Assessing Your Skills and Opportunities

Take a moment to consider your strengths and weaknesses. Your career might have been filled with various experiences—some successful, others not. But rather than viewing these experiences as wasted time, consider the valuable skills you may have acquired along the way. Combining diverse skills can lead to new insights and career achievements. Where do your skills, strengths, and market demands intersect?

Strengths and values assessments provide the foundational pieces of this puzzle. These revelations can stimulate further introspection about your career path. With these insights, you can clarify your unique contribution to the world and identify the next piece: industry demand.

These assessments allow you to focus on your strengths. I previously wrote about several tools that were aimed at those working on projects within large organizations. However, their benefits extend to anyone, regardless of their job role.

What are your core values?

The VIA survey poses insightful questions regarding your values. Results reveal 24 character strengths, highlighting your top five. These strengths often manifest in your professional life.

How would you characterize your personality?

The Big Five personality assessment is widely recognized among psychologists. This succinct evaluation examines five major personality traits: Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. After answering a hundred questions, you will gain clarity on where you stand across these dimensions.

What are your strengths?

Clifton Strengths and StrengthsFinder evaluate 34 strengths categorized into four key areas: Implementation, Influence, Relationship-Building, and Strategic Thinking. Identifying your top five strengths can be revealing, especially when considering how they align with these categories.

How do you prefer to contribute to teams?

You may find that you can fill two or three roles within a team. The Belbin team roles inventory can help you identify your preferred contributions among nine distinct team roles.

What types of work resonate with you?

Holland's RIASEC test is a valuable tool for discovering your work preferences. RIASEC stands for Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. Identifying your top choices can guide you toward suitable career paths.

Understanding Your Challenges

Now that we've explored your strengths, let's take a look at the potential obstacles you may face. Stress, fatigue, or lack of sleep can negatively impact your decision-making and behavior. The Hogan Development Survey can assist in examining these darker aspects of your personality, revealing potential career derailers.

Often, how others perceive us differs significantly from our self-image. Seeking honest feedback from colleagues can provide insights that formal assessments might miss. The Johari Window serves as an excellent model for understanding the unknown facets of ourselves.

Receiving and acting on feedback requires humility. However, where else can you find such valuable and cost-effective insights for career development? What areas could benefit from improvement?

The HOWL Framework

Now you have six tools at your disposal, plus a valuable way to think about your work. The HOWL framework (Have to, Ought to, Want to, Love to) offers a memorable method for evaluating which aspects of your work are energizing or draining.

Which activities energize you, and which ones feel obligatory? By applying the HOWL lens, you can clarify how each task contributes to your sense of purpose, echoing the principles of Ikigai. Identifying which tasks are energizing versus draining can provide clarity on your career direction.

So, you are aware of your strengths—that's your first piece of the puzzle. You understand your skills—your second piece. Now, how can you connect these to market demand?

These assessments and reflective questions provide insights that serve as the initial steps toward your professional transformation. Best of luck on your journey!