Knowing Yourself

what you can do now

assess your preferred style of working

Start by defining your preferred style of working (this will give you a good insight into how you are likely to behave in your new job). 

Think about how you work in different ‘working environments’.  For example, how do you work in the workplace and how do you participate in everyday activities?

describe the positive things about how you like to work

Now take a piece of paper and write down all of the ‘positive’ things (e.g. the things you enjoy doing and/or are good at) about working in the environments that you have identified above. 

filter the positive words and phrases that you have identified

Now take a highlighter pen and highlight all of the key words and phrases that you have written down – the following text demonstrates this exercise by providing an example of a real individual’s ‘style of working’:

WHEN I AM IN THE WORKPLACE…

I: understand complex problems/issues, reach practical conclusions, understand the needs of others and include others.

I am: an excellent verbal communicator, a confident presenter, a good networker, an active listener, approachable and empathetic.

I enjoy: working directly with people (face-to-face), working as part of a team, personal responsibility, evaluating data, analysing data, interpreting data, open conversations, debating, working to tight deadlines, high energy environments, specialist roles/jobs, cutting-edge thinking, getting involved in research projects, being able to innovate and being creative, recognition, praise from others, being able to persuade and influence others.   

describe the negative things about how you tend to work

Now make a list of all of the ‘negative’ things (e.g. the things you do not enjoy doing and/or are bad at) about working in the environments that you have identified.  

The words and phrases that you capture during this exercise will help you to identify the things that you might want to try and avoid in your new job.

assess your strengths        

Next, make a list of all your ‘work-related’ strengths. 

Now write some examples of how you demonstrate each of the strengths that you have written down; try to think of at least five examples of each strength. 

assess your weaknesses

Next, make a list of all your weaknesses (even if you do not think that they are relevant to the workplace). 

Be honest about your weaknesses and list them all. 

what you need to do, and/or address, before applying for your next job

assess your personal barriers to finding employment

Next, you should assess all of the things that are standing in the way of you getting a job ‘today’.  These are called your ‘personal barriers to finding employment’ and they will probably fit into one of the following categories:

·         physical barriers (e.g. the job that you are interested in is located too far from your home)

·         emotional barriers (e.g. you do not think that you are capable of doing the job that you are interested in)

·         knowledge-based barriers (e.g. you do not have all of the required knowledge, skills and/or qualifications to do the job that you are interested in)

·         experience-based barriers (e.g. you do not have enough experience to do the job that you are interested in)

·         financial barriers (e.g. the job that are interested in does not pay enough)

·         other barriers.

assess what you need to do in order to overcome your personal barriers to finding employment    

Finally, look at your personal barriers individually and write down all of the things that you need to do, and all of the changes that you need to make, in order to overcome them. 

using this information    

You can use the outputs from the above-mentioned exercises to:

·         appreciate the skills that you have already got

·         help inform your decision about what type of job you want

·         identify things that you might want to avoid doing in your new job, and to

·        identify key words and phrases that you can use in your CV, in your cover letters, on application forms and during interviews.