The advances in technology, and specifically the Internet, in the past couple of years has made a tremendous difference to the traditional outplacement service. Individuals want the flexibility and choice of accessing information whenever and wherever is convenient to them, whilst organisations want flexible, high quality support for their employees.

To respond to these advances TMP Worldwide has developed the Career Transition Programme, which combines traditional career management and outplacement services with an online delivery capability. Participants are assisted and supported by a team of psychologists, career management and human resources consultants.

This unique online outplacement programme incorporates strategies to assist individuals to manage change, undertake self-assessment and research and improve their jobsearch skills. The online capability also allows the career consultants working with the individuals to tutor clients in "real time" as they work through their self-assessment. This capability enhances the service the consultant can provide to their client as it ensures the coaching sessions that follow are far more tailored, helping to speed up the initial phases of the outplacement process.

Maintaining the high touch element of traditional outplacement but allowing the individual to determine their contact with their career consultant - either face to face, online or over the telephone. Our online delivery of psychometrics means we can also give clients access to the assessments and provide "real-time" feedback.

In order to take advantage of the hundreds of thousands of vacancies on the Internet, individuals can benefit from advice and support from experts to ensure that their CV is posted on the most appropriate sites and will attract the desired recruiters and employers.

Recruitment on the net is moving at a rapid rate - the Recruitment and Employment Federation (REC) calculated there are 4700 job sites to choose from. The more sophisticated and established sites like monster.co.uk provide useful information on job searching for free. These sites also give visitors access to advice from career 'experts'. Providing information on sites is an essential part of any outplacement service, which is why Monster provides access to a dedicated information consultant.

Networking on the net is an essential skill to develop and the Career Transition Management Programme helps people practice their online networking in a safe forum. Individuals share their ideas, questions and comments with a small group of other outplacement clients via an email 'discussion board' with advice and guidance provided by a career consultant. This is good practice for individuals when they start 'netknocking' on the external market.

The new generation of outplacement client is looking for speed, immediacy and up to date information; this has an effect on the service provided by their consultant. The new generation of outplacement consultant needs to be up to speed on the wealth of information that can be accessed on the Internet and to be able to advise on the move to Internet recruitment practices.

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