Exploring Your Values, Interests, Personality and Skills

Before taking the leap into the workforce, think of how you can best match your skills and passion to a suitable career in order to achieve the ultimate fulfilment at work.

Although goals may change, and you might take up to 10 years to ultimately find yourself in your desired role and industry, your first step in job hunting should be to ask yourself what you can, or want, to bring to the table.

The best time to do this is before graduation. Look at potential jobs and career paths that you might be passionate about instead of seeing them as something you need to do just to make a living. After all, if the prospect of getting to work in the morning does not motivate you, and you cannot see yourself being willing to persevere through difficult times, especially when the going gets tough – it will be especially challenging to succeed in that particular role or industry.

Finding your VIPS – your values, interests, personality and skills – can help you realise what you love doing and are good at. By understanding your passions and getting a job that fulfils you as a person, chances are you will find contentment in growing your talent and developing your skills.

So, what are some factors you need to look at to understand what fulfils you? Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to help guide you along as you cross over to the working world.

Values: What do you care about?

Values are what you really care about and which give you a sense of purpose, not only in your personal life, but also in a work situation. Your values are influenced by a number of things such as upbringing, family, home life, culture and education.

Work values are those which relate specifically to the amount of satisfaction you get from your career. You need to consider your values as part of the career decisionmaking process, so that you can get a clearer picture of what type of career will bring you satisfaction and fulfilment.

Your values will determine whether you will actually do a job, as opposed to whether you are capable of doing the job. Another name sometimes used for values is motivators.

Interests: What are you passionate about?

Career interests are work activities that hold your attention and fire your enthusiasm. As your career will play a large part in your life, it makes sense to choose a career which plays to your interests and strengths.

The more you learn about your interests – what you are passionate about – the more you will be able to place your choice of employment in the context of the type of life you want to lead.

Interest inventories will help you to identify your interests and to prioritise them. The premise of this is to help you create a list of activities you enjoy, and match them to prospective careers.

Personality: What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Your personality influences how you do things – interact with others, plan your work, use your leisure time and tackle problems, to name but a few. Because of its wideranging effects, understanding your personality is central to your self-awareness and development.

Your personality is what makes you a unique individual. These are also the characteristics which determine whether you will be suited to a job.

Everyone has personality strengths and weaknesses. When job hunting, you will need to look for a match between your personality strengths and the work you are considering. Knowing your personality weaknesses will help you to steer away from certain activities or fields, or may suggest areas which you may wish to improve on, as well.

Skills: What are you good at?

While every degree develops competencies that are relevant to employers’ needs, each discipline develops additional skills sets and experiences. While planning your career, it is important to be aware of these additional abilities you have to offer, and it is particularly relevant when making applications and taking part in the selection process.

To achieve career success, you will need a range of skills in addition to the technical knowledge gained from your studies. You gain a wide range of skills while at university, through academic study, clubs and societies, voluntary work, industrial exposure and other commitments, as well as vast working experience later in life. These are critical ingredient in your job applications.

Transferable skills are skills that can be transferred to a wide range of activities, including employment. Also known as “employability skills”, they are particularly important nowadays in the current economic climate, as recruiters are looking for “work-ready” candidates with clear evidence of job specific skills in addition to high level attributes.

To have the competitive advantage in the job market and to remain employable, you will need to develop your employability throughout your time at university and show the spirit of continuous learning and development throughout your working life.

Flourish and bloom

Because you will be spending up to 50 hours at work each week – around 200 hours a month – it makes more sense to examine each job offer carefully rather than chasing one ideal role, all while keeping the four aforementioned questions in mind to get the best out of your offers.

Additionally, do also think of the following three points when considering your job offers:

How do you want to work?

Before taking up a job offer, think back to the office culture and environment you managed to catch a glimpse of during the recruitment process. For example, more and more companies are moving towards an open concept when it comes to office spaces, so you may have to consider working in that setting and prepare yourself for it accordingly.

Where would you take on challenges?

The workplace is often full of challenges, and they can feel amplified for a fresh graduate with little to no work experience.

For example, an introvert can carve out a successful career in marketing or sales with self-awareness and a willingness to work in a team, all while interacting with numerous clients. However, they may likely also have to take some time out every once in a while in order to recharge and refocus.

How can you contribute?

If you are in your element, it is easy to thrive and prosper, so take your comfort zone into consideration, too.

For instance, if you prefer interacting with others, you can think about pursuing a career in client relations. On the other hand, if you like working alone, you can consider going into engineering and IT, where some roles entail working solo some, or most, of the time.