CareerBuilder's Career Changes Self-Assessment

One of the first steps to do when initiating a career change or even contemplating one is to do a self-assessment (what some career-oriented self-help books will call the "look in the mirror"). Easy to say, hard to do. Fortunately, CareerBuilder.com has created a simple check list to get you started.

CareerBuilder's assessment draws on the work of Dr. Steven Reiss, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State University and author of "Who am I? The 16 Basic Desires that Motivate our Actions and Define our Personalities." Reiss's research showed that "happiness and life-satisfaction stem not from experiencing pleasure and avoiding pain, but from a sense that our lives have meaning and fulfill a larger purpose." Reiss has labeled this phenomenon as "value-based happiness."

Reiss then narrowed these down to sixteen "universal desires" that drive individual actions and behavior. Using these profiles one can roughly measure the "degree to which an individual values each of these desires and reveals his or her enduring life goals, psychological needs and personality traits" or in career speak, a "self-assessment."

Read the following statements about each basic desire. If they strongly describe you mark "+" if they somewhat describe you mark "0," and if they apply to you very little mark "-":

1. Curiosity. I have a thirst for knowledge.

2. Acceptance. I have a hard time coping with criticism.

3. Order. It upsets me when things are out of place.

4. Physical Activity. Physical fitness is very important to me.

5. Honor. I am a highly principled and loyal person.

6. Power. I often seek leadership roles.

7. Independence. Self-reliance is essential to my happiness.

8. Social Contact. I am known as a fun-loving person.

9. Family. My children come first.

10. Status. I am impressed by people who own expensive things.

11. Idealism. Compared with most people, I am very concerned with social causes.

12. Vengeance. It is very important to me to get even with those who insult or offend me.

13. Romance. Compared with my peers, I spend much more time pursuing or having sex.

14. Eating. I love to eat and often fantasize about food.

15. Saving. I hate throwing things away.

16. Tranquility. It scares me when my heart beats rapidly.

Now for the analysis.

The "+" signs are your priorities and you should have five or six or six of them. Stated simply, your job is to find work that embodies and fulfills these. For example, according to Reiss, someone with a desire for status and competition should look into being a stockbrokers.

Reiss recommends that when looking at a new career it is important to understand the kinds of tasks you will be doing throughout the day, week and year. Compare those to your top desires to make sure what you will be doing each day will be a source of happiness.

While anytime something as complex as human behavior or as subjective as satisfaction and happiness are broken down to a small number of multiple choice questions, it is important to keep in mind the limitations of the process. However the real benefit comes from the insight gained by just thinking about your answers and taking a step back and thinking about what skills you have and how they match up from the careers you are considering.

This post is part of LifeTwo's Midlife Career Change FAQ covering all aspects of changing careers in middle age.