Nursing Career Assessments

It may seem counterintuitive to take a career assessment since you are taking classes for a very specific career, but this can actually be a helpful exercise and it will likely result in information you can use to advance your job search efforts and, ultimately, your career. Let’s take a closer look at a few different ways you can use the results of a career assessment in your career transition.

Explore a new career

Obviously, you are enrolled in a program leading to a very specific career. As a result, it’s unlikely you are considering taking a career assessment to explore new career opportunities. However, one of the more popular reasons to take a career assessment is to answer the question, “What do I want to do?”

Taking an assessment may help you narrow your focus to one or two specific interest areas or a handful of job titles. With this information, you can then conduct additional research on the job title and decide which career options are more suitable—and interesting—for you.

For example, if you complete the Computerized Interest Profiler, which is based on psychologist John Holland’s extensive career research, your results will likely indicate a strong preference toward R (Realistic), I (Investigative), A (Artistic), S (Social), E (Enterprising), or C (Conventional), or a combination of 2 of these letters. Once you receive your results, you will be directed to potential jobs that relate to your assessment results. Explore these threads and see where it takes you. Be open to where your research leads you. Keep in mind, though, that assessment results should be used simply as a place to begin your journey, not end it.

Let’s say you take the Computerized Interest Profiler and discover your results are E, for enterprising, or entrepreneurial, if you want another way to think about it. How do you reconcile that with your interest and education in nursing? Entrepreneurial people enjoy starting news businesses, projects and challenges. For you, this may translate into a long-term goal of beginning your own healthcare business, or getting involved in a research project.

To further explore different careers once you complete your assessment, you can visit search job titles in the Occupational Outlook Handbook  at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website.

Career Advancement

Assessments can also be helpful if you are considering career advancement. In this case, in addition to the assessments noted below, there are several other assessments you may want to take regarding career advancement, including DISC, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Herman Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI), and StrengthsFinder, to name just a few. Throughout your career you may have the opportunity to take one or more of these assessments—and you should!

Assessments, regardless of which one you take, provide great insight into characteristics and strengths you bring to the employment table. Using the RIASEC assessment mentioned above as an example, you may identify a strong tendency toward C, for creative. Understanding the characteristics of a creative person and what a creative person contributes to the workplace could help you position yourself to take on projects that may improve your chances for promotion.

Maybe your employer regularly administers the DISC assessment as part of its regular team-building and professional development for employees. Your results may indicate that you tend strongly toward D, for dominant. Dominance can be a great benefit in the workplace because it typically indicates that people with this tendency are real drivers when it comes to executing projects. Think about how you can use this strength to take on leadership roles or special projects that will expand your knowledge, skills and scope of expertise. As a result of this, you will be positioning yourself for greater opportunities in your career path.

Interviewing

Along the same thinking as using the results of assessments to help you develop your career path and choices, you can also use the information to position yourself for career opportunities. In the examples above, we discussed using assessment results as a way to select opportunities, maximizing those tendencies and strengths, to position yourself for promotions, and for career growth.

In interviewing situations, you can use information about your assessment results to explain to a potential employer what you can offer (you strengths). Always be certain to expand on a strength once you mention it. For example, if you note that you are an Introvert, one of the results of the MBTI assessment, you can discuss how Introverts draw on their own instincts and knowledge to problem-solve and then provide a specific example of how you have done this in a setting related to the position for which you are applying. (Only use an explanation and example that accurately reflects you!)

Assessments are tools, not rules

No matter how you decide to approach taking and using assessments, remember they are simply a tool to help you get started, not a rule you must follow.  Assessments provide an excellent way for you to begin thinking about your career, your career growth, and the unique skills and talents you bring to the employment relationship.

Links

Below we’ve selected a few resources that will allow you to explore and take some career and general skills assessments. While you may be required to log in and provide a password, the assessments provided here are free. However, note that some assessments, such as DISC, MBTI, etc., may require a fee, as well as often are available only through approved providers.