 Choosing a career consistent with your strengths, skills, and abilities is a great way to increase the success of any career plan!
Strengths
What types of things are you good at? If you look back over your life, from the time you were small until now, you will likely see that a pattern of strengths emerged very early in life. For example, you may have always been good with money, or with people, or at raising money for clubs or organizations. Skills & Abilities
Most skills and abilities are learned. You are not born with them. It’s likely that some things that you do well come easier to you than others. You may be great at fixing things, but not very good at athletics. It’s important to take a realistic look at the skills and abilities you have and those you are interested in or willing to acquire. Many skills are transferable. In other words, they can be used in many different types of work. Two examples of transferable skills are strong communication skills and good “people” skills. It’s important to recognize and build upon your transferable skills since these can be used at just about every occupation you choose! Check out this site:
For information about self-assessments, contact Counseling Services, (360) 417-6340, or Career Services, (360) 417-6388 (both toll free 1-877-452-9277). The following self-assessments are among those currently available: WOIS (Washington Occupational Information System), an up-to-date career information website about Washington careers, schools, and training programs. Also available at all WorkSource Centers. COPS, The COPS insterest inventory consists of 168 items, providing job activity interest scores related to the 14 COPSystem Career Clusters. Each Cluster is keyed to high school and college curriculum, as well as current sources of occupational information. The COPS interpretive material emphasizes a "hands-on" approach to career exploration, featuring career and educational planning worksheets, along with a listing of suggested activities to gain experience. |