What is Your Destination?

Whether you’ve just graduated, are ready to change careers, or simply find yourself unexpectedly unemployed, it’s helpful to conduct a self-assessment and develop a career plan for several reasons.  Three of the most important reasons are:

·  You’ll acquire a heightened awareness of your talents, strengths, and weaknesses.

·  The information you acquire will make it easier to draft your marketing pitch, résumés, and cover letters.

·  It gives you the opportunity to think about what factors are important to you in an employment context.    

 There are a number of articles that will help you gather information and gain insight about yourself. “What is a Self-Assessment,” which is one such article, sets forth a simple, straightforward guide through the self-assessment process.[1] Among other things, the article asks readers to identify their values, interests, motivational drives, what they’re good at, and what they enjoy.  You can use some of the information obtained from the material you gathered for your personal brand exercise.  Your self-assessment should include the following:   

· What you think of or know about yourself

·  The feedback you’ve received from others

·   Your personality traits 

[1] http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/aboutassessment/a/assess_overview.htm