The Benefits of Career Assessments
It’s easy for your friends to point of the things you are good at or your daily habits. For example, I organize my stuff without even thinking about it. But when it came to describing myself in an interview, I wasn’t exactly sure what to say. It’s not that I didn’t know what skills I had; it was trying to figure out what words would best describe me and show that I was a good candidate for the position.
So I turned to Career Services and took some career assessments, such as Strengths Quest and Discover. I found out what category my skills fell into and what words best described me. It was great to finally pinpoint my attributes, but then I was stuck as to how I could use the results to get an internship or entry-level job. I talked with one of my professors and he told me that I could use the words to describe skills I have written on my resume. They sound more action-oriented and more professional. For example, Strengths Quest has 34 different categories, and it gives you your top five skills. One of my is includer, which goes right along with my volleyball coaching and step team experience. I can use that word in an interview to show that I like to involve everyone and that I can work well in groups, as well as individually.
Career assessments can be a very valuable tool because you can learn more about yourself and what words to use to describe what you stand for. Each test is different, so the more you take, the better you will know what your strong skills are. Your college should have information about career assessments, or you can run a search on your internet to find a test that you think will give you the information you are looking for.
