Transcript Slide 1

Personality Style and Your Career:

Using Career Assessments for Professional Advantage Louisa Mattson and Howard Seidel February 6, 2013

Tonight’s Agenda • Personality & Career Management • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Step II) • MBTI & Career Management • Assessments in the Selection Process • Selected Resources

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Four Domains in Career Self-Assessment • Skills • Interests • Values • Personality Style

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Personality Style Personality = an enduring pattern of traits (behaviors, thoughts, feelings) that differentiates one person from another.

The Four Temperaments / Humors (Ancient Model) • Sanguine (Blood) • Choleric (Yellow Bile) • Melancholic (Black Bile) • Phlegmatic (Phlegm) Five-Factor Model - The Big Five (Current Model) • Extroversion • Openness to Experience • Agreeableness • Conscientiousness • Emotional Stability

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Personality Style & Career Management • Career Choice Industry, Role, Work Tasks, Relationships, Organizational Culture • Job Search Researching, Networking, Interviewing, Negotiating • On the Job Communication, Decision-Making, Conflict Management, Change Management

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Personality Style and Career Fit • There is no one “right” personality style for any job, but different occupations do tend to attract different personality types. • Key Fit Factors: Job Tasks, Boss’ Style, Organizational Culture.

• Goodness of fit: The better the fit between your natural preferences and the job requirements, the more likely you’ll be happy, energized, and productive.

• Close fit: “I can’t believe I get paid to do this work!” • Less close fit: “I feel like I’m working against the grain.”

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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

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Key MBTI Type Concepts • Type is about preferences. It is not about knowledge, skills or abilities.

• Preferences tend to be “hard-wired” – very much like handedness.

• There are no right or wrong preferences. • You are the best judge of your own preferences.

• Type should empower you.

» » Not to pigeon-hole people.

Not to excuse bad behavior!

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The Four MBTI Dimensions

Being Energized

Extraversion (E)

Gathering Information

Sensing (S)

Making Decisions

Thinking (T)

Approaching Life

Judging (J) Introversion (I) Intuition (N) Feeling (F) Perceiving (P)

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Famous Extraverts & Introverts

Extraverts & Introverts at Work

Extraverts

• • • • • • Speak–think–speak.

Favor energetic atmosphere.

Desire action-oriented leader.

Come across as enthusiastic.

Prefer to start problem-solving in a group.

Find too little interaction stressful.

Introverts

• • • • • • Think–speak–think.

Favor calm atmosphere.

Desire contemplative leader.

Come across as more measured.

Prefer to start problem-solving individually.

Find too much interaction stressful.

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Famous Sensors & Intuitors

Sensors & Intuitors at Work

Sensors

• • • • • • Talk in specific terms.

Value being surrounded by realistic people.

Want pragmatic leadership.

Proceed step-by-step during change.

Employ established problem solving methods.

Feel stressed when overloaded with abstract theories.

Intuitors

• • • • • • Talk in general terms.

Value being surrounded by imaginative people.

Want visionary leadership.

Approach change in a non-linear way.

Create new problem-solving methods.

Feel stressed when overloaded with minutiae.

Famous Thinkers & Feelers

Thinkers & Feelers at Work

Thinkers

• • • • • • Offer objective advice.

Want standards that are fair to people.

Desire just leadership.

Prefer change to be logical.

Look at problems in terms of cause and effect.

Find incompetence stressful.

Feelers

• • • • • • Offer supportive advice.

Want standards to be sympathetic to people.

Desire compassionate leadership.

Prefer change to be harmonious.

Look at problems in terms of their impact on people.

Find lack of cooperation stressful.

Famous Judgers & Perceivers

Judgers & Perceivers at Work

Judgers

• • • • • • Want systematic communication.

Prefer scheduled environment.

Like planful leader.

Take outcome-oriented approach to change.

Are comfortable moving toward fixed solution.

Find indecisiveness stressful.

Perceivers

• • • • • • Want spontaneous communication.

Prefer flexible environment.

Like adaptable leader. Take process-oriented approach to change.

Are comfortable keeping options open.

Find premature closure stressful.

Tonight’s MIT Alumni Group = ENTJ

ISTJ

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ISFJ INFJ

1

INTJ

2

ISTP

1

ESTP

2

ESTJ

4

ISFP ESFP ESFJ INFP ENFP

1

ENFJ INTP

3

ENTP

6

ENTJ

5

US National Representative Sample

ISTJ

11.6%

ISTP

5.4%

ESTP

4.3%

ESTJ

8.7%

Hirsh, et al., MBTI Teambuilding Program, 2003

ISFJ

13.8%

ISFP

8.8%

ESFP

8.5%

ESFJ

12.3%

INFJ

1.5%

INFP

4.4%

ENFP

8.1%

ENFJ

2.5%

INTJ

2.1%

INTP

3.3%

ENTP

3.2%

ENTJ

1.8% 19

MBTI Step II: Your Facets Variations on a Theme: Although individuals with the same MBTI type share many similarities, they aren’t all alike. Your facet scores can: • Provide insight into the unique ways you express your type.

• Clarify an unclear preference.

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Example of Different Facet Scores

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MBTI on the Job • Communication • Problem-Solving • Change Management • Conflict Management • Team-Building • Leadership

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MBTI and Career Choice “Heart” of your type = your two middle letters • STs: Want to get “bottom-line” results. • SFs: Want to provide practical service to others.

• NFs: Want to facilitate possibilities and empower others.

• NTs: Want to understand, problem-solve and design.

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MBTI & Organizational Life Cycle Different preferences for each phase of an organization’s life cycle : • • • • • • • The Dream: IN-P The Venture: E-J Getting Organized: IST Making It: ENF Becoming an Institution: ISTJ Closing In: more extreme ISTJ Death Adapted from The Character of Organizations by William Bridges

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Assessments & Selection Process

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Various Selection Assessment Modalities

Inventories

Quantitative: E.g., personality style questionnaires, cognitive ability tests Qualitative: E.g., biographical data sheets, sentence completion tests

Structured Interviews

• Often a behavioral interview with a trained assessor.

Job Simulation Exercises

• E.g., In-box exercises, case studies, role-plays, and oral presentations.

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Common Selection Inventories • • •

Cognitive Abilities

Hogan Business Reasoning Inventory Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Test Ravens APM • • • • • • • •

Personality Style & Values/Motivators

Hogan Suite (HPI, HDS, MVPI) Individual Directions Inventory Performance Style & Ambitions DiSC 2.0

NEO PI-R 16PF Predictive Index Birkman

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Advice for Taking Selection Assessments • Be well-rested and nourished; not rushed or distracted.

• Be yourself. Don’t try to game the test, but no need to be brutally honest either.

• Answer the way you would when feeling at your best .

• Answer in terms of your behavior at work.

• Be on the lookout for • “red flag” items: lack of integrity , anger-proneness, and impulse control, inability to handle stress.

• “fake good” items: “always/never” statements

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Selected Resources

MBTI and Careers (Books)

Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of

Personality Type by Paul Tieger & Barbara Barron-Tieger

Type Talk at Work: How the 16 Personality Types Determine Your Success on the Job

by Otto Kroeger et al.

The Character of Organizations by William Bridges Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types by David Keirsey & Marilyn Bates Introduction to Type and Careers by Allan Hammer

O*NET Career Database

http://www.onetcenter.org

Extensive searchable occupations database from US Department of Labor.

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Selected Resources - continued

Online Career Self-Assessments – to take on your own

CareerLeader: www.careerleader.com ($95) • StrengthsFinder2.0: www.gallupstrengthscenter.com ($9.99; $89) • The Self-Directed Search: www.self-directed-search.com ($4.95) • Career Anchors: www.careeranchorsonline.com

($40)

If you want to have your skills assessed directly:

Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation – Aptitude Assessment Center ($675) www.jocrf.org/testing_centers/boston.html

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Contact Information Louisa Mattson, Ph.D. [email protected]

Howard Seidel, Ed.D., J.D. [email protected]

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