Finally…A Test With No Wrong Answers!

By: Jodi Bergman, Peer Advisor

Anyone who knows me knows that I love personality tests. “Which Hogwarts house do you belong to” (Gryffindor!), “What reality show should you be on” (The Bachelorette…blech) and “Are you cool?” (The answer is yes). These quizzes are all fun ways to gather more insight into what you value and enjoy. So when I heard the Career Centre offers assessments on personality type and interests, I signed up right away.

Now, while the quizzes listed above can be amusing, what the Career Centre offers is a little different to anything you’ll find on Buzzfeed, or to the tests we had to take in Grade 10 careers class (where the three results you could receive were that you should be a teacher, a doctor or a flight attendant depending on if you answered “yes” to enjoying travel). No, I’m talking about legitimate assessments that can help you identify how your personality and interests relate to the world of work.
I won’t dive into the details of the actual assessments and outcomes – there is a debrief meeting you have with a Career Consultant who goes over all of that. What I will tell you is some of the success I have had with assessments myself.

For a couple years I thought I wanted to be a consultant. I love working with people, problem-solving and improving on existing processes. However, according to my personality assessment, I am an ‘Intuitive’ thinker – meaning I look at things in a very high level and holistic way (vs a Sensor who prefer facts, detail and micro-level thinking). This trait may work against me as a consultant as consultants need to examine all the details of a scenario before making a well thought out recommendation. Further, as a ‘Feeler’ instead of a ‘Thinker’, I make decisions very subjectively and sometimes objective thinking is better for the good of a corporation. These personality traits wouldn’t necessarily make me a BAD consultant, but may not fulfill what I would prefer in a career in a way that another job could. By taking into consideration jobs in line with my personality traits, I can find something fulfilling that would motivate me to succeed.

At the end of the day, assessments are not a one-stop shop that will answer all of your questions and hand you the perfect career. However, when thinking about what will motivate you in the world of work and what kinds of jobs you’re looking for, assessments provide perspective and insight you may not get otherwise. The important thing is to go into it having an open mind and answering the questions honestly. If you don’t like the results, nothing is written in stone. Assessments are simply adding an additional angle on how to think critically about yourself as it pertains to the world of work so you can make an informed decision about your career options. So take an assessment or two, what have you got to lose?