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Know Yourself and The Rest Will Follow!
 

Self Assessment as it Relates to Career Development

As with any course of action, the career development process has a beginning, middle and even an end.  And just as with any other process the beginning often times determines what happens along the rest of the journey.  In career development planning the steps, titlehough varied for each individual, follow a basic pattern in design; individuals by enlarge explore the world of work through self- assessment and exploration as well as through research before they make a commitment to some career or career path.  The next stage in the process is career entry as its name suggests oftentimes entry level positions are the platform for launching a career, career entry is followed by career progression and refinement movement within a career field.  Career progression and refinement does not only entail upward movement or promotion it can also occur via lateral movement, becoming skilled at various facets of the career or field through cross training.  Learning the inner workings of an organization or field allows you to become an “expert” and a highly valued resource thereby ensuring career success.  The final stage of the career development process is career disengagement also known as retirement.

 The career process in its entirety can and is affected by the trends that shape employment and the career landscape some of which in the 21st century include global markets, new technology, and e-commerce.  As these forces and others continue to change the world of work the only thing that  remains constant is that for each person there is a process, and that the process in its totality adds up to a career journey.

Strategic thinking and planning are the primary responsibility of all individuals involved in the career development process.  In other words, in order to make the process or the journey a “successful” one there needs to be consistent and active thought and energy placed on growth and development.  Career planning need not be a random act but a deliberate effort beginning with self assessment.  Self assessment can and does take many forms some of which, as a student, include meeting with an academic advisor to choose a major and explore elective classes to determine an area of interest.  In addition, self assessment as it relates to career exploration also involves learning and knowing about you by identifying strengths and skills as well as work values and personality style. This can be done alone or with the assistance of a Career Counselor who would serve to provide feedback as well as the opportunity to utilize formal assessment instruments to aide you in the process, if necessary. 

In order to start in on the process however, begin by asking yourself the following questions:

• What activities do I find fun and satisfying?
• What do I do well?  What am I good at?
• What adjectives would I use to describe myself?
• What’s really important to me in a career?
• What kind of work environment would I feel most comfortable in?

Remember, the main goal of self assessment is to help you identify your unique characteristics so that you have the information necessary to improve, grow and develop.  Self assessment allows you to move from “self” to “better self" by identifying areas of strength as well as identifying areas that may need strengthening or further development.  As such, the process can at times seem vast or overwhelming- take heart however, your Career Counselor is always there to help if you find yourself getting “stuck” and the results of all your efforts will be well worth the work.

The outcomes of self-assessment are important, not just because they help make us more confident and make us feel good about ourselves, but because they also provide us with the language necessary to be able to begin to present ourselves to employers both on paper and in person. The second step in the process of self assessment is therefore becoming familiar with your findings and comfortable in terms of utilizing your findings and your self exploration to describe the things that you can do, your skills, as well as your interests and experience both in written and oral form.  Articulating who you are, what you can do, and what makes you special are the fundamentals to being effective in landing interview opportunities, impressing a potential employer during  an interview, and eventually also being impressive in the workplace. The ability to do these things however, can come only from beginning with a thorough self inventory.

The third and final step of the self assessment process is TAKE ACTION.   

• Get involved in campus activities connected to your interests, skills values and personality and work towards obtaining a part-time job
• Participate in an internship or volunteer experience that may expose you to your area of interest and teach you some important skills or help you to further develop important transferable skills, skills that can be utilized across career fields such as communication and organizational skills.
• Finally, don’t forget to make an appointment to meet with your career counselor to discuss your options, your choices and your plan!