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Self-assessment is an important first step to determine if your personal goals align with the direction you have in mind. What’s more, it can help you assess your current job situation, and if you should consider a change.
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Journeys cannot begin without
first identifying where you are.
0:01
This is true in navigation,
it's true on websites.
0:06
And it's especially true
when it comes to careers.
0:09
But this is more than just figuring
out what you're doing right now.
0:12
Self-assessment is
an important first step,
0:15
to determine if your personal goals align
with the direction you have in mind.
0:18
What's more, it can help you assess
your current job situation, and
0:24
if you should consider a change.
0:28
In some cases,
you might not need any sort of test to
0:31
tell you that your current job
is not the one you want to have.
0:34
But where do you go from there?
0:37
Self assessment can help
provide a direction.
0:40
Including ideas on where you can go,
and a range of job opportunities,
0:43
once you make the decision
to move on professionally.
0:47
But if there were ever a time to be honest
with yourself about what you want to do,
0:51
that time is now.
0:56
Self assessment forces you to be
honest about any responses you offerto
0:57
personal questions.
1:02
These tests will only work if
you provide accurate answers.
1:04
A number of tests are available
online that gauge your interests,
1:08
personality, and potential fits for
various jobs in industries.
1:12
These tests can be helpful to confirm
some of the things you already
1:16
know about yourself, just as much
as they reveal new information, and
1:19
perhaps some ideas you
haven't considered before.
1:24
However, some self-assessment exercises
can be completed with just a notebook
1:26
and a pen.
1:31
Author CC Chapman has one
activity you can try on your own.
1:33
So, in terms of applying
a degree of focus to a career.
1:37
One of those things that can really
help put a lot of things in focus
1:43
is self-assessment.
1:47
>> Right.
>> Now self-assessment is, it's so
1:49
important, and it's not something that
you just do at the beginning of a career.
1:52
>> No.
>> Like when you're getting out of, or
1:56
you're going in high school.
1:58
>> [LAUGH]
>> And
1:59
I know plenty of people have probably
taken these self-assessment tests in high
2:00
school or, maybe at some point,
in college.
2:03
But self-assessment is important
throughout your career, isn't it?
2:06
>> Oh, without a doubt.
2:09
If you're not looking at where you are and
what you're doing on a regular basis,
2:10
you're never going to be happy and
you're never going to get anywhere.
2:14
I try to.
You know a lot of companies will do it,
2:17
as far as if you're working for
somebody, it's the year end review.
2:19
That's when you look at it and
someone judges you.
2:22
But honestly, don't wait for
other people to assess your career.
2:24
You know, look at yourself,
figure out am I on the right track,
2:27
am I getting where I need?
2:30
You know, should I take more
classes to learn a new language?
2:32
Should I take more here on treehouse,
to take my skills to a new level?
2:35
The more you do that self-assessment, and
2:39
don't just wait,
don't do it on a calendar.
2:41
Everybody does it in December,
you know, looking for the new year.
2:43
Figure out what works for you and
be looking on a constant basis.
2:45
>> Now one of the activities
in Amazing Things Will Happen.
2:49
Is the three-word exercise.
2:53
>> Mm-hm.
>> And, and I know that you,
2:55
you talked about this exercise
sort of being inspired by the,
2:56
New Year's resolutions.
3:00
>> Yeah.
3:01
>> That you saw online.
3:02
Can you explain how that
activity sort of came about?
3:03
Yeah sure, so
3:05
the three word exercise is something
that I learned from another writer, and
3:06
what he always did, was instead of new
year's resolutions, which I'm not a fan of
3:10
either, he would figure out three things
for the year, three things to focus on.
3:15
And what the exercise is, is really
simply, is you lay out all the words,
3:20
you kind of do a brainstorm,
kind of a mind map, of
3:25
all the terms you're focusing on for, you
know, you want to achieve in the new year.
3:28
>> Mm-hm.
>> And then you start looking for themes.
3:31
You narrow it down,
you simplify, you focus on it,
3:33
and then you get down to 3 words
that you're gonna focus on for
3:35
the year, and you attack and you make
>> Mm-hm.
3:38
>> It happen.
3:41
>> That seems like, it seems like
something that would be especially
3:41
helpful for personal philosophy,
a personal, professional direction.
3:44
I bet you could even apply it towards,
3:49
you know, the types of projects, the types
of clients that you wanna seek out.
3:53
When it comes to careers, how can
we take the three-word exercise and
3:57
apply it towards the career search?
4:02
Sort of directing our career path,
so to speak.
4:04
>> Sure, so let's step through
the exercise as if we were looking
4:09
for a new job.
4:12
That a designer or
developer is looking for a new job.
4:12
Now one of the things that where we start
is, of course you wanna make more money,
4:15
you want more flexible hours,
you want a work shift, all those things.
4:19
Those things are what we all want.
4:22
Those are not the things to focus
on because we know we need those.
4:24
So what you would do first, is you would
actually write down all the things that
4:27
you really want out of this new job.
4:30
Maybe it's more challenging,
maybe it's more responsibility,
4:31
you wanna start managing people, you
wanna learn a new programming language,
4:34
you wanna expand your portfolio.
4:38
Write all those down and
do not be held back.
4:41
Just write them down.
4:44
Take, take the time, take a notebook,
take a whiteboard, wherever it is, and
4:44
write everything that comes down,
and take a week.
4:48
Take some time to really focus on it,
4:50
because this is your master
list you're gonna work from.
4:51
Once you've got those,
what you should start doing is actually,
4:54
when I do it on a whiteboard,
4:57
what I do is grab different color markers
start circling if there are any themes.
4:58
Oh, look this kind of focuses on
the sort of responsibilities I want.
5:02
And over here is maybe the locations,
maybe I want to move.
5:06
>> Right.
>> I want to uproot my family and
5:09
do something new.
5:11
>> Or creativity.
5:11
>> Or creativity.
5:12
>> Right. Yeah. >> There are so
many different themes.
5:13
It's up to you if there is any themes
that are grouping them together.
5:15
Because your next step is to actually
take it and start chopping them down,
5:19
because the goal is to get down
to three phrases or words.
5:22
In this case, we're doing a career search,
maybe it'll be individual words,
5:26
maybe it'll be phrases.
5:29
>> Right.
5:30
>> Managerial responsibility,
sronger creativity, but
5:32
you want to narrow it down,
so that way at the end of it,
5:34
what you're hoping for,
is that you've got these three really
5:36
important things that you
want out of the next job.
5:40
When that becomes important is, when you
start interviewing with people, if your
5:42
not asking questions in an interview,
then you're not going to get the job.
5:45
That's one of the rules
of interviewing for jobs.
5:48
When you've got these three
things that you go you know what,
5:50
these are the really important things.
5:53
You can sit there and
ask those specifically and
5:55
say, hey, is there a chance for
me to do this here?
5:57
>> Mm.
>> Because that's gonna show that you've
5:59
focused on what you really want.
6:01
This isn't just another job.
6:02
This is actually something you want,
and it sets up for that career path.
6:04
And if you go in, and you've taken
the time to go through this exercise, and
6:07
you go in and
you get no's on all those three things?
6:11
That's not the right job for you.
6:15
>> Yeah.
>> And too many people jump
6:16
based on the salary, or
6:18
based on something, you know, that short
term is great, don't get me wrong.
6:19
But long term, eventually you're not
going to get what you need out of it, and
6:23
you're going to be back
at these words again, so.
6:26
>> So I bet you could take these
three words that you come up with for
6:28
the activity.
6:32
And if you've really been
honest with yourself and
6:33
you're really focused on
what it is that you want,
6:34
you could apply it not just towards
the interviews but take it a step back.
6:37
You can look at the companies.
6:41
You can do your research,
you wanna do research anyway,
6:43
before you go out and
even submit a cover letter or resume.
6:46
But when you're looking
at job opportunities and
6:49
you see what's out there,
6:51
This is almost like doing personal keyword
research on yourself, on what you want.
6:53
Yeah, and
you should be investigating companies.
6:58
If you're not looking at the companies,
7:00
if you're not going out to both their
websites, their social media profiles,
7:01
their Linkedin company pages,
which now companies have.
7:05
If you're not taking the time to
actually research the companies,
7:08
you're going to find out
the culture doesn't mix, and
7:11
granted you can only find out so
much before you're actually there on site.
7:13
But, when you know what you want, it makes
researching these companies a lot better.
7:17
You gotta get beyond the name.
7:21
Ooh, that's a great company.
7:23
That sounds awesome.
7:25
May not be a great fit for you.
7:26
>> Try these tests out for yourself.
7:28
Whether you are laser-focused
on a specific career, or
7:31
you have no idea where
your path might take you.
7:34
Identifying opportunities and
learning more about yourself is incredibly
7:37
valuable, as you take your first steps
toward the next stop in your career.
7:41
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