J. Michael DeAngelis, Information Resources Manager
My favorite band of all time, bar none, is The Who. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen them live in concert nine times and I’ve already got the tenth one scheduled – the final night of their 50th anniversary tour, which concludes here in Philadelphia in November.
50 years. That’s a long time to be a rock star. No, let’s be honest, that’s a long time to be ANYTHING. Can you see yourself doing the same work for fifty years? Forty? Twenty? I’ve worked at Penn for ten years (almost eleven), but even in that amount of time, I’ve had five different positions across two different offices. Pete and Rodger must really love what they do.
How do you find out what you would love to do for fifty years or more? Career Services offers a few ways to begin this exploration through online self-assessments. We offer the following services free or at a discounted rate for current students and alumni:
SIGI 3 – SIGI 3® is a comprehensive, free career exploration tool that prompts you to discover your skills, interests, and values and matches the resulting profile to career options. SIGI3 also provides in-depth and up-to-date career information. (Free)
Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) – The Myers Briggs Type Indicator is now available through Career Services. This inventory is designed to assess the preferences linked to your personality.
The MBTI is often taken in conjunction with the Strong Interest Inventory – The Strong Interest Inventory is now available through Career Services. This inventory is designed to assess interests and preferred work styles and relate them to a variety of career fields and occupations.
($15 for one test, $30 for both for current students, $25/$50 for current post-docs and alumni)
StrengthsQuest – StrengthsQuest is an assessment that tracks your top ten five talent themes as a means toward helping you to discover your strengths. The instrument will also provide guidance on how to apply your strengths to your academics, career planning and leadership development. ($9.99)
Talentoday – Talentoday will allow you to easily assess your core soft skills and motivations, and immediately discover what job profiles fit your personality best. The resource is completely free and is now available for all students and alumni. Take a 11-minute online self-assessment and discover your unique qualities and job possibilities. (Free)
All of these resources and others can be found on our Career Inventories page
Each of these tools can help you answer “who are you?” and maybe with the knowledge you gain about yourself, in fifty years time you’ll still be rocking out like The Who.
