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Phase One: Discover
Before you can shoot an arrow and hit a target, you must first pull the arrow back on the bow. In order to manage your job search successfully-and attain your goal of meaningful employment-you must first conduct a self-assessment process. Knowing yourself is the foundation for developing a successful career management and job search strategy. The discovery phase is perhaps more important than any other phase, because it establishes the foundation for everything that is to follow. It determines how you will market yourself, to whom you will market yourself, and what career direction you will pursue.
What are your existing career assets? What skills, abilities and experiences do you have now to offer the job market? What is your mission? What are your values? What do you love to do? What do you do well? What career direction inspires you? What are your career goals? Where would you like to be in a year? In five years, or ten years? How much would you like to earn?
Understanding yourself forms half of the equation. Understanding which target you are aiming at is the other half. In addition to providing you with tools for self-assessment, this phase will also provide you with information to build your knowledge of industries, job functions, and companies.
During this phase, the following recommended resources are very helpful:
Self-Assessment
Identifying and understanding your business interests, reward values, and abilities will give you a head-start in identifying and exploring business career options.
CareerLeader®, developed exclusively for business school students by Harvard University professors, is one of many self-assessment tools available to help individuals develop an enhanced awareness of their interests, skills, and abilities.
CareerLeader
These instructions (*PDF 19K) will enable authorized students to access CareerLeader. If you are an active MBA student and are unable to access CareerLeader, please contact the Weston Career Center at 314-935-5950.
Career Leader will:
- Provide you with expert assessments of your unique pattern of business-relevant interests, values and abilities, using three tests
- Integrate your results, recommending specific career paths for your consideration
- Rate your entrepreneurial attributes
- Provide you with in-depth views into 27 business career paths, including information about the interests, rewards and abilities associated with each one. Many career paths also include an in-depth interview with an industry insider, for further insights.
- Help you understand key elements of corporate culture and how you might fit in with each.
- Recognize and help you to cure your career "Achilles Heels".
* To view PDF files, you'll need Acrobat Reader. Download for free at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
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