Accounting discipline

It isn't someone else's checklist, but rather it is a generally accepted set of personality traits (one's own 'checklist' of personality traits) that can be used to suggest various career areas that one may find satisfying.

It also isn't meant as a hard and fast guide, but merely to suggest possibilities. Perhaps possibilities that some had previous not considered. There are plenty of people around that don't know themselves very well that just drift into a career choice.

It isn't anything radical; however, some don't buy into it for much the same reasoning as you have suggested. There is certainly no harm in using all available information resources when faced with an important decision, but, some as you make the choice not to.

That is *your* choice, I won't argue with you about the choices you make for yourself.

this test is not a panacea. you are seeking comfort from a false god.

what is the test going to tell you? that you are more suited to a desk job than to be an entrepreneur or race car driver? do you not know that already??

Have you taken it before? I never used it for career info. It was interesting to see how closely it summarized my personality traits based on what I already knew about myself. Quite close, for the most part :)

-Holly, ENFP

yeah, could it just be that, because you answered all the questions already knowing what you are suited for, the test just self-fullfilled that prophecy?

in other words, go talk to your palm reader or the guidance counselor or some sensitive guy in a bar. tell'em what you like to do and ask him what job would suit you. everybody will tell you the same thing, because all they have to do is reflect what you said.

That'd be one way of putting it, if you thought it was a predictive "test." I don't, which is why I chose to use the word "summarize."

You still didn't answer the question about whether you've taken it. Besides, the test really has nothing to do with career choices -- I didn't take it "knowing what I am suited for," because those aren't the types of questions asked. I am gonna guess you have not taken it.

-Holly

One can use the results of the test to help determine appropriate career choices for a given personality type.

i took such a test in high school; not sure if it's exactly the one you refer to, but it was similar in spirit. the test determined that i was suited to be a teacher. hah! There was not a single question on the test that asks "do you like making lots of money?"

How can they recommend somebody be a teacher without determining if the person wants a high salary?!!! This proves the utter stupidity of this test. Some poor kid is going to wind up in the education field because he believes this test -- only to find himself underPAID and poor for the rest of his life!

A better test would ask: How much money do you want to make? a) Money is not important. b) You like money but are not too smart. c) You need at least $200,000 per year and are smart. d) At least $500,000 per year and are smart.

If (a), be teacher. If (b), study accounting and finance. If (c), go to professional school (med, law, mba). If (d), go to wall street.

Well, that wasn't a very good test since it only suggested one career option. Generally, most people could fit nicely in many different careers.

Making lots of money and career satisfaction don't always go hand-in-hand. Sure, on payday you may be smiling from ear-to-ear but at what point does it stop being worth it when your work day may be hell because you don't enjoy the work?

Suppose, for example, one is introverted yet they are in a sales job that requires them to schmooze and talk a lot. They may not be very successful with this career choice compared to the extrovert who loves mingling with people and is a natural talker.

Ah, but you know, there is some measure of truth to the notion that if you do what you love the money will follow.

How about the fellow who loved being a sanitation worker swinging off the back of a truck in the wee hours of the morning picking up trash... and then ended up owning the company and is now financially set for life. All this because of his passion for trash. :-D

You didn't take the Myers-Briggs, nor one similar to it. It's a personality test, not a career test. COPS is a career test, and that's probably what you took in high school. Completely different styles and purposes.

-Holly

Sure, on payday you may be smiling from ear-to-ear but at what point does it stop being worth it when your work day may be hell because you don't enjoy the work?

And what about the high school coach who loves his work but is miserable all the time because he doesn't make enough to support his family and has to tend bar at night to make ends meet?

And what about the guy who loves piano but is miserable because he is only talented enough to be a lounge act and can't support his family, so is miserable in poverty?

bottom line: there are 3 main considerations in selecting a career; the first consideration is what your talent is; the second is how much it pays and how important money is to you; and the third consideration is what you enjoy.

I would argue money is the most important of the 3, since you can retire as soon as you get rich. Early retirement is an option if your careers pays extremely well. But a high school teacher is doomed to grading papers (or coaching) until he's 65, since he has no money to retire early on. He's trapped.

Regardless, these tests only measure 1 of the 3 factors that should be seriously weighted when making a career choice. These tests only measure what you like. But the other equal (or more important) considerations are (a) if you are talented enough (IQ) and (b) if the career pay meets your monetary desires.

For instance, suppose the M-B test tells you to be an actress/model. We would all love to be a movie start. Does that mean you should run off to be an actress/model? Not if you want to eat. Not if you are not beautiful enough.

What you want and what you aspire to be is not what you should be in the real world.

You just don't get it, to you? It's a personality classification test, not a career-choices test! Geez. Take it first, before you talk about it. There are free versions online, if you don't want to take 20 minutes at a bookstore with a pad of paper and a pencil.

-Holly

I already know what my personality is. After reading my posts, you should have a pretty darn good idea too. Why do I need a tests to classify my personality?

Also, people's personalities change over time. If a 20 year old takes this test, he will go through life thinking he's an adolescent punk rocker, but is that what he's really going to be if he spends 7 years in grad school to develop his other (thoughtful) side?

Bottom line: why should anybody "classfiy" themselves at a point in time? Why pidgeonhole yourself into a permanent type? Life is about growing and changing.

You seem to be under the impression that tests mandate future behavior. Pigeonholing into a permanent type? Sheesh. Why does the psychology field exist at all? It's just a fun little test. I can tell someone else who's taken it that I'm an ENFP and they have a pretty good idea what that means.

Btw, I almost never take someone's online behavior as an indicator of their "in person" behavior. Anonymity tends to make folks act differently.

-Holly

Funny. All the teachers I know..... and that's quite a few of them......all retired early in life.

did they retire early because they love their jobs so much?? bet they were itching to get out as soon as that pension kicked in!

Even bookkeeping experience will be valuable. You can learn much from books and classes, but you must be able to apply what you know, and properly.

Stephanie

And they still need their CPA's when they get too big to file their own taxes, or when their own poor accounting gets them into a jam with the IRS.

Stephanie

with that kind of reasoning, you will be a working stiff all your life.