Praise, Whine, and failing a personality test!

Stiffchick · #21 10/24/12, 10:16 AM

I took one of those tests in high school, and later in a Voc rehab program. The one in high school said my best job match was "gravel inspector" I have never even seen that as a job opportunity ever! And the Voc rehab test said I should be in clerical. I hate clerical work. My high school guidance counsler, was the only person ever right about me, and at the time, I was too stubborn to listen. What he said at the time, hurt my feelings and made me very mad. He said, everyone is not cut out for school (even though every teacher i ever had crammed "college" down our throats) I should drop out of high school, go get a GED, and enroll in a vocational program and learn a trade.

I was so hurt, that he didnt think I was good enough for college, when all my friends were applying and taking tests. I graduated last in my class, but scored 4th highest out of everyone in my school in my state Biology exam. I got a higher score than 85% of the state on my SAT's Its not that I am not smart, I just dont do well in classes. I have tried and dropped out of college more times that I can count. I always have good grades, I just hate the structure of it all. The only program I ever finished, was a technical program on how to be a dog groomer. I was so happy in that job, and made great money. As an adult, over 15 years removed from High school and all the crap that goes along with it, I am so sorry I didnt listen to that counseler.

Right now, If I didnt have so much physical issues to contend with, I would enroll in a vocational program and learn cosmetology, or machinist trades. Those have always been jobs that interested me, that now I realize I would be happy in. once I got over the "im too good for those jobs" attitude and the "i have to go to college" mentality.

yes, education is important, but college is not the only education out there. vocational schools are great, and your state may even have an apprenticeship program outreach. a list of companies in your state, that offer apprenticeships (those are paid!) that once you complete, and become a journeyman you can go anywhere in the country with that certification and get a job if you need too.

some vocational or apprentice ship jobs that might interest you; pharmacy technician, veterinary technician assistant, home health care aide, assisted living care aide... those are just a few of the ones offered in my state, your state could have more or less. Also, if you have a disibility, have you looked into your states Vocational Rehab program for assistance?

Horseyrider · #22 10/24/12, 10:21 AM

I used to teach college level courses about horses. Had one guy in a horse trimming and shoeing class that stuck out like a sore thumb; he clearly had no idea how to work with horses. I talked to him a while once after class, and found out he didn't even own a horse. So what was he doing there? He'd taken one of those tests and it said he should be a horseshoer. Without him being able to read a horse, the very idea of sending him in to grab a leg and use a knife made me queasy. I told him he was welcome to stay and explore the idea, but I didn't think the odds were strong that it'd work out. After a few more weeks he thanked me for my candor and withdrew from the class.

I do think the idea of nursing can still work. My MIL was heartbroken when she hit 35 because in those days nobody was allowed to apply to nursing school after that age. Once her kids were raised and that foolish law repealed, she went back to school and got her RN. Then she went back and got an MSW and did drug and alcohol counseling with teens. This sounds right up your alley; and she was in her sixties when she did it. No physical work required, and your age and experience brings wisdom they need.

Incidentally, she also went back in her seventies and got a doctorate in religious studies.

The test is just a test. It isn't you. Only you know what will make you happy to get out of bed in the morning and eager to get to work.

TheMartianChick · #23 10/24/12, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darren

By now you should know the tests are rough guidelines bordering on BS. Only you can do your own affirmations.

You've had faith in yourself so far with the classes. Keep on keeping on.

Exactly the bolded portion. If there is something that you'd like to do, then do it. No test can determine your aptitude for a subject because there is no way for it to measure your WILL.

There are many ways to work within a profession. I know someone that worked as a nurse for 15 years. Due to health issues, she is no longer able to work as an RN and spend a lot of time on her feet. Now, she reviews patient records for an insurance company and approves additional testing. She is also able to work from home, which works out well for her.

Your post makes me wonder about how many people may have been dissuaded from living their dreams by a test created by someone who is dissatisfied by their own career choices...

Molly Mckee · #24 10/24/12, 10:44 AM

I don't think those test are very accurate, but selling them to schools and students is probably pretty lucrative.

However, while there are some jobs in nursing that don't require lifting or spending as much time on your feet, you have to get through your clinical classes first. That is going to require both lifting and spending a lot of time on your feet. If you also don't have a good science background you may have trouble with the science classes as well. Most nursing programs have many more students applying that they can accept, I would have a back up plan that would use the prerequisites you are required to take for nursing. No job is fun if you can't do your best or it makes you hurt.

mammabooh · #25 10/24/12, 11:05 AM

Yeah, those tests have always been off for me. I have no desire to be a manager or a teacher or anything like that. I was a manager once and it sucked the life out of me like nothing else ever could. I was good at it, but, boy, did I ever hate it!

KMA1 · #26 10/24/12, 11:18 AM

I don't understand what you are so upset about. It seems you think these tests are telling you what you have to do. Myers Briggs and other personality tests tell you things about your personality, not what you want to or should do. Maybe if you had not idea of what you wanted to do, you could use the characteristics to help you decide. But they were never meant to tell you what you would be good at or not good at. They can help a person understand their own personality and from that they are sometimes useful in finding some things you need to do to compensate for some traits. Personality traits do not necessarily determin what you want to do. It may influence what you want to do, or it may not. You also mentioned a lot of other tests but really did not give any information on them so I cna not compensate on them.

fordy · #27 10/24/12, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oggie

There are so many variables that come into play when it comes to psychological testing that not much weight should be placed on any one particular test session.

According to one psychologist, I didn’t do so well on one of those Horshack tests.

He showed me a black blob and said, “What do you think this looks like?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s an ink blot,” I said.

“Well yeah,” he said. “But what else?”

“Perhaps if it were a little darker, it could be a coffee stain,” I said.

“No! No! No!” he said. “I mean if it weren’t an ink blot or a coffee stain, what do you think it looks like?”

“I suppose, if spilled fruit juice aged and oxidized long enough it might get dark enough to sort of look like that,” I said.

“No! You just don’t seem to understand! You’re not supposed to tell me that it looks like a stain or a blot. You’re supposed to see something else in it!” he exclaimed.

“And how does that make you feel?” I asked.

“Well,” he said. “It makes me feel kind of frustra . . . Hey! Wait a minute! This isn’t how it’s supposed to work!”

Eventually, he started making those sort of laughing, sort of wheezing, noises just like that kid on “Welcome Back Kotter” and I knew that I probably wasn’t going to pass that test.

.................I can just imagine Picasso studying an 'ink blot' and the test giver going........"well , what do you see"? So , he says......" I can see that beautiful , naked lady next door whom occupies my bed and will birth my child , you see I just painted her portrait !" , fordy

fellini123 · #28 10/24/12, 11:44 AM

Since I was a Psych major in college I took a whole bunch of these tests, at various times. I always came out the same, basically an ESTJ. Which means outgoing, type A personality basically.....
And most of the jobs I have held have fit right in there.
But a personality test is just for information, not something to get upset about.
Liek so many said I would be more concerned with your physical limitations. Every nurse I have ever talked with said how physical their job was, how difficult it was to lift the patients and deal with various physical things. Also it seems that many many nurses retire due to physical limitations.
Alice in Virginia

emdeengee · #29 10/24/12, 01:24 PM

I have taken many personality and apptitude tests. They were interesting but since results varied I did not consider them when making my choices. I did what interested me.

I think that what you really need to consider are your physical limitations. Nursing is a very physically demanding job. If you cannot lift or stand for long periods this is probably not the best choice.

Danaus29 · #30 10/24/12, 01:25 PM

The Jung Briggs-Myers test is available for free online. I just took it. While it is true that I am pretty much an introvert it also listed my top career choice as being a computer programmer! Bwahahahahaha! I get frustrated and want to toss the laptop out the window just trying to make a photo cd! Another option was a dental technician or hygienist. Not only am I afraid of dentists but messing around in people's mouths would make me puke.

Did not give the option of gardening or farming, both of which are near and dear to my heart.

ETA, go with your heart. Do what you love. If you go down a path just because some test told you to, you will learn to hate that path and be miserable going what the test told you to do. Do what satisfies you and makes you happy.

Maura · #31 10/24/12, 01:51 PM

The tests sound like they were simply polls. For instance, if most teachers go into teaching because they want summers off, is that a good point? What you want are why most excellent teachers go into teaching, which would put summers off at a low priority. The teaching school that DSD went to gives each student a test like the one you describe. But, they compare the students' results with the "best teachers", not "teachers".

Pick up What Color is Your Parachute? It's updated every year. Fordy is right, if you are analytical, check out careers that use that. If you want to work with adolescents, compare yourself with people who work with adolescents and are excellent at their job. This could include not only daily direct interaction, but also assessment and diagnostics. The person who is great in the classroom may not do well one to one, and vice versa. Do you want to work with groups, or one on one? Keep digging. In the meantime, take psychology and sociology courses. If you need something faster that would help in your career, reflexology certification will take about seven months (one weekend per month) and is really useful in helping someone let go of trauma. You could easily fit this into your helping career.

catknit · #32 10/24/12, 02:03 PM

Briggs-Myers is more of a personality inventory than a job-finder screening tool.

I personally think it does a good job for many in describing their personality. How that equates into job satisfaction or job performance is a very different thing. I know I'm an introvert. On the Briggs-Myers test, I confirmed [time and time again as I've been screened numerous times over the years] that I am an EXTREME introvert. However, some of my most successful jobs and career moves have been into job descriptions that need an extreme extrovert. To perform well at these jobs, I've had to compensate for this disparity because they are SO psychologically exhausting for me. To be extroverted takes a lot of energy - due to my personality. Because I know this, I can manage my time and energy better. [To an extrovert - that probably all sounds insane but talking with people tires me]. This is one of the finer points of this type of test - you can look at the big picture and see a list of jobs you'd never want to have or you can look at the information provided and see how to use that to your advantage and future-planning.

I did take one of the military tests skills tests in high school - it was mandatory. I remember being heart broken as I scored off the charts for administrative/secretarily skills because I was really, really good at finding random numbers in mixed number columns. I was beside myself for weeks. Never mind I had many academic accolades, stellar grades, academic scholarships awarded to me, and had been accepted to every university I had applied to including some truly competitive science and engineering programs, all I could think about was this silly test that claimed I'd be the world's best secretary! Everything else I knew about myself seemed to melt away because of those results. I moped and wallowed and then snapped out of it. So what - maybe I could have been the world's best secretary - what I wanted to be was a scientist and that's what I ended up doing...

Laura Zone 5 · #33 10/24/12, 03:05 PM

BAAA maybe I should take some communication classes first??
HHAHAHHAHAHAH

It upset me that "I may be answering outside myself" because of "extreme stress and/or a traumatic event in my life".
I was pretty sure that I was back on the 'road to me'.....so that took me back.
Not the test.
Answering a few questions on paper can no more tell me about a person than the man on the moon.
Give me 30 min in a room, face to face, and now we're in business!
Same goes with me.
I was just wiped out that she said "I may have been testing outside of myself" (AND this woman doesn't know me or the story of my last 14 months).

I'm a round peg in a square world......somewhere out there is a square hole, and I will know it when I'm in it!!
Thanks for all the encouragement and advice!!!

Maura · #34 10/24/12, 03:31 PM

People who deal with people and are good at it can assess you more quickly than you think. It may have been very obvious to this woman that you have been under stress, even though she doesn't know you. Or, she may have been trying to help you understand why your results seemed flawed. It was her way of saying the test can be helpful, but it isn't written in stone.

My son-in-law is an executive with a staff in a very large company and he can assess you in minutes, even seconds. Not what you've been doing for the past 14 months, but if you are sincere, or stressed, or a slacker, or a team player, or "works hard at doing nothing". He has an excellent staff and they work in sync because he is so good at hiring. You are going to need to learn to read people under stress quickly (if you don't already), if you are going to work with troubled kids.

Instead of beating yourself up, assess yourself. How do you feel? How quickly do you sink into a puddle of frustration? How does this compare with your own self before you were put under undue stress? Use this experience to your advantage.

Laura Zone 5 · #35 10/24/12, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maura

People who deal with people and are good at it can assess you more quickly than you think. It may have been very obvious to this woman that you have been under stress, even though she doesn't know you. Or, she may have been trying to help you understand why your results seemed flawed. It was her way of saying the test can be helpful, but it isn't written in stone.

I asked why the results were so wonky.
That's when she offered the comments about 'testing outside yourself'.
I am an "eye contact" kind of person, and she really struggled to maintain eye contact with me.....
It may have been because she is used to working with younger people?
Don't know.

Quote:

My son-in-law is an executive with a staff in a very large company and he can assess you in minutes, even seconds. Not what you've been doing for the past 14 months, but if you are sincere, or stressed, or a slacker, or a team player, or "works hard at doing nothing". He has an excellent staff and they work in sync because he is so good at hiring. You are going to need to learn to read people under stress quickly (if you don't already), if you are going to work with troubled kids.

I have consistently scored off the charts for years in discernment. Your SIL truly has a gift.

Quote:

Instead of beating yourself up, assess yourself. How do you feel? How quickly do you sink into a puddle of frustration? How does this compare with your own self before you were put under undue stress? Use this experience to your advantage.

OMG before?
I would have said "this test is crapola" and thrown it in the trash and never made the appointment.
Now?
Because of recent events, I am struggling to be confident.
For years I thought I was 'right, sure, etc" about something when I was not only dead wrong, but fooled and tricked into thinking everything is ok.
So, confidence issues. I wanted to see if this test would 'confirm' what my head, heart, and spirit said.
It didn't. So it made me doubt....and then I started to spin.....and I grabbed "the edge" and made a phone call that pulled me out of the spin.
God bless Linda.
So this episode was NOTHING compared to the last one.....this is progress, and THAT is good news.

You COULDN'T BUDGE me 'before'. Nothing upset me, made me doubt myself, etc. I was confident, sure, steady, solid....

I am trying to get back there.....I just thought I was 'further along'.

**Terri** · #36 10/24/12, 04:16 PM

Never try to be certain about EVERYTHING! Because you cannot be right about everything, nobody can. Confidence comes from "I am pretty sure I am right, and if I am wrong then I can deal with it".

But, about the tests? If the tests were correct then you would not have loved waiting on people. Therefore the test is bunk. Which you pretty much realized, excepting that you were doubting yourself, yes?

Just because you were wrong about whats-his-face does not mean that you are wrong now.

OK, you are a people person. There are a lot of jobs for people persons. Also you enjoy working with young people.

The first jobs that come to mind are school office workers, secretary, and, yes, nurse.

The point that was made about being attacked if you are a psych nurse is a valid one, though, and nurses in other fields are mostly on their feet a good deal. Psych nurses often sit down with their patients to talk for a bit: most other nurses do not.

GoldenCityMuse · #37 10/24/12, 04:45 PM

Funny, the personality tests I have taken seemed pretty good for me.

But the ones from schools are geared towards older teenagers who are cluless about what they want to do in life. Older people generally have a much better idea of their goals.

Beinga nurse requires a lot of physical stamina. If you can't stand for 12 hours, you should reconsider nursing.

Heritagefarm · #38 10/24/12, 05:57 PM

Don't rely on a test to tell you what you already know about yourself. If you already have something you want to do, do it. Don't let some dumb test tell you what to do or think.

Laura Zone 5 · #39 10/27/12, 07:50 AM

I'm gonna let it ride.
I am going to leaved my major as a 'nursing interest', and not mess with it till summer.
I have to take a semester of pre-rec's anyway.....so there is no rush.

Thank you all for your input!!

Shygal · #40 10/27/12, 08:23 AM

Healthcare in any form didnt even appear on my test results.

Ive been a nurse for 5 1/2 years now