Like several of my colleagues in Career Services, I have a non-traditional professional background. When asked the age-old question, “talk me through your resume,” I must deploy my best storytelling skills to make sense of all the seemingly meandering side quests: banking, operations, concert and event management, lots of customer service, and a degree in Illustration to boot. It has always been crucial to understand my strengths and interests, and, most importantly, where those two lists intersect. However, intuition (and plenty of trial and error) can be slow to build, which is where career exploration and self-assessment tools can be helpful.
To better understand how my skills and values fit into the job market, I tried out several tools Career Services recommends: SkillScan, ImaginePhD, VIA Strengths, Career Explorer, and CliftonStrengths. Each of these tools has a slightly different approach and purpose. CliftonStrengths and VIA Strengths both highlight your core traits, with CliftonStrengths viewing these traits through a workplace lens and VIA Strengths more broadly as a person. SkillScan compares your strengths to your enjoyment levels, giving you core competencies, areas to develop, and tasks to avoid (“Burn-out Skills”). Imagine PhD and Career Explorer weigh your interests, values, and skills to suggest potential career paths.
My results gave me plenty to think about.
According to VIA Strengths, I am full of Love, Humor, Creativity, Curiosity, and an Appreciation of Beauty. While those might be great on a dating profile, they are a bit more difficult to weave into a cover letter. By contrast, CliftonStrengths gave me some more “workplace-ready” language: Adaptable, Positive, Futuristic, with an appreciation for Input and Development. When combined with my VIA Strength traits, I can identify the environments where I would thrive, and in interviews or networking, I can highlight that I enjoy learning, engaging in new ideas, and being versatile.
SkillScan offered some of the most practical insights. After sorting my skills and interests into “high,” “medium” and “low,” I was given a few different categories. My Dominant skills (high proficiency + high enjoyment) were largely creative and interpersonal. I was also given my High Potential skills (moderate proficiency + high enjoyment), areas I could focus on in my professional development. Lastly, were my “Burn-out skills” (high proficiency + low enjoyment), tasks I do well but that deplete me. My Burn-out skills included sorting objects/data and physical labor, which may explain why my time working in a warehouse was so short-lived. Understanding what drains you is equally important to understanding what excites you when exploring career options, and so this was my favorite data to get back across all of these tools.
Imagine PhD, similarly, compared my interests and values to my talents, though my results were more hit-or-miss. If you are a Master’s student, keep in mind that some skills that are common for doctoral students (like academic writing) might not be relevant to you, so be honest when listing these areas as “not proficient.” After sorting, I was given a list of suggested career paths, but here is where I ran into some trouble.
Even though I listed no interest in selling or persuasion, my top matches were still PR, Marketing, Communications, and Consulting, fields I already know are not a good fit for me. Just a little further down, however, I found options that excited me, like Translation, Writing/Publishing, and Higher Education Administration (which just so happens to be my current career). These planted some fun ideas in my head like “maybe I should finally get fluent in my second language” which opens new possibilities to play around with.
Career Explorer mirrored much of what the other tools found but with new wording; Explorer, Aesthetically Driven, Gregarious, etc. Notably, Career Explorer was the only assessment of the five to suggest I pursue art or illustration, which was my undergraduate focus. While I choose to keep art as a hobby, it was refreshing to see it presented as a viable career path. Career Explorer also suggested other creative fields, including music production and performance.
While none of these tools gave me a singular “aha” career revelation, they did give me the language to better understand and articulate my strengths and values. For students feeling uncertain in their career direction, these tools can serve as a fantastic compass for career exploration. They will not hand you a map or give you a singular “correct” answer, but they can help clarify your skills, interests, and values, which is the first step in finding where you thrive.
If you want help interpreting your results or deciding what to do next, schedule an appointment with a Career Services advisor. We can help you translate these insights into action and chart your path forward.
