Change of scenery

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redbhoy

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Hi,
Im thinking of moving out of the engineering area and into something else and was wondering if anyone knows of any online questionnaire which helps you find your ideal job. I did one years ago in FÁS which asked a rake of questions and then gives you a number of 'ideal' jobs. Problem is most of mine were from the area of engineering. Im hoping to do a similar questionnaire and hopefully find something that can interest/stimulate me into actually enjoying coming to work.
Any help/advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
 
I think there's one on the monster.ie website. Mind you, any of those online questionnaires I ever did always told me I should work in customer service. Exactly what I was trying to get out of!
 
redbhoy said:
Im hoping to do a similar questionnaire and hopefully find something that can interest/stimulate me into actually enjoying coming to work.
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There's a book which is updated each year called "What Color is My Parachute?". It's american, but definitely not "american" if you get my meaning.

This will take you through a pretty indepth set of questions and thinking and reflection. Each chapter focuses on different aspects of work, and your personal life, and what you get pleasure and enjoyment from.

It will take a weekend to go through. You should be able to get it in any book shop.

I would highly highly recommend doing it.
 
Thanks folks.
I had a quick glance through "what colour is my parachute" before and it didnt seem up to much. No harm in buying it anyway. Shouldnt be too expensive!
 
Why don't you attend a Careers Guidance counsellor? I understand that there are professionals out there who will sit down with you and discuss careers that might suit your interests / abilities. If I'm not mistaken, there are counsellors who deal with adults rather than school leavers. A google search led to this site.
 
Imperator said:
Why don't you attend a Careers Guidance counsellor? I understand that there are professionals out there who will sit down with you and discuss careers that might suit your interests / abilities.
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There are definitely such people, and there is one that Pat Kenny has had on a lot who speaks very well on the topic, particularly on changing jobs. His name is Rowan Manahan.

He's written a book called "Where's My Oasis". This too is a very good book, but covers all aspects of job hunting (interviews etc as well). If this is an issue, then the book is very useful.

However, for career change decisions, Parachutes is the industry standard. In fact, when I called Mr.Manahan to arrange an appointment, he actually said to read Parachutes before even coming near him to speak to him.

If you do go to such professionals, you need to be in a position where you can say... "I've sat down, thought about things, and here's where I'm at now..", rather than "Duh, I don't like my job. I want to change, but don't know what I want to do". That's a waste of your money and their time.
 
Maybe you should try a career coach they will sit down with you and try to find out on your interests, personality and strength which careers/ jobs suit you.
Went to one myself and it really clarified a lot for me, started a totally new direction and feeling already a lot happier
Just have alook for yourself on this website www.clarityandfocus.com or contact them via email [email protected] they even have a money back guarantee so you have nothing to loose!!
 
No, just thought that it was a very good service!
 
The Parachute book is an excellent starting point for a career or life change. The author does a thing called 'the Flower Exercise' at the back of the book which clarifies what you want out of life under 6 or 7 important headings.

The Oasis book also has a very good section on career changes, with some practical starting-point exercises.

If you are looking for formal testing, you need something along the lines of an "Occupational Interest Inventory" (search the phrase in Google), but you will need to go to an accredited career management company or an occupational psychologist for that (pricey!) and the problem with testing is that you frequently don't find out anything new about yourself.

My advice: start with the books and build off that.
 
Attended a lifestyle course recently, where the speaker drew a line, put "born" at the start & "die" at the end, then asked us where we were on the line? Most people answer in the middle.

Fact is we don't know!

So if your not happy doing what your doing, then maybe it's time to change as tomorrow it could be to late!

A bit radical I know, but certainly makes you assess your current situation.
 
RedBhoy- To answer your original question about online testing, there is a section on the Mensa website www.mensa.org.uk which deals with Psychometric Testing to help you discover what career you are best suited to. However, they are not free, it will cost you about Stg£35 for the complete package (you can do them individually either) and I have not completed them myself so I cannot vouch for their success rate but they are in conjunction with a well known company who specialises in that field and you do not have to be a member of Mensa to avail of them.
 
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