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Biography

Experienced field researcher in the domain of social and intrapersonal change and it’s bi-directional relationship upon mindfulness and wellness. Jerry’s particular research focus is on subjective competency, emotional intelligence, (Western) mindfulness, belief systems, and impression management strategies. His contribution to knowledge of this domain resulted in Jerry being awarded an Associate Fellowship of the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) in 2013. Within the PSI, he has been an executive committee member of the Division of Work and Organisational Psychology, a founding member of the Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology, and a founder and former Chair of the Coaching Psychology Special Interest Group. Jerry is experienced in using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, adopting a Critical Realist paradigm. In his career, Jerry has made (to date) 23 research presentations at the Irish Psychological Societies annual conference. He has also presented at European and World Psychological conferences. Jerry’s professional career spans Primary and Third Level Education, Sales / Marketing Management, Recruitment Consultancy, Rehabilitative Vocational Training, Social Care, Re-employment Training, Job Coach, and Career Guidance and Counselling. Adopting an open and eclectic perspective of applied psychology, Jerry was appointed as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2007. He has lectured in Psychology, Social Psychology, Child Psychology, Sales / Marketing Psychology, Abnormal / Clinical Psychology, Research Methodology, and Ethics in Professional Practice. Applied courses include Advocacy, Challenging Behaviour, Communications, Decision Making, Learning to Learn, Wellness, and Aging Studies.  Currently his research is examining the psycho-social traits that underlie effective job seeking and the role of mindfulness and motivation in pro-active job seeking behaviour and organisational engagement. Professionally, he helped develop the job coach model in Ireland, and was responsible for 3686 known reemployment and career development placements during the lifespan of the Arklow Job Club where he also sat on the national steering committee.

 

  • HETAC 9 Cert. Research Supervision (2:1 Hons.) Carlow IT, 2018
  • HETAC 9 Cert. Psychology of Emotional Intelligence (1st Class Hons.) Carlow IT, 2011
  • EQI 1 & 2 / MSCEIT Emotional Intelligence Testing EQI / MSCEIT, 2011
  • PG Higher Diploma Adult Guidance & Counseling (2:1 Hons.) NUI (Maynooth), 2009
  • Storm (Suicide) Risk Management HSE, 2007
  • BPS (Level A & B) Occupational Testing SHL, 2003
  • M.Sc. Work & Org. Psychology (1st Class Hons.) Dublin City University, 2003
  • B.Sc. Psychology (1st Class Hons.) Open University, 2000
  • B.Ed. Social / Religious Studies Bath University,  1986
  • Teaching Cert. in Stress Reduction / Relaxation SMI, 1999
  • Diploma in Training (Special Needs) NUI (Maynooth), 1998
  • Occupational Health & Safety Liberty Risk Svc., 1999
  • Cert. in Training & Continuing Education, Fás / NUI (Maynooth), 1998
  • Cert. in Training (Special Needs) NRB / NUI (Maynooth), 1998
  • Introduction to Management Murcuri Inst., 1995
  • Selling Skills I & II Denny, 1994
  • Curriculum Design & Evaluation, I.L.E.A. ,1987

Awarded Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy for excellance in higher education.

3 Years teaching Children with additional needs in Inner London using a thematic teaching approach.

2 Year commerical and skills training of adults and business professionals (Telephone Skills, Customer Service, Sales, Technical Service, Customer / Market Research)

3 Years teaching adolescents and young adults in vocational / employability skills.

13 Years teaching Psychology with the Open University in Ireloand (Region 13), assisting with Career Guidance and Special Projects (Prison students)

18 Years teaching various Psychology related courses in the Deptatment of Life Long Learning.

Research Interests

  • Unemployment, Reemployment, Vocational readjustment through Disability, Injury and Trauma.
  • Psychological & Perceptual Barriers to Re-Employment & Job Seeking Methods.
  • Career development, Career Change, Vocational Choice and Clarity.
  • Motivation, Self Efficacy, Approach Orientation, Restoring Self Confidence.
  • Promoting Genuine Person : Organisational Fit & Organisational Engagement.
  • Conflict in Teams, Dark Triad Management, and Toxic Organisations.
  • Change, Organisational Culture and Mission, Goal Attainment, and Perceived Barriers.
  • CV Design & Interview Impression Management Coaching strategies.
  • Social Care, Self Care, Boundary Management, Supervision, & Professional Development.
  • Subjective Competency, Self Efficacy, and Skills Awareness / Tacit Knowledge in the Workplace. 
  • Emotional Intelligence in Job Seeking and Organisational Engagement.
  • Positive Psychology, Cognitive (Western) Mindfulness, Stress Management and GAD.

Primary Education

Teaching Special Needs

Computer & High Tech Sales  / Marketing

Recruitment Consultancy and Management

Chemical Solvents and Hazardous Waste Recovery

Family Care

Teaching Adult's with Additional Needs

Career Guidance & Reemployment Training

Consultancy on change in the state reemployment training and career guidance sector.

Consultancy on policy development / evaluation on the vocational rehabilitation of former military personnel, ex-offenders, substance users, brain injury clients.

Consultancy on the development of professional supervision training programmes and assessment criteria.

‘Picture Me at Work’: Impression Management on the CV Résumé Through the Use of High Imagery Text. PSI Conference, Nov 2004, Cork.

Skill Amnesia: Is Unemployment Learned, and Confidence Lost Through Experiences of Work. PSI Conference, Nov 2008, Tullow.

Re-Employment Psychology: The Synthesis of Cognitive, Social, and Organisational Psychology. PSI Conference, Nov 2008, Tullow.

Applied Re-Employment Psychology: An Evidence Based Approach to Working with the Unemployed. PSI Conference, Nov 2008, Tullow.

Vocational Competency Training: A Therapeutic Intervention for Clients with Additional Needs. PSI Conference, Nov 2008, Tullow. (Co author Marie McGrath, HSE).

‘What am I good at ?’ A Qualitative Investigation of the Everyday Awareness of Subjective Competency Amongst Job Seekers. PSI Conference, Nov 2009, Wexford.

A Non-counsellors Approach to Counselling: Solution Focused Brief Therapy, a Practical Tool in the Re-employment Practitioners Armoury. PSI Conference, Nov 2009, Wexford.

Organisational Skill Amnesia: A Comparative Study of the Beliefs of Job Seeking Ability Between an Employed and Unemployed Sample. PSI Conference, Nov 2009, Wexford (Co author Mark Griffin, Royal Bank of Scotland).

The Meaning of Work: The Agnotology of a Societal Enigma. Keynote address to National Job Club Forum, Portlaoise, June, 2009

Ethics : From Ancient Virtues to Contemporary Pragmatism. Keynote address to  The EAPA Ireland Annual Conference, Dublin Castle. May, 2010. (Employment Assistance Practitioners Association of Ireland).

Positive Psychology and it’s Practical Application in the Reemployment Coaching Context; Why does it make a Difference ? PSI Conference, Nov 2010, Athlone.

Elaborating upon the impact of job search knowledge on perceived job seeking self efficacy. PSI Conference, Nov 2010, Athlone.

The Impact of Extroversion on Preferred Job Seeking Methods in a Recession. PSI Conference, Nov 2010, Athlone.

Re-Employment Psychology: The Synthesis of Cognitive, Social, and Organisational Psychology: A New Paradigm.. 30th International Congress of Psychology,  Jul.2012. Cape Town, South Africa.

Emotional Intelligence: Re-Employment Psychology’s Missing link: A Discussion on the Evolutionary Role of Socio-Emotional Intelligence in the Adaptive Skill of Job Seeking. Keynote Address to the Coaching Psychology Group of the Division of Work & Organisational Psychology, PSI. September 2016, Dublin

Staring at the cliff face: A qualitative study of how confidence and subjective competency mediates reemployment efficacy in an Irish cohort. The 18th Conference of the European Association of Work & Organisational Psychology (EAWOP), May 17th-20th, 2017, UCD Dublin, Ireland.

A quantitative investigation to explore the psychosocial traits that mediate reemployment in an Irish sample. The 18th Conference of the European Association of Work & Organisational Psychology (EAWOP), May 17th-20th, 2017, UCD Dublin, Ireland.

The Cognition behind the Voice: A Qualitative Exploration of the Psychological Impact of Unemployment. Research paper presentation to The 49th Annual Conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny, Nov.,2019.

An Epistemological Peace Treaty in the Paradigm Wars: The Case for Critical Realism in Psychological Research. Poster presentation to The 49th Annual Conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny, Nov.,2019.

Coaching Techniques and Critical Concepts in the Pathway to Reemployment: A Process Model. Workshop presentation to The 49th Annual Conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland. Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny, Nov., 2019.

Desire and Fear: Psychodynamic Forces in the Search for Employment. The 50th Annual Conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland. On-line Presentation, Nov., 2020.

Job Seeking Motivation and the ‘World Outside’: The Impact of Environmental Perception on Job Seeking Behaviour. The 50th Annual Conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland. On-line Presentation, Nov., 2020.

Skill Amnesia and it’s Impact on Reemployment: We’re Still Forgetting about it. The 50th Annual Conference of the Psychological Society of Ireland. On-line Presentation, Nov., 2020.

Engagement and Collaboration

 

Dixon, J. & Tiernan, J. (2024). Job-seeking self-efficacy: an Irish scale for assessing the guidance and coaching needs of job seekers, British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, DOI: 10.1080/03069885.2024.2342810
Dixon, J. (2023). Critical Realist Coaching: An Epistemological Lens into Client Profiling. International Journal of Coaching Psychology. 4 (5), 1-10. https:// ijcp.nationalwellbeing service/volumes/volume4-2023/volume-4-article-5

Dixon, J., Davy, D., Fitzgerald, K., Gaffney, N., Lyons, A., & Quinn, E. (2019) The Diversity of Applied Coaching Psychology. The Irish Psychologist, 45 (2), 40-47

Dixon, J. (2012) Re-employment Psychology: The synthesis of cognitive, social, and organisational psychology. International Journal of Psychology. 47 (1), 184.

Saucier, G. & Kenner, J. etal. inc. Dixon. J.  (2014) Cross-Cultural Differences in a global ‘Survey of World Views’. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46, 53-71.