Current layoffs and high
unemployment rates have left many people scrambling to find new work or return
to school. Clarifying your interests and abilities is vital to school and
career success. When I was director of a college counseling center, students
found quite helpful a series of psychological assessment tools that were used
with them for career planning and placement decisions. Today, similar tools are
available for free online. Deciding upon a college major or new career
direction seemingly can be a daunting task. The following online resources will
help lessen the burden.
The free Interest Profiler and Personality Test are online
assessments which will help you to determine your potential college major /
career interests, as well as personality type. These simple and short assessments
are easy to answer. Upon completion, they automatically even score themselves.
Using the information from the Personality Test Manual and
D.O.T. can help to narrow one’s search for a college major or career direction.
Use the personality test to check its corresponding manual for career
opportunities which will likely best suit you, based upon your personality
type. Narrow your search further, by cross-referencing this information with
career opportunities best suited to your particular interests, based upon
information from the profiler. Finally, check information within the D.O.T.
about job descriptions, educational requirements, near-future opportunities,
salary ranges, and so forth.
In order to solidify your choice, “What Color is Your
Parachute” and "Getting Straight A's" are a couple of good reads, once one is close to settling upon one’s career and/or college major path.
Once your college major
or career path is finally established, it is quite important to address issues
from job interview anxiety and job stress to dealing with procrastination and
exam nerves. Many people find self-hypnosis audio programs helpful in dealing
with the normal anxieties surrounding these issues. Hypnosis is simply an
exercise in deep relaxation and focus. While in this state, people can often
benefit greatly from “post-hypnotic suggestions” to help achieve a desired
goal.
One example wherein the
relaxing effects of hypnosis can be very beneficial is with “state dependent
memory” or “state dependent learning.” This psychological notion relates to the
idea that people remember things better when they are in the same emotional
state during recall, as when they first learned the material. This fact
explains how and why many students may often find themselves “freezing” during
an exam. They may know that that they understand the material, yet have
difficulty recalling it, because they are anxious during the test after having
learned the material while relaxed in their dorm.
By utilizing these simple
online career planning and placement tools, the new job seeker or new college
student can finally go from confusion to clarity in choosing their best career
path.
Online Interest
Profiler
Online Personality
Test
Personality Test
Manual
Dictionary of
Occupational Titles (D.O.T.)
What Color is Your
Parachute?
Additional Resources
https://bit.ly/3SFMfVG
SOURCE: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Gerald_Solfanelli
