Many of us have vague ideas about changing careers but aren’t exactly sure what it is we want to do. If you are in a quandary about what to next, you may want to consider taking a career assessment.
Career Planning
Career Assessment Tools Can Help You Figure Out Your Next Move
Dissatisfied with Your Career, But Not Sure What to Do Next? Many of us have vague ideas about changing careers but aren’t exactly sure what it is we want to do. If you are in a quandary about what to next, you may want to consider taking a career assessment.
Career assessments are tools that are designed to help individuals understand how a variety of personal attributes (i.e., values, interests, motivations, behavioral styles, aptitudes, and skills) impact their potential success and satisfaction with different career options and work environments.
Assessments of some (or all) of these attributes are often used by individuals or organizations — such as university career services centers, career counselors, outplacement firms, HR staff, executive coaches, vocational rehabilitation counselors, and guidance counselors — to help individuals make more informed career decisions.
Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential Assessment (MAPP)
The MAPP career assessment is perhaps one of the most widely used tools for finding a career that fits with your interests. It consists of 71 questions regarding your “likes” and “dislikes” and takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.
*Future articles will explore these tools in greater depth so stay tuned.
These decisions may be on the front-end — as in, “What are some suitable career options I should pursue?” — but they are also beneficial for helping experienced professionals assess why they are feeling unfulfilled in their current occupations or worse yet, totally “burned out.”
Additionally, some individuals are “thrust” into exploring careers because the career path they were on is no longer viable, either because of industry, economic, or life changes.
Find a match
Career assessments can help you learn about occupations that are a good match for you, identify skills you bring to a job and/or decide where you need training, consider careers you may not have thought about before, and even help you write a more personal, focused résumé.
In short, a career assessment can help you make the best career decisions to grow both personally and professionally.
However, there are some drawbacks. Although the results of an assessment may provide some enlightenment and options, it may not address your particular issues and needs.
Additionally, some of the best assessment tools require the help of a qualified professional to ensure you interpret and apply the results correctly (lest you find yourself on a path to working in another occupation you don’t like). Also, keep in mind that many of the assessments are based on your view of yourself and we are often unaware of our own strengths, weaknesses, and ingrained misperceptions.
Whether completed online or in print (paper and pencil), the majority of assessments are administered in the form of a questionnaire. You may be asked to choose from a group of options, select from terms that are most like you or least like you, or rate activities as those you most enjoy/least enjoy.
Each assessment is scored against characteristics of various occupations — the skills/abilities, interests, values, and motivations required to effectively perform and enjoy the occupation.
Assessment results are not randomly matched to occupations. The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) System, a United States government system of classifying occupations, is used by U.S. federal government agencies collecting occupational data. This system enables comparison of occupations across data sets. The SOC covers all occupations in which work is performed for pay or profit and reflects the current occupational structure in the United States.
On the other side of the equation are the tools themselves, which are drawn from research studies, collected data, and theories developed by psychologists. Several well-known and popular assessments are modifications based on these studies. Our next several articles will explore these tools in more depth.
New Year’s Resolutions for your Career
Only one third of federal employees reported being satisfied with the opportunity to get a better job within their organizations on the most recent Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Are you or should you be looking to make a move in 2018? Regardless, here are some 2018 career resolutions as another year gets underway.
- Should you be looking for a job? Is your network up-to-date? If you are even only vaguely thinking about looking for a new job, you need to start reaching out to your contacts – and it’s best to do this before you need them or call on them.
- Does your LinkedIn Profile reflect who you are? Do you have a personalized headline? A picture? A Profile Summary that is key-word rich? Yes, I know I harp on the importance of LinkedIn; it does really matter—especially in seeking private sector employment. Its importance is growing in the federal realm as well.
- Are you convinced that should stay (or leave) your current position? Is this a thought-out decision or a “knee-jerk” reaction?
- Is your resume up-to-date? Even if you’re not looking for a job right this minute, you should be prepared with an updated document in case someone asks to see your resume.
- Does your resume reflect your achievements? And do your achievements reflect the “so what?”—how you added value / made a difference to your employer?
- Does your resume include metrics to give your work context? Without metrics, readers of your resume don’t know how large your budget is, how many people your teams have, how many customers your support, or how many transactions you process in a month.
- Does your resume include the key words for the positions you’re thinking about (and currently in)? Applicant Trackign Software (ATS) is rampant in the private sector; most resumes are screened for key words—if you don’t have them, your resume likely won’t be read. If you’re pursuing federal employment, reviewers are resume (humans, not machines) are looking for the key words too.
- Are your skills up-to-date? If not, what are you doing to close your skills gaps?
- Is your assessment of your value consistent with those of supervisors and colleagues? Talk to trusted colleagues, carefully review your performance rating, or think about using a 360 feedback tool to get some candid advice about where you excel and where more work might be needed.
The new year should be an opportunity for self-reflection and forward movement. What do you want in 2018?
Career Tools for DIYers
There are lots of tools out there for people who want to take charge of their own careers. Here are some of my favorites:
Tools to Find Key Words
Wordle: www.wordle.net. Copy and paste job descriptions to create a word cloud
O*Net: www.onetonline.org. Search your occupation to find common keywords
Manage Your Job Search
Jibber Jobber: www.jibberjobber.com. A free online database to help manage your job search
Grammar & Spelling Tools
Grammarly: www.grammarly.com/ Create a free account; Grammarly was launched in 2009 and it instantly eliminates grammatical errors and enhances your writing.
Personal Branding Books
Ditch. Dare. Do!: 3D Personal Branding for Executives by William Arruda and Deb Dib
Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand by William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson
Resume Writing Classic
Resume Magic: Trade Secrets of a Professional Resume Writer by Susan Britton Whitcomb. This book tells you the how’s and why’s of private sector resume writing.
Tools to Help You Answer the Question: What Do I Want to Do?
What Color is Your Parachute? By Richard Bolles
O*Net Interest Profiler: https://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip. This free online assessment measures your interests and shows how they relate to different careers. At the end of the Interest Profiler, you are presented with a list of careers that match your interests and preparation level.
And of course, FEDweek’s handbooks:
The Complete Guide to Completing a Federal Resume, http://www.fedweek.com/store/the-complete-guide-to-writing-a-federal-resume-3rd-ed/
The Complete Guide to Interviewing for a Federal Job, http://www.fedweek.com/store/complete-guide-interviewing-federal-job/
The Complete Guide to Federal Career Transitions, http://www.fedweek.com/store/complete-guide-federal-career-transitions/
Take some time during the holiday season to review these resources and let us know what you think. If you have favorites, please share them. Best to you and your loved ones for the season!
– Nancy
Seven Reasons Not to Give Up on Your Job Search During the Holidays!
Conventional wisdom has it that no one hires during the holidays. While most of us would agree that hiring certainly slows down during the period between Thanksgiving and the New Year, work does not come to a complete halt. In fact, some people argue that the holidays is a great time to look for a job. Here are 7 reasons to consider:
- Oftentimes employers are looking to fill positions before the end of the year so people can start in early January.
Do These 10 Things to Get that Federal Job You Want
As we get closer to the holidays, everyone gets busy and distracted on personal matters. However, you can take advantage of the slowdown to up your government job search game.
Here are 10 easy things to do that won’t take much time but will pay dividends!
- Double-check your USAJOBS Profile. Make sure it is up-to-date in terms of your contact information, your eligibilities, etc. Veterans, this is especially important as you want to ensure that your eligibilities count.
- Understand your eligibilities. Do you have veterans’ preference? Do you have status? Are you eligible for reinstatement? Are you Schedule A eligible? A military spouse? Understanding your eligibilities and what they mean will help ensure you apply for jobs for which you are eligible.
- Turn on the feature that automatically notifies you when the status of your application changes. Under what was known as “hiring reform,” agencies are supposed to notify via email: A) when your application was received; B) whether you were rated qualified or unqualified; C) whether your application was sent to the hiring manager; and D) when a selection is made. While it is true that agencies don’t always take these steps (or the steps aren’t always taken in a timely manner), you still want to sign up for this feature.
- Create a search agent on USAJOBS to automatically send you job postings that meet your criteria.
- Make sure your resume is up-to-date so that you’re ready to apply for the job postings which have quick close dates.
- Add accomplishments to your resume, at least for your current job. You should include at least one achievement for each year in your current job. If you’ve been in your current job less than one, apply the concept your prior job.
- Get rid of jobs on your resume that are more than 10 years old. Employers want to know what you have done recently and be assured that you’re not resting on your laurels. If you were the hiring manager, would you want to pick someone who had not done the job in 20 years or someone who is doing it now?
- Apply for jobs for which you are qualified for. This is more than having time-in-grade; you need to have the specialized experience too.
- Review the questionnaires associated with each job posting before deciding whether or not to apply. You can review the questionnaires without applying; most postings have a link to view the questionnaire. If you cannot provide the highest and best answer to the vast majority of questions, you may not be rated as best qualified.
- Make sure you use key words from the job posting in your resume; make it easy for the HR people to see that you’re qualified.
BONUS: Still not sure you know what to do? There are many free training sessions offered on using USAJOBS and applying for a government job. Bookmark: https://www.usajobs.gov/Notification/Events/ and keep checking!