Students Discover Your Niche By Using Career Assessment

In our ever changing world where job competition is rampant it can be difficult to understand one's strengths and what one wants to do in life.

If you feel uncertain about your career path you're not alone. Most college and high school students are unsure what path to take in their future or even what is their chosen career niche. Unfortunately, this uncertainty comes through in job interviews. This is a chance you can't afford to take in today's competitive market.

With career assessment you not only learn your niche, but you reap the rewards! Consider these distinct advantages that come from knowing your niche.

? Save time and money
? Optimize your skills
? Target the right jobs

Did you know that college students often do not know where they are going? Amidst pressure from family members they embark on career paths that might be unsuitable for their skills. Some college students waste the first two years of college without a career path.

Instead of taking charge of their life, they go with the flow, and waste time and money on courses they will never use. Some students try to play catch-up and overload their course work. This could be hazardous to their health. When students are overburdened, they are more likely to drop out of college.

Career assessment reduces the risk and pressure for students by showing them their individual niches. When students know their niche, it's easy to choose a career path that's compatible with their strengths.

This type of vocational testing is also well suited for high school seniors, who are also at a critical time in their lives.

How many high school seniors know what their skills are before entering the workforce or enrolling in college? A simple, standardized test does not provide all the details, which make up an individual student's skills. These tests might show a glimpse of what a student knows in math, reading, language and arts, but they do not explore the true skills or potential for each individual.

A vocational and career assessment for high school students opens the doors to college by giving them a roadmap and guidance on how to move forward in their chosen careers. This will indeed save time and money while giving them the ammunition they need to go forward in life.

When you have a good plan in place and take charge of your destiny it's an excellent way to get started on the right track. This plan should include a career assessment to identify the specific skills of each individual and explain how these skills can be used most effectively.

Annmarie Edwards is a certified International Job & Career Development Coach. She works with individuals and businesses on career development. She is the author of 50 Ways to Maximize Your Potential and 50 Ways to Maximize Your Job Hunting. She has a BSC degree in education and also a MA degree. Presently she is a doctoral student at the University of Phoenix. For more information check out her website at http://www.ariacareerservices.com or call her at (877) 645 -7670

RELATED ARTICLES

What is Experience Anyway?
I learned in first grade that one plus one equals two. But, that's not the right equation when counting work experience. We often think we're building experience to help us get ahead. In reality, we're passing time. Ten years working like a cloned Bill Murray in Groundhog Day is not ten years worth of experience. Doing the same thing again and again yields an experience formula more like: ten times one equals one. I used to equate years of work with years of experience. No more. I learned by making plenty of hiring and promotion mistakes in twenty years of management the two are not equal. Neither are years of work and performance. Doing something for five, ten or twenty years doesn't make you automatically five, ten or twenty years better than when you started. I've been cooking for thirty years but I remain a mediocre cook. Two or three years involved with a business start-up or a new project might provide more growth and knowledge than ten years in a stable venue. And it might not. Gaining experience is more about you and your approach than anything else. Recurring work events can be predictable, boring, and unchallenging ways of passing years at work if what you're doing is updating last year's memo, tweaking last year's budget, or fine-tuning last years goals without applying innovation, analysis or critical thinking. Retiring on the job is as prolific as spam and will get you as blocked as those unwanted emails. I've found the difference between people who are winning at working and people who aren't, is the difference between passing another year at work and gaining another year of work experience. Those who build their experience build their futures. And, you can build experience without changing jobs. Building experience is about the depth, diversity, challenges and learning you gain by offering the best of who you are at work. It's about seizing and creating opportunities. And it's about continual self-improvement and constant self-feedback. You know you're gaining experience when you problem solve your own mistakes; learn to use knowledge building blocks to handle more complex issues; make contributions more valuable than the year before; acquire new skills by venturing outside a comfort zone; embrace new ideas or technologies; or recognize you don't know as much as you thought you did as you begin to see a bigger picture. People who try new things, push the envelope, pitch ideas, offer innovative problem solving, take accountability, and never stop learning and making a difference, are people gaining experience and building their work future. (c) 2004 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.

Jobseekers! Look For Smoke, Not Fire
"If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always received," said some wise person. This is certainly true when it comes to job-hunting, especially during a "sucky" economy. How many times have you applied to a job on Monster.com? Now ask yourself, "How many other people have applied for the same position?" The numbers are discouraging I assure you. Should this keep you from applying to jobs online? By no means, job boards are a necessary part of the process. However, if you limit your jobsearch to seeking only those jobs that you are qualified for then you are making a mistake. Am I suggesting that you do a "shotgun" effect with your resume and apply to as many jobs as you can hoping that by some miraculous twist of fate you catch a recruiter's eye? No... and yes, in a way.

Your Job Search Is A Marketing Campaign (Part 2)
Here's a continuation of my article from a few months back on how the successful job search is really just a personal marketing campaign.

Strange Jobs Still Pay The Bills
Strange jobs? How do we define that? Years ago I stole cars as a repo-man, had some adventures as an investigative process-server, and even handed out samples in grocery stores. Here are some other unusual jobs you can aspire to:

How To Deal With A Difficult Boss
Most people at some point in their lives have to deal with a difficult boss. Difficult supervisors vary in personality from being a little pushy or rude, all the way to being downright abusive. Many people feel that an abusive boss has control of their personal life outside of work by lowering their self-esteem and making them live in constant fear. The role of a supervisor sometimes attracts certain controlling-type personalities because they crave the power it gives them and because they lack such control in their own personal lives. A supervisor has complete control over your most basic human needs-your ability to put food on the table and a roof over your head. These are powerful motivating factors that allow a difficult supervisor to control people out of fear of losing these basic needs. We may not be able to always correct their behavior, but we should never have to live in fear and let our difficult boss control our lives.

Job Interviews: Ill File a Grievance!
I recently went to a retirement party with my husband for one of his co-workers. I worked at this same place six years ago (that's where I met my husband, but that's another story), so I knew most of the people at the party.

Ten Courses Of Study If You Want To Be Your Own Boss
For many Americans, an important component of the American Dream is the possibility of hard work turning into financial fortune. The career exploits of such self made magnates like Andrew Carnegie, Lee Iaccoca and Donald Trump are examples for many.

Career Killers to Avoid
Many professionals and managers are so involved in day-to-day crises and fighting fires that they forget about a key leadership characteristic: self-management. Effective leaders are first of all effective in managing themselves ? their time, their focus, their emotions and their careers. It's too late to figure out what's next for you once your company has merged, had lay offs, changed strategy or whatever. Here are the biggest mistakes leaders make in their careers.

Why Your CV/Resume is Not Generating The Interview Offers You Want
If your current CV or resume is not generating the interview offers you want, it is time to start assessing it. Check to see that the following descriptors apply:

A Career in Image Consulting
You might have seen them while watching TV shows such as Extreme Makeover, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, or What Not to Wear. Or you might have heard that Martha Stewart needed them to give her advice on how to look sympathetic to a jury.

Job Interviews -- The Four Worst Objections You?ll Face and How to Deal with Them
Dealing with tough questions and objections is an essential part of job interviews. Here are four common ones that derail many candidates. Read on to find out what they are and how you can deal with them.

How to Make Your Career Change Easier
Despite what your grandmother told you, life is not supposed to be a struggle. The same is true for making a career change. This doesn't mean you won't work hard to get the job of your dreams. We often forget that we can make things easier on ourselves so that the transition is not painful! Do these six things and you'll notice a huge difference right away.

Are You Winning the Talent Wars?
How many times have you heard or read, "Our employees are our greatest asset"?

Retirement: Is It A Career Change Option?
Retirement might be the answer when you ask yourself "why do I want to make a career change" and you decide that what you actually want is not so much a career change as to stop what you've been doing altogether.

Job Hunting Tips: Organizing Your Attack
Looking for work is an energy-devouring ordeal, often leading to running in circles and not getting anywhere. A systematic approach can help you focus on your goal, avoid wasting the energy you need to conserve for interviews and employer contacts, and lower your stress level.

How to Prepare for A Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal should be treated as an ongoing developmental process rather than a formal once-a-year review. It should be closely monitored by both employee and reviewer to ensure that targets are being achieved. By preparing yourself diligently and demonstrating a willingness to co-operate with your reviewer to develop your role, you will create a positive impression.

Telecommuting Cover Letters
Question: How do I market myself online?

The Interviewable Resume
It is rumored that the only word William Shakespeare wrote on his resume was "Available." We'll probably never know if that is true. But it raises an interesting question. How much information is too much and how much is too little when dealing with resume copy?

5 Things You Need To Know Before Deciding On A Certification Training
The right certification training

Out Recruit The Competition
We hear from our clients that they "hope the candidate takes the job." Hiring a candidate shouldn't be a guessing game. After you interview a candidate thoroughly, and spend a great deal of time and money getting them through the process, you should not have to worry about "landing them."

Recent Job Posts

home | site map