~ Opinion ~

Taking a strengths base approach to careers work is fantastic.

Looking at your assets – your personality, values, aptitudes and skills provide markers to who you are, what you might be good at doing and what you might be able to offer the world.

So too, is looking at the labour market needs and the future trends in workforce development.

Equally important though, is what you learn from your career experiences about what you are not and what you don’t want to do.

In one my early career experiences, I was working for an agency designing questionnaires – really important questionnaires about the future of New Zealand, or that’s how the role was sold to me.

In reality, I was sitting in a very small room where there were six other people.

There was minimal light and we weren’t supposed to talk much.

Just design questions and think about the questions, their interpretation and analysis.

After about four months of this, I was not feeling great, in fact, I was well on the way to watching my marbles run across the floor and out the door, never to be found again.

What did I learn?

1. I’m an extrovert – I need colleagues to discuss things with, to help me think through my thinking, to brainstorm with and to have fun.
2. Did I mention fun?! I like to have fun at work – if I’m not having fun, then I’m not learning or working.
3. Aesthetics is very important to me. In fact, so important, that where I work – the light, the heating, the fresh air, the ability to see the natural world, can influence my mood and therefore my work.
4. The work content – the questionnaire design skills I learned way back then has certainly come in handy when evaluating programmes, but I do not want to be a survey questionnaire designer. My skills are with people, and evaluation is in service of those people skills.

These are all great things to learn about yourself as you move forward to your next career move and particularly in interview situations.

It’s important to check thoroughly how what you don’t want to be and do measures up to the new role before you sign that contract.

So, what are the situations you have been in where you learned about who you don’t want to be and what you won’t do?

And then, what do these experiences tell you about yourself and what you are looking for?

• Do you hate competition?
• Do you loathe working by yourself?
• Do you prefer to support others, rather than be out the front?
• Are you not bothered whether you have supportive colleagues?
• Do you like being technically masterful?
• Are you task oriented and care less about people and their day?

There is so much to consider, that makes up who we are, and who we are not!

Learning from your experiences takes time, and sometimes set-backs, while keeping in mind your values, career motivators and anchors.

Jenny Bean is a professional member of the Career Development Association of NZ (CDANZ). If you are looking for career development support (personal or organisational), contact her at CareerBeanz.