There is a conundrum here: how does any of us know what our full potential is?  How do we know which subject will be the one that will allow us to shine?  How do we know which job we would enjoy the most; which profession we would be the most successful in?

Furthermore, the world of work is increasingly focussed on teams of people working together.  As a result employers are not looking for hard-working all-rounders, but for people who can bring something particular to the team.

They want the brilliantly creative (but annoyingly forgetful) person, working alongside one who methodically evaluates all the options and then makes rapid judgements.  The specialist inevitably overloading everyone with too much information working alongside the implementer who picks the key points, plans the strategy, and makes it happen.

Thus employers do indeed need perfectionists who will painstakingly work through the matter at hand to weed out the errors.  But they also need the free thinkers who can suddenly come up with previously unimagined solutions to problems within the company.

As a result the people who get the exciting jobs are the ones who can identify themselves correctly within the multiplicity of roles that organisations now have.  The old days of being able to write a catch all CV which focuses on exam results and says, “I’m hard working, a team player, reliable and practical, but also creative…”  are long gone

GetSet from Belbin is a questionnaire-based approach to helping students find out about their own strengths and talents.

To help you see the value that can be gained from completing the survey, we are very happy to offer you the chance to take the GetSet questionnaire yourself at no cost or obligation.

Then, if you feel it would be helpful to your students you can arrange for the questionnaire to be made available to those students whom you nominate.

To apply for a free questionnaire for yourself or one of your students please click here – click  the contact us at the top of the page and write ‘a free one please’ in the box. To read more about GetSet please do look at our website here www.belbingetset.com .   Or if you have any questions please email getset@belbin.com or phone 01223 264975.

Lisa Ward

Now that the A Level and GCSE results are known, many of your students will be seeking your help with the new term’s subject choices or changes to their university ambitions. Education Advisers Ltd can offer services to supplement your help to such students and their parents. For example :

1. We have produced an online library of university advice sources , which is available free of charge to schools to paste onto their own school extranets or intranets – simply ask us for details
2. We have detailed free eguides on applying to medical school or art school
3. For those students whose GCSE grades fell below expectations, we have alternative solutions with schools or colleges offering BTECs
4. There has been an upsurge in interest in Foundation Programmes, which are shorter than A Levels. Although primarily aimed at International students we can sometimes place UK nationals onto such courses
5. We can advise on alternative university courses for those whose grades necessitate a direction change
6. We can arrange specialist private tuition at home to facilitate retakes for those needing to improve GCSE grades, while still continuing with A Levels at school.

For more information on how we can help specific individual students, go to http://www.educationadvisers.co.uk/services-for-schools-school-referrals or better still phone Mary, Duncan or Ryan on 01622 813870 or 01603 812852

Whatever the situation, remember there is always a solution and always an alternative. We are happy to help you explore the best available options. Education Advisers Ltd are independent and impartial school choice consultants and our 12 websites advise more than 1 million parents/students per annum