How to Use Self Assessment Tools to Choose a Career

How to Use Self Assessment Tools to Choose a CareerHow to Use Self Assessment Tools to Choose a CareerIndividuals who are trying to choose a career often wonder if they can take a test that can tell them what occupation is right for them. Unfortunately, there isnt a single test that will magically tell you what to do with the rest of your life. A combination of self-assessment tools, however, will help with the decision. During the self-assessment phase of the career planning process, gather information about yourself to make an informed decision. A self-assessment should include thoroughly examining your values, interests, personality, and aptitude. Values the things that are important, like achievement, status, and autonomyInterests what you enjoy doing, i.e., playing golf, taking long walks, and hanging out with friendsPersonality a persons traits, motivational drives, needs, and attitudesAptitude the activities you are good at, such as writing, computer programming, and teaching. They may be natural skills or ones acquired through training and education. Many people hire a career counselor to help them with this process and administer a variety of self-assessment inventories. What follows is a discussion of the different types of tools, as well as some other things to consider when using your results to choose a career. Value Inventories Your values are possibly the most important thing to consider when choosing an occupation. If you dont take them into account when planning your career, theres a good chance youll dislike your work and therefore not succeed in it. For example, someone who prefers autonomy would not be happy in a job where he or she cant be independent. There are two types of values intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic values are related to the work itself and what it contributes to society. Extrinsic values include external features, such as physical setting and earning potential. Value inventories will ask questions like the following Is a high salary important to you?Is it important for your work to involve interacting with people?Is it important for your work to contribute to society?Is having a prestigious job important to you? During aself-assessment, acareer counselormay administer one of the following value inventoriesMinnesota Importance Questionnaire (MIQ),Survey of Interpersonal Values(SIV), orTemperament and Values Inventory(TVI). Interest Inventories Career development professionals also frequently administer interest inventories such as the Strong Interest Inventory(SII), formerly called theStrong-Campbell Interest Inventory. These self assessment tools ask individuals to answer a series of questions regarding their (surprise) interests. E.K. Strong, a psychologist, pioneered their development. He found, throughdata he gathered about peoples likes and dislikes of a variety of activities, objects, and types of persons, that people in the same career (and satisfied in that career) had similar interest s. Dr. John Hollandand others provided a system of matching interests with one or more of six types realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional. He then matched these types with occupations. When you take an interest inventory, the results are compared with this study to see where you fit in- are your interests similar to those of apolice officeror to those of an accountant, for example? Personality Inventories Many personality inventories used in career planning are based on Psychiatrist Carl Jungs personality theory. He believed four pairs of opposite preferences- the way individuals choose to do things- make up peoples personalities. They areextroversionandintroversion(how one energizes), sensing and intuition (how one perceives information),thinking or feeling (how one makes decisions), and judging and perceiving (how one lives his or her life). One preference from each pair makes up an individuals personality type. Career counselors often use results from assessments based on Jungian Personality Theory, such as theMyers-Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI), to help clients choose careers. They believe individuals with a particular personality type are better suited to specific occupations. An example would be that an introvert would not do well in a career that requires him or her to be around other people all the time. Aptitude Assessments When deciding what field to enter, you need to discover your aptitudes. An aptitude is a natural or acquired ability. In addition to looking at what you are good at doing, also consider what you enjoy. It is possible to be quite adept at a particular skill, yet despise every second spent using it. Generally speaking, though, people usually enjoy what they are good at. While youre assessing your skills, think about the time you are willing to spend to acquire more advanced or newskills. A question to ask yourself is this- if a career holds all the qualities I find appealing but it takes X years to prepare for it, would I be willing and able to make this time commitment? Additional Things to Consider While going through theself-assessmentprocess, take into account other factors that will influence yourcareer choice. For example, think about your family responsibilities and your ability to pay for education or training. Dont forget thatself-assessmentis the first step in thecareer planning process, not the last. After completing this phase, go on to the next one, career exploration. With yourself-assessmentresults in mind, next, evaluate a variety of occupations to see which ones are the best fit. While yourself-assessment mayindicate a particular career is suitable for someone with your interests, personality,values, andaptitude, it doesnt mean it is the one that is most right for you. Similarly, dont discount an occupation just because it doesnt show up in the results of a self-assessment. Do a lot of research about any profession in which you are interested.