Put your best foot forward
> Career profiling and personality tests open doors to yourself
Holland Code (RIASEC) which tells how suitable an individual is for six different career classifications: (R)ealistic, (I)nvestigative, (A)rtistic, (S)ocial, (E)nterprising or (C)onventional.
“These aspects show that not only your degree should be taken into consideration when choosing a career, but also your personality and interests,” said GTI Media writer Jacie Tan. She graduated with a law degree, but is an advocate of choosing careers based on factors that may not seem crucial at first glance.
“Social was one of my top three aspects, and I guess that was why I entered law, because I wanted to make a change and help people. I then realised law wasn’t the only way I could do it. Now, I write articles that help people find jobs. The part of me who wanted to help others never changed; I just found a different way to do it – taking into account my Investigative and Artistic aspects,” she added.
“The key reason why people fail in their first jobs is because they feel that the job or industry is not right for them,” Jaideep said. “Some job seekers need these tests to highlight to them what they are good at and what they want. Find that middle ground and you will find your dream job.”
For example, someone who has a business degree but actually loves to paint. Someone like that could be quite successful working in an art gallery or selling paintings online. Again, it is about combining what you are good at with what you love.
“A good career profiling test should reveal something about yourself that you never knew before. When I completed such tests before, it scared me a little because of how accurately it ‘read’ me. It may even reveal something painful about yourself that you don’t want to admit − that is the hallmark of good career profiling,” Jaideep said.
There is another side of career profiling that is often overlooked, he continued. “Instead of using the normal self-serving statements, job seekers can use the results of these tests to back their career objectives. For example, a job seeker looking for a sales position can support a claim to being an extrovert by citing the results of his or her career profiling. It adds substance to what you want to get across to the recruiter.”
“However, this is just information. It is not like you take these tests and magically get a job. It takes effort. When I decided I didn't want to do law, I knew I was going to put my effort in searching for opportunities in other industries. Job seekers should complete such tests and act upon the results,” Tan said.
As for the future, both Jaideep and Tan believe that career profiling has an increasingly important role to play in developing the nation’s talents.