Self-Exploration
Learn about yourself and explore your strengths and weaknesses by surveying your VIPS (Values, Interests, Personality, Skills). When you know your VIPS, you make more informed choices about careers.
Values
What is important to you? When considering careers, think about which aspects of work you value. Samples of values include:
- Flexible work hours
- Being your own boss
- Salary
- Regular work routine
- Sensitive to family issues
- Work as part of a team
- Contribute to society
- Opportunity to move within organization
- Creativity
Interests
What do you like to do? To begin the process of assessing your interests, ask yourself the following questions:
- If you had no obligations or financial restrictions, how would you spend a week?
- What are your hobbies?
- When you daydream, what do you see yourself doing with your life?
- What did you say, as a child and then as a teenager, when asked what you wanted to be when you grew up?
- In order of most to least interesting, how would you rank these words: data, people, things, ideas?
Personality
Ideally, you would like to identify careers that suit your personality characteristics. Think about these questions:
- With what type of person do you prefer to work?
- In what type of environment do you enjoy working?
- How do you complete an assignment?
- How do you make decisions?
- Do you like schedules?
- Do you enjoy knowing the practicalities of things or imagining the possibilities?
Skills
Review this list below. Identify skills you have and those skills you would like to improve upon:
- Abstracting/Conceptualizing
- Analyzing data and ideas
- Physical activities
- Budgeting
- Consulting
- Creating works of art
- Debating
- Editing
- Expressing feelings
- Entertaining
- Facilitating groups or committees
- Handling complaints
- Investigating
- Listening to others
- Marketing
- Organizing events
- Predicting trends or changes
- Problem solving
- Speaking in public
- Working with numbers
- Writing
