Know Yourself: Top 9 Assessments for Vocational Coaching

Want to know your true calling?

The answer is in knowing yourself. 

That’s why the biggest part of what I do is help people figure out who they really are, so they can find the work that best fits them. 

Assessments are a fun way to learn more about yourself (and I’ve made a list!). There are tons of them out there but certain kinds are more/less helpful when looking to find your vocation. 

But first, two cautions:

1. Don’t do them all at once. Your brain will explode. Maybe try one a week and use the rest of the week to reflect on the results. 

2. Do something with the results. A lot of people get stuck in inner reflection/self exploration mode and never move on to action. Assessments are good but it’s action that makes change. So as you try each of these, think about how you want to use the results to make a change in your life. Make it a WANT TO change not a SHOULD DO change based on what your results show.

I’ve only listed those that align with my coaching style, approach and strategy (I know there are so many more out there). 

I’ve also only listed ones I’ve actually done and are based on research or reputable organizations. 

I would love to add any others you’ve found helpful. Send me a message info@maekithappen.ca so I can learn more!

And if you want help actually applying the results to your life, this is what coaching is for. Assessments are helpful to learn about yourself but if you don’t know what to change or where to start, then knowing more about yourself is practically useless.

Coaching helps you consider tangible ways you can implement what you learn to change your life. Book a mini session to find out more. 

Viacharacter.org (free)

Developed by positive psychology researchers, this quiz lists your character strengths (not skill strengths). It comes with a whole host of research-backed resources to help you figure out ways to use your strengths at work and consequently feel more satisfied. 

Four Tendencies (free)

Developed by Gretchin Rubin, author of The Happiness Project (and a few other awesome books), this one identifies your habit setting tendencies so you can learn what kinds of tricks to use when setting new habits to help you follow through. 

CliftonStrengths (Cost varies)

Developed by Gallup, this one is used by many employers to help you identify your strengths. I love how accurate it is and that it makes a couple of job/role recommendations that would suit you based on each of your top strengths. Personally, it helped me start seeing some of what I thought were weaknesses, as strengths.

Enneagram (free)

This is the most comprehenive personality assessment you may ever do. It helped me understand a TON about my personality (I’m a 7 with an 8 wing) and I love the understanding it brought me about the challenges I face unique to me when I’m under stress and what my strengths are when I’m firing on all cylinders. 

There is no one online quiz, and some are pretty terrible. Your best bet is to read about it yourself or to find an expert (there are such a thing as enneagram coaches).

CMHA (Canadian Mental Health Association) (free)

Mental Health Meter

What's Your Stress Index

Work-Life Balance Quiz

We humans aren’t very good at assessing our own mental health - recognizing or admitting when we’re struggling. Sometimes when you’re struggling, you need a basic assessment like one of these to prove it to you. 

Happiness Quizzes (free)

A bunch of evidence-based, expert developed quizzes on all kinds of mental health and happiness related topics from the Greater Good Science CenteR at UC Berkeley.

Personal Wellbeing Plan (free)

Michelle McQuaid‘s Wellbeing Lab has developed assessments and tools based on positive psychology research. This chick is one of my heros. A total expert in positive psychology, her research is thorough and engaging. This assessment and toolkit gives you a complete plan to start making changes. 

Energy Leadership IndexTM (ELI) assessment (paid) 

Rather than just assessing who you are and giving pointers on how to work with what you’ve got, the ELI assesses the way you see the world - your perspective on life. The reason why this is so helpful is because unlike your personality (which remains generally stable over time) your attitudes and perceptions can change - which means, the way you see the world and how you experience it can change. The ELI can only be debriefed by an ELI Master Practitioner (like yours truly). You can buy the online assessment and one hour coaching debrief session with the Jump Start package.

What’s Holding You Back quiz (free)

If you haven’t changed anything in your life based on results from other assessments, find out WHY in this quiz from Maek it Happen Life Coaching. One of 5 different results tells you what’s holding you back from changing your current job to something you'd really love to be doing. Your results page come with tailored resources from the blog just for you. 

That's the list folks, have fun! But know that the best way to really learn about yourself is to work with a coach. A coach asks you questions about yourself to dig deeper and deeper, helping you to uncover all kinds of interesting things about the way you work. It really is the most comprehensive and helpful way to learn about yourself and make changes. Book a complimentary coaching consult to try it!