Career Guidance Committee Chair's

What is my "natural fit"? Figuring out your professional personality

by Ulla de Stricker

Crafting a great resume is difficult enough … now she wants us to work on our soul searching! You bet. Knowing one's own comfort zones and 'I-don't-want-to-go-theres' is an important place to begin planning for a fulfilling career. After all, few of us are lucky enough to "just stumble into" the perfect job, time and again!

So here goes. Light the candles, put on a soothing CD, and have a conversation with your professional self. If you get stuck, invite your best friends to offer their two cents … sometimes they know us better than we do!

The questions below don't "mean" this or that. They are simply intended to get you thinking about types of environments and working styles so that you may more readily sense whether a given opportunity is a good fit. (Should you decide that perhaps there are a few areas in which you might want to develop greater comfort … you know what to do.)

Describe in key terms the 'feel' of a work environment you find appealing. For example: plush, quiet law firm offices in a posh office tower; funky e-commerce startup in a loft; busy university reference area; newsroom or media type environment; you get the idea. Do you value a well understood job title or prefer an entrepreneurial, less well defined situation?

Characterize the type of organization you would feel good about saying you work for: Multinational consulting; government agency; law or accounting firm; high-tech firm, information industry vendor; university or college; professional association; museum or archives; non-profit charity; …

Do you crave plans, predictability, and scheduled events -- or do you find them confining? Can you cope well with frequent crises and fires to put out? Would flex work hours and work-at-home arrangements be attractive to you? How about travel?

Do you like the idea of a procedure manual and established processes to follow, or would you rather have the scope to make an appropriate decision as you see fit? Do you tolerate uncertainty well, being able to "make the call" on less than perfect information?

Do you enjoy rising to the occasion, performing I-can-do-anything miracles for the client in feats of reactive heroism where you have no control over what comes your way - as in reference work or client services work? Or would you rather be the one to choose priorities, set goals, shape projects -- as in design and technology implementation work?

Would you worry about losing the hands-on aspect of your work and focusing instead on budgets, presentations to management, staff scheduling, HR work and the like?

Do you enjoy orchestrating, planning, and directing other people's activities, as well as inspiring and motivating others? Are you more comfortable in an environment where you work toward a set of deliverables with someone to go to for advice?

Do you enjoy working alone (e.g. researching and writing reports, getting into the deepest guts of software) or would you rather be part of a team whose members are in constant communication with each other?

Does the idea of being compensated partly by commission scare you? Do you think "sales" is something to avoid, or would you enjoy helping customers find the best solutions from among the products your firm offers?

Is outreach to people you have never met something you enjoy or would do anything to avoid? Are you a natural marketer looking forward to promoting the value of your team at all times?

Do you feel at ease in the presence of what you perceive to be senior people? Do you consider that you have an authoritative bearing projecting competence and confidence?

Do you have strong feelings about working within the profession, or would you jump at the chance to take on something totally different?

Would freelance or contract work suit you and your financial situation?

Enjoy the conversation with yourself. And when all is said and done, listen to your 'gut feel'. Gut feels are usually pretty astute!