In this stage you will be examining different areas of your life to get a better idea of who you are and where you want to go. Assessing your personality can give valuable insight into careers in which you have a natural aptitude. The following is a list of personality tests provided by both academics and practitioners. Complete at least one of these tests before proceeding to the next step.

University of Waterloo - The University of Waterloo has created a Career Development Manual which approaches this phase in a step by step manner.  We highly recommend that you print off the worksheets provided and fill them out. There are six worksheets that you should fill out: personality and attitudes, skills and achievements, knowledge and learning style, values, interests, and entrepreneurism.

Analyze My Career - A comprehensive website with tests to determine your aptitude, personality, occupational interests, and entrepreneurial potential.

Ansir - These tests are meant to facilitate the development, learning and performance of individuals and organizations. Their purpose is to help people achieve personal and professional fulfillment through a better understanding of themselves.

Career Key - Career Key is host to a powerful and straightforward test that will assess your strengths in the categories of artistic, social, enterprising, conventional, investigative, and realistic skills. Sample careers are then provided as a reference for the high scores in each of these categories.

Enneagram Institute - This personal inventory contains 145 questions and takes about 15 - 20 minutes to complete. After you have taken the inventory, you will receive a set of scores. Take a look at the descriptions for two or three categories where you had the highest scores to see if they describe you. Various articles are provided to help you understand your score and your type.

Keirsey Temperament Sorter - This inventory is similar to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and contains only 60 questions.

Queendom - Queendom offers a variety of personality, intelligence and health-related tests, trivia quizzes, plenty of personal stories and advice columns, numerous articles on mental and women's health and much more. If you want to learn about yourself and have some fun, this is the spot for you.

Completing these inventories will help you pinpoint your interests, skills and abilities. Once done, you can move to the next phase of the self-assessment. This phase involves answering a list of questions that appears on the following page. 

Step 2: Personal Assessment