NieuwKans guides professionals at a career crossroads, such as during outplacement or reintegration. The core challenge is that traditional methods, which focus on the CV, block the view of future potential. By integrating BrainsFirst's neuroscientific assessments, NieuwKans helps candidates discover their natural, cognitive talents. This leads to sustainable career switches that previously seemed unthinkable, based on objective data instead of assumptions.
For professionals in an outplacement or reintegration program, the past is not a reliable predictor of the future. A CV shows acquired experience but reveals nothing about a person's innate talent and growth potential. This often leads to choices that are not sustainable in the long term, causing people to get stuck in roles that do not align with their natural cognitive strengths. The result: energy drains, stress, and a lack of fulfillment, as they must constantly compensate for tasks that are not a natural fit.
NieuwKans breaks this cycle by implementing the BrainsFirst NeurOlympics as a fundamental step in its coaching programs. The journey no longer begins with the question "what have you done?" but with the scientific foundation of "what can you do naturally?". The game-based assessments objectively measure a candidate's cognitive skills, mapping out their unique brain profile—completely independent of work experience, background, or education. This objective blueprint of potential serves as the basis for NieuwKans coaches to open a dialogue about future-proof career paths.
The approach provides candidates with valuable and objective self-insight, which boosts self-confidence and offers a realistic future perspective. A concrete example is a candidate who, after a long-term illness, uncovered a previously unknown talent for data analysis through her brain profile. This insight, based on hard data, gave her the confidence to successfully retrain and transition to a completely new career.
"You don't just look at the skills and experience you have now, but at the innate talents that enable you to learn new skills, sometimes even skills you didn't know you had an aptitude for," says Annemieke Lavermans, Managing Director at NieuwKans.
The collaboration with NieuwKans proves that sustainable career growth begins with understanding how a person's brain works. By objectively mapping where cognitive strengths and potential lie, people can make choices that not only fit today but also prepare them for the future. This is how you build a focused career with insights that truly make your potential visible.
Jan Willem Wiersma – strategic recruitment advisor at the Municipality of Rotterdam
