Career Change Reference Documents

In 12 Steps to a New Career, I refer to three career change reference documents where the publisher and I decided it would be more appropriate to make them available on my website. You can read a summary description of each of these documents below. To download a PDF copy of them, click on the links.

Reference 1.1: Personality Type Characteristics

This is a simplified description of the Myers-Briggs MBTI® (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) that I find can often help people to better understand their personality type and why they may prefer certain types of work. This simplified version may work for you if you are able to answer the questions in the book easily and quickly without a lot of thinking. If you cannot answer any set of questions quickly and easily it means that your personality type will take more to properly assess. This is often the case because people’s personality can change depending on the circumstances. Sometimes, people don’t think the profile results match what they think is their personality type (as was the case for me). A certified MBTI practitioner will be able to explain the differences between how the questionnaire describes you and how you might see yourself differently.

Reference 1.2: Career-Related Reading List

During my job and career change and during the course of writing 12 Steps to a New Career, I researched many books that helped me make career decisions and I thought could help my clients make better career decisions. Before you think I just sit around reading other authors’ books, remember, I was doing research. Some I have read and some I just reviewed but I often refer my clients to one or more that I think would be appropriate for their particular circumstances. Rather than tell you to do your own research, I thought it would be helpful if I listed the ones I read or reviewed and include my opinions on them with the hope that it will save you a lot of time doing your own research.

Reference 4.1: Executive Career Change Resources

Trying to find information about what you want to know during a job or career search is a daunting task. I know because I’ve been there and as a career strategist and coach, I have to help my clients find the information they want. The problem is not that the information is not there, the problem is how to find it without spending enormous amounts of time filtering out the irrelevant information. Using the Internet compounds the problem since there is so much information out there all trying to convince you that they have what you want.