JOBTALKSJOBTALKS

Planning Your Career:The Self Assessment

Indiana UniversityKelley School of BusinessC. Randall Powell, Ph.D

Contents used in this presentation are adapted from Career Planning Strategies and used with the permission of the author.

Self-assessmentWho am I today?

(tactical)What do I want?

(strategic)

Career Planning ElementsSelf-assessmentCareer explorationJob search

Your Highest Competencies and Talent

The best decisions about careers come only after a self-understanding

FIRST: Who am I?

SECOND: What’s available?

What are your career options?DEPENDS!

Self-Assessment Means Know Thyself

It's a do-it-yourself project!

Initial draft of your resumeis one starting point.

Self-Assessment Means Going Beyond Your Resume

Analyze factors important to you!

Thoroughness of analysisinfluences decisions.

personalityattitudeinterestsappearancevaluesideasgoalseducation

Result:Statement of Goals

What you want may not

be compatible with abilities!

Develop compromise between

your skills and skills required.

You are your own employer!

Self-Assessment

Starts with Assessing Your:

V Values

I Interests

P Personal Qualities

S Skills

Taking InventoryYou want to work for an employer who:

- can use your skills to maximum degree

To determine your worth, the employer uses:- resume- interview- references

Be sure of your talents. Don't let employer make invalid conclusions.

Background is Explored During Interview

Organize to reveal positive traits

Be Thorough!Be Concise!

You control the flow if you understand your characteristics

Your interviews extend far beyond resume entries!

Values

For a successful career, values must beconsistent with those in your career field.

Your guiding principles:

ImportantWorthwhile

Useful

Education

Tangible items

Family

Values Are Feelings

What is Important?

Think about the strength of your convictions.

CommunityJobLeisureFriends TravelMoneyMarriage SecurityLoveComfortEducationTimeStudyFamily

"Topping my list of values is cash on the barrelhead ... Then there's family, integrity..."

What values are most important to you?

Ranking Your Values

Values May Conflict

Clarify before you make career choices!

Assess Your Interests

How do they stack up againstinterests of others already in the field?

LikesDislikes

likes indifferences dislikes

Personal preferences

INTERESTS

Relates to workplace harmony and motivation

PERSONAL QUALITIES

Analyze very subjective factors

How do others perceive your personality?

personality

attitudes

self-descriptors

SKILLS

reading

writing

arithmetic

Learned abilities needed to perform a specific task

Written Autobiography

Conducting the Self-assessment

• Identify VIPS• Autobiography• Life episodes

Checklist and Personal Inventories

Conducting the Self-assessment

• Skill inventories• Checklists• Reminders

PsychologicalTests

Conducting the Self-assessment

• Psychological tests• Expert and self interpretation

PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTPURPOSES

--Aid in understanding self

--Aid in relating to careers

--Attempt to aid prediction

of career compatibility

AptitudeInterestPersonalityAchievementIntelligence

Types Of Psychological Tests

and

TestingTesting

Assumptions: Can we measure…1. Human characteristics?

And2. Job characteristics?

ReliabilityValidityNormative data baseAdministration

PsychologicalPsychological

Career failure often traced to lack of thought

Self-assessment Requires Time

Introspective

Reflective

Self assessment = Employer assessment

Aids YOU in making right choices

Aids EMPLOYERS in evaluation of you

This assists you in finding best match!

PLANNING YOUR CAREER Components

Class GuidelinesAnnouncements

A Career Development ProgramThe Career Planning Model

The Self-AssessmentCareer Exploration

Job Market InfluencesThe SCOOP Sessions

OverviewEvaluation Questions

If you would like to If you would like to learn more, learn more, Career Career Planning StrategiesPlanning Strategies textbook will supply textbook will supply additional information additional information on this topic.on this topic.