LOUIS COURNOYER, Ph.D., c.o.
Career Counselor / Clinic Supervisor
Career Development and Counseling professor
Université du Québec à Montréal
Original version in French:
Cournoyer, L. (2016). Ce qui m’allume, ce qui m’épuise ! Magazine Monemploi.com https://www.monemploi.com/magazine/ce-qui-m-allume-ce-qui-m-epuise
Having doubts about your professional future? The exercise I propose allows you to self-assess your work preferences compared to what your current job offers, with the goal of discovering and reflecting on your sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work. [1]
Our preferences and those of our work environment
Each of us has a unique profile of personal preferences and each professional environment (ex. job tasks) presents a unique profile of requirements. As highlighted in the works of John Holland, the greater the congruence between our personal preferences and the characteristics of a job, the greater our job satisfaction at work should be. This author is in fact famous for having developed a typology of professional personalities based on six types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional. Each one of us has a greater or lesser preference for each of these types. Jobs also require us to demonstrate certain preferences for them. But is there congruence?
Self-assessing our job satisfaction
1. Copy the table below on a paper
| REALISTIC | 0 ———————————— 5 ———————————– 10 |
| INVESTIGATIVE | 0 ———————————— 5 ———————————– 10 |
| ARTISTIC | 0 ———————————— 5 ———————————– 10 |
| SOCIAL | 0 ———————————- 5 ——————————— 10 |
| ENTERPRISING | 0 ———————————- 5 ——————————— 10 |
| CONVENTIONAL | 0 ———————————- 5 ——————————— 10 |
2. Carefully read the description of each of Holland’s personality types.
3. Proceed to self-assessing your overall interest for each of these types (0= does not interest me at all/of no interest to me; 10 = interests me greatly / of great interest to me). In your table, draw a vertical line to mark your answer for each type in the corresponding space.
4. Reread each type, this time basing yourself on what you perceive as the expectations and requirements of yourself from your current job (still 0 to 10). Using a crayon of a different colour, make another vertical line to mark your answer in the space provided for of each type.
Career doubts?
- Does your current job resemble you when you compare your preferences to the day-to-day expectations of your work?
- Which types are you willing to give much more than what is asked of you? What are the types that are asked too much of you at work?
If the self-assessment of your professional preferences is quite a bit higher than what is asked of you at work, this suggests that a part of what you wish to do at work on a daily basis is not utilised. Over time, the accumulation of this energy could lead to dissatisfaction at work, unless you are feeling fulfilled in other areas of your life.
If on the other hand, your preferences and what you are willing to invest in work fall short of the expectations and requirements of your job, tell yourself that you could be forcing yourself each day to be someone that you are not. And, by doing so, it is normal to eventually feel exhausted, unmotivated and sometimes alienated.
Take time to look at your table. You can also consider continuing your reflection with the support of qualified professional to help you develop personalized career strategies.
Relevant references:
Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work environments. Psychological Assessment Resources.
Riverin-Simard, D. (1996). Travail et personnalité. Presses de l’Université Laval.
You can also go to Google and search the key words « Holland’s Typology »
Translation support: Nathalie Le Conte-Good
[1] These questions can be explored in greater depth through a more complete and complex career counseling process, through the support of a guidance counselor who is a member of a professional and regulated college or association in your territory.