Self-assessment
Whether you are seeking your first job, changing career direction, or marketing yourself for professional work, you need to be able to assess your skills, interests and preferences accurately and be able to articulate what you have to offer.
Self-assessment should lead you to a greater understanding of yourself in relation to work (your vocational identity). You will also be in a better position to think about the occupational areas that are likely to give you personal satisfaction and meet your expectations.
This isn’t an easy task! Pausing, reflecting and assessing yourself and your goals and aspirations is a very positive and empowering process; but it can also be confronting and daunting.
This section suggests some activities that are useful to undertake as part of self-assessment. They will help you identify your strengths, skills, values about work and lifestyle, interests, plus your approach to tasks.
top of pageCan you help me with self-assessment?
Self-assessment tools are a way of enhancing self-awareness through considering your attitudes to various aspects of work and by taking stock of your career skills, interests and values.
Whilst the books, tests and vocational computer programs suggested cannot tell you what job you should do, self-understanding will be enhanced through analysis of education, work history, skills, interests, values, aspirations, personal circumstances, and external influences. Self-assessment tools will identify likely and compatible career options or occupations as a starting point for further discussion and may provide new career ideas or insights to explore.
Some of the resources available to assist in this process include:
Books
What Color is Your Parachute?
Richard Bolles provides a number of exercises designed to help you identify your skills and preferences. He notes that it is also important to acknowledge which skills you like using best.
Your Career & You
This self-assessment guide for students and graduates is one of Graduate Careers Australia’s most popular products. Recently updated to reflect contemporary work practices, it helps readers to consider their goals, values, attributes and skills as a basis for career exploration.
Limited copies are available to collect from the Careers Resource Centre (CRC).
Tests
Self Directed Search (SDS)
Dr John Holland argues that people search for environments that will allow them to exercise their skills and abilities, express their attitudes and values, and take on agreeable problems and roles. Complete a short questionnaire and consider the resulting occupational scales and themes (see sample).
Available in the CRC – Cost $7.50 (inc. GST)
Strong Interest Inventory
The Strong Interest Inventory measures your interests in a wide range of jobs, work tasks, leisure activities and school subjects. The ‘Strong’ is a more comprehensive questionnaire than the SDS and results are delivered in a comprehensive report (see sample).
Available in the CRC – Cost $60.00 (inc. GST)
Computer-aided career exploration
It is recommended that you make a careers counselling appointment to follow up on self-administered career exploration tests, including computer-based tests, as their results can sometimes be confusing and require interpretation.
If you prefer not to see a careers consultant, we strongly encourage you to further investigate the suggested career options or occupations. This can be done through using CRC resources, online media and by talking to people already working in your field of interest. Talking to people about what they do and where they work helps you clarify your perceptions of the job and the career path, and to build valuable networks within the industry.
Internet kiosk
A number of PCs are available for you to use in the CRC for computer-guided career tests (to the right of the Enquiries Desk as you enter). These programs will help you take stock of your career skills, interests and values through interactive self-assessment and evaluation tasks, and then identify and explore likely and compatible career options (including suitable industries, career clusters and occupations). You can print your results using a Unicard, which is available for purchase from the Bailleau Library or Union House. Available packages are:
- Adult Directions
- Career Builder Plus - See sample report
- OZJAC - Search and explore accredited courses, occupational groupings, training provider campuses, national and state industries and career topics.
- myfuture - You will need to create a user account in the My Guide section, but it's free, available on the internet, and it lets you save your work so that at any time you can come back to keep working through the activities.
Useful links
Australian Job Guide - This Department of Education, Science and Training site includes hundreds of occupational profiles. It is an excellent source of information on how to choose an occupation, how to plan a career, what jobs involve, where the necessary training is available and where to get further advice and information.Steps To Success - University of Waterloo, Career Development eManual