About Catalyst Careers
Career guidance, assessment and consultancy built around better-informed decisions.
Catalyst Careers provides professional career guidance, psychometric assessment, coaching and organisational consultancy for students, adults and organisations.
The work is grounded in a simple principle: important career, education and selection decisions should be based on good information, professional judgement and a clear understanding of the person or organisation involved.
Catalyst Careers combines structured guidance, professional psychometric assessment and practical planning to help clients make informed decisions and identify clear next steps.
Meet Dylan O’Shea
Founder of Catalyst Careers
Dylan O’Shea is a qualified Guidance Counsellor, teacher, coach and British Psychological Society (BPS) Registered Test User specialising in career guidance, psychometric assessment and career development.
Alongside Catalyst Careers, Dylan works as a Guidance Counsellor in post-primary education. This gives him direct experience of the decisions students and families face when considering Senior Cycle subjects, CAO courses, further education, apprenticeships and other post-school pathways.
He also works with adults at different stages of their careers, including people considering a change of direction, preparing for interviews, progressing professionally or seeking greater clarity about their next step.
His work with organisations includes psychometric assessment and selection support, as well as structured strategic planning. His approach focuses on using assessment, coaching and structured decision-making in a way that is relevant to the specific person, role or organisation.
Qualifications
MA Guidance Counselling & Lifespan Development
PGDip Personal & Management Coaching
Qualified Post-Primary Science Teacher
BPS Registered Test User – Occupational Ability
BPS Registered Test User – Occupational Personality
Training in Motivational Interviewing
Training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Training in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
How Dylan Works
Good decisions start with good information — and a process that helps people use it.
Dylan’s underlying methodology is coaching. Rather than simply giving people answers, his approach is designed to help them understand themselves more clearly, think through their options, make informed decisions and take practical action.
He does not believe in telling people what career they should pursue or in using a single assessment to provide a definitive answer.
Instead, he brings together professional guidance, psychometric assessment, individual circumstances and practical career information within a structured coaching process.
For students, this may involve considering interests, abilities, personality, subject choices and future education or training pathways, while helping them develop greater ownership of the decisions they make.
For adults, the process may involve exploring career direction, progression, strengths, work preferences and practical next steps, with coaching used to support reflection, decision-making, action and review.
For organisations, assessment and strategic planning are tailored to the requirements of the role, team or project. A coaching approach is also used where appropriate to support reflection, clarify priorities and help translate discussion into practical action.
The aim is not simply to provide information or assessment results, but to help people and organisations understand that information, decide what it means for them and use it to move forward.
Professional Standards
Psychometric assessment is used as one source of information within a wider guidance or selection process.
Assessments are selected for a clear purpose, interpreted professionally and considered alongside other relevant information rather than being treated as stand-alone answers.
For organisational work, assessment approaches are tailored to the role and the decisions being made.
Rated 5 Stars on Google ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Clients choose Catalyst Careers for professional, independent and personalised career and assessment support.
Not sure which service is right for you?
If you are unsure which option best fits your situation, get in touch and I can help you identify the most appropriate service.