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CAREER SELF-ASSESSMENT AND EXPLORATION
Career Self-Assessment and Exploration
Sara Ruckdeschel
Liberty University
COUC 522
Dr. Doris Demato
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CAREER SELF-ASSESSMENT AND EXPLORATION
Abstract
This paper will discuss the process of completing different inventories based on interests and
values. The O*NET Profiler gives Holland’s typology based on the assessment results which
then can be interpreted to determine different career choices. Also discussed will be spiritual
discernment regarding the decision-making process. The author will discuss her personal
reflections based upon the results of the different assessments as well as an evaluation.
Additionally, the occupational choice of the author will go into detail about different skills that
are need, what the work environment is like and more information about the job. Last, a case
scenario is discussed with how the author chose to apply career counseling to this client.
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CAREER SELF-ASSESSMENT AND EXPLORATION
Career Self-Assessment
A self-assessment is a useful tool to help decide on different career choice based on
interests, values, and desires. There are several different assessments available for use either
through the internet or on paper. It can be helpful for an individual who might be having
difficulty deciding on a career.
Career Instrument Results
O*NET Interest Profiler
After completing the O*NET Interest Profiler, the following scores were given; realistic
with a score of 4, investigative with a score of 8, artistic with a score of 13, social with a score of
28, enterprising with a score of 9, and conventional with a score of 8.
John Holland’s theory of personality types, links personality traits along with
occupational roles. When searching for a career, people will gravitate towards an occupation
where they can implement their interests and skills (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2022). When
completing the O*NET Interest Profiler, the top three traits were given to me. The top three
traits were social, artistic, and enterprising. Holland describes the social personality trait as
someone who enjoys working with others in the fields of education, counseling, clergy work,
psychologists etc. Some of the terms to describe someone with a social personality type would
be kind, sympathetic, patient, responsible, helpful, or warm (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2022).
Personally, I can see that these traits do fit my personality as well as my career interests. From a
young age I always enjoyed helping others. I loved to help in the nursery at church, especially
with the infants. When working with the infants I always had the patience to figure out what they
needed whether it be a bottle or a diaper change. Later in high school I got the opportunity to
volunteer with children who had special needs, and I absolutely loved doing that. While working
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with these kids I found at first, I was sympathetic to them, but quickly realized how they didn’t
need sympathy. They were capable of doing things in their own way and had their own bright
personalities and I figured out the balance of being helpful and letting them be independent. I
have always known I wanted a career that involved helping others in some way. Before I figured
out that the counseling field is where I wanted to be, I jumped around as a preschool teacher,
CNA, and nursing school. The next trait that was in my top three was artistic. The artistic
personality type enjoys learning and working with hands on materials and do not tend to enjoy
structured activities. This personality type can be described as imaginative, disorderly, intuitive,
emotional, independent etc. (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2022). Obtaining this personality type
did not surprise me as I love to draw and do art, however when re-reading the list of jobs such as
musician, dancer, writer, actor/actress (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2022) these are things that I
have no interest in. However, going back to the traits that describe an artistic type, I can relate. I
have always had an imaginative personality, looking at the clouds and seeing things that others
couldn’t see, and telling outlandish stories that I would make up. The disorderly trait sounds a
bit negative, however it does describe me somewhat. I am the type that waits until the last
minute to finish things, leaves clothes on the floor, or cannot remember where I put something. I
would say that as I have gotten older the intuitive side of me has gotten stronger, and I believe a
lot of that has come from being a mother. Probably the trait I relate with the most is being
emotional. At times I wish that I was not so emotional as it can get in the way of getting things
done or looking at things in a neutral perspective. Finally, I relate to independence as well,
especially during the last ten years. Ten years ago, I moved to North Carolina away from all of
my family. I gained some independence during that time, even though eventually they all
followed. Then moving to Florida, I have become the most independent I have ever been as I
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needed to start working again, started back in school, and managed a household. The final top
three trait of enterprising can be described as enjoying working with others to achieve growth
within an organization or financially. They tend to dislike structured activities and can be
described as optimistic, pleasure-seeking, ambitious, etc (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2022). This
trait surprised me the most, as I have never had the opportunity to really gain growth within an
organization or financially. The personality traits are somewhat accurate as I am very optimistic
about everything. I try to see the bright side of things and hope for the best in every situation.
When something does not work out, I always know that there is a reason that God said, “not right
now.”.
After completing the O*NET Interest Profiler and choosing the extensive training or job
zone five, the top two careers that were shown were an Adaptive Physical Education Teacher and
an Anthropology and Archeology Teacher.
Value Sort Activity
When having to complete the value sort activity, my top 5 values were ethical practice
family, pleasure, friendship, affection, and helping society. I chose ethical practice as my most
important value because it is important, I believe in every aspect of life. In your personal life it
is so very important to be honest, compassionate, responsible, have integrity and the list could go
on. Having these traits will allow family and friends to be able to count on you and to trust you.
In school counseling, it is very important to observe ethical practice as it is the foundation of
trust between your employer and your clients. I chose one of the top values of family because
for one, I already have made a family and I would not be where I am without their support. Also,
family is important because if you were to just work everyday and had to come home to nobody
but yourself it could get lonely and depressing. The second trait I chose was pleasure. I chose
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this as second because I think of pleasure not only as pleasure outside of work, but also pleasure
during work. I don’t only want to have pleasure, but I hope that I can and will bring pleasure to
other people through helping them or spending time with them. The third trait of friendship is
important to me because I enjoy building friendships that are trustworthy, open, honest, and fun.
I believe that friendships are important so that you can unwind from your life and be able to
spend time with quality people who share values and interests with you. The fourth trait,
affection, I think is important more so in my personal life. My love language is touch therefore,
when a loved one shows affection, it means a lot to me.
My principal value of ethical practice goes along with these top two occupations from the
O*Net Interest Profiler, the top two occupations that were aligned with ethical practice was 21-
1012.00 - Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors and 21-1014.00 - Mental
Health Counselors.
Spiritual Discernment Decision-Making Factors Survey
In the article, “Discerning Spiritual Discernment: Assessing Current Approaches for
Understanding God’s Will” by Horton (2009) discusses different approaches to the decision-
making process for Christians. After reading the article and completing the survey I was able to
find what factors were most important to me when making a spiritual discernment. The traits
that I chose to be very important are consulting the bible, praying for wisdom to make godly
decisions, depending on a sense of inner peace from the Holy Spirit, looking for signs of
confirmation from God, and praying for specific guidance or answers from God. Based on these
traits, the approach I would most likely follow would be the bull’s eye approach or the traditional
view. The bull’s eye approach is described as seeking and then following God’s will for an
individual’s life plan. The traits that correlate with this approach are spot on with the traits that I
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chose as most important (Horton, 2009). I believe that these traits are most important because I
was taught growing up that God has a plan for everyone and through prayer it can be revealed to
us in time. In Jeremiah 29:11, it says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV,
1978/1983, Jeremiah 29:11). Another scripture that supports my belief is Romans 8:28 which
says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have
been called according to his purpose.” (NIV, 1978/1983, Romans 8:28).
Personal Reactions
When completing the O*NET Interest Profiler I was most surprised to see the listings of
jobs that were correlated with the different typologies. For example, my top three typology was
artistic, social, and enterprising and the top two occupations were for Archeology and
Anthropology Teacher or an Adaptive Physical Education Teacher. Perhaps I misunderstood, the
top two as being the two listed directly at the top of the list. However, other careers such as
counseling were in the list as well.
When we were asked to come up with ten different values that were important to us, it
was somewhat easy. However, when asked to slowly decrease which value should be eliminated
it was a hard decision. I felt like some of the values I chose were just as important as the other
such as family and friendships. When it came down to it, I had to think which value might
encompass everything and that is why I chose ethical practice. I feel like this being ethical can
branch out into every aspect of my life
The spiritual discernment survey seemed to me to be the easiest to complete. I think that
it was so easy for me because I have been taught the importance of God’s will, and prayer since I
was a young child, so those factors are almost burned into my brain, but I also believe in them. I
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found it comforting, that all the traits that I chose were grouped together into one approach that
was exactly how I make my own decisions. So many times, in my life when I have had to make
a decision and there might not necessarily be time to pray about it, I can always see where God
had worked in my life whether it be that what I wanted to happen did not or what I wanted to
happen did happen. I would say most of the time, I tend to see God working and His will when
the choice I made does not work out. I may not see the “why” right away, but every single time
at some point I realize why something did not work out.
As far as Holland’s typology, the descriptions that I agreed with, I had used to describe
myself. There were many that I did not agree to fit my personality, but it was not surprising
because I know that everyone is different and won’t have every single trait in that certain
typology. The most surprising trait was the enterprising trait. I am a hard worker, responsible,
but I have never had the opportunity to grow at a job before whether it be within the organization
or financially.
Evaluation of Instruments
Out of all these assessments, I believe that they were all relatively easy to work through.
I would say the easiest was the spiritual discernment as it was a quick survey that did not take
much time. The O*NET was somewhat easy to get through as well, however I might have been
able to spend a few more seconds on determining my interests with each question. Also perhaps,
if I had a quieter environment for all these assessments it would have been easier as well. There
were no other areas in which I think I could have gotten better results as far as culture, or
disability etc.
Conceptualization
When it comes to the values sorting activity, and the spiritual discernment survey, these
results were aligned with each other. My top value being ethical practice is in line with being
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biblical and following God’s will. As far as Hollands’s typology, there are different personality
traits that are not in alignment with the bible such as perhaps being disorderly. However, God’s
people are not perfect.
Differentiation and consistency are terms that are used when describing how a person fits
into Holland’s typology. Those who are differentiated might only fit into one category, whereas
some might be considered undifferentiated because they can fit into many categories.
Consistency refers to those who are more integrated with their interests and values. Holland
thought it to be true that those who had high consistency, also had high career achievements
(Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2022).
For myself I would say I am differentiated when it comes to Holland’s typology as my
highest score was a 28 in social. I would have to agree with this score because as much as I love
art, it is something that I do not participate in on a regular basis and the personality traits do not
fit me hardly at all. The social traits fit me very well. I would also say that I have a high
consistency for the social typology because a lot of the traits and values correspond to my
personality.
The best work environment fit, or congruence based on Holland’s typology would be the
social typology. Congruence when discussing the work environment is the best fit based on the
individual’s personality (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2022). For me, the best fit would be the
social typology because I want to work with and help others to achieve goals. Most of the
personality traits that describe a social typology are in alignment with my career goal of
becoming a school counselor. As for the enterprising and artistic typologies, I believe that
aspects of each trait can be brought into the counseling sessions such as being optimistic, and
ambitious, imaginative, and open.
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In the past there was only one job that I had that I really was not satisfied with, but I
worked there until I finished my college degree. The job was in retail and involved inventory
and keeping records and that was one of the items on the interest profiler that I not interested in
doing.
Based on my assessments, if I were to give myself career counseling, I would suggest to
keep moving forward with my goals and my education as it seems to be the right fit.
Occupational Exploration
Based off my career assessment, I will be looking at more information in the area of
School Counseling. Unless otherwise cited, the career information presented in this paper was
obtained from O*NET On-Line (National Center for O*NET Development, 2021).
The occupation I chose based on the O*NET, is code 21-1012.00 - Educational,
Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors.
The Nature of the Work
Some of the duties that will be performed in a typical week as a school counselor would
be assisting students with difficult situations, discuss students’ progress with their schoolwork
with their teachers and parents, rule out possible cases of abuse. School counselors can work in
a private or public-school setting (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2021).
Working Conditions
As a school counselor, it is very important to work with others whether it be through
group or parent meetings, with direct face to face contact with the student, or with
administration. This job could be stressful at times, if a crisis occurs within the workday, the
school counselor needs to be able to deescalate the crisis and provide help for the student and
family (CareerOneStop, n.d.).
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Preparation and Qualifications
In the state of Florida, a school counselor needs to have at least 600 hours of supervised
internship experience in a pre-kindergarten, elementary, or secondary school and a master’s
degree in school counseling (CareerOneStop, n.d.). Some of the necessary skills needed are
active listening, the ability to speak clearly to others, understanding the reactions of others,
critical thinking, and time management (CareerOneStop, n.d.). It is important for a school
counselor to know the principles of mental health, and understand personal differences in
individuals.
Opportunities and Future Outlook
According to CareerOneStop (n.d.) the projected growth for school counselors in the state
of Florida is shown to grow by 2,220 job opportunities, and 33,100 job openings in the United
States. There is an estimated need of 35,000 school counselors every year in the US and the
projected rate of an increase of students will require more school counselors in the coming years
(Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2021).
Some related careers are marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, school
psychologists, or social work teachers. Thankfully a lot of these careers could be a possibility if
needed.
Economic and Non-Economic Benefits
According to CareerOneStop (n.d.) the annual wage for a school counselor in Florida is
shown to be at the lowest at a 10th percentile of $29,000, the median at $45,650, and the top 90th
percentile at $63, 290. The majority of the school systems in Florida, provide retirement, health
insurance, workers compensation, and life insurance.
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A non-economic benefit to being a school counselor, is that in the state of Florida,
schools have the summers off. This is a major benefit when wanting to plan vacations or other
big events. Another benefit would be to see your clients progress throughout their school career.
Reflection
Originally, I wanted to become a mental health counselor, but recently changed my mind.
Now that I have dug deep into the field of school counseling it excites me to think about having
summers off, and not working extremely long hours. I love to help others, and I think that
helping kids will be amazing. It will be such an opportunity to watch them grow and develop
into hopefully amazing adults.
Some disadvantages to using career information as a school counselor, is that you do not
really get the full idea of what it will be like. You can imagine what a crisis might look like and
how you might handle a certain situation, but you don’t really get a full idea until you are doing
it. Another disadvantage is there could be conflicting information between different career sites.
Practical Application
In the case scenario of a 19-year-old female Asian-American student who is struggling to
sleep, has headaches, low energy, is having a difficult time deciding on a major, and fears
disappointing her parents there are a lot of potential personal influences that I as her career
counselor could overflow onto her. To begin, I might want to get to the root cause of why she is
struggling to sleep, why she has headaches, and low energy. I would want to know if it is for
sure related to her worries, or if there could be a medical underlying issue. Second, I would want
to find out more about her parents and what career choice they made. I would assume as she
fears disappointing her parents by getting low grades in her engineering class that the parents
might be engineers. I understand that culturally, Asians can be very private and keep matters
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within the family, but I would want to tell her it was Ok to seek help and not to worry about her
parents finding out she was seeking counseling. Furthermore, since she took the interest profiler
which concluded that she might be good at nursing, I would ask her more questions about that
career choice. I would want to know if she was interested in nursing as a career. Finally, I
would want to dive deeper into her statement that her major might not be God’s will. I would
want to know more about her religious upbringing, what she believes versus her parents, and
more about her spiritual discernment.
Without imposing my values or beliefs onto this student, I would be mindful of the ACA
Code of Ethics and other appropriate ethical guidelines. First, I want to be sensitive to her
cultural background. Additionally, as stated in section A.4.b. in the Code of Ethics, I will not
impose my personal values onto this client. I would remind her that whatever she says is
confidential as per code A.7.b and the only way her parents would find out she was coming is if
she told them. In section B.1.a, it reminds counselors to be sensitive to multicultural clients
(American Counseling Association, 2014). There are many other ethical codes one being
competent to administer assessments and interpret the results. With these ethical codes in mind,
I would approach this student in a respectful manner and try to gather as much information as
possible without making her uncomfortable. I would start out by asking her questions about her
parents and what type of jobs they do. This would give me insight to see if they are imposing
their career choice onto her. After gathering that information, I would ask her what her interests
were as far as career choice or even hobbies to get a better understanding of what types of
activities she enjoys. Because she mentioned “God’s will” I would ask more about her religious
upbringing to better understand her view of God, the bible and her possible spiritual discernment.
I also might ask her if she was interested in going over her O*NET interest profiler together to
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talk about different possible career paths without discouraging her from changing her major. I
would make sure the client was comfortable talking about all of these things and listen without
offering any of my personal values.
Some additional assessments I might offer this client is John Krumboltz’s happenstance
theory. I would first describe it to her as her having the opportunity to imagine her ideal day and
only move forward if she was comfortable. I think this might make this client become aware of
what things she really wants in a career on her own without outside influence. Another strategy I
would use is to be sure that I can to the best of my ability, understand her different perspectives
from her cultural lens. I want to be able to empathize with her and understand why she is feeling
like she is disappointing her parents or just understanding her in general even if it’s not about any
current issue. Another strategy I might use, is emerging myself into the Asian-American culture
to get a better understanding of the different values or beliefs. I might even search for a church
within this population.
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References
American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA Code of Ethics
CareerOneStop. (n.d.). Careers and Career Information - CareerOneStop.
https://www.careeronestop.org/Toolkit/Careers/Occupations/occupation-profile.aspx?
keyword=21-1012.00%20&onetcode=21101200&location=32137
Horton, D. J. (2009). Discerning spiritual discernment: assessing current approaches for
understanding God’s will. The Journal of Youth Ministry, 7(2), 7–31.
National Center for O*NET Development. (2021). Summary Report: Mental Health Counselors.
(O*Net Report No. 21-1014.00). Retrieved from O*Net Online website:
http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/21-1014.00
Niles, S.G. & Harris-Bowlsbey, J. (2022). Career development interventions (6th ed). Pearson.
School and career counselors and advisors: Occupational outlook handbook::U.S. Berrueau of
Labor Statistics. (2021, June 2). Bureau of Labor Statistics.
https:www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/school-and-career-counselors.htm
The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1983). Hodder and Stouughton. (Original work
published in. 1978).
