Is my personality a good match for my career choice?

You will spend about one third of your life working, so matching your personality with a suitable role is important if you want to follow a career that you enjoy and find rewarding.  Whether you’re starting out or considering a career change, if you’re passionate about a particular line of work it’s more likely that you will succeed in it. But here’s the challenge – even if you’re fortunate to have a finely-tuned awareness of your traits and characteristics (and most of us don’t), how do you know which jobs they’re best suited to? In other words, how do you find out which career is appropriate for your personality type if you have little or no job experience?

Passion…or dispassion?

When it comes to choosing the right career path, many people will tell you, “Just follow your passion.” This may sound like a valid approach but it’s not that simple. Any decision based purely on emotion, i.e. ‘passion’ may well be suspect. It could be driven more by what you think people expect you to say or do, or what you think will impress others, rather than what a logical appraisal of your skills and personal attributes might lead you to do. So how do we take a more ‘dispassionate’ approach to our career choice? The answer is to stop worrying about how other people might perceive you and instead focus on gaining a clear understanding of your personality – your strengths, the tasks you enjoy, the skills you can leverage, and the type of problems you’re good at solving.

Not convinced? Then consider this: research shows that an employee whose personality traits closely matches the traits that are ideal for a job is likely to earn more than their less suited counterparts. So it pays to understand if your personality matches your job or the job you are considering. And when you understand the link between your personality and your job choice, you’ll be able to narrow your shortlist of potential jobs accordingly.

The inner journey

Real job satisfaction and fulfilment comes when your career aligns with your personal preferences and value systems. That’s not to say you won’t succeed in a role that’s not meshed with your personality. You may just need to adapt. If your work matches your motivation, you’re more likely to be engaged and content…and successful. But how do you start the inner journey to discover more about one’s personality? Well, if you have already completed your free PeopleHawk Personality Test, then you have taken your first few tentative steps along the road of self-discovery. And if you haven’t done so, them set aside 10 minutes and complete it now.  The test measures your Big 5 personality factors (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness and Emotional Stability) and adds in the one most leading employers most look for – Emotional Intelligence. It will give you a high-level overview of your personality traits. But here’s the thing. Your real insights and learnings are to be found in the 6-page Personality Guide, so make sure you download this too.

And there’s more….

Whether you are an established user or new to PeopleHawk, take the Personality Test then download your Personality Guide. Its clearly laid-out insights will open your mind to what who you are and what you could become. Knowing your strengths, you’ll be able to play to them and use them to steer yourself along a career path that’s right for you. Plus, as well as coming to understand yourself immeasurably better, you can also use PeopleHawk to build your complete professional career portfolio, with Infographic Resumes, Career Aptitude Tests, Video Interviews, Elevator Pitches, Live Profile Cards and more. All in the one spot and in the cloud.

 

So go on, log onto PeopleHawk and start working towards a really fulfilling career.