Pre-Job Search Self-Inventory
Please thoughtfully fill out the following self-inventory to help you explore yourself before you think about jobs/companies to which you might apply.
Your Instinct
Which of the following aspects of a job do you instinctively feel will be most important to you (rank them from least to most important):
- The salary
- The geographical location
- The people you work with
- The look and feel (environment) of your workplace
- The degree to which the job gives you a sense of purpose for your life or fits in with the purpose you want your life to serve
- The degree to which the job lets you use your favorite skills, abilities, or talents
- The degree to which this job lands you in your favorite field or fields of knowledge and interest
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People
What are your most and least favorite kinds of people from the following list of characteristics? Rank order them from most favorite to least favorite.
- Realistic People who prefer activities involving “the explicit, ordered, or systematic manipulation of objects, tools, machines, and/or animals.” (Realistic in this sense refers to Plato’s conception of “the real” as that which one can apprehend through the senses.)
- Investigative People who prefer using their brains (specifically “the observation and symbolic, systematic, creative investigation of physical, biological, or cultural phenomena.” (i.e., people who are very curious and like to investigate or analyze thing, people, or data.)
- Artistic People preferring being involved in “ambiguous, free, unsystematic” activities and competencies to create art forms or products.
- Social People who prefer activities involving he “manipulation of others to inform, train, develop, cure, or enlighten.”
- Enterprising People who like to start up projects or organizations or sell tings or influence, persuade, or lead people.
- Conventional People who like detailed work and like to complete tasks or projects.
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Physical Working Conditions
First, write down a list of physical working conditions that bother you (i.e., not having a window to look out of).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8
Now, rank order them from the worst condition at number 1, and the least worst condition at number 8.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Now take each of these things you don’t like, and turn in them into what you do like. (For example, you can change “hate blinking overhead lights” to “good lighting”.) You now have an ordered list of items that are important to you for your environment.
I am a person who. . .
Choose the five items from each of the following lists that you believe describes you (or add things that you think that best describe you but arent listed).
What you can do (usually these are verbs)
Constructing
Creating
Researching
Painting
Analyzing
Supervising
Teaching
Illustrating
Organizing
Counseling
Repairing
Initiating
Healing
What you know and love to use (usually these are nouns)
Graphic design
Physics
Mathematics
Warehouse procedures
Accounting
Religion
Data analysis
Auto repair
Spanish
Music
Principles of conference planning
How you conduct yourself (usually these are adjectives or adverbs)
Adaptable
Self-confident
Cooperative
Dependable
Enthusiastic
Disciplined
Flexible
Innovative
Outgoing
Supportive
Persistent
Resourceful
Tactful
Now list your five from each category here:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is your “mission in life”?
Please write a couple of sentences or a short paragraph that describes your missing in life.
Example: My purpose in life is to help the human spirit. I want to there to be more compassion in the world, and I want to keep people from traumatizing each other.
What do you know?
For this exercise, first, write down some notes about the knowledge, subjects, or interests you’ve learned over the course of your life to answer the following questions:
- What I know from my previous jobs:
- What I know or picked up outside of work (including through hobbies):
- What careers, fields, or industries sound interesting to me (don’t just say “business”):
- Any other things that you know something about or have an idea about:
Now, we’re going to refine these thoughts by categorizing this knowledge into domains. Place all of the things you know, listed above, into the following table ranked by expertise and enthusiasm. (See next page.) For instance, if you have a high enthusiasm about logistics, but you don’t yet have a lot of knowledge, then you would put that subject in the lower left-hand cell of the table.
|
E X P E R T I S E |
HIGH
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|
| LOW
|
HIGH |
ENTHUSIASM
Needs
How much money to you need to make:
What are some other things that you feel you need from your job? Here are some examples.
Travel, adventure, respect, influence, popularity, fame, power, intellectual stimulation from co-workers, chance to be creative, chance to help others, exercise leadership, chance to make decisions, use expertise
Places Where You Would Like to Live
- With parents or other family
- With roomates
- On your own
If #2 or #3, think about other factors of places you’ve lived — what are some other factors that are important to you? (think weather, city versus country, cost of living, college town, lots of entertainment, lots of restaurants, etc.
Write down what environment you think you would like to live in (think globally).
