The next piece of the puzzle,
Personality, is a fascinating and complex area
of assessment. People take personality tests to
learn more about themselves and to find their
"type". Popular assessments include the Myers
Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the 16 Personality
Factors (16PF) test.
Understanding your personality is also helpful
in career planning. For example, an introverted
person is unlikely to be successful in sales.
This test assesses your personality in terms of
your workplace fit. Your workplace fit profile
will give you insight about your work style and
preferences and help identify the work environments
that suit you best.
Workplace Fit - Introduction
Holland's Theory
John Holland* developed a widely-accepted theory that has been used in
career counseling since the 1970's. According to his RIASEC theory,
there are six different approaches to the world of work. Since Holland
conducted his work, our economy has transitioned from a
manufacturing-based economy that existed in the 70s to a service-based
economy that exists now. LiveCareer has added a seventh approach to the
world of work to reflect aspects of the service-based economy. It
describes individuals who enjoy people, like variety, and work in the
fields of hospitality, travel, and personal care. We have labeled this
new approach "Attentive (Servers)". The full seven approaches are
listed below:
 |
Realistic (Doers) |
|
Investigative (Thinkers) |
|
Artistic (Creators) |
|
Social (Helpers) |
|
Enterprising (Persuaders) |
|
Conventional (Organizers) |
|
T - Attentive - (Servers) |
How happy you feel at work largely depends
on how well your approach to work fits with your work
environment. Research has shown that people with similar
work preferences are attracted to each other and create
work environments that are most compatible with their
own personality types. For example, Artistic people
tend to "flock together" and develop work environments
that encourage free expression and creativity.
Detailed definitions and your workplace fit graph
appear on the next page.
*John L. Holland, PhD and Gary D. Gottfredson,
PhD, Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes, 3rd Edition,
1996, Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.
|
