JobScribble

Well, not quite, but if you are just starting out in a career, thinking about making a career change, or starting a new business, trying to find out if you are compatible with a career is important.

One way to determine compatibility if to identify your interests, personality type, skills, work activities you would enjoy (and not enjoy) and then finding and exploring complementary career fields is your first steps towards finding a career.  Business Week’s recent article “Personality and the Perfect Job” provides comments from Kip Parent, CEO of Kiersey.com regarding the importance of assessing your personality type. Kiersey provides the Kiersey Temperament Sorter (KTS-II), which is one of the most widely used on-line personality assessment instruments. Receive a free mini assessment after signing up and answering about 70 questions about yourself. More detailed reports are available from about $5.00-$20.00.

There are other career assessments and if you are a college student or graduate or even a high school student, visit you Career Center at your school or college. Several types of career assessments including Sigi Plus, Choices, Myers Briggs (MBTI), or Self-Directed Search, and/or Strong Campbell Interest Inventory are usually available at no cost if you are a student or graduate. The Career Counselor at the center will determine which assessment is right for you. If you don’t have access to a high school or college Career Center, taking the MBTI on-line for a fee may be an option. To find someone qualified to administer and interpret the results go to The Myers & Briggs Foundation.

If this sounds a lot like some of the dating and match making services out there, it is!  However, instead of finding a mate, you are trying to find a compatible career! After exploring who you are through assessments and finding matching careers, take your career on some dates first by researching them, conducting informational interviews, interning, job shadowing, temping, etc.

Source:  Business Week, Marshall & Friends, February 19, 2008