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PUBLICATION

Title:	Career Assessments…Why Bother?
Source:	Chicago Hospital News
Publish Date:	05/01/2006
Author:	Julie Sheehan

Career Assessments…Why Bother?
by Julie Sheehan
(May 2006 - Volume 4 - Issue 3)
http://www.chicagohospitalnews.com/archives/default.asp?page=2&articleID=935

As individuals consider a job or career change, this can be an excellent opportunity to take a look at what your best skills are, how you like to use them and where you want to take them. Career assessments, both formal and informal can help do just that.

The variety of tools available to help job seekers, career changers or individuals looking to grow within their own field or company is vast. Some of the instruments most widely use are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®, the Strong Interest Inventory, the World of Work Inventory and the Ball Aptitude. They are designed to look at, among other things, personality types (who I am), interests (what do I like), skills (what can I do), and aptitude (how well do I do it). While there is no magic crystal ball, gaining a deeper understanding of these aspects can enable greater career choice and satisfaction in knowing that an opportunity is a good fit.

According to Career Fulfillment Specialist and author, Patricia Soldati, in her article "How Valuable Are Career Assessments?" there are four basic purposes to them:

• to help articulate skills, preferences and interests (providing more language and ability to communicate personal value);
• validate what you already know about yourself (confirmation of self perception);
• open career choices (help to think outside of the box); and
• pinpoint aversions (while we may not always know what we like/want, we usually know what we dislike/don’t want!).

Adding these abilities to our career toolbox will be key in determining true job satisfaction, greater ability to work more effectively with others, and a better estimation of the value brought to an employer for how to help move an organization toward its goals. The more self-knowledge and understanding one has leads to more awareness of capabilities and limitations.

As there are so many assessments available today in print and on-line, it is important to keep in mind what both Patricia Soldati and Richard Bolles, author of "What Color is Your Parachute?" say regarding some rules when using assessments. They both agree that there is not one particular assessment to be the only one to take. You should use several together to gather a well- rounded vocational picture. And, Ms. Soldati says that a professional interpretation is money well spent.

Finally, as Richard Bolles points out, and I agree, the value of the assessments come from what you walk away with, reflect on and act upon. To simply take the assessments and not try to incorporate the results into your life and work style would be a waste of time and leave the questions you walked in with still open and unresolved.

The true value comes from what one walks away with after using these tools. They are not designed to be the magic answer to "What do I want to do next?" however they will offer valuable insights into what helps make us most fulfilled and successful in work as well as in life! Ultimately, when all the pieces in your job puzzle come together, the picture is more clear and the opportunities you will begin to seek will be more in line with that picture.

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Julie Sheehan is a Consultant at First Transitions, Inc., a corporate-sponsored career transition and executive coaching firm specializing in the healthcare field. She can be reached at (630) 571-3311, (312) 541-0294 or at jsheehan@firsttransitions.com. Readers also can visit the website at www.firsttransitions.com.