“I haven’t figured out what I want to be when I grow up” is a common theme for many people—regardless of their age. There is no crystal ball or test that can provide the answer to that dilemma; however, resources are available to help you discover the career that may be right for you.
Career planning involves gathering information in order to make informed career choices. Self-assessments look at your values, interests, personality and skills. |
Values are ideals that are important to you and are possibly the most important consideration when choosing a career. All life choices (career, family, relationships) reflect your personal values. Values inventories measure how important different values, such as autonomy, prestige, security, wealth, and achievement, are to you.
Interests are activities you enjoy doing, such as gardening, sports, and hanging out with friends. Interest inventories identify your likes and dislikes on a variety of activities, objects, and types of persons and compares them to others in various occupations to find similarities. A popular self-assessment is the Strong Interest Inventory.
Personality is a sum of an individual’s traits, motivations, needs and attitudes. The most frequently used personality inventory is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) which looks at four dimensions: how you are energized, perceive information, make decisions, and demonstrate your lifestyle. The resulting 4-letter profile indicates your preference type. Some personality types are better suited to certain careers.
Skills are tasks which you are good at doing; generally, you enjoy what you do well. Technical skills (such as typing), specialized training (accounting skills) and previous work experience (customer service) combine to make up your job related skills. Transferable skills are useful in a variety of positions and include communication, organizational, leadership and management skills.
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