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? 

Judger or Perceiver

(The caption reads "Walter couldn't pretend any longer:  The oil patch was not for him.  He was a dancer; the ballet was in his blood, and by George, today he would dance!")

I had a client who was very uncomfortable about being unemployed, so she grabbed at the first job that came her way. This developed an unhealthy work pattern. She would grab the first job she found but she also found herself fired within a year. She needed to assess her transferable skills and find a different industry to work in that would appreciate what she had to offer. She couldn’t see this pattern until she stopped long enough to gain some perspective on the big picture. The opposite sometimes exist where people are afraid to apply for a position in case they become stuck in the wrong job. But this can lead to an unemployment limbo or a limbo that has you staying in a job that makes you miserable.

So how do you organize your job search when you are a Judger? Or how does your job search happen when you are a Perceiver? Perceivers have you missed a job opportunity in the past? Judgers is it extra torturous to have no decision about what work you will be doing tomorrow? How have you made a career change in the past?

Thinker or Feeler?

A client dealt with his career change by making a list of all the potential places he could apply for work. A very logical approach to job search. He designed the list so as to start at the top and work his way to the bottom where the most sought after employer was. His logical theory was that he would rather practice looking for work on the companies he least likely wanted to work for and instead have well honed job search skills by the time he arrived at his employer of choice. The default position was that took the pressure off and even a less than perfect company might offer him a position, which wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Look around your world and think about who you would like to work with? Feelers respond to values and the relationships developed at work. Thinkers can use this same technique or looking for people they would like to work with because they will gravitate towards other Thinkers and appreciate their logical way of performing daily tasks. How does your T or F effect how you find a job? Tell me a story from how you got a job in the past. Do you have a logical job search plan? Do you apply for a job at a place where it just feels right? How does your preference for making decisions effect your job/career search?