Top Career Advice - More Choices and A Better Way of Life

By Roger Clarke

Why Career Advice Is So Important

Choosing a career presents a nerve-racking decision, as it can have a life-long impact on you. Do not fret, as you can gain a clearer outlook into your future by thorough career planning.

Having a clear vision of the future can guide you by helping you set career goals and helping you on your way towards attaining them. Whether you are starting out on a new career or looking to change your current career, you will benefit enormously from taking sound advice.

Don't Spend Most of Your Life Doing ...

Chances are that you will be spending a great deal of time at your job, about 40 hours a week. Career advice and career profiling can guide you to a job that is enjoyable for you and matches your interests.

There are many reasons people change their careers and career advice can help them along the way. Some frequently cited reasons are:

· Stuck in a dead end job.

· Lost interest in current line of work.

· Gained a new interest in a different career option.

A Job For Life ... Not Anymore

In today's world, there is increased job rotation ... also with the down turns in the economy, many people can be laid-off.
Good career advice for unemployed persons would be to consider a career change. Some of the fastest growing occupations are Medical Assistant, Network Systems Analyst, Physician Assistant, etc. Occupations that are struggling to gain workers can be a suitable option for currently unemployed individuals.

People often back off from changing careers if they are unsure of the effort it might take to start a new career and learn a new trade. If you are one of these people, career advice from professionals can help you make a knowledgeable decision.

How To Identify Your Career Choices

When choosing a new career field, career advice and career planning can help you figure out your career choices. When embarking on a new career, you need to take into account your previous education and work experience.

You should start thinking about the skills you currently possess and how they can be beneficial in each of the new career options available to you.

Have You Considered a Career Test?

Valuable career advice can come from career tests as they can help in identifying suitable job options. Career tests include tests such as personality profiling, leadership skills, motivation, management style, etc.

The results of such tests can give you the career advice that can direct you to a suitable career, by matching your interests with career options.

Many career tests are offered online. They may be free or available for a small fee. Many experts provide the career advice to employment seekers to take some time to plan their career and set their goals. Knowing your career goals can provide you with valuable guidance.

Remember that career planning and goal setting is an on-going process, changing as you continue on your career.

The web can be a great source to find valuable career advice. It can provide you with many resources to research new career choices and find out information on a particular career field such as average salary, work environment, job responsibilities, etc.

Use Resumes That Give You an Advantage

Whether you are starting a career, changing careers or looking for a different job in your present career, the best career advice is to have a great, eye-catching resume.

You may be thinking about using your old resume, maybe the one you made after graduating from college. However, you will have to make changes to that resume to make it relevant to your present situation.

Upgrade your resume with the additional skills and experiences you have acquired. People going through a career change, need to present the skills they have acquired through the years in a way that makes it relevant to the new career jobs for which they are applying.

You may not have all the standard education for that career, so you need to convince potential employers that your previous education and work experience have given you the skills that make you a suitable candidate to transition into that job.

Career planning involves gaining information that can ease your transition to a new career. This information can help get you out of your current dreary jobs and into a dynamic and interesting career.

Act Now... and Take Control of Your Career

It's never too late to think of making a career change... seek professional career advice and give yourself the best chance of achieving your career goals.

Career Move - A Step By Step Guide

By Keji Giwa

Most people die from the neck up at age 25 because they stop dreaming, some people are managing their dreams after age 25 because they have been busy making their dreams their reality.

A step at a time is progress

Today I will give you a quick summary of the 5 key steps you need to take in order to make a career move that will change your life for the best. You can get the full content from our website. Each step has been carefully thought out, tried and tested with phenomenal results. Take your time and digest it.

Step 1: For get your past mistakes. Forgive yourself because if you don't, you will always be tied to your past and it will hinder you from making bold and life changing decisions for fear of repeating the same mistakes again. Learn from it and move on.

Step 2: Start with the end in mind. Discover what you want to achieve at each stage of your life and then work backwards from each stage. You can do this by mentally and spiritually seeing yourself achieving the things you want and then putting the puzzles together in reality through planning. Make sure it is a SMART- V Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time Bound and directly related to your Vision. Without vision, momentum becomes an aimless energy that eventually runs out.

Step 3: Run your own race & on your own track. Most people tend to measure their progress based on the progress of others. Our five fingers are not equal and they have different unique functions. One finger is not better than the other and the same applies to you and the next person. You have a better chance winning your own race and on your own track, compared to running someone else's race and on someone else's track.

Step 4: Celebrate your small and big wins. Encouraging yourself propels you forward. When you fail to celebrate you small wins, you fail to measure your progress. A progress report tells you where you are, what you have achieved and how far you have to go. It can be an amazing comfort and reassure when things get really difficult.

Step 5: Remember that you are in the people business. What's in it for them? If you fail to understand the bigger picture, you will never find a your place in it. The world is made up of many other billions of people and if you what you have to offer does not involve meeting their needs, you cannot place a value on your service.

Dream Interviewing - A Guide to Landing Your Dream Job

By Keith Krzywiecki

Are you looking to land your dream job? Is this your first interview or have you been interviewing for awhile? Do you wish you had an easy guide to help you improve your interviewing skills? Whatever your answers are to these questions the bottom line is that most people need help with their interviewing skills. If you put a little bit of effort in to each of the major parts of the interview process you will come out of the interview as the top candidate and land your dream job.

Stand out in the crowd
The key throughout the entire Dream Interviewing® process is to differentiate yourself vs. all the other candidates you are going against for your dream job. One of the easiest ways to differentiate yourself is to get over prepared for the Dream Interview® and you need to do this in multiple areas. Focus on what you will wear, where the interview is, how long it will take you to get there, and what route you will take in order to get there at least 15 minutes ahead of time. The other key preparation you will need to do is around understanding the industry you are interviewing in, the company you are interviewing with, and the job you are interviewing for. Be prepared with multiple examples around your strengths, areas of development, leadership, teamwork, influence, problem solving, and conflict management.

Selling yourself
The Dream Interview® is one of those key times in life where you need to come in ready to sell the interviewer on why you are the best candidate for the job. You certainly do not want to cross the line into arrogance or cockiness but you do want them to know you are the best fit for their job. Believe me, if you don't sell yourself no one else interviewing is ever going to say they should hire you first. Start believing you are the best and go into that Dream Interview ready to prove it to them. Your cover letter and resume are basically your selling tools designed to land you that dream job, therefore, they need to be professional, accurate, and specific to the job you are interviewing for. Find excellent examples such as those found in the Dream Interviewing Certification Program that can make this much easier for you and once again will differentiate you from the crowd.

Your Brag Book
The jury is basically split on putting together and using a brag book. I believe they are great if you use them correctly to help convince the interviewer how exceptional you are. The problem is most candidates come in and pronounce they have a brag book but never pull it out in the interview to sell themselves. If you put all that effort into getting the brag book put together than by all means have the top 2-3 key examples of why you are the best candidate for this job up front in the book and get the interviewing interested in seeing your book.

Those Wonderful Questions
Just think if you knew the questions the interviewer was going to ask prior to doing your Dream Interview and you could get prepared with the very best answers to knock their socks off. There are many similar questions that all interviewers ask as we are all looking for the same types of things in every candidate we interview so do your homework on what questions will be asked and practice answering them before you go in to the interview. You will be amazed at how much more relaxed you are, how much more fun the interview is, and how much more connected you are to the interviewer. Also put together your list of key questions you want to ask in the interviewer as you should be interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you if this is truly your dream job.

Sell Me Something
This situation is coming up more often in the interviewing process as the interviewer wants to see how you react to a little pressure, what type of social skills you have, and if you can think on your feet. The key here is not to sweat, take your time, listen, and ask for the business. All of this can be done easily again if you have a simple repeatable selling process that you can use with anything they ask you to sell, including yourself. Start with a plan, seek to understand, satisfy their needs, and make action is a full proof way to sell anything and set you up for success in this scenario.

Get That Job- Close the Interview
Well it's all come down to this one moment. You have prepared better than any other candidate, you have practiced the interview questions/answers, you have a great cover letter/resume, you closed them in the sell me something scenario, you asked great questions to the interviewer, and you have just one thing left to do. Tell them you want this job and that you are the best candidate for this job. Don't hold back, now is the time to make sure they have every example of why you rock, they don't have any concerns left about you, and they want you to ask, so do it. Every interviewer wants to see, hear, and feel the close yet I find only about 10% of candidates close us. Can you believe that? You want your dream job that much yet you don't simply ask for it and a lot of times that is the difference between one candidate and the next. So on the next Dream Interview you have, please, by all means, ask for your dream job-if you don't someone else will.

Career Change Tips and Advice

By Charles Buckman

In most cases people pick a career from a number of alternatives when their in their twenty's.  That's a time when their unsure of what career to follow.  Interests change as you move through life.  You may be at that stage now or you may have lost your interest, or even become very bored at your present job.  If you feel it's time for a career change, follow this plan to guide you in setting a course of action. 
  
There are signs that tell you it's time for a career change: 
  
'Can't wait until 5PM' 
'I'm bored out of my head' 
'I out-grew this job' 
'The same work-load day in and day out' 
  
Before you change careers, you should do a lot of contemplation and homework.  You should be aware of your strengths and weaknesses.  What are your interests?  Do you feel that your skills can be applied to a career change? 
  
Most career changers already have the answers to these questions, but don't realize it.  If the career changer takes the time to assess their goals, what they enjoy, what will keep them motivated, they probably will have all the answers.  Some do this by just getting into a new career.  Some need training for a new career.  There are employers that offer training if the interviewer is impressed with the job seeker.  Alternatively, the career changer may get the training through programs offered at local colleges and vocational institutions.   
  
Most people look at the earning capacity while ignoring what they enjoy doing best.  That's a tragic mistake.  Don't misunderstand me, money is important, however enjoying what you do is also crucial to your career.  So make sure whatever new career you enter into is a career that you enjoy and will keep you motivated.  
  
Some people actually enjoy their present career, but dislike the department they are working in.  If that is your situation, speak to your supervisor and try to get placed in a department that is more suitable for your needs. 
  
Another similar example; to make a transition a little easier, the career changer's present job is in sales of medical equipment.  In this situation, the salesperson should consider selling a different piece of medical equipment that will keep the salesperson motivated while enjoying the sales of the new product.  If you're in a situation where you can sell more than one product why not go for it!  You may find that even more interesting and more beneficial to your earnings. 
  
Have self-confidence, believe in what you are doing, work hard at it,  be honest, and you will be successful.

Finally, A Career Guide For Freelancers

By Mylene Kasilag

There are no magic bullets, no magic formula. Those of us who have been there through sun and storm, can only smile at the fact that everything starts with a burning desire to succeed. The craft of freelancing takes years to shape and a lifetime to perfect. We are very fortunate - the Internet has redefined the word "freelance" and has made it a lucrative career for almost everybody with specialized information. Now, with a little guide and a lot of practice, success at freelance is more of a reality today than it ever was before the Internet was mainstream. It may take a lot of hard work with long hours, but in the end, it really is possible to have comfortable income through online freelance work.

To help you remember the Quick Guide, I came up with the perfect acronyms - SKIN, GOAL and LEVEL. Please do your best to memorize the acronyms because they definitely will come in handy and create milestones for you. After all, it is your life's career on the plate.

Phase 1 - Identify your S-K-I-N
• Skill
• Knowledge
• Interest
• Network

Phase 2 - Set your G-O-A-L
• Generate your product/ service
• Organize a business system
• Accelerate your sales
• Leapfrog your way to the top

Phase 3 - Bring yourself to the next L-E-V-E-L
• Leverage on joint projects
• Enrich others to enrich yourself
• Volunteer for visibility
• Earn sponsorships and favours
• Live a simple life

Let us start with Phase 1 - Identify your S-K-I-N

The objective of Phase 1 is to establish the foundation of your career. By identifying your skill, knowledge, and interest, you will also be able to recognize existing conditions, concerns, constraints, or even weaknesses. Through some exercises, you will be able to formulate decisions that will dictate the future intensity and consistency of the rate of your progress. After finding out your skill, knowledge, and interest, we will proceed to explore ways to build your network.

Follow these steps:

1) Make 3 columns on your paper and mark each column with the headings - SKILL, KNOWLEDGE, and INTEREST. Make your lists following the criteria below.

2) Study the lists and weigh the possibilities when you have to choose only one item from each column.

3) Finalize and make your conclusion as shown from the examples below.

4) Generate a random idea of the kind of freelance business you can pursue.

• SKILL

The skills we refer to are the "God-given skill". These are the skills that were given to you when you were born. If you were stripped naked from all resources - money, friends, education, etc., what is it that you can do on your own without help?

Is it the ability to sketch people in detail?
Can you make up fascinating stories?
Can you write travel journals?
Are you a born salesman?
Born teacher?
Can you make children laugh?
Are you a math wizard?
Can you compose songs?
Do you easily grow flowers?

• KNOWLEDGE

By knowledge, we mean "specialized knowledge". These are special information that a niche market may find valuable. Specialized knowledge can be about sunset photography, furniture designing, copywriting, wood varnishing, basket making, animal breeding, interior decorating, flower arranging, bread making, software programming, web designing, business plan writing, video making, online marketing, SEO writing, and many others.

Oftentimes, we do not recognize the specialized knowledge that we already have for so long. Specialized knowledge may be as simple as knowing so much about caring for the elderly or preparing everyday meals for a diabetic child.

• INTEREST

In a lifetime, there could be a range of interests that keep us occupied. The interest we are looking for is the one that you are so passionate about that you do not notice the time spent in the task. In fact, you may not be producing great results but you keep on it because "passionate interest" is therapeutic and stimulating.

Now, study your lists and whenever you are certain about your personal evaluation, identify the following aspects for building your career. Take your time...

GOD-GIVEN SKILLL _______________________________
SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE _______________________________
PASSIONATE INTEREST _______________________________

Sample conclusion No. 1

God-given skill is "writing"
Specialized knowledge is "preparing salad recipes"
Passionate interest is "growing vegetables from the backyard"

Random idea: You can blog about your day to day experience on growing vegetables from the backyard. Talk about preparing the soil, which crops grow under the shade or sunlight, etc. Describe the tools you use. Excite the readers by showing videos. Solicit sponsorship from possible advertisers. Make an eBook on "Salad Recipes - Fresh from the Garden". Place brand ads of olive oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, etc. On the eBook and distribute for free when they subscribe to your blog.

Sample conclusion No. 2

God-given skill is "selling"
Specialized knowledge is "computer repair"
Passionate interest is "computer games"

Random idea: Possible online business is to write your reviews about different computer games and get advertising sponsorships. Make recommendations suitable for each age group. You can also write about ways to upgrade the hardware specifications to optimize the performance of the desired software game. Tie up with computer dealers as your supplier. Create your own bundling promo package for software games and sell online.

Sample conclusion No. 3

God-given skill is "teaching"
Specialized knowledge is "publishing books"
Passionate interest is "playing with children"

Random idea: Obviously, you can teach illustrators and writers how to create entertaining educational books that children would respond to. Get samples of books from various publishers and offer to conduct random survey to see which book a child will choose to pick up based on the front cover, etc. Document the process on video. You can write reviews of children's books and make recommendations on how to improve them. Publishers will happily pay you for the survey results before they send the prototype to the press.

Generating a random idea of what your freelance business is a great way to visualize yourself in action. Do not worry about the details because a lot of these will change over time as you become more confident about your goal and vision. As you dedicate more energy and focus to your God-given skills, specialized knowledge, and passionate interest, the more you can propel your career to success.
Lesson 2 of our Freelance Career Guide is all about identifying your NETWORK. Network is also known as our "Market" or "Prospective Client".

You can not even begin to think about "building your network" if you have not clearly identified the S-K-I-N as a whole. If this is the case, you need to review:

• Skill - God-given
• Knowledge - Specialized
• Interest - Passionate
• Network - Money-making

Your network is the list of people you can sell to (and if you are looking at multi-level network, then your network can be defined as the tiers of people you sell to).

The quality of your network reflects who you are. If you sell "get-rich-no-work" business scheme then the network you will attract are those who want fast money without having to work. If you sell online casino membership, then you would attract the network who would rather invest their time on "luck" rather than "hard work". There is no"right" and "wrong" network. It is just a matter of choice.

You can build your N by first announcing and advertising your S-K-I. The fastest way to do this is by starting a blog. It may sound weird at this point but a well-visited blog is the easiest strategy and most economical venue to showcase your skill, knowledge, and interest worldwide. Only then, you can attract like-minded people, build relationship and trust over a short period of time, and eventually convert your S-K-I-N to a sales machine. In the following lessons of Phase 2, we will discuss in detail the ways to build your network based on your business plan. For now, let us focus on finalizing Phase 1.

Let us pick-up our sample scenario from Lesson 1 to give you an idea:

• God-given SKILL is "writing"
• Specialized KNOWLEDGE is "preparing salad recipes"
• Passionate INTEREST is "growing vegetables from the backyard"
• Money-making NETWORK is a list of buyers interested in salad recipes, salad dressing concoctions, spices, organic fertilizers, gardening tools, and other products related to your knowledge and passionate interest.

Random idea for the business plan:

You can blog about your daily thoughts on growing vegetables from the backyard. Talk about preparing the soil, which crops grow under the shade or sunlight, etc. Describe the tools you use. Excite the readers by showing videos. Solicit sponsorship from possible advertisers. Make an eBook on "Salad Recipes - Fresh from the Garden". Place brand ads of olive oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, concoctions, etc. On the eBook and distribute for free when they subscribe to your blog. Look for other products to sell. Create an e-commerce catalogue.

Now, you may say, "but where will I get the products to sell?" Do not worry, we will go through all the important aspects, step-by-step in Phase 2 of our Freelance Career Guide.
Take a moment to study your S-K-I-N conclusion. Are you happy with it? Can you visualize the big picture and feel the excitement of the random business idea? If you feel inspired by your S-K-I-N, then you must be gearing for the right direction.

You need to be very certain about your S-K-I-N because all your future undertakings will depend on them. Any slight changes can affect the total business perspective. As much as we are leveraging on your strengths and assets, you also need to keep in mind the personal weakness that you need to work on or work around with. Working on your own can lead to crazy, lazy work habits that you would never get away with if you are employed. Remember, you need to be making money every single day.

Take your time to assess yourself before proceeding to Phase 2. Take your time - as much as your personal resources can accommodate. Take up short courses, accept freelance jobs, join hobby clubs, forums, workshops, and seminars.

Continue to maintain a blog to get used to writing down your thoughts. You will also get comments that may inspire you to write more. By the time you are ready to work on your own plan, you would have improved your communication skills - an essential tool for success.

Close your eyes. Imagine that the current date is five years from now. Where do you want to be? Will you be running a job or business that hasn't increased significantly in size? Will you command a rapidly growing network? Will you continue to expand the opportunities or would you have already cashed out and be relaxing and enjoying your hard-won gains?

Answering these questions is the first step in building a successful career plan. In fact, without knowing where you are going, it's not really possible to plan at all.

Why should you freelance on God-given skill?

My answer is simple: God-given skill is something that you possess no matter what happens. More importantly, it is yours freely without having to ask for it. There must be a very good reason why YOU and not everyone else in this world were given the privilege of having this particular gift. It is entirely up to you to figure out how to make good use of it.

It is both logical and practical to plan any career with that in mind. Doing freelance can get lonely at one point. Work buddies can come and go, projects can go wrong, release of fees can get delayed, your business can collapse overnight - a lot can happen that could discourage and confuse you. And when you do not have friends, money, or anything else to hold on to, you can always pick up on your God-given skill because it is truly yours free. A career charted by God-given skill can reward you a profession built on solid ground - no matter how many times you fall.

Career Choices - 4 Steps to a Fulfilling Career

By Lisa McGrimmon


Understanding how to make smart career choices is a life skill that everyone needs. The decisions you make about your career have a profound effect on every aspect of your life. The more good knowledge and resources you have to make informed decisions, the more control you'll have over your career and your future.

Unfortunately, plenty of people believe that career choice is a one time event that happens naturally, without a lot of thought, some time in early adulthood when you're about to leave high school or apply to post secondary programs. Smart career management actually happens across your lifetime, and we continue to make consequential career choices over the years.

Whether you are looking for a new job, aiming to take the next step in your current job, completely changing your career or planning your retirement options, you are making career choices, and using good resources and the guidance of a career counselor can help you to make those decisions well.

So often when people find themselves at a career crossroads, the first thing they do is jump right in and create a new resume without putting any thought into what their next steps should be. Smart career management and job search is about so much more than writing a great resume. If you take the time to learn about, think though and act on the four main areas of career management, you will be rewarded throughout your career.

1. Understand Yourself

Your interests, abilities, values and personal needs and realities should all be taken into account in any career decision making process. You spend hours at work, and it impacts your life in many ways. It makes sense that you should be fully informed and aware of your personal needs, strengths and possible challenges before making such profound decisions.

2. Understand Your Options

Do you know how many different career choices are available to you? Both The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (American) and The National Occupational Classification (Canadian) list well over 20,000 different job titles. Unless you have actively explored a variety of career choices, there is a very good chance that there are great career options available to you, and you don't even realize they exist.

3. Connect Your Information

Match your self knowledge with your understanding of the labor market and possible career options. Once you have developed a good understanding of yourself, you will be able to combine that self knowledge with your career and labor market research to determine potential career choices that are a great fit for your strengths, preferences and personal needs and goals.

4. Make it Happen

Finally, now is the time to start applying all of your job search strategies. You actually don't get to the resume writing stage until step four. When you have made a well informed career choice, then you're ready to make it happen. Making use of good career guidance and resources will help you to acquire the education, skills and experience needed to get the job and learn and implement effective job search strategies.

Avoid taking the "ready, fire, aim" approach to making career choices and job searching. Time spent understanding your needs, researching your career options and developing outstanding job search skills, guided by great career resources, is a powerful investment in your future.

Career Choices - How to Choose Your Ideal Career

By Lisa McGrimmon

A big part of making smart career choices and gaining control over your career lies in understanding yourself. That means having a good sense of how your personality, abilities, and values work together to impact the type of career that is ideal for you.

Career and Personality Match

Ensuring a good career and personality match is an important step in building a satisfying and fruitful career, while a poor career and personality match can hold you back in your career success and happiness.

Imagine the difference between a sales professional who is extroverted and agreeable and one who is introverted and indifferent. Sales jobs tend to require an extroverted, agreeable personality profile, so that person would be more inclined to be a top performer on his or her team and truly enjoy the work. On the other hand, the introverted and indifferent individual would more likely struggle with inferior job performance, job dissatisfaction and possibly even career burnout.

A simple and effective strategy for understanding the ways your career choices and personality interact is through a valid personality assessment. Unlike simplistic, just-for-fun tests you may see in popular magazines, valid personality assessments are developed through vast amounts of objective scientific testing and volumes of psychological research to ensure they are a truly accurate measure of your personality and career options.

Match Your Career Choices with Your Natural Talents

An aptitude test can be used to assess your capacity to learn a variety of different skills. It can help you to understand the types of skills that you will likely learn easily and those that will be more challenging for you to learn.

Depending on the test that is used, aptitude tests can be used to assess everything from spatial perception to verbal ability to finger and manual dexterity. Most commonly, aptitude tests are used to assess general learning ability (your overall ability to learn and understand), verbal ability (language) and numerical ability (math).

A career aptitude test does not rely on skills that you have learned in the past. Although skills and aptitudes are related, your skills are things you have learned to do in the past. Your aptitudes are things that you have the ability to learn. So, even if you have not studied math at an advanced level, an aptitude test could still predict that you have the ability to learn math without undue difficulty.

Like interest tests, good aptitude assessments are developed using extensive objective scientific testing and research. A valid career assessment can provide useful information if you are considering training for a new career. The test will help to show areas of strength and forewarn you of areas where learning new skills may be more challenging.

If you do decide to take a career assessment test, it can help you to build a career around your strengths. You will understand yourself better, and be able to work with, promote and feel confident about your strengths.

Match Your Career Choices with Your Values

Matching values and career choices is an often overlooked aspect of career planning. Considering that the leading cause of job burnout is a mismatch between your personal values and the realities of your job, it's important to assess your values and the ways they will be expressed in your career decisions.

It can be easy to slip into pursuing career rewards that do not fit with your own value system. Society tells us to value prestige, power and a high income. If those career accomplishments are within your own personal set of values, then pursuing those things will likely contribute to your happiness and career satisfaction.

However, if you value family friendly flexibility in your work schedule, creativity and helping others, then you'll find more career satisfaction in pursuing those career goals. That doesn't mean that you're destined to be unhappy in a high paying job if high income is not one of your core values. However, it does mean that if earning a high income is not one of your primary values, that income will not make up for the shortcomings a job that goes against your own personal values.

If you decide you use a values inventory test to help you think through your important work values, keep in mind that, unlike interest and aptitude assessments, a values inventory is not a formal tool that has been validated through objective research. However, a values inventory is a great brainstorming tool to help you to assess things that motivate you and your needs as they are related to your career choices.

Often people struggle to state what they want out of their work (beyond an income), so a values inventory can help by prompting you to think through many possible work related values.

As you make your career decisions, keep in mind that some factors affect career choice in ways that are profound, but not immediately obvious. Matching your career choices and your personality, aptitudes and values is a smart step towards your career success and satisfaction.