Focus 2 Career: Where I am headed?

After taking the five Focus 2 Career assessments to determine possible career paths, I found that the careers suggested for me varied based on the assessment taken. All the tests showed my strong desire to help others, inquisitive nature, and tendency towards creativity. The results of my work interest test mainly included careers in communications and journalism, such as a radio & TV talk show host. My leisure interest assessment, however, highlighted more artistic professions such as choreographer, lyricist, or author. My personality, values, and skills assessments yielded broad results in the arts and sciences, many of which were people-facing careers with room for innovation and independence.

To clarify, I received a Holland Code of ASI, or Artistic, Social, and Investigative. The Artistic aspect of my result highlights a desire to innovate and a dislike for rigid structure, expressed as an affinity for the arts. The interest area of Social pertains to the ability to work well in groups and the desire to support others in one’s community. Finally, the investigative trait encompasses my interest in the sciences, desire to explore cause and effect, ability in math, and preference to work independently. I received similar results on my leisure interest assessment. The results indicated my areas of leisure interest as Aesthetic, Inquiring, and Sharing. The Aesthetic interest area is characterized by creativity, imagination, innovation, and enjoyment of artistic activities. Inquiring individuals enjoy analyzing ideas and solving problems mentally. In addition to these areas of interest, I was also classified as Sharing, again showcasing my concern for others and desire to help.

Some of my areas of interest, specifically Investigative and Inquiring, seem to conflict with those of Social and Sharing. The former emphasize my preference for working alone, while the latter emphasize my preference to collaborate in a group setting. I believe this discrepancy is explained by my results on the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, which I have taken twice during my time as a LEAD Scholar. Both times, I was labeled Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving (INFP). The INFP personality type is in part expressed as a desire for personal purpose and independence balanced with a sense of altruism and moral obligation. This leads to an intense desire to affect positive change for those around me while still maintaining my freedom and identity.

The traits identified by these assessments are important parts of my academic and professional identity, as indicated by their appearance on all five of my assessments. As a future physician-scientist, independent creative work will be essential for conducting innovative and meaningful research and must be supported by an intrinsic desire to explore various phenomena within the field of medical science. The social aspects of my assessment results will also positively affect my performance as a medical professional, allowing me to help those who need it through compassionate medical practice.

The combined report from my assessments highlighted four careers that appeared in three different assessment results, three of which I feel apply to me and my career interests. The fourth, Radio & TV Sports Announcer, does not feel relevant to me, as I do not watch sports. I also think the communications and journalism elements would not be the best fit for my professional skills. The other careers, Biopsychologist, General Internal Medicine Physician, and Neuropsychologist, align well with my career interests and current career path. I am passionate about psychology and the relationship between physical and mental health, and hope to use my education as a physician-scientist to one day investigate this from a medical perspective. The Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Psychology I am currently pursuing will hopefully maintain and contribute to my enthusiasm for this topic.