Know Thy Self
Following the career development steps of self evaluating your VIPS (values, interests, personality and skills) it’s time to focus on personality. This happens to be one of my favorite parts of the career reinvention and self reflection journey. Personality refers to your unique patterns of mental, emotional, physical, and behavioral characteristics.
You may have heard of the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator™ (MBTI) an assessment tool that breaks personality down to 4 preferences.
- Where do you draw your energy? Do you prefer to focus on the external world of people and actions or are you energized by ideas and feelings of the inner world?
- How do you perceive information? Do you focus on the realities of the present or the possibilities of the future?
- How do you make decisions? Are you guided by objective, analytical reasoning or subjective, personal values?
- What is your need for order in life? Do you prefer to be organized and planned or spontaneous and flexible?
Your personality preferences play a big role in the type of work you may like or dislike. Very often I’ll work with clients who wish they could be doing someone else’s job on their organization’s team because their position is simply not a good fit.
Know Thy Self and honor your inborn personality type to help you find a career that matches your natural tendencies. There are many fabulous career coaches certified to administer and interpret the MBTI but I caution you to find experienced practitioners who can guide you through this exciting self reflection. The unofficial online versions cannot give you the full picture of the instrument and how personality plays a role in your career world so take the time to find someone with credentials and experience if this assessment appeals to you.
The MBTI now has expanded versions (Step II and Step III) that delve even deeper into additional competencies and personality traits that may help you further discover your ideal career fit.
