Your personality is a preference

In last week's value finding exercise, you were tasked with going through a list of values and selecting those which resonate with you. You selected words based on your personal preferences. Again this week, I'll help you further focus on and define your personal preferences utilizing personality tests. These exercises are so important when looking to build your ideal position. We can take what we know about ourselves for granted. It takes a lifetime to get to know our own inner workings, because we are always changing with each new, daily input. Being able to clearly communicate your personal preferences is key in every aspect of life, including finding fulfilling work.

The results of personality tests do not define you (this is not meant to be reductive), they will however help you to further understand and clearly communicate aspects of yourself. You will then have a repository of pithy descriptors from which to pull when crafting a cover letter, resume, or speaking about yourself in an interview or networking event. These assessments also have the added benefit of helping you better understand others. Reading through each grouping gives you perspective on things outside of your personal preferences. So while you may have been reacting to aspects of other's personalities, once you know more you will be better equipped to deal with them, and if nothing else, at least understand them better.

This is not an exhaustive list of available tests, but here are some of the most common (and a few of my favorites) to get you started.

Try:

  • The Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator (popularly referred to as the MBTI). There are free versions available online if you do not wish to purchase the full assessment. Just search- MBTI free. There is no one in particular I'd recommend. Once you have your result, also delve into the ...
  • Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS), which you can just read about or take the free assessment.
  • EnneaApp- I've only verified the apps availability on iOS, but it is free to take the test and provides a good overview of each number.
  • The Big Five Personality Traits (or the Five Factor Model) has a free basic assessment, and focuses on relating. So offers more insight into how your personality and preferences shows up in relation to others. 
  • StrengthsFinder, found on Gallup, is not free but is useful in pinpointing and verbalizing your overarching talents. Some organizations even purchase the assessment for all employees because of the insights it offers.
  • The Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential (MAPP) is an interesting one, and offers results similar to those of a career placement test you might take in high school. So if you are looking to understand which industry your skills are geared towards, it might be interesting to take the free assessment. 
  • Sparketype, a free assessment created by the Good Life Project, is designed to "reveal the essential nature of the work you are here to do".
  • Love languages- they do have a version for work, but even the free one for personal use can be very insightful!

Even more:

  • Check out the book "Reading People", where author Anne Bogel collects, explores and explains many (or maybe even most) of the personality tests available and how they offer insights into love, life, and (the reason you are reading this) how we work!
  • Also interesting, and why I chose this image, "What Color is Your Parachute" called the best guide for job searching.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Your own worst boss

Working remote takes some getting used to. Managing your own time is not a skill that is fostered in traditional work environments where employees are expected to fulfill certain hours of the day instead of producing a defined amount of measurable work (more in this post ). When switching to a remote environment, people need to learn how to manage their time and any conflicting diversions. Learning to prioritize is the first step. Knowing your goals, and tracking your own ability to produce will help to hone in on how and when to work.  It is actually more common for employees new to a remote environment to overwork. It is difficult to set clear boundaries. There is often a general assumption that if work is not seen it is not done. However, there is actually nothing more effective than personal accountability.  No manager will ever be able to manage an employees time or hold them accountable as well as any one person may do for themselves. From the book "The intelligent
Read more

Why Remote

Office buildings are expensive, very, very expensive. The average annual per seat cost in the U.S. is around $15,000 (this varies per study/industry, but not by much). Now multiply that by the number of employees in your company, and you get my point.   On top of the financial implications the environmental impacts are huge.   Depending on the physical footprint of an office building, the carbon footprint of operating it increases the expense many times over. Unfortunately, those expenses are not always accounted for. Throw in the cost of commuting, and maintaining homes that remain empty all day, and the expenses just keep building up. Why? Because this is “how it’s done”? Well, the way work is done has shifted. Technology allows people to connect, communicate, engage, and work from anywhere. Even professions that seem absolutely tied to physical space, or are based on human interactions are able to become increasingly virtual. This is not a bad thing! Virtual does not mea
Read more

How work is viewed

A large portion of being able to shift to a successful remote environment is centered around how work is defined within the organization. Many companies still operate in an outdated fashion- employees that are present in the office from 9-5 are productive. If managers are able to see employees, they assume that is enough. It’s not. Work should be focused on product, not presence. Every individual has an optimal time and preference of production. If all employees are asked to occupy the same time and space in order to produce, then the majority of productivity is lost. Productivity is no longer based on a Fordist concept of parts per hour, so there is a need to redefine what product looks like. Product should be defined per industry, organization and individual, not to be confused with physical presence. Collaboration is an important factor in any organization. With the virtual collaboration tools that are available however, physical presence is not as important as shifting an o
Read more