Are you finding it tough to figure out which career goals to pursue?
Or are you held back by fear and anxiety, preventing you from even trying to achive your career goals?
These feelings can be discouraging, but Robert Dilts’ SCORE model can help you overcome them and gain clarity about your career in just five steps.
Understanding the SCORE Model
Dilts developed the SCORE model after recognizing patterns in his problem-solving ways. This model provides a structure for your goals, increasing the likelihood that you will achieve them.
There are the five steps of the SCORE model:
- Step 1: S stands for Symptoms
- Step 2: C stands for Causes
- Step 3: O stands for Outcome
- Step 4: R stands for Resources
- Step 5: E stands for Effects
Step #1: Define Symptoms
In this step, you identify your current state and the symptoms that indicate the problem. This involves conscious perception and observation of the obstacles that have hindered you from achieving your career goal thus far.
Questions to help you in this step include:
Where are you now? What phase are you in? What problems have you noticed?
For example, if you are dissatisfied and frustrated in your current job and feel blocked when it comes to applying for new positions, you could ask yourself: What exactly frustrates me about my current job? What fears and uncertainties do I have when it comes to job searching?
Step #2: Check Causes
In the second step, you consider the causes that may be responsible for your problems. These causes could actually exist, or they may only be suspected. However, they are responsible for creating and maintaining the symptoms. Often, the roots of these causes lie in our past.
Questions to help you in this step include:
What could be the reasons for my problems? Is it due to my environment or to myself?
For the job example, take a moment to explore the origins of your fears and uncertainties associated with searching for a new job.
Step #3: Define Outcomes
Next, you need to define the specific goal you want to achieve. Questions that can help you include: What do I want to achieve concretely? How will my life change when I have achieved my goal? How will I know that I have achieved my goal?
For the example above, you might define your goal as finding a new position that challenges you, allows you to develop further, and provides a work environment that suits and inspires you. You also want to feel safe and confident when job searching.
Questions to help you in this step might include:
What does my dream job look like? What is important to me in my new job? How will I know when I have found my dream job?
Step #4: Check Resources
Here, you check which resources you need to achieve your goal and how you can acquire them. This step is about recognizing and utilizing your potential.
Questions to help you in this step include:
What skills and strengths do I have? What resources (e.g. network, money) do I need?
You could use your network to search for new job openings, or you could develop skills that increase your chances of securing a better position.
Step #5: Check Effects (Impacts)
In this step, you ensure that your goal aligns with your values and beliefs and does not negatively impact other areas of your life.
Questions to help you in this step include:
How does my goal fit with my values and beliefs? How does my goal affect other important commitments? How will it be when I achieve my goal? How do I perceive myself? How do others perceive me?
For a final (ecological) check, you can ask yourself the following questions:
Does the new job align with my values, such as freedom, flexibility, or a balanced work-life balance?
Will the new job allow me to spend enough time with my family and friends as I envision?
How will the new job affect my other commitments and priorities, such as my hobbies or my health?
