Whether you are choosing a job for the first time or changing jobs, it is advisable to do some personal stocktaking. This should include:-
• what you have to offer an employer;
• what you expect from a job; and
• type of environment in which you would like to work.
When considering your strengths and weaknesses you need to be absolutely honest with yourself. It is advisable to make your study over a period of time so that you can check your assessments and make adjustments as necessary.
LOOKING AT YOURSELF Approach your self-appraisal in a systematic manner so that important details are not excluded. The following structure is just one method of ensuring that all relevant factors are considered.
HEALTH AND PHYSICAL MAKE-UP Consider if there is anything about your age, build, physical or mental health which makes you particularly suitable or unsuitable for some jobs. Consider for example.
Age: Age limits for entry to a career are no longer widely applied. For some trainee posts employers may look for younger applicants. On the other hand there are many careers where older applicants are at an advantage as they are likely to be more mature and have work experience which can be developed.
Build: A strong, well-built physique may be necessary for some outdoor or physically active jobs and some occupations may have minimum height requirements.
Hearing: A hearing defect may result in communication difficulties particularly in noisy work environments or in telephone conversations.
Sight: Good eyesight is important in a number of careers eg. jobs involving close precision work. Good colour vision is also essential in a range of jobs.
Appearance and Speech: Employers will expect you to be neat and clean and have an appropriate style of appearance and dress. In some jobs clear speech and a confident manner are important particularly if you are expected to influence or control others.
General Health and Physical Fitness: Less noticeable aspects of general health or fitness can also influence job choice. Consider working conditions eg. Noisy, stuffy, dusty or damp surroundings. The fewer limitations you have the better but there is no point in ignoring obvious problems.
CIRCUMSTANCES Consider special circumstances which will influence your job choice, for example:-
Family Needs:
- Money may not be your main concern but if you have a family to keep, you will need enough to live on.
- Are there any family circumstances which would restrict the hours that you could work.
Mobility: Have you the use of a car for work? How far would you travel to work? Are you prepared to move house.
EDUCATION Look at education in terms of the qualifications you have and those you could obtain, taking into consideration full-time and part-time study. Keep to a plan so that you do leave anything out.
Subjects:
- List those that you liked and/or were good at and think about how they could be used or developed. See if there are common factors eg. mainly numerical or artistic.
- List those that you disliked and/or were poor at. Consider the reasons for this and look for common factors. Were they, for example, literary, scientific, theoretical or practical subjects?
Effort: Consider how much effort you put into your studies. Some people only manage to get through exams with through exams with a great deal of effort and anxiety, so for them it might be best to go for careers which do not involve exams. Others like the challenge of study and find exams less stressful.
Special Subjects: List any subjects which may be particularly useful in a career, eg. languages.
You should now be able to summarise your educational attainments and note those which could be useful for employment and those which could be more fully developed
WORK EXPERIENCE
List the skills you have developed through paid or voluntary work, training courses and hobbies. An honest view of how well you performed is necessary to decide the skills you should develop and the areas you should avoid.
Duties:
- How difficult or demanding were your duties and how did you handle problems?
- Was complex training involved and how did you cope?
- What standard of performance was required and how did you measure up – eg. speed, accuracy, salesmanship?
- How did you compare with others?
- What did your supervisors say about your performance?
Special Duties: Were you asked to do any special tasks eg. training others, and if so why do you were chosen.
Responsibility:
- To what extent were you responsible for the work of others and what difficulties did come across?
- Were you involved in decision making and how did you cope?
Promotion: Were there opportunities for promotion in any of your jobs? If so, why do you think you were promoted or not promoted.
In assessing yourself and in applying for jobs it is important, not only to say what job you did but to evaluate what experience, skills and knowledge you gained from it. Remember also to examine any experiences you may have had through hobbies, interests or voluntary work.
INTERESTS To succeed at something both ability and motivation are needed. Neither is totally sufficient on its own and there are many cases when people fail through lack of interest even though they may have the ability. People tend to be more interested in areas in which they may have some ability, but many people have interests that are not backed up in this way. It is important, therefore, to be completely honest with yourself when considering interests and abilities with relation to jobs. Look at the long term pattern of your interests and see if there is a consistent thread. The following categories could be used as a guide.
SCIENTIFIC – An interest in science and in investigating how and why.
PRACTICAL – An enjoyment in using one’s hands to make or mend things.
NUMERICAL – An enjoyment of working with figures and making calculations.
ARTISTIC – An enjoyment in expressing yourself in visual form.
LITERARY – A liking for expressing ideas and facts in written form.
SOCIAL – An interest in helping others.
PERSUASIVE – A liking for persuading, organising or selling to other people.
Remember it is not always enough to have a liking for an activity – ability is needed as well.
PERSONALITYIt can be very difficult to assess your own personality, but if you can make an honest attempt you will be more likely to decide on a suitable career. Check your assessments with friends who are willing to be honest. Here is a list of questions which should help to indicate aspects of your personality which could mean the difference between success or failure in a particular job.
- Are you a leader or organiser? Look for examples in your school or working life. Have you been a school prefect, chairperson of a society or secretary of a club?
- Have you got drive, ambition and energy? If you have a questioning mind or are an energetic person, you will need scope to develop in a job.
- Are you a conformist or non-conformist? Some people naturally fit into a group, whereas others are loners who work better on their own.
- How self-sufficient are you? Can you cope with failure and disappointment? Are you a risk taker or do you prefer to play safe? These aspects of personality are important in some managerial jobs.
- How persuasive and convincing can you be? This could be important in many job eg. sales work.
- Are you accurate and clear when making a point? This would be important if you wanted to teach or instruct others.
- Are you a good listener? Social workers and solicitors are among those who need to listen and show understanding.
- How sensitive are you? How easily can you put yourself in other people’s shoes? Are you considerate of other people’s feelings?
- Are you normally cheerful or depressed?
- Are you shy and withdrawn or outgoing?
- Are you a practical person or more of a thinker?
- Do you work easily under pressure and against a time limit?
- How confident are you?
- Can you make decisions and take responsibility?
- Can you take criticism and abide by rules and regulations?
VALUES
People vary in their attitudes to life and consequently to their work. Some look on work as something to be endured and find enjoyment and satisfaction in hobbies or family life. For others enjoyment of the job and the opportunity it gives for using their talents or abilities may be more important. Here are some questions which should help you determine where your priorities lie.
- How much money do you require for essential needs? How much for non-essentials? Are these important to you?
- What satisfactions do you expect from life? These may have nothing to do with work but some jobs may make them more difficult to achieve eg. a well organised family life may not be consistent with jobs involving extensive travel or unsocial hours.
- Is the social status of a job important to you?
- How much value do you place on having a qualification?
- Do you have any particular beliefs or ideals which would make some jobs more desirable than others?
- What importance do you place on social and environmental factors in work? Are the kind of people you work with and the surroundings you work in important?
LOOKING AT JOBS Having taken stock of yourself and analysed particular strengths and weaknesses, you will now need to look at jobs in order to identify those which may be suitable. Anyone trying to choose a suitable job needs, besides self-knowledge, information on the range of work available, the satisfactions offered by each job and individual entry requirements. Obviously, the range of work available will vary from area to area and for the majority of people, choice is limited by the scarcity of job vacancies.
Jobs can be grouped according to their main characteristics and the satisfactions they might offer.
One grouping could be that corresponding to the interest groups previously mentioned.
SCIENTIFIC – laboratory technician, scientific officer, laboratory assistant.
PRACTICAL – welder, electrician, carpet fitter, cook.
NUMERICAL – accounts clerk, banking, insurance work, accountant.
ARTISTIC – florist, hairdresser, photographer, window dresser, art teacher.
LITERARY – journalist, librarian, archivist.
SOCIAL – social worker, nurse, care assistant, youth worker.
PERSUASIVE – sales person, manager, traffic warden.
No job will fit neatly into any one grouping as each will contain different activities.
Nursing for example, is a caring job but has also a scientific element as well as a great deal of practical work. It is important, therefore, to look carefully at the types of jobs available in order to identify their main characteristics.
LEVELSIn most fields of work there are jobs to suit people of different educational and ability levels example if you look at people employed in a large hospital you will find.
Doctors, Surgeons, Physiotherapists, Dietitians, Nurses Degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Laboratory Technicians, Nurses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .‘ A’ level/BTEC National Medical Secretaries . GCSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Auxiliary Nurses, Health Care Assistants . . . . . . . . . .few or no formal qualifications
Again, looking at jobs involving working with figures, you will find:–
Accountants, Statisticians, Economists . Degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Accounts Technicians, Insurance underwriters . . . . . ..‘A’ Level/BTEC National
Wages Clerks, Account Clerks . . . . . . . . . . . . . GCSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cashiers, Clerical Assistants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . no formal qualifications . . . . . . . . . . . .
N.B. This is only a guide and it is not always possible to generalise about jobs in this it gives an indication of the way in which occupations can be entered at different levels.
Remember that it is very unlikely that there is one, and only one job which will be ideal for you Most people find that there are aspects of every job which can be difficult or boring. By assessing your own interests, personality and capabilities on the one hand and having a detailed look at jobs and what they involve on the other hand and having a detailed look at jobs and what they involve on the other , you should find a range of jobs which would be satisfactory for you. Obviously the fewer limitations you put on your choice the wider the range is and the more chance you will have of finding suitable employment
FURTHER READING: “Test Your Own Aptitude” by Jim Barrett & Geoff Williams – Publisher: Kogan Page, 120 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JN. Tel: (0171) 2780433.
“ What Color is your Parachute?” A practical manual for job-hunters and career changers - by Richard N Bolles Publisher: Trotman Publishing. Order from: Plymbridge Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY. Tel: (0870) 900 2665.
Other articles in this section of the website:-
Education for Adults
Job Interviews
Redundancy