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

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

Advice, Job Search Guide