Values

Have your values changed over time?  Do you notice a difference in your values when at different jobs or volunteer positions?

Non negotiable Values: I have always had “making a difference “ as a work value.  It is what I call my non-negotiable value.  I had ONE job that I was good at doing but could not sleep at night when I worked there.  I was working as telephone solicitor and realized I was representing a company that did not make a difference; they just said they did.  It was a powerful experience.

Find a Way Values: When my creativity value is not being met at work, I find myself getting very creative with my cooking.  I have seen this same thing happen for my clients.  I worked with an admin assistant who could type 120 words per minute.  She didn’t place value on her speed, she thought it was much more valuable that her documents looked like works of art.  She kept physically describing how they looked.  Her art/creativity was a find –a –way value.

2^nd Best Values: When my leadership or recognition values are not being met (they are secondary in my list), I find myself focusing on advancement through learning and increasing my knowledge.

Have you discovered your “non-negotiable” values? Noticed any “find-a-way” values?  Share your experiences with us.

Motivation Types

So now you have all 8 descriptions of the Motivation Types which are your top 2?  How does that line up with your work, your volunteer experiences, your partner?  My theory is our motivation also drives our choice of partner.

Anything in italics comes from Barbara Moses' book "What Next? The complete guide to taking control of your working life" 2003.  I highly recommend purchasing the book and completing the excercises in full.

There are strengths associated with each motivational type, as well as potential trouble spots and common conflicts.

Ideally work will satisfy both your major and minor motivators.  Commonly, however, our motivators may conflict.  Consider the following dilemmas.

“I want to get ahead (career builder) and I want to be available for my kids during the day (lifestyler).”

“I am easily bored (novelty seeker) and I want financial security (stability seeker).”

“I want to run my own show (autonomy seeker) and I want to be part of a team (sociability seeker).”

It would be great to hear if anyone has solutions to their conflicts. Thanks for sharing!

I was also wondering if anyone has found their motivations changing as they age?  Or are your motivations different from where you grew up?

Self Assessment

Has anyone had an experience where it was the right career but the wrong place?

My first exposure to career advisors was eons ago when I first left teaching. I was so dissatisfied with their lack of help that I complained loudly to their funder, which resulted in one staff member being fired. (In my opinion they even managed to fire the wrong guy.) I would never have worked in the career counselling field until I landed in the Comox Valley and read a job description that caught my attention and the rest is history. 15 years later I am still loving my work as a career counsellor.  I am glad that I didn't assume all career counselling places were unprofessional.

The cartoon is also a great way to think about transferable skills.

Does anyone know someone who almost missed out on their best job?

Generalist vs Specialist

Are you a generalist or a specialist? Receive the free newsletter to find out and then you can follow the discussion.

An example, my degree is in Education, elementary education.  Elementary teachers need to be able to teach every subject.  Teaching many subjuect areas is a sign of a generalist.  Secondary teachers usually teach only one or two subjects and their courses in university coalesced into a major and a minor.  My major was elementary. Secondary teachers usually specialize into one or two topic areas over the years.  

My father, a die hard generalist, changed the subjects he taught as a high school teacher every 5 years during a 30 year career.  He was a scanner adapting in a world of specialists.  It worked well for him but some people were unsure of his professional actions.  He is not a typical man nor was he a typical teacher - not a bad thing in this case but he did face some resistance from administration for being atypical.

Do you have an example you could share?

Scanners and Divers

So are you a scanner or a diver? You can find definitions of the terms in the latest Morgan Ebbett newsletter. It is a free publication just send us your email and we will add you to the list. You email is never shared with anyone or anything else.

I am a scanner and as a career counsellor I get to start a new project with every client I meet. My job is exciting enough for me to have developed a long term career and appear to be a diver which is often more traditional. Let's face it, who wants advice on careers from someone who it appears can’t keep a job? By finding a job that honors my scanning nature, I have been able to develop a career I love.

Once you have identified if you are a scanner or a diver can you share with us which sort of jobs have worked well for you?

Seasonal Delay

For those of you who were looking for the new posts, I apologize for their absence. I thought I had scheduled them to post while I was away and apparently I didn't make that work. So now you can read on and post your thoughts!

Myers Briggs

One of my favourite quizzes that uses the 4 letter code is the Keirsey Temperment because they identify famous historical people with the same Myers Briggs code as yourself.  Also if you get the opportunity to participate in a True Colors or Personality Dimensions quiz these are also based on this coding system but the process has been simplified into 4, not 16, types or groups to choose from.

One client wanted to be a bartender but her personality quiz results kept pointing her in the direction of an elementary or preschool teacher.  After much frustration on her part and lots of discussion, we discovered that she had very different definitions for the words used in the quizzes and that was causing the mixed up results.

I am really interested in knowing which quizzes you found to be the most accurate.  Were there any surprises or a – ha moments for anyone?  Did you feel like all the quizzes are way off base?