Module 4 - Career Planning
Unit 1: Self-Assessment
How to Conduct Self-Assessment
We all engage in self-assessment every day: when we start a conversation with a stranger, when we debate an issue with a friend (or enemy!), or when we start a new relationship.
These day-to-day occurences are shaped by way we react to the world, and the way the world reacts to us. When we respond to these interactions, or change because of them, we are learning more about ourselves.
There is, however, a more systematic way to approach self-assessment in relation to employment. Its seven major steps are:
- Understanding your personal traits.
- Identifying your personal values.
- Estimating your economic needs.
- Identifying your long-term goals.
- Recognising your skill base.
- Recognising your preferred skills.
- Assessing which skills need further development.
In this unit we will explore each of these steps in more detail. As we do so, you can create a worksheet similar to the one below, thereby chronicling your new self-knowledge!
Step 1 - Your personal traits
The personal traits that describe me are:
The ten personal traits that most accurately describe me are:
Step 2 - Your personal values
Working conditions that are important to me include:
The values that go along with my preferred working conditions are:
Some additional values I’ve decide to include are:
Step 3 - Your economic needs
My estimated minimum annual salary requirement is:
Starting salaries for the positions that I’m considering are:
Step 4 - Your longer-term goals
My longer-term goals right now are:
Step 5 - Your skill base
The general skills that I possess are:
The specific skills that I possess are:
General and specific skills that I want to promote to employers for the jobs I ’m considering are:
Step 6 - Your preferred skills
Skills that I would like to use on the job include:
Step 7 - Skills needing further development
Some skills that I’ll need to acquire for the jobs I’m considering include:
I believe that I can build these skills by: