How can self-assessment help you choose a satisfying career?

"11 Exhibit 17.5 Aligning one’s lifestyle interests with one’s career trajectory is essential to long-term career satisfaction. If the idea of working in a big city captivates the imagination, it can become a guide to the types of jobs to pursue. If one is motivated to work with people or animals, then charity organizations or zoos might be a good place to look. What jobs do you visualize yourself doing, and how can that vision guide your career search? (Credit: Rich Bowen/ Flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)) Take a Good Look at Yourself Once you’ve developed a positive, “can do” attitude, the next step is to better understand yourself. Ask yourself two basic questions: “Who am I?” and “What can I do?” Who Am I? This question is the start of self-assessment , examining your likes and dislikes and basic values. You may want to ask yourself the following questions: • Do I want to help society? • Do I want to help make the world a better place? • Do I want to help other people directly? • Is it important for me to be seen as part of a big corporation? Or do I prefer to be part of a smaller organization? • Do I prefer working indoors or outdoors? • Do I like to meet new people, or do I want to work alone? 672 Chapter 17 Your Career in Business This OpenStax book is available for free at http://cnx.org/content/col25734/1.7 Are you assertive? Assess your assertiveness by taking the quiz in Table 17.7. What Can I Do? After determining what your values are, take the second step in career planning by asking, “What can I do?” This question is the start of skill assessment , evaluating your key abilities and characteristics for dealing successfully with problems, tasks, and interactions with other people. Many skills—for instance, the ability to speak clearly and strongly—are valuable in many occupations. Be sure to consider the work experience you already have, including part-time jobs while going to school, summer jobs, volunteer jobs, and internships. These jobs teach you skills and make you more attractive to potential employers. It’s never too early or too late to take a part-time job in your chosen field. For instance, someone with an interest in accounting would do well to try a part-time job with a CPA (certified public accountant) firm. Fun Self-Test—How Assertive Are You? Rate your level of agreement with the following statements using the scale below: Strongly Agree Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree 1. I don’t easily agree to work for others. 2. There are some people who make jokes about the way I communicate and put me down repeatedly. 3. I speak up without fear of what others will think of me. 4. I rarely have to repeat my thoughts to make people understand. 5. I sound like I am asking a question when I am making a statement. 6. I’m more reluctant to speak up on the job than in other situations. 7. I can always think of something to say when faced with rude remarks. 8. I tend to suffer in silence when unfairly criticized or insulted. 9. I tend to respond aggressively when criticized unfairly. 10. People don’t listen when I am speaking. 11. If I say “no,” I feel guilty. 12. When I have a conflict with someone, the results seem to always go their way. 13. When I speak, people listen. 12 See the scoring guidelines at the end of this chapter to obtain your score. Table 17.7 In addition to examining your job-related skills, you should also look at your leisure activities. Some possible questions: Am I good at golf? Do I enjoy sailing? Tennis? Racquetball? In some businesses, transactions are made during leisure hours. In that case, being able to play a skillful, or at least adequate, game of golf or tennis may be an asset. It’s hard to like your job if you don’t like the field that you’re in. Most career counselors agree that finding work you’re passionate about is one of the critical factors behind career success. That’s why so many career counselors love all those diagnostic tools that measure your personality traits, skill levels, professional interests, and job potential. The internet is virtually exploding with tests and assessments that you can take. Try, for example, http://www.self-directed-search.com . This test is based on the theory that people and work environments can be classified into six basic types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. The test determines which three types best describe you, and it suggests occupations that could be a good match. The Keirsey Character Sorter (http://www.keirsey.com) is a first cousin of Myers-Briggs. It sorts people into four temperaments: idealists, rationals, artisans, and guardians. Like Myers-Briggs, it not only places you in an overall category, but it also offers a more detailed evaluation of your personality traits. To find a bunch of tests in one place, use a search engine and search “online personality tests.”"