Developing self-awareness
Develop your self-awareness by identifying your strengths, values and motivations and the work environments you would most enjoy.
At the heart of career planning is understanding your strengths, values and motivations – we call this your self-awareness. Ultimately you’re going to be more satisfied in a job that utilises your strengths and skills, reflects your values and provides a work environment that you’re going to enjoy and thrive in.
The strategies below will help you to develop a clear perspective on who you are and what sort of career will suit you.
Take an online quiz
A fun and interesting place to start is to complete an online profiling quiz. Essentially, you answer a bunch of questions about you and the clever algorithms in the background help to provide some potential career paths that might suit your personality and motivations.
Below are some we would recommend experimenting with. They are all free and don't take very long to complete.
- 16 Personalities - identify your personality type and how this may affect your working life
- Prospects Career Planner - matches you to jobs based on your skills, motivations and desires
- 123 personality test and work values test (free versions)
It is important to note that these quizzes are designed to be idea generators, they are not an exact science and do not work for everyone. They may just help you consider some career options that you had never thought of before or reaffirm some of the ideas that you already had in mind.
Ask others
Ask people who know you well for their views on your skills and strengths. Sometimes we can struggle to identify what we are good at and getting perspective from people we trust can be a useful indicator of how others see us.
For example, ask a few close friends or relatives what they think your three key strengths are. Are they similar or really different? What sort of careers would suit those strengths?
Reflect
Reflection is a skill you can develop through practise. Think about experiences you have had already, for example, coming to university, work experiences, hobbies, a part-time job, travelling. What have you enjoyed, and why? What haven't you enjoyed so much? Remember you are changing all the time, in response to new experiences, so continuing to reflect throughout your career is important.
Reflection is also a key graduate level skill. Employers could ask you questions in an application form or at interview to gauge your reflective skills and self-awareness, for example 'tell us about a time when things didn't go to plan?' or 'what do you consider to be your key strengths?'
Write down your unique selling points
Think about what makes you stand out and the skills, attributes and qualities you have that would be of value to any employer. Physically write these down somewhere and add to them over time. We often don't spend enough time reflecting on what makes us unique, yet knowing this can have such a positive influence on our confidence and future focus.
Book an appointment with a Careers Adviser
You can book an appointment with a Careers Adviser through your Student Futures Account to help you develop your self-awareness. Careers Advisers are specially trained to ask questions which will help you reflect on your skills and values and what you want from your career.
How your values impact your career
Your values are elements of your life which you find personally important. They are core beliefs that guide you on how to conduct your life in a way that is meaningful and satisfying for you. They are often overlooked in career planning but knowing what work factors are valuable to you will help you find work you enjoy. Recognising and understanding your own values can guide your future career choices.
Identifying your core values
To identify your core values, review the list below and focus on six to ten common values that matter most to you. You might also try ranking them on a scale of importance from one to ten.
It’s a good idea to identify the values that are a ‘must have’ or a ‘must not have’. These values are your non-negotiables – they could determine whether you take a job, stay in a job or leave a job.
Career anchors
Career anchors, introduced by Edgar Schein, are internal compasses which guide your career decisions. They reflect your true motivations and values and are the one thing which you won’t sacrifice, even when faced with tough choices. Your values are likely to align with one or two of the eight themes included in the career anchors:
- Technical/functional competence – expertise and specialisation
- General management competence – problem-solving and managing others
- Autonomy/independence – working under your own rules and pace
- Security/stability – seeking stable, predictable work
- Entrepreneurial creativity – creating new products or services
- Service/dedication to a cause – making a difference and helping others
- Pure challenge – seeking constant stimulation and overcoming obstacles
- Lifestyle – integrating career with personal life and seeking flexibility
Reflect on your experiences, skills and competencies, as well as your values, in order to identify your career anchors. You can also take an online test to help you.
If you find that your career doesn’t align with your values, it’s important to identify which value is missing from your current role and consider if and how you could change it to include or incorporate the values that are most important to you.