Refocus on Career Self-Assessment

Reposition yourself to re-enter the workforce; join me on my personal branding journey.

The first step in deciding what kind of career or job you want is figuring out what your values, strengths, skills and interests are. We have already looked at the Myers Briggs Type Indicator which offers some valuable insights.   

My Type:  INFP    

• Is driven by values
• Is a good leader
• Is a team player
• Is a visionary
• Is idealistic and a perfectionist (possible negatives)

 These are some of my strengths and weaknesses. For my type, it is especially important to know what my values are.  Following is a list of my top values based on an exercise I did to define them:
   
My Values:

1. Mental Creativity -Need to do work that is creative like marketing.
2. Intellectual Stimulation - Need to be developing mentally, if not, I feel bored. 
3. Humor - Want to have fun at work, being happy is important, want to like the people I work with.
4. Location - Want to stay in one place, do not want to travel more than 25%.
5. Leadership - Want to motivate others to achieve excellence through team work.
6. Work with Others - Want to be part of a team working together towards a common goal.
7. Decison Making - Want the power to make decisions and have them carried out. 
8. Excellence - Want what I do to be good, quality and integrity are important to me.

 No clue what your values are?  If I seem organized, it's because I spent six to nine months working with a career counselor to come up with all this "understanding".  If you can afford it, a career counselor can help get you organized. If not, try this exercise to help you define your values.

Write down ten or more things that are important to you. Rank them from 1 to 10. For each of your top 8 values, answer the following questions. (1)

1. What does the value mean to you? 
2. Describe a situation in which you experienced the value.
3. What does this value tell you that you want or need? 

Sit down and do this exercise and you will have a solid list of what you want and need to be happy at work.

See you next Friday....

1. Weisblatt, Sheila E., M.S. 1994   Defining your Values.