Assessment results can help career counselors ask students the right questions to guide them in goal setting.
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As a career coach, I have worked with many students and adults who are trying to determine the career path that’s right for them. I often use both a personality type assessment and a work personality assessment to help them to clarify both the work they want to do and how to do it in a way that fits who they are.
Research by James Rounds and Rong Su of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has shown that following a career path that incorporates both personality and interests results in success, as measured by a number of metrics. I’ve found that including both personality type and interests can create aha moments that lead to success both in school and in the world of work. Each type of assessment brings a different and valuable perspective to career exploration.
Understanding Personality Preferences
This is a great foundation for career exploration. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI assessment, provides individuals with insights into how they’re energized (inner world or outer world), how they prefer to take in information (through their senses or their imagination), how they prefer to make decisions (objectively analyzing the situation or subjectively considering the values and people involved), and how they prefer to engage with the outer world (looking around and seeing decisions to be made or opportunities to explore).
Exploring which preferences are the best fit can help us engage with students as they identify key aspects of their personality and how to use this information to find success.
Work personality is slightly more nuanced, as it focuses specifically on career and leisure interests. The Strong Interest Inventory assessment guides individuals in
