As a mom, my teenage kid tunes me out whenever I try to impart my wisdom on pretty much anything. Even with the mention of a job search, I see their eyes roll back into their head. It makes no difference that I am a Career Coach.
I was reminded of how common this is when I was contacted recently by a father who was seeking help for his 25-year-old daughter struggling to find a job. I read between the lines: the child was living at home, and the father wanted her out of the house. The father insisted on joining my initial consult call with his daughter. Within minutes, I experienced both the father and daughter correcting each other about what was best for the daughter. Trust me, I’m not judging. This would be the exact scenario with my child.
My advice to all those moms and dads who want their child to get a summer job is to step aside and give them the tools to do it themselves.
What’s the Real Challenge?
On further discovery of the daughter’s challenges, I recognized something that I see a lot of young people (and their parents) battle with – finding a job that matches their interests and skills while allowing them to save enough money to leave their parents’ house.
Even with a college degree and academic career counseling, Gen Zers may still struggle with finding a job that suits their personality and interests. Even though there appear to be plenty of openings in the restaurant and retail industry, those jobs may not be a good fit for your kid.
The best approach to identifying suitable career paths for your Gen Z kid is to start with identifying their unique traits, strengths, preferences, and potential. This is where personality and interest assessments come in.
What are Personality and Interest Assessments?
Personality assessments are tools designed to measure and evaluate various aspects of a person’s character, behavior, temperament, and personality traits. Interest assessments are tools designed to identify an individual’s preferences, passions, and areas of interest.
Both types of assessments help individuals identify career paths and roles that align with their unique traits, leading to better job satisfaction and performance. These assessments can also highlight an individual’s strengths and weaknesses, which can guide them toward careers that capitalize on their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. In addition, personality and interest assessments can point out areas where your child may need to develop certain skills or behaviors to succeed in their desired career path.
FREE Web-Based Assessments
There are several web-based personality and interest assessments available on the marketplace. Below I have compiled a list of the most valuable career-oriented assessments to give Gen Zers the insight for informed decision-making in their job search. In addition, they are all FREE for the user.
Myers-Briggs Type (MBTI) Indicator
Long before we had online personality tests, psychoanalyst Carl Jung speculated about personality types. Many of the personality tests you’ll find today are based on Jung’s research and ideas. The most popular personality test that draws heavily from Jungian psychology is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test. While the official MBTI-branded version of the test is paid, there is a free version available that many people find to be just as helpful: the 16 Personality Types test. The free version is found here: 16 Personalities Test
DiSC
DiSC Assessments are a very popular tool during career searches and are often used by recruiters to match candidates with jobs. They’re focused on workplace preferences and behaviors and measure four personality types: dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness, to determine what career path might work best for you. The free version is found here: DiSC Personality Test
O*NET Computerized Interest Profiler
The O*NET Interest Profiler is a family of self-assessment career exploration tools that can help you discover the type of work activities and occupations that you would like and find exciting. The free version is found here: O*NET Interest Profiler
Big Five Personality
Measures openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, helping to identify suitable work environments. The free version is found here: Big Five Test
Holland Code (RIASEC)
The Holland Occupational Themes is a theory of personality that focuses on career and vocational choice. It groups people based on their suitability for six different categories of occupations. The six types yield the RIASEC acronym, by which the theory is also commonly known. The free version is found here: RIASEC Test
CliftonStrengths
Completing CliftonStrengths allows users to discover what they naturally do best, learn how to develop their greatest talents into strengths, and use their personalized results and reports to maximize their potential. The free version is found here: CliftonStrengths Test
Providing a clearer picture of an individual’s identity and aligning it with potential career paths, personality and interest tests can help Gen Zers make informed decisions and guide them in their job search efforts toward more fruitful outcomes.
As always, if you need further help, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via LinkedIn or email.