By Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D.
Taking stock of yourself, your skills, you abilities can help you more than ever in the newly interactive world of the Internet, and in e-learning. Don't waste time and energy pursuing a career path that parents wanted for you, but which makes no sense in today's marketplace.
Don't pound square pegs into round holes. Stop berating yourself for not conforming to a "norm" that turns out not to be a norm at all, just the values of an isolated group or clique.
You may have taken online career, skills, and relationships tests in the past. Now, the quizzes are more valuable than ever because your insights about yourself and your interests will allow you to connect with other people with similar goals, talents, likes and dislikes.
Tickle.com has an excellent suite of tests. They are free, but it is necessary to register. The descriptions are from the publishers. Word of warning, they are free, but you have to wade through a lot of advertising.
Career
JASPER (Job Assets and Strengths Profiler)
JASPER uncovers your job strengths and preferences and help you understand how to use them to your advantage.
- Based on over 60 years of career assessment research
- Measures 8 different job related dimensions
- Designed for the online environment
- Thought-provoking and dynamic interactive format
Unhappy at work? Discover your natural talents and find a career you'll love! Tickle's Career Interest Inventory is a personality test developed by top PhDs to help you find an ideal profession.
Whether you've got hidden abilities in the arts, psychology, medicine, business, engineering, law, or education, you'll be provided with a list of specific professions that fall into your ideal vocational area.
This test helps you understand how you connect with other people. It is a useful tool for getting to know how to best take advantage of social networking.
Personality
Tapping into your most creative thoughts can shed light on how your mind works and reveal your true outlook on life. How well do you know yourself? Take the test—you may be surprised. I took this test and found it to be pretty interesting. I enjoyed creating narratives for photographs, and I have to say that the results seem to be very accurate.
The Enneagram identifies people as one of nine distinct personality groups — groups that were developed to describe the whole human experience. Understanding where you fit into the Enneagram's typology can provide the key to gaining new insight into your core motivations, attitudes, and personality.
Each of us has a specific communication style that affects us regardless of the topic we're discussing. Find out how you can improve you communication and be happier with your partner.
Queendom.com has offered free and low-cost online tests for more than a decade. They tend to be a bit more complex than others, and perhaps more reliable.
The Emotional Intelligence Test will evaluate several aspects of your emotional intelligence and will suggest ways to improve it. Please be honest and answer according to what you really do, feel or think, rather than what you think is considered right in this test. Nobody is there to judge you, just yourself …and besides, there are many trick questions.
The AMPM stands for the 'Advanced Multidimensional Personality Matrix'. It is based on the Five Factor Model credited to Costa, McRae, and Goldberg.
The Management Skills Test:
The Management Skills and Styles Test will assess your capabilities as a supervisor in four different areas. These include Interpersonal skills (whether you possess personality characteristics and attitudes that are conducive to management), Interpersonal skills (whether you are comfortable dealing with people, and pick up on important social cues around you), Executive skills (whether you have the intellect, drive and creativity needed to be an innovator in your field) and Leadership capacity (whether you are able to bring out the best possible performance in your subordinates).
Useful References:
Freud, Sigmund. Interpretation of Dreams. (Oxford University Press), 2000.
Johnson, Robert. Inner Work: Using Dreams and Creative Imagination for Personal Growth and Integration. (Harper San Francisco), 1989.
Jung, Carl Gustav. Psychology of the Unconscious. (Dover), 2000.
Moss, Robert. Dreamgates: An Explorer's Guide to the Worlds of Soul, Imagination, and Life Beyond Death. (Three Rivers Press), 1998.
Perls, Frederick. Gestalt Therapy Verbatim. (Gestalt Journal Press), 1992.
Woodman, Marion, and Mellick, Jill. The Art of Dreaming: A Creativity Toolbox for Dreamwork. (Conari Press), 2001.