10 reasons why a personality test can be useful for career choice

10 Reasons Why A Personality Test Can Be Useful For Career Choice

When deciding on a career path many people will take some kind of personality test in the hope that it will shed some light on the type of job they should be doing. On the other hand many people avoid personality tests because they don’t want to be ‘put in a box’. Quite right too. However a good personality test will take into account the fact that we are adaptable beings.

Allow me to illustrate. Fold your arms. Now fold them the other way round so the opposite hand is tucked under the other arm. Feels strange, doesn’t it? Yet some people fold their arms that way without thinking. It’s the same with your personality style. Your style comes natural to you, but you can also do what doesn’t come so natural. It just means you need to think about it a little more. Your personality style identifies how you behave naturally. Most tests results will give you a list of suggested job ideas which can be useful for further research. However, your ‘ideal’ job may not be on the list, so don’t be restricted. No list contains every job that exists. In addition, within all jobs there are a range of personality types. I’m not saying you’re your eventual job won’t be on the list of suggested options, but there are many other variables to consider such as your values, skills and interests. Understanding your personality is not only useful for your career but also for other areas of your life.

A good knowledge of your personality style can help you to:
1. Evaluate job descriptions for congruence and suitability
2. Understand why you may have a totally different outlook to others on issues of time keeping and self organisation
3. Understand why you may be more or less subtle than others when expressing your opinion
4. Understand why some tasks within a job energise you and why others make the day seem like the longest ever.
5. Understand why you may or may not thrive on following set procedures or instructions.
6. Understand why, on a bad day, some people may be annoyed by your actions. Awareness is the first step to change.
7. Understand why the actions of others can be infuriating to you. It can make you more tolerant.
8. Know how to influence others so they come round to your way of thinking (in other words, how to wrap them round your little finger!)
9. Improve your ability to work well as part of a team.
10. Realise there’s actually nothing wrong with who you are naturally.

To take a FREE personality profile test, click here

Mark Anderson is an independent Career Coach who has been helping people going through a career transition for over 12 years. For more information, visit www.kickstartcareers.co.uk