment. ImproveMe can greatly help with your self-awareness in this area.
Why is competency based testing important in today’s business environment?
With a continuously evolving employment environment driven by rapid advancements in technology, the most significant competitive advantage for the businesses of tomorrow are the skills, talents and contributions of the people who work there.
Competency frameworks are a rapidly emerging step to ensure people are adequately prepared for this changing workforce. Competency based assessments introduce a more scientific approach to pinpointing individual skills and strengths, which can be used to identify those people who are best placed to help an organisation grow and reach its potential.
In turn, this creates individuals who become both accountable and responsible for their personal growth and development, and allows them to be better prepared for an evolving future.
Take the first step to understanding your key competencies today!