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ASSESSMENTS

Self-Analysis through Assessments

Amber Lundin

OGL 482: Pro-Seminar II

Dr. Lawhorn

October 22, 2023

ASU
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ASSESSMENTS

Section 1

The first set of assessments completed were the Kuder Assessments. Although the

tests seemed similar, I was surprised to find that I received different Holland Occupations

Codes for each. The Kuder Career Interests Assessment assigned me the Holland

Occupations Code of A/S/C (artistic, social, conventional). This didn’t surprise me based on

my personality, however, I am looking at how I work and my work preferences. The career

paths recommended were in teaching. This was a huge surprise to me as I have not

considered a career in teaching since elementary school. The Kuder Skills Confidence

Assessment assigned me the Holland Occupations Code of S/C/I (social, conventional,

investigative). Again, I wasn’t surprised. I’m not socially outgoing, but I have a deep need

to care for people. This code brings a suggestion of careers along the lines of nursing, or

other occupations in which you care for others. No teaching this time.

The career interests that stuck out to me were in teaching and probation officer. I

have dipped my toe in the water with probation officer in the sense that I went to school for

law enforcement in my younger years (it’s only a two-year degree in Minnesota) but dropped

the program with one semester left. It wasn’t for me. Teaching is a kind of joke with my

family. Although I enjoy teaching my daughter new things or different approaches to her

homework, I don’t know if I would do well teaching others’ children, and my family would

probably agree that I just don’t have the patience or skill for it. Human resources is where

my heart lays currently. I would like to help people and be the positive HR experience that

I’ve needed and received at varying times. I think these assessments just confirm that I’m on

the right path and doing the right program for me and my future.

Section 2
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The third assessment, the Super’s Work Values Inventory-revised, ranked my

personal priorities when it comes to finding work. Only four of the values listed were ranked

high: co-workers, lifestyle, supervision, and income. This didn’t come to me as a surprise, as

these are what I do find important. The only value that has really been highlighted in my e-

portfolio is the lifestyle one, as that is part of what is in my about me section. Occupations

suggested fit the E/C/S (enterprising, conventional, social) Holland Occupations Code, which

did surprise me some, however, the occupations listed are more accurate to what I was

seeking when I chose a degree. Top on the list: Human Resources Specialists. I liked where

this was headed. Important to note: the lower-ranking values for me were prestige,

achievement, security, creativity, variety, and challenge. Prestige being on the bottom didn’t

surprise me. I don’t need a fancy title, I just want the paycheck.

Based off this assessment, I do think a skills-and-values-based assessment or series of

assessments could be beneficial in moving forward in my career and my life. I think

repeating them later in a person’s career could be beneficial as well, to make sure they are

still on track. I am not the same person I was twenty years ago: my values and priorities have

changed. Who’s to say where they’ll lie twenty years from now. I think it’s important to

know yourself and to keep tabs on changes and adjust where necessary. As Peter Drucker

states, “forty or fifty years in the same kind of work is much too long for most

people”(Drucker, P., 2001, p. 188).

Section 3

The results I received from the Motivation and Career Anchors Assessment was as to

be expected. My primary Career Anchor is Life-Style Integration. Care for my daughter

comes first. I also have things that I enjoy, so I will need to be able to take vacation time to

enjoy things like family trips to Wyoming. These are non-negotiable to me, and I will find
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work that fits those requirements. My current working situation is financially less than ideal,

however, I am able to work a schedule that ensures that my daughter is cared for by people

that I trust at all times and her life is fairly stable, meaning she gets up at the same time and

goes to bed at the same time, attends school, and has a general, safe routine.

My secondary Career Anchor is Security, Stability, Organizational Identity. Like

most people, I like to know that I can go to work tomorrow and receive a paycheck on Friday.

My workplace has been around for over fifty years and there is a demand for its products, so I

know that it will be around for a long time. It offers the flexible schedule that I need, as well

as important benefits like health insurance and 401k. I have only been with the company for

3 years, but I have worked for the company three other times for a year each, so I know that

there’s always something to come back to. I would like to stay with the company as it has

been good to me, but I would need a steep pay raise, which would mean a job change, for that

to happen.

My lowest scoring Career Anchor was Entrepreneurial Creativity. I scored an 8. My

second lowest was a score of 22. I’m not surprised by this at all. Although I’ve played with

ideas of owning my own business, I’m not interested in putting the foot work in to make it

happen, nor am I interested in the risk associated with starting your own business. My

parents had their own business for a while, and it was successful while they ran it. They gave

me the opportunity to manage it, which was to basically take over their business, and I

quickly learned that it wasn’t for me. There’s no time off in that kind of situation – you

always have to be available for your employees. I’m also not the creative type to put together

a new product and try to market it. I feel like the Career Anchors Assessment was a great

design to emphasize what is important to an individual.

Section 4
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The assessment that I chose from the options provided was the Big Five personality

test. This measured openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness,

and natural reactions. I scored middle (average) on openness to experience. I scored high in

conscientiousness, also labelled as work ethic. I scored very low on extraversion, high in

agreeableness, and very high in natural reactions. The scores on the test didn’t surprise me,

but I feel that at this point in the game, I know myself well. I’ve taken a lot of these tests this

year, especially this week. However, for somebody that’s new to this concept, I think it could

be a very useful tool to keep oneself in check. For example, I scored very high on natural

reactions. I am a very emotional, very reactive person. I know this about myself. It has been

problematic in previous work experiences. However, I can use this knowledge to my

advantage and keep that part of my personality in check. When somebody gives me news at

work, I take a second to process it, and then work out a response. I practice this a lot with my

daughter. If she says something that catches me off guard and I think I’ll react negatively, I

tell her that I just need a moment to myself and I’ll get right back to her, I step away and

process what just happened, and then I step back into the situation. It doesn’t always work

this smooth, but when I can use it, I do. Having this knowledge in my back pocket and being

able to be brave enough to ask for a moment to myself, has saved relationships and has also

saved my job on numerous occasions.

An assessment that I took this summer during my internship with Target was through

16 Personalities. This test looks at personality types. I was typed as an Advocate: INFJ-T.

My traits were introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging, and turbulent. This assessment pulls

and lists strengths and weaknesses for you based on your personality type. My strengths,

based on the results, are creative, insightful, principled, passionate, and altruistic. My

weaknesses, based on the results, are sensitive to criticism, reluctant to open-up,

perfectionistic, avoiding the ordinary, and prone to burn-out. This was nice to have a list of
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strengths and weaknesses, as those are areas that I struggle to define for myself. Interviews

that never stray from these kinds of inquiries never go well for me.

An assessment that I took in OGL 220 is The Indigo Assessment. This is a DISC

assessment (dominance, influencing, steadiness, compliance). I actually considered retaking

this test because I took it my first term at ASU and I feel that I’ve learned and changed a lot

over the course of the program. For dominance, I scored 34: non-confrontational, low key,

cooperative, and agreeable. For influencing, I scored 36: good listener, reflective, sceptical,

and factual. For steadiness, I scored 85: patient, predictable, and calm. For compliance, I

scored 61: analytical, detail oriented, and cautious. I think it’s just a good idea to know

yourself well and use the assessments as a tool to work through any negative aspects in your

life, be it personal or professional. I would be interested to see how these scores would

compare if, say, my boss were to fill it out for me, or my husband.

I have honestly found The Indigo Assessment and 16 Personalities to be most

insightful and useful. I did take one through Gallup through work over a decade ago, but

have since lost that information. I did find that helpful at the time. Again, it’s taking in the

information and reflecting on it to adjust your behaviors to match your goals.

References

Drucker, P. (2001). Managing Oneself. In Management challenges for the 21st Century (pp.

161–195). essay, Routledge.