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PERSONALITY TESTS: KNOWING YOURSELF

MBTI

After doing the 16 personalities test, I find myself agreeing with some of the results but not all.  While it is true that I am an extroverted person and that like getting to know new people and engaging in conversations with them.  I do not agree with being a judger because in real life I often find myself not following rules and going with the flow and being more open minded about certain things.  I am quite flexible to change and can adapt really quickly. However, I do agree with being a sensor and a feeler because I do use past experiences to help solve current problems and I also pay attention to details.  I also agree with being a feeler because I admit that I can be quite sensitive and sometimes my decisions can be affected based on how I feel about certain things.  Overall the test resulted to me being rather assertive than turbulent.  I agree with this because I am quite even tempered, more resistant to stress, and I do not regret to much about my past actions.  

The career paths for an ESFJ-A includes elementary teacher, child care director, nutritionist, and cosmetologist. Honestly these career paths do not appeal to me because I see myself more as a business type of person.  I do not think I can be an elementary teacher, child care director nor a nutritionist because my patience is rather low which I think is unfit for taking care of kids.  In addition, I have no passion nor interest for any of these jobs thus, in the long-run I think I will only be tired and will regret it if I choose a career path such as this.  Besides this is only a test to determine where I fit, but in the end, it is also my choice in what I want to do with my life.  

Being knowledgeable about my own personality type will help me know myself better as an individual and know my strengths and weaknesses.  This will also help me correct myself and know where I lack so that I can improve on it. Knowing oneself better is important especially in business because it will help you gage yourself on what you can and cannot do as of the moment.  If you know that you are weak in a certain area you may undergo training in order to combat that weakness and turn it into a strength.  It takes you to know your own weakness before you can lead others because this will help you become more level-minded and sensitive to other people if they lack a certain ability.  Thus, having knowledge about one’s personality type can help one in becoming a successful business leader.

 BIG 5

I realized that my extroversion level in these two tests are quite consistent.  I do agree with this because I am a rather noisy person.  I love getting to know new people and sharing conversations with them.  I am a very open person and am not picky with who I talk with.  I enjoy a good conversation and talk about different topics with different people.  

Based on the definition of each treat I would describe myself as outgoing and social.  I am a very friendly person and am open to getting to know new people. For this test, my emotional stability is just so-so.  I agree with this because I sometimes let my emotions get in the way of making decisions. I am quite sensitive to other people and often feel empathetic towards them instead of only thinking of myself I also think about how my decisions affect other people.  My agreeableness is also rather high.  The test says that I am friendly and optimistic which is true. Even though problems and challenges appear from time to time, I take it as lessons and keep thinking positively. My conscientiousness is the lowest among the five traits.  I am quite impulsive with my decisions sometimes I do something just because I want to without thinking clearly.  In addition, I am also a bit disorganized with my things which can sometimes be a hassle to me.  Lastly, my intellect or imagination is also so-so.  I am open to experience and learning new things especially when I am interested in the topic.  However, sometimes I tend to not listen when people talk about something too technical which I cannot understand that much.  

So far, the results of my MBTI and Big 5 tests are consistent.  Two things that I find quite similar is my extroverted-ness and my sensitivity.  I do admit that most of the time I talk instead of keeping quiet.  I enjoy group gatherings because I get to spend time with friends.  I do also admit that I am quite sensitive.  Sometimes, this gets in the way of making decisions because I care about how other people feel and if I might hurt them if I do something.  

Like the MBTI, this test also helps give me additional insights on my personality traits because it teaches me to focus on which traits I am low at.  For example, my emotions can be quite a hassle sometimes because sometimes I want something but I do not want to hurt someone so as a result, sometimes I do not grasp the opportunity.  It also teaches me about my conscientiousness, as a person I am very messy I tend to leave things around.  This will also help me realize that I need to start being organized and fix my stuff whenever necessary.  My intellect and imagination is also quite so-so.  So, this should teach me to focus on being open to learning new things that might be useful in the future.  

 R-I-A-S-E-C Profile

Yes, the definition of each characteristic in the R-I-A-S-E-C profile consistent with what I know about myself.  I scored the highest on investigative, artistic, and enterprising.  I do like observing and knowing how to solve certain problems especially when I am curious about something and would like to find out the answer.  I am also an artsy person and I like thinking out of the box and being creative.  Lastly, I am also enterprising because this involves managing people and having good teamwork with others in order to achieve the same goals.  I scored the lowest on realistic, social, and conventional. So far, the only characteristic that does not match up with the other two tests and how I know myself is the social part.  I actually do like working with other people and I do have a lot of things to say. But I do agree with myself being low on realistic and conventional.  I know that I am not good in operating machines and building things.  In addition, I also do not like clerical work because I feel like it can be monotonous, repetitive, and boring.  

Some of the suggested jobs fitting my R-I-A-S-E-C profile do interest me such as those relating with business and advertising because I want to work in a corporation when I graduate college. Business is rather flexible and will enable me to work with different people and form connections with them.  I also want to be able to have the opportunity of starting my own business and if not, work in a big and well-known company with a good salary.  Advertising on the other hand also interests me because I am an artsy and creative person. I think the jobs that I am capable of doing based on the level of preparation prescribed in the O*Net profiler includes Advertising and Promotions Manager, Advertising Sales Agent, and Business Continuity Planners.  I believe that I can do these jobs because I am quite interested in it. For me, sometimes it does not matter if my job matches with me because if I have no passion for it, I will end up getting bored and unhappy.  Even if something is hard, if I love doing it, I am willing to learn and spend my time on it.  

As I said above, learning about one’s personality type can help know oneself better.  Sometimes, certain jobs require certain traits in order to be completed in the best possible way.  However, what is the use of doing a job that is fit for you but you do not love? I would rather do something I love even though it is quite hard because at least it fits my interests even though I might struggle at first.  Things can be learned through hard work and perseverance. While I admit personality plays a big role in which jobs you can do, I also believe that we can learn new things every day.  I am not sure whether or not I will have a fulfilling career if I take one of the suggested jobs for my profile because right now, I am learning more towards business. In particular, financial stuff such as stocks, bonds, and equities.  I am interested in these topics and I believe that if my work is something related to this, I will be happy in it.  

I do not agree with the comparison with my level of introversion/extroversion to my R-I-A-S-E-C profile because in this test it said I scored low in social while in my other two tests, my extroversion was quite high.  As said above, I enjoy working in a group rather than doing things alone.  I actually have a habit of not being able to finish my tasks if it is too quiet.  I like being around people because we can actually work together in completing a project.  As the saying goes “two heads are better than one” and “the more the merrier”.  Having many people around will enable us to come up with more ideas and solve more complex problems.  

 360° ASSESSMENT

           I learned that even though I know myself very well, there are some things which I cannot see for myself or realize without the help of others. The SelfStir assessment enabled me to learn more things which I did not know about myself because different people rated me on my surveys.  This allowed me to take note of certain areas which I lack and make up for it with my strengths or find a way to fix it.  Because I was able to do surveys on 3 raters per category namely, family, friends, and work, I learned a lot more about myself than I expected.  In addition, I also know about how other people feel or see me as a person.      

           For work, my greatest strength is achievement while my weakest point is accountability or responsibility.  For friends my greatest strength is compassion-empathy while my weakest point is authenticity.  For family my greatest strength is vision and purpose while my weakest point is self-awareness.  These traits actually did not surprise me that much and more or less I already expected them.  I am quite aware that I set goals in order to make sure I achieve things.  I am also quite compassionate and empathetic towards other people.  In addition, my vision in purpose of my own life is very clear and I know what I want. For my weak points on the other hand, I do agree that sometimes I tend to postpone my responsibilities instead of doing them right away.  For friends, I actually scored the lowest on authenticity.  This teaches me to be more aware on how I do things.  Lastly, another weak point of mine is self-awareness.  While I am a bit aware of myself, sometimes I admit that I do lack in that area  

           I think that their ratings of me are more or less true.  I was not that surprised to learn about how they see me as an individual or how they feel about me.  Though, I do not agree that much with how one person rated me on authenticity.  While sometimes I do admit I may look like a snob, I do take the time to get to know people and approach them to strike up a conversation.  I am already quite aware of the image I project to the world.  I try to show who I really am to people and I do what I am tasked to do without complain.  

Since a 360° assessment is a multi-source type of feedback, it is very important in the workplace because it allows people to evaluate each other despite their different rankings in the corporate hierarchy. No matter how high one’s position is, this type of feedback allows the people surrounding you to evaluate your performance in the workplace.  This will help an individual better know their strengths and weaknesses.  Thus, they can focus on their strengths and find a way to make up for their weaknesses.  This will also help one know about the opinions of those around you and what they think or feel about the way you handle things at work.  The 360° assessment helps one find out about things which they cannot see themselves because sometimes we are not aware of how we are unless someone else tells us.  

The 360° assessment can help one become an effective leader through the evaluation of the people surrounding them.  A leader is a person who is able to listen to people and is open to criticisms whether or not these people are superior or subordinate to them.  This type of person should be able to identify his mistakes and correct them in order to avoid doing it again in the future.  The assessment helps in identifying your strengths and weak points because as a leader, one should be aware of this.  

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Understanding Generation Z

Before, people had a hard time adjusting to the working techniques of millennials but now a completely new generation is emerging. Also called the Gen Z, this generation is distinct from millennials though it also shares a lot of similarities. These are some issues that you may see and ways to solve them when you enter the corporate world.  

First of all, unlike millennials, Gen Zs prefer to be more independent and rely on themselves to make decisions in order to advance in life. In addition, rather than the big and collaborative workspaces that millennials loved, the Gen Z prefers closed-off workspaces.  Instead of working together, they’d rather be judged by their own merits.  This could be a problem in the workplace because especially in a corporate setting, people need to communicate and work together in order to provide the best output they can using the ideas of all the people involved.  A lot of jobs can be accomplished alone, however, with little to no collaboration, it is hard to be sure about things without anyone to double check the work for you.  Also, collaboration allows all employees to pitch in their ideas, participate, and have their say.  I think that a way to solve this is to create a training program wherein the Gen Z will be trained in collaborative workspaces in order to get rid of their independent nature of wanting to do things themselves.  Collaboration is still an important process in every job because it allows room for mistakes, criticisms, and improvement.  Without anyone to say anything about one’s work, there is a bigger chance for error and misunderstandings with the other older employees.  

Another trait of this new generation is that they lose interest pretty fast.  They are quite impatient and do not like to wait at all. In the workplace, they prefer to take on multiple roles in a company if it means that they can advance into a higher position faster.  They also have little brand loyalty and care about whether they are advancing fast or not. This generation is willing to stick around in a company if it means stability and new opportunities to take on new responsibilities for them if not, they will most likely move on to another competitor.  One way to solve this is by learning how to pique their interest and how to keep them interested.  A takeaway from the article said that “we tell our advertising partners that if they don’t communicate in five words and a big picture, they will not reach this generation”. Thus, it is important to keep them interested and give them different opportunities.  

Among all the generations combined, the Gen Z is the most tech-savvy and the ones who are most adept at using technology.  They were born in an era wherein smartphones and social media platforms were already prevalent.  Thus, they are more familiar with new apps, updates, and features.  I think a problem in this would be their lack of research skills and exposure to real things.  Most of them cannot even function well without their phones.  One study even showed that some of them become withdrawn if they are without their smartphones for long.  Thus, a way to solve this is to make sure that the older employees in the workplace are also well-versed with technology, whether it be the different social media platforms or new apps designed to make work easier since these are the ones familiar to the gen Z.  This will also help the seniors better understand this younger generation when they go to work with them.  Although they are younger, it is also important to learn from them.  One article said that this could change the corporate hierarchy because in the future, we might have Gen Z bosses even though they are younger.  Even if the older generation knows more, the fate of our world rests on the shoulders of this new Gen Z.  In addition, they are also the key to reaching the newer generations that will emerge after them.  

Gen Z members also tend to have higher demands than millennials. They will not settle and stay at a job if they do not feel appreciated.  As mentioned above, they also have little to no brand loyalty and are willing to transfer companies if it will benefit them.  Unlike millennials who want to find meaning in their jobs and make the world a better place, money and job security are at the top of their list.  They also want to make a difference in the world but surviving and thriving are far more important in their opinion.  They care about advancing in the corporate ladder fast and are good at multitasking which makes them willing to take on several roles and responsibilities at the same time.  As a senior in the workplace, it is important to make them feel like they can improve in their job and that there are different opportunities waiting for them so that it will make them want to stay.  A solution to this would be to offer jobs that have a different set of tasks involved instead of doing a similar monotonous job all the time. They can also use job rotation in order to fulfill this eager-learning generation’s constant need to learn and improve.  Another thing that can be done is to offer certain incentives after they finish a set of jobs in order to keep them motivated to keep doing their best.  The company may also opt to offer a raise in salary when Gen Z members attain higher positions in the business and give bonuses during holidays.  

Lastly, this generation lacks a clear and concise communication system.  Also called the emoji-generation, the Gen Z rarely sends messages without any emojis which leaves more room for unambiguity and confusion if you come from an older generation.  For example, they send a message with the tears of joy emoji in it.  A senior in the workplace would think that they have a problem or that they are crying.  They also use a new set of words that only their fellow generation members would understand.  Words such as “fire”, “DMs”, and “can’t even” are very common to them.  I believe that a way to solve this is to make sure that older workers in the workplace are also well-versed on words that Gen Z commonly uses so that they can understand each other well when talking at work.  They can also research on the usual words that Gen Z uses on a daily basis in order to be prepared when they enter the workforce. In the case of the Gen Z, it is also important to train them that at work, they still have to use the standard, straight to the point, and formal way of communicating when they use emails, letters, and contracts.  The company may also use a mentor-mentee system wherein an older worker oversees and monitors their work until the Gen Z get used to this type of communication system during their first few months at work.  

Sure, it would take a while before generation Z emerges in the workplace since most of them are just graduating high school. But it is better to do some research and be prepared for when they come and work in order to know how to manage them more efficiently and enable them to work at their best conditions.  Most of the Gen Z qualities that were mentioned in the articles are also not applicable to all its members since it is just a generalization.  Also, there are steps that need to be studied and implemented in the workplace with the older generations in order to prepare for the Gen Z.  this would also take time because the workers need to adjust and steer from their usual working styles that they have grown used to. I believe that it is important to study about this new emerging generation’s behavior in order to better know and be more knowledgeable on how to manage them and where to best place them in a corporate setting.  

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The Importance of Ethics in Any Business

When someone says leader, one would usually describe them as confident, assertive, goal-oriented, and someone who is also willing to listen to others.  In the world of business, there are also what we call business leaders.  These people are the ones who lead an entire firm in order to reach their goal.  Nowadays, it is important that business leaders need to follow and adhere to a code of ethics to teach them to not only focus on profitability but rather to create products and services for the common good of others. ��Businesses should contain a set of values that will guide it throughout its operations.  It requires a set of principles to follow in order to make correct and humane decisions for the good of both the firm and the people.  It was mentioned in the article that a lot of evils take place especially while undertaking certain dealings in the world of business.  One should always remember be strong and stick to their morals and spiritual principles to avoid doing inhumane things. The business code of ethics is essential for every business leader because it teaches and helps them to discern right from wrong in their decision-making processes.  It is also to ensure that the firm does its operations in line with the law.  

A business leader also needs should also remember to reflect on his or her purpose because it will dictate the way the firm will operate.  Another thing that will be affected by this is the company’s mission and vision.  Like what was said above, a business person should not only focus on making money but also reflect and rediscover their own purpose for creating that particular business as well as the main purpose the business will serve and why it was put up in the first place.  Aside from that, business leaders should also learn to focus on evaluating what the people need and learn how to fulfill that need for them.  

It is also necessary for business leaders to guide the direction his or her organization is taking in order to ensure that his or her principles are shown in the practices of the business.  Such direction is also needed in order to not get lost when they fall into complex business trends that can test their moral and spiritual belief.  The article proves that any business needs faith and religion as the foundation of their firm because it serves as a guide on how to make decisions and operate the firm itself.  

Last but not the least, it is important for any business leader to possess integrity in his or her dealings with others because according to the Catholic teachings one must observe fair and honest organizational practices.  One must not cheat their customers, employees, stakeholders, and even the government.  One’s dealings should remain honest and fair despite the evils that can tempt him or her during certain instances.  This part is also important because as a business person, one should gain the trust of their customers.  The way for a firm to flourish is if it has a good relationship with its customers, employees, and other people involved.  Thus, by being honest in one’s dealings, the business is able to prove that people can trust them and the products and services that they offer.