How to use self-assessment tools for the right career?
What are self-assessment tools and how do they help in choosing the right career? Read on to find out…
There has been a lot of instances when we think before applying for a job whether his job is right for us or not. “Are we suited for this job” is something that all of us might have wondered at some point in time. What if there was a tool that could tell you what to do? Well, such tools cannot tell you what to do with the rest of your life, but self-assessment tools will obviously help you figure out the right career path. Self-assessment refers to the socio-psychological process of understanding a person’s interests, aptitudes, values, personality types, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Self-assessment tools are a combination of scientifically proven approaches that help in determining the personality traits of a person leading to a better understanding of the needs and thus helping in making a well-informed career decision. A self-assessment test is not just a regular objective type test where you just need to pick the correct answer and get the desired results. There is no single correct answer for a self-assessment test, every answer varies the final results and determining your personality type. It is simply a way to look inside ourselves and learn more about oneself. These tests generally gather various data regarding your work-related values, personality, values, aptitude and etc. The end goal is to find a career path or an occupation that is suitable based on the final results.
What do these self-assessment tools measure?
A self-assessment tool, to be compelling, must consider a person’s business-related qualities, interests, identity and personality type, and aptitudes. These attributes make up your identity, so overlooking any of them won’t give you a precise answer. We should investigate each one. These are the aspects measured by self-assessment tools:
Values:
Your qualities are the thoughts and convictions that are critical to you. Your work-related qualities can incorporate self-sufficiency, prestige, security, relational connections, helping other people, adaptable work routine, outdoor work, recreation time, and high pay. Your values are possibly the most important thing to consider when choosing an occupation. If you don’t take them into account when planning your career, there’s a good chance you’ll dislike your work and therefore not succeed in it.
Interests:
Your preferences with respect to different exercises make up your interests. This includes what you enjoy doing, i.e., playing golf, taking long walks, and hanging out with friends. Career development professionals also frequently administer interest inventories such as the Strong Interest Inventory (SII), formerly called the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory. These self-assessment tools-ask individuals to answer a series of questions regarding their (surprise) interests. You can’t give a good outcome if you aren’t interested in what you’re doing.
Personality type:
The way you think, talk, feel, judge others, and work determines what type of personality you possess. It can help one to grow if he/she choose a career option according to his/her personality. But, when you don’t take your personality into account while selecting a career option then you might face many challenges at work. Career counselors often use results from assessments based on Jungian Personality Theory, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), to help clients choose careers. They believe individuals with a particular personality type are better suited to specific occupations.
Aptitude:
Aptitude alludes to a person’s common ability, took in the capacity, or ability to obtain expertise. Cases incorporate math, science, visual workmanship, music, verbal or composed correspondence, perusing perception, rationale and thinking, manual finesse, mechanics, or spatial relations. You may have numerous aptitudes. It is imperative to remember that having a fitness for something, doesn’t mean you will fundamentally like doing it. Or on the other hand, you may appreciate doing it, yet not for work. That is a comment as a top priority when you pick a vocation.
Here are some self-assessment tools, a combination of which can help you choose the right career…
Big Five Personality Test
Big Five personality assessments divide people into five personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The assessment identifies a preference out of the five and can help you identify learning styles as well as work preferences. The test comprises of fifty items that the participant must rate on how true they feel about the particular statement on a five-point scale, where 1 is completely disagree and 5 is completely agree. Openness to Experience measures how much do you enjoy art, expressions, abstract ideas, and artistic expression? Conscientiousness measures how much do you put off immediate and instant gratification in order to conquer and achieve long-term goals?
Extra-version measures how much are you inclined to turn to the outside world for stimulation and excitement. Agreeableness measures how much and how often do you put others ahead of yourself. Neuroticism is how likely and how fast are you to bounce back from stressful events.
RIASEC Test
RIASEC or the Holland Occupational Themes which was developed by John L. Holland starting in the 1950s is a theory of personality used commonly in social and academic psychology that focuses solely on career and vocational choices. Also known as The Holland Code, this test essentially groups the participants into six different categories of occupation based on their suitability. These six types of personalities-Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional- which are defined by the test yield the acronym of RIASEC. This test has become one of the most dominant self-assessment tools used in recruitment as well as for career counseling purposes. The test includes 48 tasks that the participant needs to rate by considering how much they like or enjoy performing these tasks on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is dislike and 5 is enjoy.
DISC Test
Psychologist William Moulton Marston developed the DISC theory which later was developed into the behavior assessment tool commonly known as DISC. This test revolves around four different behavioral traits: dominance, inducement, submission, and compliance. DISC profiles help in understanding a lot of phenomena such as how you react to struggles, what propels and motivates you, what causes you stress, and how you react to issues. It also helps enhance your connections with your co-workers, encourages better collaboration, and helps you to emerge as a self-learned and balanced individual.
Myers-Briggs
One of the most well-known assessments, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator results in a four-letter “type” — INFP or ESFJ, for example. The test is meant to identify basic preferences for each of four dichotomies (such as introvert and extrovert) and describes 16 distinctive personality traits. You’ll have to pay $50 to take the real test, but there are plenty of imitators on the Internet. The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives. The essence of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment.
MyPlan.com
This assessment can help you identify your motivations and what’s really important to you in your career. MyPlan.com ranks different aspects of work, and the results can encourage you to look at jobs or industries you may not have considered before. You’ll walk away from this career test with a list of 739 jobs rank-ordered based on how well they suit your style.
MAPP Test
More than 8 million people around the world have taken this assessment at Assessment.com. “The reason people take the MAPP is to find their way in life,” he says. It tells you what you love to do and what you don’t love to do. It also uses the O*Net job list to identify which jobs might be good fits. You’ll have to pay over $90 for their “starter package,” in which you’ll see your top 20 general career matches. Their “executive package” costs $149.95 where you’ll get a 30-page assessment and ranked matching to 900 careers. But if you just want to try it for free, you’ll be matched with five potential careers.
PI Behavioral Assessment
The Predictive Index predicts primary personality characteristics that describe, explain and predict day-to-day workplace behaviors, says Greg Barnett, a Boston-based industrial and organizational psychologist who is responsible for setting and executing the scientific agenda for the Predictive Index. This rigorously tested study looks at your strongest workplace behaviors and determines your management and influence styles.
The better you understand your motivations throughout your career, the better you can spot a job that satisfies you. And keep this in mind: What you’re chasing today might not be the same in a year or two. A career test helps to focus on your professional development in order to keep your career path moving forward.
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