1. CAREER ASSESSMENT PORTFOLIO
CONFIDENTIAL
Name:
Melissa Ann-Dawn Peters
Demographic Information:
I am a 23 year old, middle class, white female who is a full-time Community Counseling
graduate student at Austin Peay State University (APSU). I hold a Graduate Assistantship with
Institutional Research and Effectiveness at APSU as well as two part-time positions as a Sales
Associates at Bath and Body Works and Ingredients: For the Gourmet In You. I am unmarried
and currently reside in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Purpose of Career Assessment:
Assessments for this portfolio were taken as part of a graduate course level class called
Theories and Counseling in Career Development. The assessments were exercises aiding in the
development of becoming a counselor.
Date of Assessments:
June 18, 2012
Tests Administered:
Self Directed Search
Keirsey Temperament Sorter
Life Values Inventory
Lifeline Exercise
Background Information
I have maintained good grades throughout my academic career earning GPAs of 3.5 in
high school, 3.57 in undergraduate school, and 3.75 in graduate school. I have held three retail
positions to include Hobby Lobby (February 2007- August 2007), Bath and Body Works
(November 2009- Present) and Ingredients: For the Gourmet In You (May 2010- Present). I also
held an internship for a Case Management Position at Mental Health Cooperative in Nashville,
Tennessee. I have volunteered throughout life at various hospitals, nursing homes, soup kitchens
and private homes. I was raised in a Christian home and take religious callings very seriously.
Results
Self-Directed Search (SDS):
My Summary Code was S (Social), E (Enterprising), and A (Artistic) (SEA). The letters
in the Summary Code represent personality types among six possible personality types. The three
letters in my code are what I am most like while the other letters of R (Realistic), I
(Investigative), and C (Conventional) are what I am least like. Also, the order of the letters are
important in that I resemble S more than the other two as well as E more than A.
According to the Interest Types table, in the Social interest type, I like helping, teaching,
counseling, and serving others. I value social service, fairness, and understanding. I see myself as
2. empathic, patient, and having more social skills than mechanical ability. I am seen by others as
helpful, agreeable, outgoing, and patient. I avoid mechanical and technical activity. For the
Enterprising interest type, I like persuading or directing others. I value financial and social
success, loyalty, risk-taking, and responsibility. I see myself as confident, sociable, and having
more sales and persuasive ability than scientific ability. Others see me as energetic, extroverted,
shrewd, and ambitious. I avoid scientific, intellectual, or complicated topics. For the Artistic
interest type, I like reading books, musical or artistic activities, and writing. I value creative
ideas, self-expression, and beauty. I see myself as open to experience, imaginative, intellectual,
and having better creative skills than clerical or office skills. I am seen by others as unusual,
disorderly, creative, and sensitive. I avoid routine and rules.
On the Occupation Types table of the SDS, each personality type has descriptions for
what one might need out of a career in order to thrive. It is important to keep in mind that it
would be rare to find a career that includes all aspects described for each personality type in
one’s summary code. As a result, one may find fulfillment in a career with any combination of
the aspects relating to their Summary Code. In keeping with my Summary Code (SEA), I would
do better in occupations that require interpersonal competencies, skill in teaching, treating,
healing others, skill in persuading others, creative ability, or emotional expression. A career for
me should reward empathy, humanitarianism, sociability, friendliness, initiative in the pursuit of
financial or material accomplishment, dominance, self-confidence, or imagination in writing, art,
or music. Values or personal styles that I should be allowed to express in my career include
concern for the welfare of others, acquisitive or power-oriented styles, responsibility, unusual
ideas or manners, or aesthetic values. My career should involve working with others in a helpful
or facilitative way, selling, leading, persuading others to attain personal or organizational goals,
creative work in music, writing, performance, sculpture, or intellectual work.
Keirsey Temperament Sorter (KTS):
For this assessment, I ended up with two temperaments of ISFP (Artisan: Composer) and
INFP (Guardian: Healer). These combinations describe a temperament (Artisan and Guardian) as
well as a character type (Healer and Composer) which can serve as a starting point when
considering the kind of career one might find fulfillment.
As a Composer, I am in tune with my senses, have a good grasp on what belongs and
what does not in works of art, impulsive and caught up in the moment, sensitive to the pain and
suffering of others, difficult to observe and greatly misunderstood, and driven by my values and
have a strong aesthetic sense. Careers in which I might thrive are medical, social, educational,
clerical, and artistic occupations.
As a Healer, I present a calm and serene face to the world, seem shy and distant around
others, have a capacity for personal caring, have a passion to heal the conflicts that trouble
people or divides groups, have a profound sense of idealism that derives from a strong sense of
right and wrong, see the potential good in the world, am adaptable, welcome new ideas, am
patient with complicated situations, and am keenly aware of people and their feelings. Careers in
which I might thrive or am drawn to include being a professor or teacher, counselor, social
worker, and anything I feel is a religious calling. Many of the careers that healers seek are
careers that “unlock the mystery of life for those they encounter.”
3. Life Value Inventory (LVI):
The LVI assists in helping to clarify values and identify from which values I tend to
operate. My High Priority values are spirituality, concern for others, responsibility and
interdependence. These are values I tend to act on, make conscious efforts to follow, and provide
a source of fulfillment. My Over-Attention values include belonging and objective analysis.
These are values I focus on more than I would like which could be a result of being in an
environment that demands my focus on them, being important values previously, or being values
I am way too invested in. My Under-Attention values are humility, creativity, concern for the
environment, independence, financial prosperity, and health and activity. These values are ones I
would like to focus on more and values that I believe would improve my life if given proper
attention. Many times the guilt of not expressing these values can be a source of stress. My Low
Priority values include achievement and privacy which are ones I do not act on too much. I do
not place much importance on these values or expressing them.
Another component to the LVI is the Values & Life Roles which helps clarify what roles
in which I would like to see certain values expressed. As for my results, it is important to note
that concern for others, interdependence, humility, independence, financial prosperity, and health
and activity are values I prefer to be expressed in all life roles encompassing Work/Academics,
Relationships, and Leisure/Community Activities. Another observation is that achievement and
belonging are values I would like to keep confined to Work/Academic roles whereas spirituality
and creativity are values I would like to express in all roles involving Relationships, and
Leisure/Community Activities. Responsibility is a value I ranked high, but I put as a preference
to be expressed in only Work/Academic and Relationship roles. The placement of these
preferences of expression in life roles will be of high importance when considering a career
because the placement shows what values have what priority in different life roles. For example,
I would need to find a career that would allow me to express the values I prefer to express in the
Work/Academics category, but not interfere with other values I wish to express in other life
roles.
Lifeline Exercise:
The Lifeline Exercise is an informal assessment based on postmodern ideas as a self-
reflective exercise to help identify recurring themes or patterns in life up to one’s current year.
Two lines, a Personal Lifeline and a Work/School Lifeline, were drawn to represent the level of
satisfaction or fulfillment at certain points in life. Once both lines were drawn, there were
follow-up questions to initiate a more in depth reflective process.
My Personal Lifeline stayed mostly in the positive satisfaction level and had both the
highest and lowest points of satisfaction. My Work/School Lifeline fluctuated more than the
Personal Lifeline. Both Lifelines appeared to intertwine in later years and move toward a general
positive level of satisfaction. Upon answering the questions, I concluded that one Lifeline may
have affected the other in both good and bad situations and that many life lessons influenced who
I am or how I make decisions today. On my Work/School Lifeline, it is very clear where the
higher points are which are times that I achieved something whether it was getting an award,
scholarship, graduating, or landing a job while on my Personal Lifeline, the changes were more
gradual with the exception of one particular childhood event that was negative. Most of the
higher points on my Personal Lifeline can be attributed to times of family celebrations and
spiritual awakenings. This exercise was a reminder of how intertwined life roles can be which
should be taken into consideration in career exploration.
4. Summary and Recommendations
The results of my assessments revealed some characteristics about myself that I had
known, but I had never given a thorough look over. Most of my results were consistent across
assessments with similar themes of concern for others, being creative, and valuing responsibility.
Altogether, I gained more insight about myself which reaffirmed my chosen career as well as
help me refine what I hope to get out of my career and life.
To begin, the SDS, KTS, and LVI each demonstrated distinct ways of assessing and
revealing one overarching theme that appeared in all three assessments: My concern for others as
seen in the descriptions of the Social Interest Type of the SDS, in both of my temperaments for
the KTS (Composer and Healer), and also as a High Priority in the LVI. I have to agree with the
fact that caring and thinking about others has been a driving force in my life and I would have to
have a career where I was able to do so. I am naturally drawn to careers and activities where
serving others and understanding others is the main task. Consistently in life, I find myself
advocating for others even in daily conversations, because I do try to keep peace to maintain a
sense of unity among people. My concern for others goes deep and is not something I can put
down and pick back up. It is what I do and an essential part of how I operate. If I was at the
beginning stages of career exploration, this would be a huge factor that would guide what career
fields I would even look at.
Other similarities among assessments were not necessarily seen across all assessments,
but they were on at least two and should still be taken into serious consideration. One theme that
I only recently noticed about myself, but that SDS and KTS confirmed, was that I take to roles in
which I direct others or set the example. This is seen in the Enterprising Interest Type of the SDS
and the Healer character type of the KTS that I scored on each assessment. However, the
enterprising description comes off as a bit more aggressive than I like to think of myself, because
I do not necessarily find fulfillment in persuading people or risk taking, but I have found that I
do enjoy leading smaller groups or teaching someone how to do or understand something. It is
important to note that although commonalities exist between the Enterprising Type and the
Healer, there was one blatant discrepancy that resulted in self-reflection on my part to decide
which one was truer of myself. Enterprising people are usually seen as social, energetic, and
extroverted while Healers are seen as shy and distant around others. After much thought, I came
to the conclusion that both are still equally true, but situational in that I am extroverted in smaller
groups and introverted in larger groups. Since the idea that I do like to direct and set the example
is a newer revelation about myself, I do believe it will help in further exploration in deciding
what specific areas I would like to specialize in for my chosen career field with keeping in mind
that I prefer the responsibility in the context of smaller group settings.
Another overlap between the SDS and KTS is the appreciation I have for creativity,
beauty, and self-expression as seen in the Artistic Interest Type and the Composer character type.
I have been known to be in tune with what belongs and what does not belong in pieces of
artwork as well as being caught up in the moment or experience of the here and now. However, I
think it is important to point out that while I may value creativity, my participation in composing
actual artwork is minimal. This is consistent with the LVI where I placed creativity in the
category of Under Attention meaning I would like to be able to give proper attention to
expressing or appreciating creativity more. Perhaps it would be wise to look for career options
that may allow for this instead constricting the potential I may have in this area.
5. A really important area in my life that I felt was addressed in the LVI and that I was able
to address on the Lifeline Exercise was spirituality. Since I grew up in a Christian home and
many of my values are derived from my Christian beliefs, I felt like this has been an essential
component in my career making decisions. In the LVI, spirituality can be found as my top High
Priority as well as when looking at my Lifeline Exercise, the higher points of my Personal
Lifeline tend to be times of spiritual awakenings. My beliefs are actually very central to much
that I do in life and seeing that a career path is a huge part of life, it only makes sense that I
would always have to consult God about any career decisions. Spirituality will always be a factor
because I do believe in something bigger than myself and my career.
It was interesting to see on my Lifeline Exercise how my Work/Academics Lifeline and
Personal Lifeline appear to intertwine and move toward a more positive direction in my later
years. This could mean that I have been mastering how to balance the roles I have had in life and
may be doing so successfully. One possible source to support this can be found on the LVI since
results showed that I want to express some of the same values (concern for others,
interdependence, humility, independence, financial prosperity, and health and activity) in all life
roles. It could be that I have put these values as goals in all my life roles which have created for
more cohesion among my roles which means I will have to be sure to explore career options that
will interfere least with this cohesion I am experiencing.
For further recommendations and exploration, I would need to consider the stage I am at
in the career decision making process. Right now I am pursuing a counseling degree at the
master’s level which may appear as though I am through with the decision process, but that is far
from true. I am confident in the decisions I have made thus far to pursue further education and
am excited about starting my counseling career; however counseling has a broad range of
opportunities and specializations in which I think it would be most beneficial to keep the results
of my assessments in mind for further decisions.
Based on my results, some of the conclusions I came to were that I need to be in a
position where I could express concern for others, I should look into areas where I can direct
others or set the example, I need to have a career that would not confine and maybe even
promote creativity, spirituality and in particularly my Christian beliefs are a huge driving force in
my life of which many of my decisions are based, and cohesion between my life roles has
created general satisfaction for me meaning I should look for a career that will allow me to
express similar values of that in my personal life. I believe there is potential in the field of
counseling to find an area where all of these conclusions can work together. In general,
counseling does require and reward concern for others as well as creativity so I do not foresee
difficulty finding an area that would work for those two conclusions. Spirituality and cohesion
between life roles through expression of similar values can also be incorporated into the
counseling career due to the versatility counseling offers. The part that may be tricky is finding
an area where I can direct or set the example since counseling does base a lot of practices on the
idea that people are the experts of their own lives and will find their own way. Although I do
believe that is true and I plan to practice from that standpoint, I also think there are areas that
hold opportunities to direct and set the example, for instance in some sort of skills training or, as
in career counseling, aiding in a decision making process. I am confident that there are numerous
areas in counseling that will allow me to incorporate all that I feel is important in order to have a
sense of fulfillment.
As a result of where I am in the decision making process and based on what I think I need
to look for in a career, my next steps will have to be exploring specific areas of counseling. It
6. would be a great idea for me to evaluate what really interests me in counseling and the type of
population I am drawn to working with in order to rule in or rule out where I may want to go in
counseling. It would also be a good idea to talk with professors about what they know or if they
can provide additional sources of information. Another valuable thing is to look out for
workshops nearby in which to participate for more exploration of specific areas. One great place
to start is looking over the career listings that match my exact combination of SEA as well as
other combinations of the same letters in the SDS. There were options that appealed to what I
may be looking for such as Substance Abuse Counselor, Arbitrator, Community Organization
Director, and Mental Health Counselor. The specific listings on the SDS should be further
researched to see if I may want to pursue any of those specific careers since they may serve as a
venue to meet my career needs and fulfillment. I can also look at websites such as Careeronestop
or O*NET which provide information of needed training, education, median annual salaries, and
much more information that would be useful in a final decision.
Although, I have an idea of what I may be looking for, I can see barriers and challenges,
that I will have to consider and plan for, but I can also see strengths that will help along my
career pathway. One barrier I foresee is that I do not have the drive or desire to further my
education past the master’s level, so I could potentially limit myself in the counseling field and
end up settling for something less than what I want. Another barrier is my fear of becoming so
invested in something only to find out that what I am doing is not as fulfilling as I had hoped.
This is a barrier because I know myself enough to know it will be hard to back away from my
investment in order to figure out what is really fulfilling to me. One challenge I will face is my
indecisiveness when it comes to making decisions. I have a knack for putting decisions off until
the last minute which has always been a challenge because sometimes I have made poor
decisions that way. Another challenge will be how I may change as the years go on such as what
is important to me now, may change with time. In this event, I may have to adjust what I am
looking for in a career even if I have already settled in one. A strength I have is my willingness
to put in the time and effort it may take to find a career that is fulfilling and incorporates what I
am looking for. Another strength is that I am open to new experiences even when they appear as
though they may not work out. Sometimes life can surprise you and what you thought would not
work is exactly what was needed. I have found that if I keep an open mind and hear options out, I
get a better grasp on what may work and may not work.
Career decisions and job searching is an intimidating process that requires self-
exploration, career exploration, and the time to do it all. I cannot claim to know of any individual
who has made a quick decision regarding career and found fulfillment in all the ways they
wanted. Through the assessments, I was able to clarify that I have a deep concern for others,
creativity is an area I would like to explore more, I am drawn to roles where I direct others and
set an example, spirituality is essential to any decision I make, and that cohesion of my life roles
brings a general satisfaction. Since I am in a counseling program and am confident that I can find
satisfaction and fulfillment in an area of counseling, I will have to further explore specific areas
of counseling to find out what options I may have open to me. My barriers, challenges, and
strengths will all play a role in the process which are good to be aware of so I can plan for the
barriers and challenges, but use my strengths as well. In the end, I am still on a journey of career
exploration and because I am able to examine myself and my values, I am confident I will find a
career that will bring fulfillment and satisfaction.
