by Donna Hamlin

Created on: April 30, 2009

Good Books to Read to Assess Your Career

Are you wondering if you on the best track in your career? It's natural to consider - from time to time - what is the highest and best use of your talents. And, as you deepen in skills and experience, it's possible the answer can change. Not everyone can afford to hire a coach to help answer the question, so here are some great books to help you explore directions for your future.

Two favorites are:

1. Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton. Based on data collected from Gallup, this book creates a typology of strengths and helps you determine what are your top five. It then guides you to discover different careers in which you can best take advantage of those strengths. The premise is that people who find roles that play to their strengths will be most successful. It also encourages people to partner in teams with people whose skills complement each others because it strengthens to overall ability of a group to success. The personal assessment to identify your top five strengths is done on-line with a code offered in the book. You get the results instantly on-line. The book also has a companion workbook which you can use to create possible career paths and to weigh their pros and cons for you.

2. Follow Your True Colors to the Work You Love by Carolym Kalil. This book introduces an assessment based on the work of Don Lowry, who created a personality system coded by colors. The assessment helps you to identify your personality profile by color. The book next helps you match your personality to career options that are most ideal for you. This can also help you understand what are the best combinations of colleagues with whom to work for team success in your work.

A few others worth reading are:

- Career Adventure: Your Guide to Personal Assessment, Career Exploration and Decision-making by Susan M. Johnston.

- Career Change:Everything You Need to Know to Meet New Challenges and Take Control of Your Career by David Helfand.

- The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success, by Nicholas Lore.

There are also books to guide you to aptitude testing, in case you are not sure what career you want to enter. Two examples are:

1. Discover What You're Best as: The National Career Apptitude System Directory by Fireside Press.

2. Career, Apptitude and Selection Test by Jim Barrett.

Career directions are deeply personal and there is no one right answer. Reading and experimenting can help open horizons not otherwise considered. Life and work are adventures by which we learn and grow, so happy reading!

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