Personality Types, Careers and Me

First let me start off by saying THANK YOU to Tracy. Most of you know Tracy was my roommate for 8 years before Kev and I got married. What many of you don't know is what a cool job Tracy has. She is a certified career counselor (through Coach U) and is part of Deloitte's "Career Connections" team. Tracy's role as coach allows her to work with many different Deloitte employees - high performers targeted for advancement, executives who need to learn how to work with the little people (ha ha), and those who are targeted for downsizing as they start looking for new jobs, and even new careers.

Why does this matter, you ask? Let me answer - have you read my profile? I'm looking for a new career!! Talk about a perfect match! So how is Tracy helping me? For starters she had me take a series of career assessments to help figure out what I might be best suited to. The Myers Briggs-like assessment pegged me as an ESFP personality. What's an ESFP? Here is a brief definition - you tell me what you think: ESFPs are friendly, warm, and energetic people who usually have a wide and varied circle of friends. They are active, talkative, and easygoing, with a love of life that is infectious to everyone around them. They look, and find fun in everything they do and area at their best when they are busy doing things with people they enjoy. Realistic, sensible, and down to earth, ESFPs are good with details and have great memories for the facts that pertain to people.

How does this figure into a career search? For starters, each personality type (there are 16 total) has certain careers that they may be better suited for. Back to my profile - Public Relations is one of the areas I'm drawn to. Oh, lo and behold, PR is an area that an ESFP may find interesting! Fund raising, special event planning, teaching, and athletic coach are other areas that come up. Sound like anyone you know?

Now the shameless plug for me (feel free to provide this link to anyone who may be interested in reading this shameless plug!): What can an ESFP person bring to an organization? Here are just a few things that I, as an ESFP bring to my job on a regular basis (from the CenterMark Assessment, Deloitte Career Connections):

• ESFPs are spontaneous & flexible in adapting to situations; enjoy variety in work and tasks, keep many projects moving simultaneously.
• Spot trouble well in advance. Have enormous talent for getting people to work together.
• Natural negotiators and troubleshooters.
• Enjoy hands-on work and lively, harmonious environments.
• Bring optimism and a friendly, outgoing, fun-loving nature to work.
• Are best in crises and predicaments demanding immediate action.
• Enjoy people, quickly understand what motivates them, and are cooperative in spirit.
• Focus on generating practical, tangible results that benefit people.
• Like instigating change, continually grasp new opportunities.

My challenges now are:

• To figure out what it is I really want to do.
• Incorporate attributes into my resume that will paint a picture that shows who I really am and what I'll bring to the table.
• Get experience to make myself more marketable.
• Network any way/where I can.

I'm open to suggestions so feel let me know if you have any!