Assess Your Strengths
Define who you are and what you excel at
Strengths are the unique qualities, skills, and natural talents that define who you are and what you excel at. Its important to recognize your strengths because they form the foundation for your personal and professional growth. When you leverage your strengths, you can perform at your best, experience a sense of fulfillment, and make a meaningful impact in your chosen field. Understanding your strengths also allows you to make informed decisions about your college major and career path by aligning them with your innate abilities and passions.
Utilizing Your Strengths in College
When it comes to selecting a major, it’s crucial to consider your strengths and how they align with different academic disciplines. Reflect on the subjects and courses that leverage your natural abilities and passions. Explore majors that allow you to utilize and develop those strengths further. By choosing a major aligned with your strengths, you’ll find yourself engaged, motivated, and well-positioned to excel academically. At the end of this section, you’ll learn about tools that you can use to assess your strengths.
Self-Reflection Exercises
When assessing your academic strengths, it’s essential to reflect on the subjects or courses in which you excel. Consider the classes where you consistently perform well and find yourself naturally drawn to the material. Identify the areas of study where you feel confident, engaged, and able to demonstrate your knowledge and skills. These subjects could be indicators of your academic strengths. Take note of the specific skills you possess within these areas as well. Reflect on the abilities that set you apart and make you successful in those subjects. These could include critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical skills, research abilities, or effective written and verbal communication. Understanding your academic strengths can help guide your choice of major and lead you to fields where you are likely to thrive.
Your personal strengths are the qualities and attributes that make you who you are. Take some time to consider the characteristics that define your character and contribute to your success in various areas of life. What qualities do others recognize in you? Reflect on traits such as leadership, creativity, adaptability, resilience, empathy, or the ability to collaborate effectively. These personal strengths are not limited to academic settings but can extend to all aspects of your life, including relationships, extracurricular activities, and personal achievements. Think about instances or situations where you have demonstrated these strengths and how they have positively influenced your experiences. Identifying and acknowledging your personal strengths can provide valuable insight into the ways you can contribute to teams, projects, and organizations, both in college and future career paths.
Transferable skills are the abilities and competencies you develop through various experiences outside of the classroom. These skills can be applied across different domains and are highly valued by employers. Consider your part-time jobs, internships, volunteer work, or involvement in clubs and organizations. Reflect on the skills you have acquired through these experiences. They could include communication, teamwork, problem-solving, organization, time management, leadership, or technology proficiency. Recognize how these skills can be transferred to different career paths and industries, making you adaptable and versatile. By identifying and understanding your transferable skills, you can effectively showcase your capabilities to potential employers and make informed decisions about internships, co-op programs, or other experiential learning opportunities that align with your strengths and future goals.
Online Assessments and Tools
Online assessments can be valuable tools in the process of identifying and understanding your strengths. These assessments are designed to provide insights into your natural inclinations, preferences, and areas of potential excellence. These assessments and tools are not to be used as diagnostic tools, but rather to provide you with insights to assist your personal growth and discovery.
Harbert College of Business students enrolled in BUSI classes will complete career assessments that align with the course objective. If you haven’t taken a BUSI course or want to learn more about our assessments, and schedule an appointment with one of our career coaches via Handshake.
Strong Interest Inventory (SII) matches your interests with the interests of people who have been in career fields for at least three years and are happy with their work. To take this assessment, make an appointment on Handshake for Career Exploration and Research. In this appointment, we will discuss the SII in a little more depth and you’ll receive instructions for taking the assessment.
CliftonStrengths, developed by Gallup, is a widely recognized and respected assessment tool for identifying individual strengths. It focuses on identifying your top strengths out of a list of 34 themes. The assessment helps you understand your unique combination of talents and provides insights into how you can apply those strengths in various areas of your life. The results of the CliftonStrengths assessment can guide you in making choices that align with your strengths and pursuing opportunities that allow you to leverage them effectively.
The DISC assessment is used by individuals, businesses, and organizations to help people find their ideal career, create highly functional teams, and improve workplace communication. DISC stands for the four basic behavioral styles of Drive, Influence, Support and Clarity. The assessment describes the differences between individuals and helps us better understand why people do what they do and use that information to reduce workplace conflict and improve working relationships.
The Enneagram test is very similar to the MBTI test in that it can help you identify your specific personality type while also providing insight into your behaviors, fears, and motivations. There are nine defined personality types that have their own traits, strengths, and weaknesses. The personality types are numbered one through nine and are unique in their own ways. This test is very helpful in developing self-awareness of how you engage with the world around you.
The Myers Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, is a self-report assessment designed to identify personality types so they are understandable and useful in everyday life. Your assessment results will enhance your understanding of yourself, your motivations, natural strengths, preferences, and potential areas for growth. Having this knowledge and understanding will help you explore possible career options based on your personality.
To take this assessment, you must first make an appointment on Handshake for Career Exploration and Research. You will meet with an advisor to discuss the MBTI in more depth and receive instructions for taking the assessment.
