SELF ASSESSMENT

Self-assessment is one of the most important factors for any person appearing for an interview.

You should know yourself very well before you present yourself to others. It is a process of knowing about oneself. It can be valuable to you in deciding what kind of occupations you can go for.

You can do the self-assessment on your own by preparing inventories or you can take a self-assessment test available online or with some respectable institutes.

Self-assessment- Inventory Preparation

You can assess yourself by noting down all the relevant facts, i.e. your personality traits, your abilities, skills, strengths and weaknesses, etc. You can then assess yourself on the basis of good and bad qualities you have and can also find out the ways by which you can improve.

Self-assessment- Structured Tests

You can also take some structured tests available online or with some institutes to judge yourself. These tests help judge one's personality on the basis of the answers given. They are not reliable every time, but there are less chances of bias as the invigilators do not know you personally.

You should be able to answer the following questions after you have gone through a self-assessment process.

1. Who am I?
   
2. What am I good at?
   
3. What am I bad at?
   
4. Where am I?
   
5. Where would I like to go?
   
6. What are the alternatives?
   
7. What is the best way to go?
   

Who am I?

You should be able to answer this question to yourself. Then only can you present yourself to others. You should know what personality traits, abilities, skills you have. Self-assessment is very important. It helps in gaining confidence and prepares you to face any situation. Your attitude reflects your personality. The more you know about yourself, the more you gain confidence. Frequently enough, candidates, especially fresher, keep on wondering what are their strengths and weaknesses. This should not be the case, especially when you are at some crucial point of your career.

Your confidence always gives a positive impression to others. This can be achieved only if you have thoroughly understood yourself. You should value yourself for your strengths and you should try to overcome your weaknesses.

What am I good at?

Self-assessment makes you assess your strengths and capabilities. You can now demonstrate your competencies and prove your strengths. You can easily assess your skills and abilities but it is not easy for you to prove them. Self-assessment makes it easier for you to utilize your knowledge base.

Knowing your strengths and capabilities you can easily decide upon the career choice you need to make. Interest and skills are two important parameters which can affect your career. You may gain high skills in the area you are interested in and may pursue it as a career. On the opposite side, you may not be interested in some profile and may never try to use your skills in the field.

Thus, you should assess your interests and skills and capabilities you have, either to pursue your hobbies or interests as career or to perform well in the field you have entered or are entering.

What am I bad at?

You should know your weaknesses and should try to overcome them. You should take measures to improve yourself. Negative personality traits can cost many things to you, be it a job or a one time opportunity. You should never let your negatives overcome the positives. You should assess them well before and try to improve. What is BAD? These are your weaknesses which are hindering your growth and making you lose something. How to overcome weaknesses? By learning and practicing you can overcome your weaknesses. For example, if your lack good communication skills, you may join some English speaking course or read newspapers or listen to news.

What will be the result? Weaknesses make you lose your confidence and become a hurdle for your growth. By overcoming them you can regain your confidence. In the process you widen your knowledge base. You will not be facing anymore the difficulties you faced in the past.

 

Where am I?

You should analyze where you stand and what are the internal and external factors affecting your professional growth. You should ensure that your skills are properly utilized in your job, and that you do not deviate from your career path.

You should analyze the external surroundings, i.e. market and industry trends, and should compare your profile with the industry standards. This will help you judge your position in the industry. You will be in a better position to take decisions about your career. If you find that you are not able to prove your competencies in the job, or your position is not as per your competencies and educational background, you should discuss the things with the boss or else you may start looking for another job.

Where would I like to go?

At times, you are not satisfied with your career or work life. If you are a fresher you always wonder what should be your strategy to enter the commercial world. Self-assessment enables you to take decisions. You can analyze the situation, your environment, your skills and competencies, your industry, your job profile, how well you are utilizing your capabilities on work, what compensation you are receiving, etc.

After analyzing your position in the industry you can survey the industry and analyze where you can be best fitted. You may research about the companies, finding out who the best employers are, which organization is providing a healthy working environment to its employees and which organization is best known for the remuneration packages. You may compensate on salary package if you are getting a renowned brand. This is possible only if you assess yourself and analyze what exactly you deserve and where you should be.

 

What are the alternatives?

You should consider all the alternatives before taking any decision. You should assess yourself, and should analyze the industry accordingly. You may want to join a reputed organization but may not qualify its eligibility criteria. You may develop yourself to get eligible or may join some other organization. In any case, you should opt for the best organization.

You should decide well in advance the main advantage you need from the job. Is it the salary package, job satisfaction, brand recognition, or job profile, et? Based on these factors you may list out your choices. You should aim at choosing the best from the available options that will enable your career growth and give you satisfaction.

 

What is the best way to go?

You should analyze all the factors and choose the best option. After deciding where to go, the question arises how to go i.e. how to proceed? You may have a rough idea or no idea at all. Some organizations take direct entry or some go for entrance exams. The selection procedure is often based on the organization, industry and job profile. For example, a programmer might have to develop some code or a marketing major may be asked to display his/her selling skills.

Self-assessment forms the core of the procedure. You should decide well in advance, what is your career goal. You should analyze the industry trends and choose the best organization where you can fit in. Market survey should be properly conducted by you to decide upon the alternatives based on your priorities, job satisfaction, salary, job profile, etc. You should find out all the alternatives available. For the purpose, you may consult organizations' HR departments. You should prepare well for the interview or entrance examination.