Know yourself

Looking for a job: what would really suit you?

What is the best place to start when looking for a job? That would be you!
Take the time to question yourself and reflect on who you are as a person. If you can accurately define ‘who you are’, ‘what your strengths are’ and ‘what you want’ then you will be able to target matching jobs.

Find answers to the following questions

Who am I? What do I want?
What do I find interesting? What are my talents?
What matters to me?
What are my strengths? And my weaknesses?
In which kind of environment do I feel comfortable?
How am I in connection with others?

Tips to view yourself correctly

Reflect on your past experiences. These will show how you function.

What role do you usually take in a group? (friends, roommates, fellow students, …)
Do you like individual assignments or do you prefer teamwork? What are the pros and cons of both for you?
Reflect on previous summer jobs, internships, study experiences abroad, work experiences ... They should help you to find out what your strengths are and how you deal with challenges that come your way. Were there any tasks you took on then, that you would like to do again in the future? What did you find appealing?
You can also learn a lot about yourself from disappointing experiences: what was the cause of your failure? How did you deal it at that time?

Keep it simple: talk to people who know you well

You will notice that friends or family will sometimes refer to competencies that you were not aware of. Ask them about your strengths and your weaknesses, so that you can adjust the image you have of yourself.

What kind of jobs or tasks would they see you doing?
What talents do they attribute to you?
In what kind of work context or role do they see you?

Getting started

There are plenty of online personality and competency tests. Know that such a test will never give you an overall picture. Nevertheless, it can be useful to complete a few tests and then get started with the results.

Take a critical look at the analysis to see if you can identify with the results
Do you recognise yourself in the interests and skills that stand out?
Are there any surprising conclusions?
What values and competencies do you think are missing?

Find out more about yourself with MyCareerCompass

MyCareerCompass is a qualitative online tool, developed especially for graduating students and starters on the labour market. Based on scientifically founded exercises, you get a complete and accurate view of your interests, talents and skills. Your personal career compass leads you to jobs and company cultures that really suit you. As a Ghent University student, you get free access to the platform with an exclusive access code.