The Power of Self-Assessment

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