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.
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