Following are assessment instruments that I have in stock and have used.

To get a bit technical, all of them except CAPS are not tests, because there are no wrong or right answers. They are inventories or questionnaires, commercially published. I have provided comments on each.

Career Decision Making System, CDM

An excellent instrument for career exploration. Helps you explore careers related to your interests, values, abilities, and education

Temperament Sorter

Gives you your personality type. As good or better than the Myers-Briggs. Available free at www.keirsey.com

COPS Interest inventory

Helps relate your interests to occupations. Good to use with CAPS

COPES Values inventory

Helps relate what is important to you in work. Related to personality traits.

CAPS aptitude test

Good test of aptitudes for various types of work. Must be timed accurately.

CISSS, Campbell Interest and Skill Inventory

Very good assessment of your interests and skills. Shows how similar or dissimilar your scores are to people in various occupations.

Career Quest – Assessment of interests; relates to Guide for Occupational Exploration.

SkillScan – helps you focus on your skills by sorting cards.

Strong Interest Inventory – similar to CISS, without the skills assessment.

Kuder Occupational Interest Survey – A forced-choice interest inventory with college major and occupational scales.

MBTI, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Gives you your personality type. Validity is questionable. For further information on its validity, read The Cult of Personality by Annie Murphy Paul, Free Press division of Simon and Schuster, 2004 More comments at www.gis.net/~tparker

RHETI, Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator – Gives you your personality type in the Enneagram system. Taking a workshop on the Enneagram is better, I think.

16PF Personal Career Development Profile – Based on the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire. The following quotation from Exploring Your 16PF Profile, by Heather Cattell explains what you could gain from this questionnaire:

Why should I explore my 16PF profile?

· The 16PF is a powerful personality profiling instrument that can help you for a deeper understanding of your strengths and development needs throughout your adult life.

· Your 16PF profile provides you with a powerful, self-affirming and easy-to-understand

Framework for self-insight, including how your personality impacts your everyday behaviour and work performance.

How and when will this help me?

You can use your 16PF profile to inform and help you at many stages of your career, and, more broadly, at many decision points throughout your life:

I’ve just started a new job

· Look at how you relate to others and how this impacts on both team members and your

work performance.

· If colleagues also have their 16PF profile, you can explore your profiles together to

identify team strengths or any potential areas of tension.

I want to go for a promotion, but I’m not sure I can do it.

· Use your 16PF profile to think about your strengths in relation to the role.

· You can also identify any development areas and target these to strengthen your

application and maximize your potential in the role.

I don’t feel I fit my current role.

· Use the 16PF instrument to pinpoint what your motivators are likely to be and use this

to inform your job search.

· Gain insight into what kind of role and working environment is likely to attract you and

keep you engaged.

I’m becoming a manager for the first time and feel out of my depth.

· Use the 16PF for deeper self-awareness and to gain insight into your most authentic

leadership style.

· You can also use the 16PF framework to understand what motivates other people.

I’m at a turning point in my life and not sure which direction to pursue.

· Your 16PF profile will help inform your thinking about how to pursue a course with

clarity and focus, and achieve lasting satisfaction.

I have reached a senior position and want to step up my performance to the next level.

· Use the depth and subtlety of 16PF insights to achieve focus in building your executive

competence.

There are many other ways that your 16PF profile can help you build self-awareness and develop new perspectives and skills.

Copyright © 2007 by the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing (IPAT), Inc., Champaign, Illinois, USA. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. 16PF is a registered trademark of IPAT, Inc.

If you would like to take the 16PF or have any questions about it or anything else on this page, please call 781-639-8933 or send email to: tparker@gis.net