A Step-by-step guide to assist job seekers in their job search effort.. Content Overview: Assessing yourself…

GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE JOB SEARCH- Part 1-Assessing Yourself
You must know your product-you- so that you can market yourself effectively to prospective employers. Consequently, a critical first step in your job search is conducting self-analysis, which involves critical examining yourself on the following dimensions: interest, abilities, education, experience, personality desired job environment, and personal goals. A management consultant stressed the importance of performing this assessment.
“Many Graduates enter the world of work without even understanding the fact that they are specific somebodies, much less knowing the kind of competencies and motivations which they have been endowed” The Tragedy of not knowing is awesome. Ignorant of who they are, most graduates are doomed to spend much of their lives in line for work which they are poorly suited……….Self-knowledge is critical to effectively managing your career.
Asking the key Questions:
A self-analysis, in part, entails asking yourself some of the very important and difficult questions (Figure JS-1) It is critical that you respond to the questions honestly, because your answers ultimately will be used as a guide in a job search. A less-than-candid appraisal of yourself might result in a job mismatch.
Figure JS-1: Questions to ask in your self-analysis
InterestHow do I like to spend my time? Do I enjoy with people? Do I like working with mechanical things? Do I enjoy working with numbers? Am I a member of any professional organization? Do I enjoy physical activities? Do I like to ready? | PersonalityWhat are my good and bad traits? Am I Competitive? Do I work well with others? Am I out spoken? Am I a leader or a follower? DO I work well under pressure? Do I work quickly, or am I methodical? Do I get along well with others? Am I ambitious? DO I work well independently of others? |
AbilitiesAm I adept at work with numbers? Am I adept at work with Computers? Do have good and verbal communications skills? What special talents do I have? At which abilities do I wish I were more adept? | EducationHow have my courses and extracurricular activities prepare me for a specific job? Which were my best subjects? My worse? The most fun? The least? Is my certificate an accurate picture of my academic ability? Why? DO I aspire to graduate degree? Before beginning my job? Why did I choose my major? |
Desired job EnvironmentAm I willing to relocate? Why? Do I have a Geographical preference? Why? Would I mind traveling in my job? Do I have to work for a large, nationally known firm to be satisfied? Must the job I assume offer rapid promotional opportunities? If I could design my own job, what characteristics would it have? How important is high initial salary to me? | Personal CoalsWhat are my short and long term goals? Why? Am I career oriented, or do I have broader interest? What are my career goals? What jobs are likely to help me achieve my goals? What do I hope to be doing in 5 years? |
ExperienceWhat previous jobs have I held? What where my responsibilities in each? What internships or so-op positions have I held? What are my responsibilities? What volunteer position ha ve I held? What were my responsibilities? Were any of my jobs or position applicable to positions I may be seeking? How? What did I like the most about my previous job? Like the least? Why did I work in the jobs I liked the least? If I had to do it over again, would I work in this job? Why? |
After you have addressed the questions posed in Figure JS-1, you are ready to identify your strengths and weaknesses. To do so, draw a vertical line down the middle of the sheet of paper and label the sheet of paper “Strengths “ and the other side “weaknesses”. Based on your answers to the questions, record your strong and weak points in their respective columns. Ideally this cataloging should be done over a few days to give you adequate time to reflect on your attributes. In addition, you might seek input from others who know you well (Such as parents, close relatives, friends, lectures professors, or employers) and can offer more objective views. They might even evaluate you on the questions in Figure JS-1, and compare the results with your own evaluation. A hypothetical list of strengths and weaknesses shown in Figure JS-2
Identifying Strengths and weaknesses
What skills are most important? The answer, of course, varies by occupation and employer. Recent studies, however, suggest that problem solving skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, analytic and computer skill, and leadership skills are all valued by employers. Personal characteristics employers seek in a job candidate include honesty, integrity, motivation, initiative, self-confidence, flexibility, and enthusiasm. Finally most employers also look for work experience, internship experience or co-op experience.
Figure JS-2: Hypothetical list of jobs candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
- Enjoy being with people
- Am an Avid reader
- Have good communication skills
- Am involved in many extracurricular activities
- Work well with others
- Work well independently
- Am honest and dependable
- Am willing to travel in my job
- Am a good problems solver
- Have a good sense of humor
- Am a self-starter, have drive
Weaknesses
- Am not adept at work with computers
- Have minimal work experience
- Have a mediocre academic record
- Am sometimes impatient
- Resent close supervision
- Work methodically (Slow)
- Will not relocate
- Anger easily sometimes
- Lack of customer orientation
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