Career Toolbox: TypeFocus

By: Marissa Bell
Part of the Career Toolbox Series

When we were kids, people would ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and the answers were simple. A firefighter, a ballerina, a veterinarian, an astronaut. As we grew up, however, the answers got more complex and a lot less easy to come up with. After a while, for some, the only response available for that dreaded question was a nervous giggle and a quick change of subject. It can be scary when everyone else in a class is listing off exactly what they want to do after college and sound like they've known since they were 6, and your answer is, "I have no idea." There is a constant pressure to know what you want to do when you leave college and to start preparing for it from day one, from parents, from teachers, from advisers, even from friends. And, if at the age of say, 19, you still don't know have any idea what you want to do with your life, suddenly everyone is giving you worried looks.

But keep this in mind: There is nothing wrong with not knowing what you want the rest of your life to look like. Yes there are some people who do, and good for them, but there's a difference between not knowing and doing nothing about it, and not knowing and trying to figure it out. TypeFocus is an online tool that will help take you from the "doing nothing" stage and the "actively trying to figure it out stage".

What is TypeFocus?
TypeFocus is a free online personality assessment that asks you a series of questions that at first may seem mundane and simple, but are actually very calculated and specifically worded to get an in-depth analysis about your personality and what qualities and skills you posses. Its goal is to create self-awareness so that users have a better understanding of themselves, and in turn, can create a more educated decision about what careers they would enjoy given their unique interests and preferences.

What does TypeFocus tell you?
After you take the assessment, the analysis gives you pretty specific information. The program assesses your answers and tells you what traits you possess, what type of situations and activities interest you, and what things you value in the work place. At the end, the program combines all of these things and gives a list of careers that satisfy those conditions.

Explanation that came with Floral Designer

Things to Remember to Maximize Benefits
First thing to do to make TypeFocus most helpful to you is to take it by yourself when you're in a serious enough mood to care. If you're with friends, if you're just not in the mood, you'll start answering questions untruthfully, which will affect your answers, and make the results unusable. Yes, some of the questions seem like they're crazy, but there is a reason for all of them, so take it seriously and answer truthfully. The most important thing to remember when taking the TypeFocus, or any personality assessment, is to not focus on the results, but rather what the results mean. When I, an advertising and psychology major, took the test, my top results were a florist and a clergyman. I scoffed and dismissed the results. I never took the time to try to understand why I got those results. Once I did, I realized that I was someone who was creative, and enjoyed being a leader, but also valued communication with others and wanted a nurturing workplace. If you just take results at face value, they will mean nothing. Take the time to really understand your results. With TypeFocus, it's nice because all you have to do is click on the job title to get an in-depth explanation about exactly why that result appeared for you. It's the traits that matter in a position, not the title. I don't want to be a florist, but I know I need a job that is people focused and creative to be happy. And knowing that tells me that being a researcher isn't for me which is priceless information to know when choosing a career path in school.

Where to Find TypeFocus/Other Options
TypeFocus is free for University of Miami students and alumni, but if you just try to log on via the website, you will have to pay. In order to create a free account, go to your HireACane account, login, and scroll down. In the middle of the page about halfway down is a graphic that says, "TypeFocus, New Users Here!" click there and voila! There are three separate assessments, make sure you take all of them to reap the full benefits. All together, it will take about 25-30 minutes. Other options you have if you still want more is the SDS, a self-graded assessment, or the Strong Interest Inventory, which costs $10, but comes with an hour long appointment with one of our advisers to go over the results. Feel free to come in to Toppel between 8:30-5:00 and we'll set you up with either.

Utilize these tools so that next time someone at a holiday party asks you what you want to do after school, or the kid next to you starts talking about his 10 year plan, you don't feel an overwhelming urge to slap someone.

I am a Junior and I have not done an internship yet! What do I do?

By: Robert Vanisko

Once you become a Junior and realize that you are over half way done with college, it can be a startling realization that there is not much time left until you are out in the real world.  But for some of you, there is one problem; you have no internship experience yet.  Sure, you worked in that restaurant during high school or have an on campus job at UM, but internships are what is important… right?

Luckily for you, there is still plenty of time to get that experience before you have to apply for real world jobs.  The Toppel Career Center has tons of great resources to help you find what you are interested in, identify possible internships in that field, and get you started on applying for them. 

The first and most important step is identifying and defining what field you are interested in working in.  Many of you will pick something in-line with your major, but others of you are less sure.  For those of you who don’t know what field you would like to work in, Toppel offers three different career assessments that you can take to determine what you want to do, the Self Directed Search, the Type Focus, and the Strong Interest Inventory.

Once you determine what type of internship you want to do, the next step is to search for available internship opportunities that you want to apply to.  Using your HireACane account, you can search for internships on your account or create a UCAN account.  UCAN, which stands for the University Career Action Network, is a database of internships posted by the University of Miami and the 21 other universities involved.  Currently, there are more than 1,300 UCAN internships available and more than 900 jobs and internships available on HireACane.

Once you have picked out the internships that you want to apply for, you have to prepare yourself to apply.  Toppel has plenty of resources to help you create and edit your resume and cover letters, and prepare you for your interviews.  They offer Effective Resumeand Cover Letter Writing Seminars as well as written guides to help you create these documents.  Toppel also offers Interviewing Skills Seminars as well as Mock and Mini-Mock Interviews.  It is very important to practice your interviewing skills before you go in for a real interview, so be sure to make use of these programs.

While finding a summer internship may seem like a daunting task while trying to balance the academic life and social life of junior year, it is actually quite simple as long as you follow the steps listed above.  For more information on all of these programs, be sure to visit hireacane.comhttp://www.sa.miami.edu/toppel/mainsite/Students/Home.aspx.  

My Top 5 HireACane Tips for your Job or Internship Search

By Megan Garber

1. Update your Profile (Personal, Academic, and Privacy settings)

Make sure your graduation date, major, and academic year are updated. 

2. Upload an updated resume

You can apply to many job and internship positions directly on HireACane, but your resume must be approved by the Toppel Career Center staff.  Once you upload your resume (under the Documents tab), a Toppel advisor will critique your resume and email it back to you with comments within 3-5 business days.  You may be asked to make changes and upload it again for another critique, or your resume will be approved.  If your resume has already been approved but you have made changes, you can stop by Toppel during walk-in advising to have it critiqued in person, no appointment needed.  Walk-in advising is Monday – Thursday, 2:00-4:00 pm in the summer and 10:00 am – 4:30 pm during the school year. 

3. Create a Search Agent to search for open positions

 A search agent will email you new positions on HireACane that meet your search criteria, thus making the job search process a little bit easier.  A search agent is helpful whether you are looking for local or non-local jobs or internships.  

• Click Postings, HireACane Jobs, then click Advanced Search
• The first option under Advanced Search Options is Search Agents.  Click the box next to “save as” and give the search agent a name.I recommend you select your major and full time, internship, or part time position.  Then hit “submit.” 
• You will get a list of positions.  Look at the top bar and you will see “search results” is highlighted in orange.   Click on the tab called “search agents” two tabs to the left.   
• Find the search agent you just created and click “Schedule”
• Under enabled, click yes, then select the period.  I usually select week and then in the multiple category I enter 1 for one email per week or 2 (two emails per week.  Selecting only new results means the email you receive will only include new positions. 

4. Use the Calendar to see what events are coming up this week, this month, so you don’t miss anything. 

5. Utilize the Resources on the Home page of HireACane

Three resources I especially like are:

Optimal Resume

Optimal Resume contains resume building software and allows you to practice your interviewing skills.  If you have a webcam you can record your answers to thousands of interview questions.  You also have the option to type your interview answers into a textbox.  It’s a great way to practice and become more comfortable before the real interview.

Career Shift

Career Shift contains web-crawlers that let you search for jobs on all websites (employer job boards and job posting sites such as Career Builder).   All you need to do is enter a Keyword, your Geographic Preferences, and the type of position you are looking for (full-time, internship, contract, etc). 

TypeFocus

Type Focus is a career assessment.  You answer questions based on your interests, and TypeFocus helps you learn about your personality and potential career interests.

Make sure you check out these online resources as well as Career Insider, GoinGlobal, and Internships.com.