As a certified Myers-Briggs practitioner, I was recently asked to check a series of articles for Teen Vogue. While the magazine speaks to an audience younger than my regular clientele, I love what they are doing. It’s never too early to start gaining awareness on what kind of work will make you happy. My approach is to identify two key elements: role and culture. By “role”, I mean what kind of tasks and job function will make you happy? Are you a sales person, a strategist, a meticulous fact checker, a relationship person? Myers-Briggs is excellent for identifying role and function. After that, Culture is about where you want to work in role you’ve identified. Industry, location, size, gender, international vs. local, academia vs. business. The more specific you can be, the better. Once you know where you’d be happiest, you can create a pitch, brand, resume and cover letter to support it. Even if the change you want is internal to your organization, doing this work will help immeasurably.
Many of the people I work with would love a tweak in their job function, which is normal. To me career is like an onion, our best direction reveals itself with time and experience. To learn more about the Myers-Briggs assessment for yourself or for groups at your work, please email me. In the mean time, there is a lot to learn on line, especially using Kiersey’s “Please Understand Me II” and using their on-line resources.
If you are looking to gain clarity on how to make a shift, please download my Job Search Map by clicking here (link is at bottom of page).