Personal Advancement
Avoid unhappy employment: Assess your skills and make a planQ. I've been working in the same industry for a while now, and I'm not happy. However, I've been doing this so long that I don't even know what else I'd want to be doing or how to go about finding that out. How do I figure out the next step? JOHANNA KRISTOLAITIS |
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 [ 2007-05-23 ] |
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A. Your dilemma is a common one. The need for personal assessment comes into play whether looking for a change, as you are, or deciding which industry to start with when stepping into the world of work. There is a wide variety of assessment tools available to help you pinpoint your possible passions. Many employment counselling centres administer these tools to clients, though there is sometimes a nominal fee.
The types of assessment tools used in career planning can be broken down into three general categories: personality tests, aptitude tests and interest inventory tests. All three categories contain a range of empirically-based, standardized tests to provide you with objective information about your innate strengths and interests.
Personality tests, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, can help you understand your overall work style and identify what roles you are inclined to perform and potential stressors within various roles.
Aptitude tests focus on your natural abilities: your strengths are compared to those of successful people in various fields.
Interest inventories are tools that take an inventory of your interests to determine your strongest areas. While you can examine the results yourself, it is best to have an employment counsellor assist you in interpreting the results and discerning where you will be best suited.
Once you have narrowed your focus, you will need to take a closer look at your new industry or industries of choice. There are many websites that provide information on various industries. A good place to start is Job Futures (www.jobfutures.ca), which also includes a short assessment quiz, ending with informational links to jobs that may be up your alley. Service Canada's Job Bank (www.jobbank.gc.ca) has quizzes under "Career Navigator" as well as labour market information, and the National Occupational Codes website (www23.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca) provides virtually every possible job description.
Another avenue of investigation is informational interviews. Contact people working in the fields you are interested in pursuing and ask for a few minutes of their time to discuss their job and how they got there. Be sure to ask what they don't like about their work, as well as what they enjoy. Inquiring about a typical day on the job may reveal hidden details as well. You can also contact employers in your fields of interest with similar questions. If you're considering returning to school, ask what training they look for when assessing candidates for particular positions.
Once you've decided where you want to go, create a plan to get there. Your plan will depend heavily on what you've decided; employment counselors can help with this step, too. Look in your yellow pages under "career" and "employment" to find services in your area, or visit your local Service Canada centre.
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