Conduct a Self-Assessment

Overview

Wherever you are in your career, it’s a good idea to conduct a self-assessment. In a career change, you might be just starting out, in a mid-career change, seeking to accelerate your career, shifting to work that is more personally rewarding, or scaling back. These are the “inflection points” of your career – the points where you change your direction.

Do you ever wonder why you make certain choices? Do what you do? Are you better at some things than others? The reason is your talents. Donald Clifton and the Gallup organization have researched human behavior and nature for 75 years and studied human talents for over 40 years. They have analyzed over 1 million work teams and conducted tens of thousands of interviews.

Although people change over time and our personalities adapt, scientists have discovered that core personality traits are relatively stable throughout adulthood. This is one reason why the CliftonStrengths^® assessment measures the elements of your personality that are less likely to change—your talents.

Objectives

Using the CliftonStrengths^® assessment and the exercises in this lesson, you will:

1. Conduct an inventory of your natural talents and strengths
2. Gain awareness and appreciation of how your top talents show up in your work and your life
3. Learn to express your talents and strengths in authentic, positive ways
4. Create actionable ideas for aligning your innate strengths to your career choice.
5. Catalog and inventory your skills, knowledge, and perspectives.

Requirements:

• To complete this course, you will need to take Gallup’s CliftonStrengths^® assessment and complete three reflection exercises to name, describe, explain, and give examples of how you can apply your talents in a work situation. You will also create short examples that allow you (and others) to see your top talents and strengths in the context of key roles, events, and experiences you have had.