Personality and the Perfect Job

Personality and the Perfect Job
(www.businessweek.com)


Author Kip Parent talks about how understanding your temperament will lead to more rewarding and successful employment
Managing

I recently spoke with Kip Parent, the chief executive officer of Keirsey.com, about personality and personality profiling. David Keirsey's book, Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types (with Marilyn Bates) has sold millions of copies since it was first published in 1978. The Keirsey organization provides one of the world's most widely used personality instruments online.

I have taken many different personality profile tests myself and they have always gotten me thinking. While I caution that these instruments should not be used to stereotype ourselves or other people, or to make people feel limited in their ability to change, I think they are useful in getting people to understand basic preferences for interaction. Kip and I recently spoke about personality profiling. Here are edited excerpts of our conversation:

Kip, why do you think personality assessment can be important in career choice?

Finding a career that best fits your personality profile may be a factor to consider when thinking about professional success. Far too often, people start out on career paths for the wrong reasons: direction by well-meaning parents or teachers, taking a job "while they figure out what they want to do" and never moving on, for example.

People who excel in their careers are usually highly motivated and energized by their jobs. They wake up in the morning eager to get to work because their career lets them take advantage of the natural preferences and strengths of their personality. Their job is not a chore to be endured but a vehicle to exercise their talents. They achieve the most important of things in job satisfaction: "a fit" with who they are.

So is college too early for people to take this information into consideration? Should it affect what majors students choose and careers they consider?

I wish I had known about this when I was a college student. I fell into the "chose my career by accident" category and happened to luck out in that I enjoyed it and it led to some great opportunities along the way. But there were many careers that I never considered that might have been a great fit for me had I ever worked with a career counselor that used temperament theory.

Through our research we have developed lists of career possibilities for each of the 16 personality types identified by Dr. Keirsey that offer each type high levels of satisfaction and success. I talk to many people who are making mid-life career changes and they consistently tell me that they wish they would have known about the link between their personality and career choice much earlier in life.

Isn't there a danger that employers who use personality tests as part of the employment process stereotype individuals?

Enlightened employers consider personality as only one facet of the selection process. Finding the right "fit" between the job and the person should be a win-win proposition and should be a matter of discussion for any professional interview process.

Some of the personality traits to consider: Do you prefer a structured environment, or is a variety of tasks more important? Do you thrive in crisis situations or value consistent processes? Would you rather work primarily by yourself, or as a member of a team? Are you a big-picture thinker, or do you excel in making sure all the details of a job are completed? Knowing both your own preferences and the requirements of a prospective job can help you (and the employer) make a choice that will give good prospects for ongoing success.

How can personality type affect your relationship with your boss, co-workers, or employees?

Research consistently shows that one primary reason people leave their jobs is they don't like their boss. In our work, we've found that this disconnect is often caused by addressable differences in the individuals' temperaments.

This doesn't mean trying to change their personalities. But if you know the personality type of your employee and what this means in how they hear what you are saying and react to what you do, you can avoid the misunderstandings that often occur because they interpret your words and actions differently than you intend.

With it looking like the economy is heading into recession, many people are worried about layoffs. How can they use personality analysis to advance their career, or start a new one?

First, every job change is an opportunity to find that career that makes you eager to start the day—to find the perfect fit. So the first step is better understanding yourself and what really makes you happy. Doing that will make the job-hunting process much more fulfilling as you're looking for a job that matches your unique talents and preferences.

Once you have decided what you want to do, you face the interview process. The most daunting question for most people is, "Tell me about yourself." Being able to answer this question based on your own temperament and how your personality could benefit you and your potential employer in the prospective job…will set you apart. You will be presenting a holistic picture of a valuable person, employee, leader, or co-worker.

Thanks a lot, Kip. I like the idea of people thinking about how their personality preferences may affect their careers and their lives. Where can people go to find out more?

Anyone can go to our Web site, click on "Take the KTS-II" and receive a free, customized Temperament report.

There's also a lot of good information there including career advice and tips, as well as information of other personality-related areas such as relationships, school, and personal finance. You can even see a temperament analysis of each candidate running for the 2008 Presidential election.

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SOCIOLINGUISTIC CULTURE

In the multilingual, multi-ethnic countries like India, the need for sociolinguistics can hardly be underestimated. Language variations in social and regional axes, through mutual isolation and interaction constantly reshape individual and social identities, which in turn have their impact on the environment of planning. Moreover, language use in education, administration and mass communication can fundamentally alter the character of the polity and thus influence the orientation and affect the foundation of planning itself. Sociolinguistics and the role of linguists in developing countries has to be viewed in this perspective.

Two hundred years of imperialist rule resulted in the creation of an elitist society in India where less than 4 per cent of the population enjoy the rank, status and wealth bestowed by English education. The large majority of people were alienated from the ruling group by the use of a language in administration which was nor accessible to them. Since audience in India is divided by language use, the use of English as the major language of mass media alienated the large majority of people from those privileged rulers, whether they were aliens or their countrymen. Thus the foundation of a society governed by the elites for their benefit in the name of the masses was complete.

The thirty years after independence have seen a different kind of isolation and fragmentation. In spite of lip service to Indian languages, English education is still very much the preferred education. Wherever Indian languages have been adopted as languages of education and languages of administration, without proper linkages at different levels and stages, small islands have been created, separating dialects from languages and one languages from another. Even within a single language the use of middle class language as the standard has left many, whose languages are different, disadvantages. The mass media which swears by the spoken word, uses it for the entertainments of non-users of these languages. No serious effort is made to make the Indian languages vehicles of knowledge, to define the domains of various languages and dialects and to use these with a view to ensuring people-oriented multilingual planning.

Under such circumstances, the role of a practitioner of sociolinguistics can only be that of a catalyst and a rebel. It is strange but true that all new revolutions are quickly adopted by the people in positions of power and translated into new slogans. These slogans provide them the necessary cloack to go about their work in the age old manner for their own purpose. Thus, those who were in charge of education for the last two or three decades and are responsible for establishing and nurturing the formal educational structure leading to an elitist society, suddenly have become votaries of non-formal and mass education. Mass education demands instant communication of knowledge to the masses. The masses of people being identified in groups in terms of language use, a rational policy decision must be implemented linking the twin problems of instant communication and the process of standardization and modernization in the country. Whether it is learning to be, writing a pedagogy of the oppressed or establishing deschooling society, the planning orientation cries for a distinctive change and a linguist committed to his/her profession is called upon to provide the leadership.

At a time when learners coming from families where there was no formal education for generations is pointed out to be the reason for falling standards, when leaning to write a petition for supplying clean drinking water, improved seeds and fertilizers and a homestead for those who have none is considered indulging in antisocial if not antinational activities, their is no wonder that a sociolinguist has to fight his lone battle. He is to raise his voice against the forces both inside and outside who are bent upon sabotaging from within the proposals put forward by the leadership. The linguist must expose this combine and help the radicalisation of education. Father Ferer called true education as subversive. It is subversive of the vested interest, of the elitist structure and a restrictive society. True education must ensure total freedom and equality of opportunity to all sectors of people as regards the accessibility to knowledge is concerned. It must ensure putting that knowledge to use for improving the quality of individual as well as corporate life.

The linguists in the country, however, are neither prepared no preparing themselves for such a role. Inter-disciplinary subjects such as sociolinguistics, psycho-linguistics are not fields for incompetent linguists, sociologists and psychologists. In fact a lot of what goes under the name sociolinguistics is nothing but linguistics. If sociolinguistics is pursued merely as a fashion in the same manner as the generative transformational linguistics, then in spite of all the good will it is bound to fail to deliver the goods. I would, therefore, urge universities and institutions in the country to train their people well before making claims to achievements in the areas of applied linguistics in general and sociolinguistics in particular.

A good example of how our training lacks relevance to the Indian context may be seen from issues like the three-language formula, adult education and primary education. It is sad to see that even Ph.D.s in Indian languages and linguistics are not fully conversant with the import of the three-language formula. The three-language formula does not set up an upper limit to language learning. It is a consensus which highlights the need to blend the local, the national and the international and seeks to promote a culturally integrative policy. It is a lunching pad for the exploration to the micro, mezzo and macro dimensions of language use and cultural synthesis.

It needs a linguist to delineate the methods, materials and the media for teaching mother tongue, second language and the foreign language. But our children, who even today are asked to study mother tongue English and the mother tongue as a mirror image of second language English do not have even the vaguest idea of such distinctions. Fed with ancient and medieval literature taught in a perfunctory manner and starved of functional conceptual prose, the children in schools and colleges fail to manipulate their mother tongue for expressing themselves in any field of study. For language and linguistic scholars are aware of the ramifications of such a situation.

The deficiency at the higher stages is the cumulative effect of bad language teaching at earlier stages. It must be admitted that without proper understanding of the problems relating to language use neither the problems of primary education nor adult literacy can be solved. India has 400 million adult literates accounting for 50 per cent of the total world illiterate population. But this problem cannot be solved unless primary education is universalised and stagnation and wastage is plugged. With 70 per cent drop out, stagnation by the end of the 5th standard, the primary education is the greatest contributor to adult illiteracy.

If one critically examines the cause of drop out and stagnation, difference between the home language and school language and lack of an academic strategey to move from one to the other in a smooth way loom large as causes. Yet neither the planners, the teacher educators nor the teachers have thought it fit to tackle the problem. Some of them, in their bind allegiance to English and in the mistaken notion that a language is better taught if it is taught for a longer duration have even pleaded for primary education through English. These pseudo-educators forget that in the absence of trained teachers, improved techniques of teaching and scientifically graded textual materials, if a language is merely taught for a longer duration it will create more learning problems than solving them. In States like Karnataka and A.P. where there are approximately 2500 secondary schools and 40,000 primary schools each, introduction of English below the 5th standard (and say from the 3rd standard) will require training of almost one lakh teachers in each case for which there is neither expertise no resources in the country. Whether it is mother tongue, second language or foreign language instruction when the simple differences among teaching a language, teaching about a language and teaching through a language have not percolated even to the level of teacher educators, one can imagine the colossal challenges confronting a linguist. Thus, whether it is teaching language as a subject, teaching subjects through a language, designing a bilingual curriculum for, those whose home language is different from the school language or designing improved methods and materials for teachers and teacher educators, there is greatest need for trained linguists with Indian orientation and social commitment. Our universities and training institutions must go beyond teaching the meta-language of the disciplines concerned and inculcate a problem solving orientation in the students. A healthy partnership between universities and institutes engaged in research and textbook production, located in close proximity to Centres of Linguistic Research shall take the leadership in this direction, so that a community of scholarship by bringing together leading practitioners in the field of sociolinguistics can be created to meet the colossal challenges before us.

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VALUE BASED EDUCATION

VALUE BASED EDUCATION

The word for 'Education' in many Indian languages is vidya. The root vid, from which vidya is derived, represents a homology meaning, 'to know' and 'to exist' from which words like vidwan are derived nanya pantha vidyate anyanaya.

Thus, the word vidya translated into English means 'To learn is to exits', 'Existence is knowledge or learning to be'. Every living organism is prewired for the capacity to learn, to remember and experience. Therefore, neither can there be life without education nor can there be education divorced form life.

Vidya becomes a-vidya when education initiates a process where wisdom is lost in knowledge and knowledge in information, where materialism divorced from spiritualism seeks pleasure and comfort which distort perception of reality and where complete lack or distorted vision of inter-connectedness leads to alienation, isolation and anomie. When this happens, one's responsibility to oneself, to one's neighbours, country and the world becomes the premium.

Melvin J. Lasky, in his book Utopla and Revolution points out how utopia ends in revolution, revolution turns into dogma, dogma provokes heresay which in turn triggers revolution. This cycle enslaves the minds of intellectuals in such a way that they become victims of a new cycle. In the words of Nietzsche "........life no longer resides in the whole. The word becomes sovereign and leaps out of the page, and the page comes to life at the expense of whole, the whole is no longer a whole".

In ancient India, life was measured in terms of fullness. Since fullness is such a concept that the product of all the four mathematical operations is fullness there was no space for emptyness, isolation and alienation when Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Yadum ure yavarum Ke ½ir "the world is my village and every person my kinsman", how can one become lonely? When God is so pervasive that one can accept and surrender, reject and deny, or doubt and question, how can one escape God? Thus, God being a presence even in refusal and rejection, a person cannot, but be aware of interconnectedness, environmental, social and cosmic, value education must, therefore, begin with awareness of one's connection with the immediate eco-culture, with fellow beings in society and with cosmic laws and forces which bind the particular with the universal. The creative interdependence among the three has become all the more essential in face of modern science and technology, which is based on the triple principles of self destructive competition, materialistic acquisition and emphasis on commodity values.

Rabindranath Tagore made a distinction between Mukhos 'mask' and Mukhashree 'natural glow of the face'. That distinction is all the more important to remember today, when education tends to teach the use of mask rather then helping the natural inner glow to be reflected. School is not an extension of home, it has become either a substitution or rejection of home. The school does not treat the child as a resource. The child is treated as an object to be fashioned in the image of the elders by knowing textbook lessons doing social work pre-determined by curriculum makers. There is no effort at relating knowing and doing with being and becoming. That explains why modernity is not rooted in tradition and seeking of status and affluence through grossly improper measures of excellence gets precedence over professional excellence and idealism to fight against untruth, injustice and inequality or to seek the causes of all of these.

The denial of the child and the refusal to treat the child as and independent layer of social science concern finds expression in the rejection of the child's home language in formal schooling. The teacher's lack of cognition of the processes of language acquistion and processes of reading and writing on the one hand and the teacher's belief that there is a single standard and correct form of language is responsible for this rejection. The dialects and the minority languages are also rejected on this count. Whether it is the child or the non-standard 'dialect' speaker, (s)he is not perceived as a human being, but a human becoming. With the waves of educational theories since World War II, the focus of concern has moved like a pendulum from the subject matter to the child and vice versa, but the medium has been taken for granted. That is why curricular reform has meant change in textbooks and methods of approaching them, but has seldom concerned itself with modes of language use, communicability of languages used in textbooks and linkage between home language and school language on the one hand and first, second and further language on the other.

Intellect, emotion and will are the basic faculties of human psyche and all three are integrally related to language development. By rejecting, suppressing, supplanting, or denigrating the mother tongue, not only creativity and innovativeness is curbed, but the resultant intellectual mediocrity and emotional sterility distorts the perception of life as an integrated whole. Take for example English medium education for Indian language speaking children. Lack of words in English for the familiar flowers, fruits, plants, trees, birds, beasts, rains, winds results in an imbalanced relation between the child and the environment. Neutralisation of the three dimensional kin terms by terms like uncle, aunt and cousin result in distortion in the perception of societal relations. Lack of transmission of the myths and other cultural symbols leads to the creation of cultural perception blind spots which affect appreciation of literature, plastic and performing arts and architecture which use such myths and symbols. All these lead to disintegration of society and culture. All these erodes the values the culture holds high.

Value is not mask to be worn, but is a glow permeating culture. It is manifested in the personal, societal, psychological, cultural, educational, economic and political behaviour. As the seminar on the New Education Policy and Moral Education convened by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, rightly observes, "A society wallowing in luxury, conspicuous consumption, obscenity, dissipation, corruption, disparities, exploitation, rivalries, hatred and violence can never achieve any real progress howsoever vast and well planned the efforts of Government may be for its economic development." It is unfortunate that neither social scientists nor agencies engaged in the study of development have undertaken trend measurement is respect of values among the youth both in school and out of school.

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Medium of Education...leading to crisis

Medium of Education...leading to crisis

Language as medium of education has a major role in maintaining as well as lowering
the quality of education in India. The elite is in favour of English, which they
consider a status symbol. As education has bypassed the majority, the national
consensus is in favour of a switchover to regional language media which is expected
not only to increase the access to education, but also establish a viable relation
between tradition and change. The lukewarm attitude of the academics towards the
switchover has resulted in half-hearted teaching of both English and the regional
languages and consequently lowering of the general standard of education. The
grudging switchover of only 52 per cent of universities to the regional language
media, the total confusion arising from the unpreparedness in not being able to
evolve suitable methods and materials, are examples of lack of firm leadership
in this area.

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Why
Bilingual Elementary Education?

The child who enters school for formal education comes with competence in a variety
of language. That variety has the same complexity and potential for expression
and communication as any other variety of language. If that variety marks a social
group, is not acceptable to the school and is not adequate to meet all the current
needs, then child is to be based on already acquired competences, not on their
rejection.

Educationists, Linguists and Psychologists are of the view that mother tongue
is best suited as medium of early education as it aids concept formation and promotes
creativity. In a multilingual country like India, where the notion of mother tongue
is mixed up with region, religion, ethnicity, etc., and where children are equally
at home with two or more languages/dialects, it is more appropriate to use the
term 'the early language experience of the child' in the context of elementary
education than merely use the term 'mother tongue'. In this context, however,
it is the bilinguality or trilinguality at the home surrounding that is to be
taken into consideration and not the adult bilinguality of the larger community.

In India, the scheduled languages are spoken by 10 to 80 millions of people. Each
of the scheduled languages has about 10 to 97 recognizable dialects. The number
of mother tongues in States varies between 58 (Orissa) and 454 (Maharashtra),
and in Union Territories beween 14 (Laccadive, Minicoy and Aminidivi islands)
and 210 (Himachal Pradesh). Out of the 1,652 mother tongues approximately 400
are tribal mother tongues, most of which are unwritten. Among these 21 languages
are spoken by 1,00,000 and above, 4 languages spoken by 50,000 to 99,999; 5 languages
by 40,000 to 49,999; 5 languages by 30,000 to 39,999, 6 languages by 20,000 to
29,999; 12 languages by 10,000 to 19,999, and 15 languages by 5,000 to 9,999 to
the population (source: 1961 Census). Higher education is available in the medium
of English and through the scheduled languages. Therefore, in designing elementary
education all these factors have to be taken into account; and the language or
dialect of early childhood experience of the learners would have to be determined
for the purpose of elementary education.

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HR missing the BOAT

Most HR measurements
miss the boat!



Many HR departments say they are a "business
partner“ but few can provide any real evidence that they are having a strategic business impact.

After years of studying CEO expectations of HR, here is a compiled list of the kind of questions CEO's might want answered about how their "human resources" give them a measurable competitive advantage over their competitors.

The fact is that we HR professionals are far too busy in our own world, and have a very little clue on what's happening in the outer world. Neither do many HR people take initiative in building the company nor are they keen on building the strong foundation for HR in the company.

No wonder we remain the least respected organization. Sounds a little awkward to the ears but how many of us have put in a huge effort on gaining respect both of the management or the people??

Powered by ScribeFire.

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It’s all about helping students become successful in individual careers….

Every student who stepping into the college comes with series of expectations and aspirations about his career. Though the aspirations are on a higher side we have noticed that the student actually doesn’t know what career to choose and is generally guided through a strong peer and environmental influence that forces him/her to decide a career direction that may or may not be the right choice.

We have also noticed that even if the student even decides a suitable career direction he/she is unable to understand how to reach the destination.

In addition, every individual has behaviors, interests, aptitudes and abilities that come naturally (also known as instincts), as well as behaviors that are a learned product of experience starting very early in life. Together these make up an individual's "pattern of behavior" or Behavioral Assets and a Personality Ability mix. These behavioral assets go a long way in defining the success in a particular career stream.

The career streams come with demands on the behavioral, aptitude, knowledge and skill front. The success factor in any particular career stream is enhanced by matching the natural behavioral assets of the individuals to the career demands.

Hence there is a need to systematically and scientifically explore these natural behavioral assets, interests, aptitude and abilities of the students and then match them with those of various career streams.

Also there a great need to build the individuals confidence in setting goals and helping him achieve those he/she set for himself/herself.

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Tips for career success for women

ONCE up on a time a workingwoman was a rare sight to behold. But in the past few years there has been a revolution of sorts and an incredible number of women today seek to become economically independent. The present work scenario shows a large number of women in managerial and executive positions. At the same time though, inequity in pay and the ubiquitous glass ceiling continue to impede professional success.

Here are some secret weapons that can help a woman overcome anything and everything that comes in the way of her success.

Education and Training

The most powerful secret weapon for a woman is her education. Studies show that during the 70s, degrees were awarded mostly to men. However, according to the Postsecondary Education Opportunity Research Letter, women today prepare for a world that is increasingly dependent on the education and training provided by universities and colleges.

So, there it is!!! Get the best and most advanced degree you can. Financial concerns should be downplayed as there are many options for financial aid and distance learning available. Think about informal ways of enhancing your learning curve by joining professional organisations, attending conferences, keeping up with trade publications in your field, etc.

Use your communication and interpersonal skills

Interpersonal competence is moving to the forefront as a requirement for organisational success today. It has been noted that women have better interpersonal skills, such as the ability to build relationships with customers, strike up joint ventures etc, which are better suited for an organisation. So women should deploy their strong interpersonal and communication skills at every opportunity to succeed in their professional career.

Develop and project self-confidence

There are times when women often suffer from poor self-confidence in the workplace, especially when the environment is hostile to them. Don't forget, confidence wins the top spot every time. One way to boost your sense of confidence is by creating a career portfolio, while another way is by recording your accomplishments.

Promote yourself

Once your confidence is boosted, you need to make sure others know how good you are. Self-promotion is not easy but at times women need to blow their own trumpet because they can't depend on others to do it for them. Make sure people within and outside your workplace know about your accomplishments.

If you have big dreams of a career or entrepreneurial success, seek to spend some time working with organisations that will help you nurture your talents. By spending a few years in a corporate environment refining your skills and networking, you can more easily push yourself either to greater success in your next career move or to a position where you can start your own business.

TINA MARIAM JACOB

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