In The Beginning, I Knew Nothing

One of the main goals I have at this time, 2.5 semesters from graduation, is to find information about marketing jobs. I don't feel like I know very much about them in a practical sense and this is a source of insecurity for me.


I did some work on the Career Cruising website facilitated through York University. After completing many sets of questions it gave me a list of general careers that may be suitable to my skills and work preferences. At first I was thrilled. Marketing was in the top five, rated as a great match with my skills. (Thank goodness, I am in forth year!) Another interesting career title came up, management consultant. I printed the profiles for these and three other career 'genres', and felt satisfied.

As part of an assignment, I needed to update my resume. I couldn't stand the look of it anymore, and could not bear the thought of handing over my old one to any potential employers. I visited the Career Centre at York, and was pleased to have a few things go my way. First, I was able to figure out a new layout within minutes of scanning through a book of samples. A little of this, a little of that, and presto! A look that I could have represent me.

Second, I met with a counsellor and was given 'the procedure' for creating a professional resume. I found the process enlightening. A detailed look at job descriptions, followed by an analysis matching the required skills for the job to my own, then proving that I have those skills by demonstrating it with something I've done in the past. Simple, right?

I was excited about doing this as soon as a friend of mine told me about this page: http://www.workopolis.com/work.aspx?action=Transfer&View=Content/JobSeeker/FastTrackListView&lang=EN&FastTrack=MARKETING&FastTrackId=378852
This changed everything.

Now I have the details I've felt so stupid about not having. Looking at the list of job titles that fall under the marketing heading, nothing is new. I've heard of all of them. But having them all together, and being able to jump back and forth quickly between job descriptions, really defined the world of marketing for me in a nutshell.

The rest of my resume came together easily. It's only a first draft, built on what little information I have soaked up from these sources in a relatively short period of time. The important thing is that I now know so much more about what I'm supposed to know about - marketing. And knowing how to write a good resume doesn't hurt either.

I will return to the Career Centre in the near future for editing. They offer many useful seminars and programs that help students find employment. I intend to make their services part of my research to prepare myself for life after graduation.

Below are other websites I found interesting in my search for job descriptions in marketing.

http://www.jobfutures.ca/en/home.shtml
http://www.careerowl.ca/
http://www.jobpostings.ca/

Personality Testing - 1,2,3

I began at York University in May of 2006. In June 2005 I had the pleasant experience of being informally identified on the Myers-Briggs Model by a wonderful client while working in the esthetics industry. My code, by her oral-interview deductions, was ESTJ - extroverted, sensing, thinking, judging. I kept this anagram in the back of my mind for the next three years until being urged to investigate personality profiling models by Professor Violo before solidifying career choices.

To the Internet! I did a quick search for ESTJ and found the following profile very interesting, http://www.personalitypage.com/ESTJ.html. Some aspects of this profile are accurate. Coming up with the how to do things, being critical, straight-forward and honest, and having high standards are all traits I can easily identify with. The sixth paragraph discusses how an ESTJ will become recluse and isolated when stressed, finding it hard to communicate at times, but self-expression is a strength of this personality type under more normal conditions. I find this to be true for me. I tend to 'think' more than I 'feel' and often have to make a conscious effort to stop, listen and be considerate of others' feelings in situations where this is appropriate. I was at first impressed that I could identify elements of my life to this profile, but I decided to conduct a few free tests online to check for consistency.

http://similarminds.com/ offered the same result, ESTJ. http://kisa.ca/ gave a slight variation, ISTJ. And http://humanmetrics.com/ returned the code ENTJ. I felt as if the former site was a more accurate set of diagnosis questions. It was the longest test of the 3, 72 questions in total. It was also the least ambiguous for me to answer - all choices were yes/no responses. On reviewing the outline for ENTJ, http://www.personalitypage.com/ENTJ.html, I found interesting differences that did not improve the fit. Overall, neither ESTJ nor ENTJ fully describe me. They are at best 60-70% accurate. If I had to choose which one is more accurate, I would choose ESTJ.

About two months ago I came across the opportunity to have another personality profiling technique performed. I find these sorts of models interesting and figured if I keep doing them, eventually I will end up with some consistent traits that will help me identify my strengths and weaknesses. After having gained interesting perspectives from models in the past I was certain another method, now 3 years later, would enlighten me in a new way.

The model is called Insights. It is based on the work environment and gives information about the candidate's work style and preferences. I learned that Xerox uses this model throughout its corporate structure, and as a business major found this very interesting. "It is like true colors mixed with Jung, on steroids!" the administrator informed me. I was excited.

I took the test online. It was a series of 25 questions, ranking sets of words with rating scales. I was instructed to not take more than 20 minutes to complete it. I found out later that the time limit helps make the answers more accurate because some of the evaluation is decision making. This means that making those choices quickly leads to a better analysis of the candidate.

A few weeks later I met with the administrator. We reviewed my profile together. I was shocked. This blows the doors off any of the other profiling models I have ever seen, done, or heard of. WOW!! was all I could say. This was accurate to a degree that seemed almost invasive.

There are a total of 40 pages in the personalized profile. It covers personal style, interaction with others, decision making, strengths and weaknesses, value to the team, communication, blind spots, the opposite type, suggestions for development, a section on management, my management style, a section on sales, personal achievement, time and life management, personal creativity, lifelong learning, learning styles, interview questions, and the details of the Insights Wheel and Jungian preferences, give or take a few sections.

Reviewing this information is a long introspective process. One of the most interesting areas is called 'Creating the Ideal Environment'. Ten points describe what an ideal work environment for me looks like. "Few distractions exist to take attention away from the task" jumps out as something I can identify with in my daily life. As a student working from home, there are constant distractions. Whether it's my mom calling me for fresh coffee or cookies, my dad checking to see who has phoned, my mom going over the grocery list, my dad letting me know what he's been doing since he got up, my mom telling me about the cat's new sleeping spot, my dad telling me about his socks, my mom asking me my opinion on her outfit, my dad checking to make sure he's dressed, my mom just napping on my bed, or dad bringing in the mail and then reading us the newspaper, a few hours of any given day could go just like that.

Having retired parents is a blessing, however when projects are due, out they go! I have to shut my door. In order for me to get the best work done I need to concentrate on the task. This is also why I have difficulty in groups that spend most of the meeting time socializing. At this point I need to mention one other feature of Insights. It gives a conscious and less conscious profile. The way that I understand this is that the conscious outline (basically a percentage of four colours) is the day to day and work me, while the less conscious represents the home me. The way that I interact with my parents falls under the less conscious profile, even if it is my work space.

Another interesting find within this profile is that my Jungian preference is intuition for the conscious. The less conscious is dead centre. This is interesting because on the Myers-Briggs I was sensing, the opposite. Could it be that I am changing? Or could it be that because I didn't have a formal appraisal, maybe ESTJ is actually ENTJ? Or maybe I'm right in the middle.

I'm happy knowing that the models I have completed to date form a picture of self-awareness and self-improvement. Having reviewed all of the information from the past, combining it with a new model, and working towards more specific personal and professional goals is a source of constant pleasure for me. I want to succeed and all of these tools help me make my life more effective and efficient, which, as any business student knows, are the two most important adjectives of success.

Background

The idea to create a blog of this kind has been inspired by Lisa Violo in her creative and inspirational fourth year E-Marketing course at York University. This space will be used to convey and discuss the information, resources, problems and opportunities I am encountering in making career decisions. In nine months I will graduate from York University with a Bachelor of Administrative Studies degree specialized in Marketing.

There are several steps to determining where I will set my sights for job placement. To begin, I spent some time reviewing the research and assessments I had done prior to beginning at York in 2006. This work was done at two different times. First was while I was completing my diploma of esthetics at Sheridan College, Oakville. I took a course named College and Career Strategies with Loretta Howard in my first year. A major component of the course was the completion of a Learning Portfolio. This project included a written rationale of the person 'me', a self-assessment tool, and analysis of my communication style, perception, and stress based on in-class exercises and group work.

The self-assessment tool identified personal life goals and work values. Looking back, the life goals remain the same.

1. Good Health

2. A satisfying and fulfilling marriage

3. Lifetime financial security

4. Complete self-confidence

5. Freedom within my work setting

My work values have changed a bit since then. Reviewing this list helped me to identify some key characteristics I find important in a career. The communication analysis indicates my style as a driver. I have found myself in situations wondering why I act the way I do, and when I reviewed the tendencies of my type it all made sense. See http://www.cedanet.com/meta/communication_styles.htm for full details on each of the four communication styles.

The second time I assessed myself via an assortment of tools was six months after my graduation from Sheridan, late in 2005. At that time I was highly interested in returning to university to finish my degree. I wanted to make sure marketing was the best area for me to pursue, so with the help of a local centre I completed the Strong Interest Inventory, visited the career cruising Website, and performed an aptitude profile.

My Holland Theme/Code is EAC - Enterprising, Artistic, Conventional. The version of the SII I completed was at the time being replaced by a newer one. It was indicated to me at the time that marketing, advertising, and entrepreneurial categories would be included in this new version, and that I would rate high in these areas. Sales was the highest rated category for me by this test. My results from Career Cruising at that time have a great deal in common with the Matchmaker results I have more recently obtained. Marketing Specialist was ranked second, Association Manager fourth, Management Consultant seventh, Advertising Account Executive tenth. I will return to discuss my current findings in a subsequent post.

The aptitude test I completed in 2005 was challenging. At this point I had been out of university for approximately seven years. (Woah!) The work I had been doing at Sheridan was primarily practical. Fractions were very far from my working memory, but math was one of my best subjects in high school, and my OAC average was around 97%. The results indicated an above average vocabulary, spatial visualization, and numerical reasoning. Average numerical computation, and low clerical perception, and even lower inductive reasoning. It rated my aptitude to complete a two year program successfully as high; a four year program as medium; post-graduate program as low. I knew academics was what I did best, but these were the worst marks I ever received! I chalked it up to the time factor and moved forward with my plans to do my MBA.