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Style & Personality
Personality and Interpersonal Style: The Importance
Your personality and interpersonal style are important aspects to consider, as you move forward in making your career decision. Your work will be more enjoyable and rewarding when your responsibilities and work environment align with your natural tendencies, preferences, interpersonal style, and personality.
Think about the following questions. There are no wrong answers. But your preferences will help you determine which profession is a good fit for you.
- Do you prefer to interact with others one-on-one, or as part of a group?
- Do you prefer to work on specific tasks, or look at the big picture?
- Do you prefer to work from a detailed schedule, or have flexibility in your work day?
- Do you like to have a predetermined workload, or have lots of variety in your work from day-to-day?
Identify your personality and interpersonal style using available resources. Use assessment tools to help you understand yourself, how you relate to others, and how your work environment can be aligned to your natural tendencies and preferences. Many tools are available. Here are some you may find helpful:
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The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): This is an instrument for measuring a person’s preferences, using four basic scales with opposite poles. The Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. claims that the MBTI “helps you improve work and personal relationships, increase productivity, and identify leadership and interpersonal communication preferences.” The MBTI is offered through University Counseling and Consulting Services (www.ucs.umn.edu) for a fee.
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Kiersey Temperament Sorter: This is a free online personality assessment used to help you identify characteristics such as communication style, preferences, motivations, and behaviors. The results can help you analyze how your particular combination of traits aligns with various roles and responsibilities of health professionals. www.advisorteam.com/default.html
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JobHunters Bible: This site is designed as a supplement to the book, What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers (Dick Bolles, author, Ten Speed Press, publisher). It is full of exercises and activities to help you further explore your personality style. www.jobhuntersbible.com
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Quintessential Careers: This is a career-development web site which offers free career and job-hunting articles, tools, tips, and tutorials. It also includes a list of job sites. www.quintcareers.com
Determine the personality and interpersonal style characteristics of your chosen profession. Start by reading through the descriptions of the different health professions to see if your personality and interpersonal style are congruent with your intended health profession. Next, talk to professionals who are practicing in your area(s) of interest, to understand the daily roles, responsibilities and daily work environment of the health career you are considering.
Checkpoint:
Ask how does your personality align with your chosen health career?
To get a taste of the daily roles, responsibilities, and work environment of the profession you are considering, gain some experience in that area by volunteering or working in a health care setting that features the profession you are planning to pursue. To get started, look at the employment and volunteer opportunities listed through GoldPASS, the University-wide job posting service. Check the listings often, as they are continually updated.
Personality and Interpersonal Style
Example Story
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Katia graduated with an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and works in a cancer research lab. Although she enjoys the problem-solving aspects of her job, Katia feels lonely in her daily work and craves a greater degree of people interaction. Fortunately, her responsibilities in the cancer research lab allowed her to make several professional connections in health care environments.
By talking to a medical student currently in his residency, Katia heard first hand about the long hours and pressures of medical school and residency requirements. The medical resident introduced Katia to a practicing physician in the community.
Katia conducted an informational interview with this physician, which then led to a job shadowing opportunity. Katia’s experiences with this physician allowed her to understand how people pursuing this field must be caring, emotionally stable, and able to instill trust and confidence in their patients. She observed that this doctor was extremely comfortable making decisions in emergencies, while providing leadership and management for the entire team of health care professionals, which included nurses, pharmacists, and social workers in the clinic. Katia also observed that the physician continually researched multiple resources to stay current with medical practices and advances.
Because of her direct observations and conversations with practicing health care professionals, Katia was able to identify that her personality aligned with the responsibilities of a physician. She is currently volunteering in the clinic and enrolled for her remaining prerequisite courses for medical school. |
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