Chester’s Tips for Success

When I started my training as a career counselor for my college’s career development center, one of the first things we did was take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator(MBTI) and the Strong’s Interest Inventory assessment tests.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

The purpose of the Myers-Briggs test is to assess your personality type. The assessment is a set of questions which are meant to identify psychological differences between people according to the different psychological types defined by the early 20^th century psychologist Carl Jung.

There are four categories, each with two possibilities: Extraversion(E)/Introversion(I), Sensing(S)/Intuition(N), Thinking(T)/Feeling(F), Judging(J)/Perceiving(P).

Though some critics say that there is no valid data to prove the validity of the test’s results, in my own experience, I’ve found my MBTI type to surprisingly accurate in describing my personality and behavioral tendencies.

This is a little blurb that I found for ENFP types; for the most part I would say it is right on the mark:

The Good -

ENFPs are warm, enthusiastic people, typically very bright and full of potential. They live in the world of possibilities, and can become very passionate and excited about things. Their enthusiasm lends them the ability to inspire and motivate others, more so than we see in other types. They can talk their way in or out of anything. They love life, seeing it as a special gift, and strive to make the most out of it.

The Not So Good -

An ENFP needs to focus on following through with their projects. This can be a problem area for some of these individuals. Unlike other extraverted types, ENFPs need time alone to center themselves, and make sure they are moving in a direction which is in sync with their values. ENFPs who remain centered will usually be quite successful at their endeavors. Others may fall into the habit of dropping a project when they become excited about a new possibility, and thus they never achieve the great accomplishments which they are capable of achieving

The first category, Extraversion and Introversion, is sometimes referred to as the attitudes. Extraverts tend to get energized from other people and taking action, while introverts tend to gain their energy from time spent alone in reflection and thoughts. An introvert’s flow of energy is directed more towards ideas and concepts, while an extravert’s energy is more focused on people and objects.

The second and third categories, Sensing and Intuition, Thinking and Feeling, are also known as psychological functions. It is important to note that people utilize all functions, but the there are also dominant ones. Thus even though I my dominant psychological function may be Intuition, at times it would not be unusual for me to display Sensing tendencies.

The second category of sensing and intuition relates to how one gathers and interprets information. Sensing individuals are more likely to trust information that can be derived through their five senses; they prefer data that is tangible and concrete. Intuitive people, on the other hand, feel more inclined to “go with their gut,” which may not be based on reality at all; they also prefer information that is more abstract or theoretical and seek to associate information with other things to draw connections and patterns.

The third category deals with the decision making functions. Feelers tend to make decisions based on their ability to associate some other experience or empathizing with the one at hand; they seek to harmonize and find balance with all elements being considered. Those who prefer thinking tend to be more objective, logical and consistent with a set of rule

Finally the fourth category has to do with lifestyle; it shows people’s preference for using either the judging or perceiving function when relating to the outside world. According to Myers, Judging types prefer to have things settled whereas perceivers tend to like keeping options open.

The test identifies dominant functions, but that does not mean people who are extraverted show no introverted tendencies, nor does that mean feelers can’t make decisions based on a set of rules. Rather, what the test does show is preference. If you are unclear, I would suggest taking one of the many free tests online or paying a small fee for a trained professional career counselor to administer the test as well as explain the assessment results. There is a ton of literature on MBTI ranging from work to dating.

Understanding personality types not only helps you to understand yourself better, but it also helps you to adapt to those around you according to their personal types.

The Strong Interest Inventory

The Strong’s Interest Inventory is a test that gauges interests and lists a number of career paths and industries that may fit your interests. The test has six general occupational themes: enterprising, social, artistic, conventional, investigative and realistic. The test consists of a number of multiple choice questions much like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The results are compiled into scores that rate from very little to very high; each person is given a theme code which represents their top three dominant themes.

My dominant themes are enterprising, social and artistic. The descriptions for each theme are categorized into interests, work activities, potential skills and values.

The enterprising theme’s interests are in: business, politics, leadership and entrepreneurship; work activities: selling, managing, persuading, marketing; potential skills: verbal ability, ability to motivate and direct others; values: risk taking, status, competition, influence.

Rather than go through all the themes and their describing each category, I invite you to take the test; though it may cost a little bit, the insight gained from the results is more than worth the money. In my post, How to Identify Your Personal Strengths Part I, I talked about how, for most of my life, I thought my true strengths were in the technical and analytical areas; but, as my results for the Strong’s Interest Inventory show, that was not my natural preference.

I find these inventory tests worth taking and their results reviewing because they help me to focus on playing to my natural strengths and interests. Being a big thinker who doesn’t like to be locked into certain ways of thinking, I tend to lose focus very easily; these tests help me to refocus my efforts and thoughts. For example, when I was job searching, a lot of high paying business type work involved heavy analysis. Although I can do data analysis and research, I prefer not to. It was a challenge to stick to my preferences rather than attempt to align myself to a set of interest for the sake of a high paying job.

If there’s anything I’ve learned so far, it’s that staying true to yourself is the best way to go.

Strengthsfinder 2.0 Review

Looking back at the twenty something years of my life, I often wonder, “Why didn’t I realize my strengths earlier?” If I was clear about my natural talents early on, I would have been able to avoid a lot of second guessing and confusion.

Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that nicely; the good thing is that out of great adversity comes great achievement. Although I had to try many different paths and subject myself to rigorous questioning along the way, the process helped develop me into the person that I am today.

I understand now that I learn best through action and not passive observance. Understanding how you learn best is just as important as learning what you are best at because once you identify those few strengths, the challenge becomes finding ways to develop them to their fullest potential as quickly as possible.

Although my own path towards self-realization has come about primarily through fortuitous stumbling, it is by no means the only method available. There are many resources out there such as assessment tests, tapes and books that can help you get a better understanding of what you want to do. One of the books I’ve found quite helpful in identifying my strengths is the Gallup Press’s book, Strengthfinder 2.0.

The book is the second edition of the popular Now, Discover Your Strengths. It is an assessment test much like the MBTI and Strong’s, but unlike the other two, it focuses on identifying one’s top five innate talents. The book breaks down the spectrum of talents into 34 themes. Each theme comes with a two paragraph long description and a few quotes from people of different professional backgrounds explaining how their theme manifests itself in their daily work; there are also suggested action steps which can help you to better understand your dominant talents.

Of the three tests, I find Strengthsfinder 2.0, to be the most useful in identifying talents that can be further honed into true strengths. The book’s strength lies in its methodology for defining talents; it uses broader themes rather than defining specific skills. For example, communication is one of my top five talent themes; the theme includes written and verbal communication as well as explaining the rationale behind one’s desire to communicate. A good communicator is not necessarily a good writer, but the skill can be developed based on the natural talent.

To give you a better understanding of how the book explains themes, let me include a brief quote from the book’s description of the Communication theme: “You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write… Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid.”

The top five themes in Strengthsfinder 2.0 are like the Myers-Briggs dominant types; they are merely the preferred or dominant talents, not necessarily your only ones. According to the Strengthsfinder test, my five strengths are: Communication, Activator, Command, Futuristic and Individualistic. But after reading through the descriptions, I find a number of them fitting well depending on the situation; however, in most cases the top five represent the dominant talents that you would most benefit from further development.

The way I translated these five strengths is that I am the type of person who is: gushing with ideas and things to say, but can’t wait to say and act upon them; someone who loves to take control of a situation, while motivating and identifying the unique qualities and traits of every person and opportunity.

Sounds pretty good to me, though I am a writer, so please excuse my hyperbole. J

During my time as a career counselor, I spent many hours poring over assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Strong’s Interest Inventory assessment both of which I found very useful in identifying possible career tracks and areas of interest. Once I added the Strengthsfinder’s assessment to the mix, it helped create a fuller picture of my personality, interests and unique strengths and talents.

If I had taken the tests alone, my self-understanding would lack the concreteness of first hand life experience. That’s why for me, it was necessary to have lots of varied life experiences; it also helped asking dozens of people what they did and whether or not they enjoyed it. The desire for certainty and an unwavering sense of understanding also led me to try many different career paths and majors in order to make sure that I hadn’t left any options out.

Although not everyone needs to go through such a rigorous process, it does help if you are the type of person who has many options and could probably do a number of things reasonably well.

Some people may find assessment tests to be pointless or inaccurate because you can easily answer questions the way you would want to rather than what’s most natural. It isn’t unusual for people to have an idea of who they want to be and answer in a way that reflects that ideal self. But I find that if you approach these tests with the right mindset, they can be very powerful. Though you shouldn’t base your entire life around them, if taken honestly, the results can help reveal talents and preferences that you never knew you had; they may also help you to realize that your chosen career path may not be the best fit.

If for nothing else, I find assessment tests to be a fun and easy way to learn more about you. Like the old maxim, “Knowledge is Power.” Plus, these tests are cheap and not time consuming, so you got nothing to lose.

Related Articles

• The Top Four Introvert Advantages
• How to Identify Your Personal Strengths Part II - Common Pitfalls and Challenges
• How to Identify Your Personal Strengths

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Tags:   Assessment · MBTI · Strengths1 Comment