Self-Reflection and Finding a Job to Fit Your Personality
Your personality may have more to do with how happy you are in your career than you think.
Part of making sure you can work at your peak performance level means that you should be VERY in-tune with yourself and your strengths. Self-awareness is also critical to standing out in a busy marketplace, so taking the time to learn about yourself is really a win/win.
The more you know about yourself, the better you can prepare and reflect on your goals, experiences, and skills! You’ll know exactly how to strategize your career aspirations and find a better fit with a company that can nurture your strengths.
So this blog is going to be all about how you can learn more about yourself to ultimately find a job that fits your personality.
HOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOURSELF:
Here are four things you can immediately take action on to learn more about yourself:
Take time to self-reflect and think about situations where you felt like you really thrived. Then, think about situations where you were nervous or felt overwhelmed. While being anxious doesn’t mean that you should always avoid those situations, you will have a decision to make.
When thinking about a situation or task you struggled with, ask yourself:
Do you want to push past being uncomfortable and accomplish that type of task?
Or is it something that you absolutely do not want to do?
You should always take stock of your experience and skills. The things that you have been able to accomplish and master say a lot about who you are as a person and what type of personality you have. Just make sure your perspective isn’t being tainted by imposter’s syndrome first!
Finally, I always recommend that people take a free DISC Personality Test. This test will go into detail about your personality, and I was pleasantly surprised by how insightful it was.
INTROVERTED VS EXTROVERTED – OR NOT?
Being introverted vs extroverted has always been a hot topic. A lot of the time, we see articles telling introverts how to be more extroverted. Or about how extroverts need to get more comfortable being alone.
Unfortunately, a lot of people like to point out “flaws” in the other personality type without thinking about the bigger picture.
To learn more about your personality type, reflect on the following:
Where do you recharge from?
Being by yourself or social interaction? Or a blend of both?
Being an introvert does not mean that you are shy or timid or less likely to speak up – it simply is a word that describes where you gain energy from!
Bonus: Did you know that there are actually four types of introverts? I like this article that points out four different types of introverts
How much are you willing to push yourself to develop skills that aren’t “natural” to your personality type?
Every person and personality has a perfect outlet for them somewhere. Being in-tune with who you are will help you zero-in on what that is for you! Not to mention that A LOT of people identify as AMBIVERTS!
Ambiverts are people who fall in the middle between introverted and extroverted. As you can see, there are basically endless categories that our personalities can fall into.
Check out this interesting article and chart to see how our personalities are on a continuum rather than individual buckets.
TIPS FOR USING YOUR PERSONALITY TYPE TO SUCCEED:
Be practical and recognize there is no downside to being either extroverted or introverted.
You have to learn when to “turn it on” (aka in an interview, networking event, conference, high stakes meeting) and maximize your energy in these situations. Likewise, learn when to “turn it off” when appropriate to the situation.
You cannot blame being an introvert or an extrovert for whether or not you are successfully standing out in a busy marketplace. You’re selling yourself short by saying “I am an introvert, so I cannot promote myself on social media” or “I cannot give public speaking engagements.”
People can switch from introversion to extroversion depending upon where they are at in their life. A lot of people are introverted when they are younger and grow into more extroverted versions of themselves over time.
Being able to commit to EVERYTHING is impossible. Identifying what you are comfortable with will allow you to commit to speaking engagements, networking events, workshops, conferences, or other engagements more effectively.
You have to be able to speak up for yourself. Remember, the loudest person in the room is NOT always the smartest or most talented.
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