Thinking about yourself

Think about your skills, qualities, values, and motivations. By doing this you can begin to develop ideas about the types of work roles which would suit you, as well as working environment and culture.

There are a number of online packages to help you think through these issues. To make the most of these, try to be as positive as possible when answering the questions, and although you may not agree with all the suggestions given they can give you a good starting point.

Profiling for Success offers psychometric tests that the Careers and Employability Service have purchased and are now free for University of Worcester students to use (you will need your university user name and password to login):

• Type Dynamics Indicator measures your personality type and preferences.
• Learning Styles Indicator helps you understand your learning preferences to help with personal development.
• Careers Interests Inventory examines your interests, competencies & work style preferences to help you explore careers.

Prospects Planner is a simple to use programme, designed to help you at all stages of your career planning. It does not tell you what to do, but helps you explore some issues about yourself, such as your interests and motivation as well as finding out about occupations. You will need to register with Prospects first.

TARGETjobs Career Report uses questionnaires and psychometric tests to explore your interests, strengths and personality, and matches you to jobs that may suit you. They take about 30 minutes to complete, but you don't have to do it in one one sitting. You will need to register with Targetjobs first.