11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
wanted more depth, March 29, 2010
This review is from: The Career Within You: How to Find the Perfect Job for Your Personality (Paperback)
this may be the only career guide using enneagram personality typing. as there are a million and one guides on getting a job i would have preferred to see much more depth on matching careers to personality types and much less on the basics of getting a job.
this book only looks at the 9 primary personality types. it would have been a real gem and much more helpful if it had included sections on the combo of primary and secondary or "wing" types. everyone has a wing and the wing is very important. to use a food analogy, if the primary personality type is the meat, the wing is the curry, or the tomato sauce or the bbq sauce. it's the combination of the meat PLUS the sauce that gives you different dishes.
using an enneagram example, a Type 5 "Observer/Investigator" with a Romantic streak looks to express individuality. but an Observer with the Questioner wing is into reducing risk. these 2 people will want very different career scenarios. So, looking at career matches just from the primary trait perspective is grossly incomplete. imo, it's not that hard to consider what careers match the 9 primary personality types. the real challenge is matching primary and wing.
i'm sure the reason the authors didn't do this is because it would take a lot more time and pages to cover the 18 combo types. but since people are a combination of types and have to deal with matching a career to their combo that's the book that needs to be written. and that's why i only give it 3 stars.
otherwise, it is good as far as it goes. and the system for analyzing career paths is interesting and easy to use.
the problem is the authors didn't focus on what makes this guide unique, using enneagram personality typing to analyze career paths, and tried to be an all-in-one career path/job hunting guide. there are a lot of more comprehensive guides on job hunting out there. so they missed the mark on both scores.
also, the lone negative reviewer is right, you do need a basic understanding of enneagram personality typing to make best use of this-though the authors do a good job of giving a top-level primer. you also need to understand what primary and secondary personality traits you possess. reading the descriptors of the primary 9 and then picking the one you relate to is not the best way. it may not even be particularly accurate. there are online tests you can take for free. search for, "free enneagram tests" and ones from the national enneagram group in Ca. will pop up. i recommend taking the longer version of the test for the most accurate results.
re: the test. there are no "right" answers and you won't help yourself by trying to make yourself "look good" by answering in one way or another. the key is to be as honest as possible. so think a little bit before you answer. example: one question says something like, " i like my office space neat and tidy." well, who doesn't. but look at your office. if it usually looks like a collection of piles of stuff AND you operate quite well in that environment then that statement is NOT very true for you. Another example, "i value helping others." again, who doesn't hold helping others in high regard? the question for you is how much do you incorporate that into your life or wish you could incorporate that in your life. If you volunteer everyweek and tithe 10% etc. that's very important to you. if you only give money at Christmas, then it's probably not so important. BUT if you're working 80hrs a week and don't have time to volunteer but wish you had a job where you could then it's more important. See what I mean? How you answer is critical.
to sum up:
1. this book is good as far as it goes
2. you do need some understanding of enneagram personality typing to make best use of it. try "Personality Types" by Riso.
3. don't try to guess your type. take the long test online.
4. to make the best use of enneagram personality typing to determine best career paths for you, you will need to understand your "wing" type. unfortunately this book won't help much there. but it is a good starting point.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Discover a Career That Gives You Joy, January 9, 2010
This review is from: The Career Within You: How to Find the Perfect Job for Your Personality (Paperback)
"Just as important as knowing your strengths is understanding your needs" is a quote from page 9 of The Career Within You. We would all love to have a career that not only utilizes our talents, but helps us feel fulfilled and happy. Using knowledge of the Enneagram, a personality typing system, Wagele and Stabb will help you do just that.
If you do not already know your Enneagram type, the authors have included a short questionnaire to help determine your personality type. They added examples of famous people and their characteristics to help you get a better feel for each of the nine Enneagram types. Additionally, Wagele's illustrations and witty humor help reveal characteristics of the Enneagram types in a fun way.
The first nine chapters are devoted to the each of the personality types of the Enneagram. Each chapter lists positive aspects of the type, along with traits of "the other side", as the authors call our more self-destructive behaviors. These traits will then be used, as the authors put it, "to coax your career preferences from the truest part of yourself." The Wagele-Stabb Career Finder is an easy-to-follow guide designed to take you step-by-step through a process to find a career using the qualities most important to you.
Chapter Ten contains information to help you assess your current job and decide whether to keep it or find another. There are worksheets for each Enneagram type that will help answer that question. This chapter will also help you rate the importance of other factors such as salary and predicted future growth. Finally, it will help you prioritize aspects you feel are job necessities, such as location, hours, and benefits.
The last chapter deals with the actual job hunting. Wagele and Stabb help you identify job objectives and give helpful advice on writing a resume using the knowledge of strengths of your Enneagram type. There are also sections on networking, cover letters, employment agencies, interviews, and more.
I found this book to be an excellent guide to making the best career choices for each Enneagram type's happiness, job fulfillment, and success. I highly recommend it for all ages and groups of people. It would be beneficial to high school and college students trying to discover where they want their career paths to take them, people in mid-age who are finding themselves dissatisfied with their career choices, those who have recently become unemployed, or anyone wanting to live their lives to the fullest and follow their heart's desires.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Personality-Based Career Guide, January 25, 2010
This review is from: The Career Within You: How to Find the Perfect Job for Your Personality (Paperback)
"Wherever you are at this point, you have a feeling there is an authentic career within you. Watch it unfold as you learn about the nine career types, discover which one fits you, and then match yourself to a career that is right for your particular combination of traits, gifts, and wishes. Then, this book will help you determine how to best fit into today's job marketplace. The first step is to ask some questions that have fascinating answers. Who are you? What are your greatest strengths?" - From The Career Within You
Whether you're on the cusp of finishing your education, wanting to leave a dead-end job, desiring to find fulfilling work or needing to secure employment in the face of a layoff, The Career Within You by Elizabeth Wagele and Ingrid Stabb serves as both a portable career-coach and a comprehensive job-matching guide based on your unique personality.
Perhaps you're the Adventurer type (7) like myself, one who relishes pursuing multiple interests, exploring new ventures and synthesizing information--all with a sense of idealism, optimism, infectious enthusiasm and a "sky's the limit" attitude.
Or maybe you're the Peacemaker type (9), one who craves harmony, physical comfort, emotional balance and equilibrium in your career. Your peaceful demeanor brings calm to the workplace, and you're known for being a fair-minded team-player, often with the talents of broad perspective, empathy and mediation.
Using a fascinating personality system called the Enneagram (pronounced ANY-a-gram), The Career Within You will help you determine which of the nine types reflects your innate strengths, motivations and preferences. Peppered with clever and type-specific cartoons drawn by Wagele, this book also features the groundbreaking Wagele-Stabb Career Finder tables for each of the nine types.
The authors encourage YOU to determine preferred strengths according to your type, and then match those strengths to careers that bring you a twinge of curiosity or enthusiasm when you read them.
For example, as an Adventurer, my type's strengths are enthusiasm, idealism, seeking challenges, social networking and synthesizing information. However, the traits I value most in a career are the ability to synthesize and cross-fertilize information. Because I ranked this strength the highest, I then looked at the careers listed in the Adventurer section, noting which ones utilize synthesizing information--as rated by fellow Adventurer types.
I was blown away at the accuracy Wagele-Stabb Career Finder. Would you believe that EVERY career that I found interesting was one that I either dreamed about as a child, seriously considered in High School, majored in at college or actually PURSUED as an adult! In fact, I'm insanely happy with my three current careers and--you guessed it--they all use my preferred strength of synthesizing information! (In case you're wondering, the careers are Writer, Entrepreneur and Stay-at-Home Parent).
But although information contained in The Career Within You passed my personal criteria for accuracy, excellence, comprehensiveness and practicality, I felt that I had to ask someone else to test the Wagele-Stabb Career Finder. Knowing that my husband is a Peacemaker type, I asked him to rate his favorite strengths in terms of job. He selected Capacity to Repeat the highest. I then asked him to look at all the careers and put a checkmark next to the ones that he would enjoy doing.
Get this: almost every job he selected was one that he actually did in the form of a hobby or used at his current employment (which he finds satisfactory)! (And I learned something about him, too; I had no idea he'd like a job as a Personal Organizer! I told them that they are in vogue right now.)
However, The Career Within You doesn't stop there (and compared to a lot of personality and career guides, that would still make it a superior book!). There are also Job Fit Worksheets for each type so you can compare the jobs you've held or are thinking of pursuing, create a starter resume according to your type's strengths, and identify job objectives (including high pay or recession-proof careers). The book also helps you perfect an "elevator" speech, as well as provides tips for getting the word out about your job search and interviewing (and which types could help you with various aspects of securing a job).
At 360-pages, The Career Within You also supplies sample resumes and case studies throughout, highlighting the connections between type talents, favored strengths and career requirements. Wagele and Stabb also recommend reading the types before and after your primary type (known as "wings" in Enneagram lingo) for a broader perspective into additional talents and career opportunities.
If you're ready to step off the treadmill and find work authentic to your personality, you must get The Career Within You.
College graduates will find a wealth of information, including crucial insights that might save them from chasing someone else's dream or pursuing an unfulfilling career. In additional, this book belongs on the shelf of every Guidance Counselor or college advisor; even high school students will benefit from the personality-related material.
There IS an ideal job out there for you, especially in light of your innate strengths, preferences, and motivation. The Career Within You, especially the Wagele-Stabb Career Finder, will help you discover what it is and how you can best secure it. I've already recommended this book to several of my clients, most who come to me for job advice, and I know I will continue to do so in the future.
-- Janet Boyer, author of Back in Time Tarot (Type 7w8)
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