Being comfortable and confident with who you are, what you like and what you are able to accomplish is absolutely necessary when developing a new career strategy, exploring career options and preparing for the interview process. The first step of the Center for Professional Development's career counseling process includes the use of an array of assessment tools that help you discover your values, personality traits, skills, interests and preferred work environments. Our main assessment tools are:

• Assessment Exercises and Worksheets
  Over many years, our counselors have developed numerous worksheets to aid you in the self-assessment process. These exercises gauge your values, skills, interests, preferred work environment, desired people interactions, and life barriers. We also utilize online resources and assessment instruments to augment the career counseling experience. We use these worksheets with you to identify the traits you seek in your work and the attributes you bring to your job. Being clear about your traits and being able to explain them clearly is important to success in career planning.


• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®
  Knowing your personality type, as measured through the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI), can help you with career planning at every stage, from selecting your first career to advancing in your organization or changing careers later in life. The MBTI helps you reflect on four aspects that can affect your work preferences: how you like to interact with other people, how you handle information, how you make decisions, and how you deal with tasks or projects. Through the guidance of your career counselor, you will identify your personality type, assess your strengths and weaknesses and apply that knowledge to your career strategies.


• Strong Interest Inventory®
  The Strong Interest Inventory® is the most popular assessment tool used in the career counseling field. This assesses your opinion on a variety of career, education and leisure situations. Each inventory is scored and a personal profile is developed. The career counselor will review your results with you and will assist you in understanding your outcomes.