Lecture 6 - Personality, Values and finding jobs

Question 1

What is the most dominant theory of personality?

Answer 1

• the Big 5 (McCrae & Costa 1989)
• they are the most overriding personality traits that we can see and measure in people
• account for the differences we see between people
• the model asserts that each personality trait is a spectrum and therefore people fall between 2 extreme ends

Question 2

What are the 5 traits?

Answer 2

1. openness to experience = how inventive and curious you are
2. conscientiousness = how self-disciplined and organised you are
3. extraversion = how outgoing and talkative you are
4. agreeableness = how friendly, compassionate and cooperative you are
5. emotional stability = ability to control emotions and not be overly sensitive to the feelings of others

Question 3

What are the benefits of using personality tests?

Answer 3

• can help employers understand an individuals natural strength and areas for development

Question 4

What are ‘work values’?

Answer 4

beliefs that you have about what is important and meaningful to you in a job

Question 5

What are the 8 career anchors?

Answer 5

1. technical/functional competence
2. general managerial competence
3. autonomy/independence
4. security/ stability
5. entrepreneurial capability
6. service/ dedication to a cause
7. pure challenge
8. lifestyle

Question 6

Technical/ functional competence?

Answer 6

• these people enjoy developing and applying specific skills
• they are most happy when engaged in work

Question 7

General managerial competence?

Answer 7

• these people enjoy positions of responsibility
• they like roles that involve tackling high-level problems and which enable them to integrate the efforts of a team and produce a specific output

Question 8

Autonomy/ independence?

Answer 8

• these people like being able to define their work in their own way without too much interference
• seek positions where they have a say over how and when they work

Question 9

Security/ stability?

Answer 9

• goal is stable employment with predictable positions and activities and financial security

Question 10

Entrepreneurial capability?

Answer 10

• these people enjoy inventing new things and want to start their own business
• are prepared to take necessary risks to show others that they can succeed

Question 11

Service/ dedication to a cause?

Answer 11

• these people are looking for roles which enable them to help others
• they enjoy opportunities to achieve something of value
• would not take promotions that would remove them from such positions of helping

Question 12

Pure challenge?

Answer 12

• these people are driven by a need to be continuously stimulated by new challenges
• they seek opportunities that will test them and push them further
• become bored when something is easy

Question 13

Lifestyle?

Answer 13

• important for these individuals to integrate their career with their wider life
• e.g. would not take a promotion that would involve moving locations

Question 14

Job searching?

Answer 14

• traditional searching has involved looking for adverts in newspapers, finding jobs via connections and handing CV’s directly to employers
• job searching has now moved online

Question 15

Job search engines?

Answer 15

• allow you to search for suitable vacancies using various search options
• also have other functions such as: cv guides, salary compare functions and employer profile tools