Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

There are some potentially useful self-assessment and career planning resources on Stanford University's career site, including a few open-ended questions and worksheets. (In the role of either a mentor or a protégé, I personally prefer open-ended questions and opened-ended exercises rather than multiple choice "tests".)

e.g.
http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/cdc/files/Clues_For_Clarifying_Your_I.pdf

http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/cdc/files/Input%20from%20Others.pdf

http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/cdc/identify/self-assessments

http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/cdc/career-steps

William Orr ⋅ Greenwood, IN Edward Jones Investments ⋅ 4 years experience

Tom:

As an update to my post above..."what I have learned is that these assessments (in general) were spot-on in terms of identifying career areas and even in identifying some of strengths I have which may be unique to my typology (read: advantages)"...

Where I'm hung up is on the next step. It is wonderful to have so many options to choose from in terms of career paths, but I'm still looking for a better way to narrow down that one specific field where I might focus all my passion. Currently, I'm finding that I might be good at (and enjoy) a multitude of occupations.

Thanks for your P.M.

Regards,

William

Tom Cal, CFA ⋅ San Francisco, CA Army Veteran, Investment Manager ⋅ 25 years experience

Bill, All,
I am following up to see what any of you have learned, and if you have any suggestions, feedback, etc. regarding good tools and methods for assessing "aptitudes, capabilities, and interests"?

Are there "best practices" you or others might suggest?

Also, thanks for all the work you are doing on behalf of Veterans. We greatly appreciate your efforts, and the efforts of all the others that are helping.

Thanks,
Tom

Neal Gouck ⋅ North Attleboro, MA U.S. Army, Major ⋅ 12 years served

Hi Bill,

I am an ACP protege. My mentor conducted with me an Innermetrix ADVanced insights profile. I received a 74 page report that blew me away and was tremendously insightful.

The coverpage lists Leverage Resources LLC. Wesley Chapel, NC 28173 704.431.8319
Hope it helps. Thanks for what you do.

Be safe
Neal

Jim Brown ⋅ Slidell, LA Keller Williams Realty Professionals ⋅ 33 years experience

Go to: http://www.tonyrobbins.com/ue/disc-profile.php, you can take the personal assessment free of charge. It will provide you with an abundance of information about yourself and how you might fit in or be directed as an employee. Really good tool. A lot of companies use some type of personal assessment tool (like this one) to evaluate candidates.

Ryan Emerick ⋅ Newark, DE U.S. Army, Sergeant ⋅ 6 years served

Hi Bill. I've completed the Do What You Are book and found, according to Myers Briggs, that my role in the commercial transportation industry required most of my weaknesses and none of my strengths. I've since switched from the maintenance operations realm to the sales realm. I am more satisfied and doing fairly well, but I'm struggling to find a sense of purpose in any position.

Bill Nobles ⋅ Basking Ridge, NJ Exxon ⋅ 30 years experience

Thank you Richard and Julie for your ideas. I took the 45 minute Birkman Method test on the https://www.hirepurpose.com website and definitely recommend it. The test results were 80% accurate describing my strengths, interests, and needs—and most importantly offered insights that would have been valuable early in my career.

Julie Ohlendorf ⋅ Lockhart, TX ⋅ 13 years experience

Bill:

I agree that Strength Finders is a great tool. Unlike most assessment and development resources, it really focuses on leveraging strengths instead of focusing so much on areas of opportunity. There is an online assessment along with the book.

I also think that MBTI is still a viable option--it seems to have staying power!. There is a great book out there called "Do What You Are" that talks about how to use the MBTI in career selection.

Richard Buck ⋅ Patterson, NY EY ⋅ 25 years experience

One would be HirePurpose. Hirepurpose was developed by veterans, for veterans and we are committed to addressing some of the incredible gaps that exist in the transition from military service to civilian career success. Founded in late 2011, we are excited to finally bring our beta product to the world.
link: www.hirepurpose.com

Semper Fi
_____________________
Richard Buck
(914) 391-3375 (mobile)
76warrior85@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/ribuck/

Bill Nobles ⋅ Basking Ridge, NJ Exxon ⋅ 30 years experience

Thank you for your valuable inputs and ideas William, Tara, and Susanne. I hope other advisors and veterans will respond and add to the richness of this reference source.
Bill Nobles

Susanne Scholz ⋅ Conway, AR Hewlett Packard ⋅ 8 years experience

I took the Stengths Finder test, so that I could apply them to my job search. You might find it a handy tool to go along with the other tests.

Tara Pangakis ⋅ Andover, MA Hewlett Packard ⋅ 30 years experience

Additionally, consider the use of psychologist John Holland's system that classifes jobs into categories. Take a quiz, such as http://www.roguecc.edu/Counseling/HollandCodes/test.asp, to match personalities to an appropriate career.

William Orr ⋅ Greenwood, IN Edward Jones Investments ⋅ 4 years experience

Bill:

I'm undergoing this process now and I've already learned through several sources that the self-assessment is the most important first step in this transition. I've utilized at least some form of each of the sources you mention. I found "What Color is Your Parachute" to be extremely helpful. Doing the exercises in that book (particularly the Flower Exercise); though not an instantaneous answer machine, it was certainly a great tool to begin with.

The most thought provoking questions in that text (and others) were:

1. If money was not an issue, what would you do?...or what would you do for free?
2. What do you find yourself daydreaming about?

Once I answered these honestly, I did conduct a few FREE typology tests, which I found to be surprisingly accurate and somewhat entertaining (Google search):

1. Jung Typology
2. O*NET Interest Profiler at http://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip
3. DiSC
4. I even took a look at Oprah's "Find Your Passion" page, http://www.oprah.com/packages/find-your-passion.html.

What I have learned is that these assessments (in general) were spot-on in terms of identifying career areas and even in identifying some of strengths I have which may be unique to my typology (read: advantages).

I'm also interested in what others have to say.

Regards,

William