What are your strengths?
As I undergo a quest to find a job that matches my abilities, it is crucial that I know what my strengths are. I have always been a fan of silly personality tests that reveal a little something about me. When I first saw this book at Chapters, I did not really give it much thought. After reading a blog post by Jamie Delaine, a wedding photographer whom I find inspiring, I was fairly sold on purchasing the book. Coincidentally at around the same time, my friend Paul, who also maintains a blog, highly recommended the book, and I finally made the decision to buy a copy for myself and take the test.
The results from the test were surprisingly revealing and insightful, and I believe I can prepare my interview responses around the areas of my strengths and emphasize certain characteristics that are particularly applicable to the positions I am interviewing for.
1. Deliberative - "Your dependability is a hallmark of your personality. It’s very likely that you regularly produce the right outcomes. Your success can be traced to your habit of withdrawing from people to think. You consider what you need to do better or more perfectly in the future."
2. Responsibility - "Others view you as a person who can be trusted to follow through on commitments. Because of your strengths, you conduct yourself in an exceptionally mature and orderly fashion even when your teammates, classmates, friends, coworkers, and colleagues are acting childish."
3. Analytical - "It’s very likely that you occasionally adopt a practical, factual, or unemotional position on certain issues. Maybe you refrain from becoming sentimental about certain people and their problems."
4. Adaptability - " It’s very likely that you picture yourself handling situations and issues that could arise in the coming months, years, or decades. You mentally rehearse what you plan to do in various worst-case and best-case scenarios. Your forethought prepares you to deal with whatever happens."
5. Relator - " Driven by your talents, you have close companions who frequently seek your guidance. You help them find answers to their personal and professional problems. This makes you a valuable friend. "
Although the test revealed what my areas of strengths are, I think some aspects of my strengths may be perceived as possible weaknesses. For example, the excerpts above show that when thinking, I may appear withdrawn or unemotional. This gives me an idea of what to do to become a better-rounded person while helping me prepare an irrefutable response to a classic interview question, "what are your weaknesses?"
I am interested in finding out which areas of strengths are commonly shared among my group of friends. I created a Google Docs Form to record responses so I may later be able to analyze them. Ultimately, what I am mostly interested in is whether I associate myself with individuals who share similar strengths as I do, or with individuals whose strengths may augment mine or vice versa.
1. Deliberative - "Your dependability is a hallmark of your personality. It’s very likely that you regularly produce the right outcomes. Your success can be traced to your habit of withdrawing from people to think. You consider what you need to do better or more perfectly in the future."
2. Responsibility - "Others view you as a person who can be trusted to follow through on commitments. Because of your strengths, you conduct yourself in an exceptionally mature and orderly fashion even when your teammates, classmates, friends, coworkers, and colleagues are acting childish."
3. Analytical - "It’s very likely that you occasionally adopt a practical, factual, or unemotional position on certain issues. Maybe you refrain from becoming sentimental about certain people and their problems."
4. Adaptability - " It’s very likely that you picture yourself handling situations and issues that could arise in the coming months, years, or decades. You mentally rehearse what you plan to do in various worst-case and best-case scenarios. Your forethought prepares you to deal with whatever happens."
5. Relator - " Driven by your talents, you have close companions who frequently seek your guidance. You help them find answers to their personal and professional problems. This makes you a valuable friend. "
Although the test revealed what my areas of strengths are, I think some aspects of my strengths may be perceived as possible weaknesses. For example, the excerpts above show that when thinking, I may appear withdrawn or unemotional. This gives me an idea of what to do to become a better-rounded person while helping me prepare an irrefutable response to a classic interview question, "what are your weaknesses?"
I am interested in finding out which areas of strengths are commonly shared among my group of friends. I created a Google Docs Form to record responses so I may later be able to analyze them. Ultimately, what I am mostly interested in is whether I associate myself with individuals who share similar strengths as I do, or with individuals whose strengths may augment mine or vice versa.
