Assessing Yourself to Get Your Next Job
Does one of these sound like you?
- You're sure you'll be laid off, and want to take advantage of the chance to re-group.
- You fell into your job by chance, and wonder what other work you could do.
- There are promotions you could apply for, but you're not sure if you qualify.
- You think you may have more in common with people in a different kind of workplace.
- You sometimes wish you had a job that where you could be more of your real self.
If so, assess yourself. Job or career assessments help you look into and measure your:
- Skills or Abilities
- Interests
- Personality
- Values and Preferred Work Environment
What Can You Gain From Assessing Yourself?
You'll get a short cut to self-knowledge. Here's how.
In a self-assessment, there are no right or wrong answers. In fact, all the information provided comes from you. You describe yourself, usually in a multiple-choice format. Clearly, the more honest you are the better.
But your results probably won't contain any big surprises. So, what's the point?
The questions are likely to get you thinking about ideas you don't concern yourself with every day. Some workers may not have ever had a chance to really reflect about the links between work and their basic life values. Others may have developed new interests since they got their jobs. And still others may never have connected all the dots between their own personalities and the things about their work that please - or displease - them.
Pick the tools that make the most sense to you. Be sure to use what you already know about yourself, and your intuition, to decide how much weight to give your assessment results.
| If You … | Then |
|
Like to balance your checkbook to the penny, or like to read many consumer articles before making a big purchase |
Use a book by Richard Bolles or Kate Wendleton and follow all the self-assessment steps they suggest. |
| Wonder if assessment tools could turn up interests or work preferences that you might not have thought about | Use a tool, like the Strong Campbell (for work interests) or the Keirsey (for work temperament). If the results intrigue you, take the other one too. |
| Feel like you know your work style pretty well, but would appreciate an expert's point of view | Sign up for a few sessions with a qualified career counselor; do the homework they tailor for you. |
| Are intrigued by what computers can do to match information about you with possible jobs | Use the U.S. Department of Labor's career tools: "Skills Search," "Ability Profiler," "Interest Profiler," and "Work Importance Profiler." |
What to Assess and How
Skills
A skill is the ability to perform a task or carry out a responsibility. You can assess your skills by self-report or through a test.
Self-report means that you think about and describe your skills. You can either come up with your skills yourself, or check off the skills you have from a list. Online skill assessments let you easily match your skills with jobs that require those skills. You can also browse book descriptions of jobs to see how your skills match.
For ideas on recognizing and describing your work skills, read AARP's article, "Identify All the Skills You Already Have."
Interests
Interests are topics or fields you are curious about or want to be involved with.
Interest assessments or inventories measure what you are most interested in doing at work. They show how your interests match those of people doing different kinds of work. They are usually self-administered through a print or online list.
Interest inventories are based on career experts' theories about the fit between particular interests and specific jobs. Two of the most reliable interest assessments are the Campbell Interest and Skill Survey and the Holland Self-Directed Search. These are available online for a fee.
Through its 2,000 Career One-Stop Centers, the U.S. Department of Labor also provides the O*Net Interest Profiler. It instantly matches your interests with jobs.
Personality
Personality assessments help you see the personal style you prefer to use for doing work tasks, dealing with information, and interacting with other people. These assessments are often self-administered, in paper-and-pencil or online formats.
Some interpretations of your scores are available online. More complete versions of many personality assessments require you to meet with a certified counselor to take or interpret an assessment.
For work purposes, one of the most well developed and commonly used personality measures is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Based on Carl Jung's theories of personality, the MBTI has been adapted to several online versions. These are free. The full MBTI must be taken with a certified counselor.
Values and Preferred Work Environment
Values are the principles and standards we think are most important in living our lives. Assessments of work values identify what elements you think are most important or worthwhile in a job. You can then compare those elements with the characteristics or features of various jobs. This lets you think more about what you find satisfying in your work.
Many career guidance books include lists of work values to check off. Value lists often include items about the work environment you prefer. Here are some examples:
- I can use all of my skills and knowledge.
- I can have work that is varied and different every day.
- I can have secure employment.
- I can be an expert on a specialized or technical task.
- I can work alone.
- I can help motivate others.
- I can work indoors in a quiet space with good light.
- I can work outdoors.
The O*Net Work Importance assessment tool can be used online. Or you can use the pencil-and-paper version at your local Career One-Stop Center.
Do You Need a Counselor?
Career consultants, counselors, or coaches can guide you through the steps of assessing yourself and your goals. They usually give between-session assignments to help you think more clearly. Having someone to report to can increase your motivation and follow-through.
A career counselor with experience in situations similar to your's can give you insights and short cuts.
There is no one credential for career professionals. Several organizations and professional associations screen and certify career counselors. Check out their Web sites, listed below, to find tips and cautions on using a career counselor. Each site also has a search tool for finding a counselor in your area.
Additional Resources
Assessment Tools
O*Net
Online Skills Search
Assess your skills and match them to occupations. This
easy-to-use tool makes it fun.
O*Net Career
Exploration Tools
Follow the links here to assessment tools for abilities,
interests, and work importance.
Find Your Local Career
One-Stop Center
Put in your zip code to get the Center closest to you. Ask a
counselor to give you the O*Net profilers.
Self-Directed
Search
Take this online for $8.95. Learn your occupational type and the
jobs that would satisfy you.
Campbell
Interest and Skill Survey
Take this online for $17.95. Report is available immediately.
Measures your attraction for different occupations, along with
your confidence in performing them.
Keirsey Temperament
Sorter
Learn your Myers-Brigg personality type. This site requires you
to register, but taking the sorter is free.
Finding a Counselor
CounselorFind from the National Board of Certified Counselors
Find a Career Services Expert from the Association of Career Professionals
Find a Career Counselor Through the National Career Development Association
Books
Find these books online at Barnes and Noble.com
The Job Searcher's Handbook, Carolyn R. Robbins, Prentice Hall, 2005. A career counselor guides you through the entire job search process. "Taking Inventory" has ten worksheets on your values, attitudes, interests, wants, and needs - and how they affect your job choices.
Targeting the Job You Want: For Job Hunters, Career Changers, Consultants and Freelancers, Kate Wendleton, Wendy Alfus Rothman, Career Press, 2000. Identify your dream and make it happen. A thorough, practical, and encouraging guide.
What Color is Your Parachute? A Practical Guide for Job-Hunters and Career Changers, Richard Bolles. Ten Speed Press, 2004. Describes in detail how to conduct a self-assessment and an innovative job search. Updated every year. This is the classic, still full of great tools.
Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type, Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron-Tieger, Little Brown & Company, 2001. The classic book for matching your personality with possible occupations.
