“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius
When seeking new opportunities, one may find themselves wondering whether they will be fulfilled in a different industry or position, and it turns out, that finding a career that makes you happy can be a big challenge in itself. We believe that understanding what your greatest strengths and weaknesses are, can help you to learn more about yourself and what you look for in a career.Knowing certain traits about yourself also allows you to know what to look out for in certain jobs and their working conditions, so that you can be the happiest version of yourself in any position you land. There are a few ways in which you can identify your strengths, weaknesses, and everything in between, just read on below to find out more.
1.Take a break
More often than not, most people who are looking for a career change based on what they’re suited for, find themselves in a sea of opportunities and will not be able to easily make up their mind when confronted with similar positions in different industries, locations, salaries, work requirements, working hours, etc. Grabbing the opportunity of having a long-weekend to focus is recommended. It could be just what you need to do to de-stress, have an open mind and start evaluating your strengths and weaknesses.
2.Self-evaluation
Give yourself some time to think about the previous jobs that you may have had. Did you have sales and marketing jobs before? Perhaps in finance? Whether they were in the same industry or a range of others, you can still isolate the elements of what your job required and see which ones seemed most appealing to you.
What did you enjoy most?
What did you like least?
When did you feel successful?
When did you feel overwhelmingly stressed?
Asking yourself these questions may help you understand the way in which you like to work, for example, you may have just realized that although you can work in a team, you would much rather like to focus on your work by yourself, at your own pace, in your own space. In this case you may find that you’re not as motivated and proficient in your work when working with others. This is alright because there is a multitude of positions available that require individuals that would need to work mostly by themselves, just like there is a wide range of positions that require a number of team-players. These types of questions and answers will be able to give you an insight into what your strengths and weaknesses are, helping you achieve a sense of self-knowing.
3.Qualifications and Experience
If you already know which direction you’d like to take your career to, the next step you should do is review your resume, where you will encounter one of three scenarios:
I. You have all the qualifications/experience necessary to take your next step
ii. You have none of the qualifications/experience necessary to take your next step
iii. You’re missing some of the qualifications/experience required
If you find yourself in one of the last two scenarios, there’s no need to worry. Many times, the strength of your CV may be that you have been 10 years with the same company, showing that you are reliable, trustworthy and a long-term asset. Another scenario could be that you just graduated from University, without much experience in your specialty yet – your strength would be that you are young and have fresh ideas, ready to start working and learning in a junior position, however full of determination to grow into a senior position in a couple of years.
On the other hand, some individuals have multiple degrees and diplomas with a long list of language skills, however tend to be very shy, passive and unsure when it comes to communicating with others. This would be seen as a weakness if the person was opting to change their career into Sales. As you can see, even without certain qualifications, experience and skills, everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses and these can be worked on constantly for one’s personal and career growth.
4.Career Counselling
If you’d want some reliable assistance, career counselling would be the most recommended choice. Through interviews and tests, your appointed counsellor will determine what your strengths and weaknesses are through their standardized system and recommend positions and industries that suit your preferences and abilities. Another option for assisting you in your quest of identifying your strengths and weaknesses is the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) which is a psychological-based questionnaire that identifies the different ways in which an individual thinks, acts and perceives the world around them. This report touches base on what kind of careers are best suited for a specific individual
5.Recruitment Agency
Once you know your strengths and weaknesses, and are certain on the direction you’d like to take your career to, you should apply to a recruitment agency. Job Agencies in Malta like VacancyCentre recruitment will assist you with finding a job that matches your strengths and weaknesses. We keep your personal preferences in mind, as well as, regularly update you with what positions are available and what kind of salary/working conditions you may expect from certain industries. VacancyCentre is a specialist provider of complete recruitment solutions guaranteeing efficient and personalised Recruitment, HR Training & HR Consultancy services with maximum confidentiality. VacancyCentre has an extensive network of talented candidates whose background is within the Finance, Compliance, Technology and has a very successful track record of delivering good talent to clients within these sectors.