Assess Your Career VIPS: Getting to Know YOU

For many of us, asking the question ‘What do I want to be when I grow up’ doesn’t stop at age 22, or even at 42. While I have coaching clients right out of college who feel at sea because they’re unsure of their career direction, I also have clients who are looking to transition into career number two or three at mid-life who don’t know where to begin.

To help put structure around the job-hunting process, I ask my clients to do an inventory of their priorities by looking at their values, interests, personality, and skills – VIPS in career development jargon – and I encourage you to do the same.

Values – What qualities do you value in your work and overall lifestyle? What motivates you and why? Some people want variety, autonomy, and flexibility, while others need security and prestige. There are no right or wrong answers here, so think of your ideal scenario. You can value any number of combinations.

Interests – Zeroing in on your interests can help you figure out what you’re most passionate about before you make a career move.

• Think about the activities you like best.
• Is there something you can do for hours and feel like no time has passed?
• If money were no object, what would you naturally do?

The Strong Interest Inventory, administered by a certified career professional, is an effective tool that can help, and Gallup’s StrengthsFinder is one of my favorites since you can easily obtain the book and do it on your own.

Personality –Your unique patterns of mental, emotional, physical, and behavioral characteristics are reflected in your personality. The Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI) is an assessment that breaks personality down into four preferences:

• How you draw your energy: Are you more energized being alone or around other people? (I – Introvert or E – Extrovert)

• How you understand the world: Do you focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning? (S – Sensing or N – Intuitive)

• How you make decisions: More thinking or more feeling? (T – Thinking or F – Feeling)

• Your need for structure/ order: Planner or more spontaneous? (J – Judging or P – Perceiving)

There are online versions of MBTI, but I recommend having it administered by a certified professional who is experienced and can interpret the finer points of the results.

Skills – Think about the unique abilities and specialized knowledge you possess. If it’s hard to do a self-analysis, query friends and relatives. They can often point out skills you hadn’t even considered. An outside perspective can often provide helpful insight.

A career search is as much about self-discovery as it is about finding the right job match, so inventory your VIPS, and make use of the various career assessment tools available. The better you know yourself and your priorities in life – your likes, dislikes and what makes you tick – the better you can determine the best career fit for you.