Felicity was in a period of career transition, having recently completed an MSc in Occupational Psychology and therefore knew a lot of theory/academic research, but lacked practical experience.

Through ViewVo she met with Ben Williams, Managing Director at Sten 10 (a business psychology consultancy specialising in assessment design) to job shadow him and his team to gain invaluable insight and find out what it’s really like working in a busy consultancy.  This is her story:

‘What is most missing from an MSc in Occupational Psychology is any kind of practical experience or application of theory to a real-life scenario apart from one or two very one-dimensional case studies. So to spend some time in a living, breathing consultancy is an interesting and necessary experience. Through Viewvo I received a valuable introduction to Sten10 and was able to shadow what they do for a day and witness that this is not always a straightforward or easy process. However, with the certainty of theory and training as a basis and building honest client relationships, eventually it is gratifying to see the theory applied and come to life in a successful practical solution.

I was also pleasantly surprised to learn how creative recruitment can be. Projects take time, which needs strict planning and I was able to view a couple of the detailed excel spreadsheets which monitor the progress and completion of every stage of design and implementation. I was also able to observe a client meeting to see how project progress and client relations are managed.

I was grateful to be so warmly received and benefit from the itinerary that Ben, Megan and Sara had planned for me which included spending time with each of them to learn about their area of responsibility. In truth, one day is not a lot of time to spend in an organisation but it is enough time to gain a powerful impression of the type and focus of the work and the calibre of the team. This can be valuable in making a decision regarding career direction or learning how to be a professional consultant and my day at Sten 10 was hugely beneficial in guiding my future career path. ‘

*Update – 10 months on from Felicity’s shadowing opportunity, she’s building experience to work out exactly what field within Occupational Psychology she wants to be doing. Her time with Ben was really helpful in refining focus to enable her to do this, and she secured a starter position as a Research Intern working in Learning & Development. *

Ben’s Story:

‘I’ve always been passionate about applying innovation to assessment design and the work we do here at Sten 10. Similarly, I really see the value in an innovative platform that enables someone to shadow us at work doing what we do so that they can make an informed decision in their own career – I love what I do but would someone else!

Felicity was a pleasure to have with us for the day, interested in all aspects of the recruitment design process and the theory behind all of the evidence-based practice that we implement. We pride ourselves on our solutions, our people, and our creative innovation so it was great to share this with someone just starting out in the industry.

Additionally, through answering Felicity’s questions and discussing their roles my team could reflect on the work they do and how each element comes together. Overall it was a valuable experience for all of us and we’re delighted that we were able to provide this insight.’

Ben Williams is Managing Director at  Sten 10