The Importance of Self-Awareness

Hi students! Welcome.

In today's chapter of Tita Leyn Teaches we will tackle about the importance of self awareness or getting to know yourself in finding the job that suits you.

When you graduate first thing that you will do is to seek for a vacant job that is connected to your course and prepare for a Job application. For some, it is easy to find a job since they really know from the start what they really want but for some they find it hard. Based on my personal experience, first step in preparing for a job application is to know more about yourself, you should know more about what you want and need. It will be a big help for you to search for a job, position and company that suits you and your abilities. 

LET'S START!

What Is Self-Awareness?

Self-awareness can be defined as the knowledge that you acquire that relate to the different facets of your personality including your strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, interests, motivation and emotions. It is the process that helps you to get to know yourself better and identify your career needs.

Why Do You Need It?

Why bother becoming more self-aware? That’s easy. It has many benefits! When talking about careers, it is the first step someone needs to take towards beginning their journey of exploration. Self-awareness requires taking the time to truly get to know yourself and this means discovering what you like, what you don’t like, identifying your strengths and weaknesses, what you are good at and what you need to work on.

Getting to Know Yourself = Developing Yourself

With self-awareness comes self-improvement. But, you need to be genuinely interested in improving yourself. This way you are more likely to take actions that can challenge you and help you develop your skills. It opens the door to new possibilities, experiences and growth.

How to Do It?

Becoming more self-aware can be difficult, especially if you don’t know where to start. You may find it easier to ask other people to tell you what they think your strengths and talents are. It’s easier to focus on what you aren’t good at as opposed to what you are, and this is a problem job seekers often need to face when they are being asked the famous ‘Tell me about yourself’ question in job interviews.

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HOW WILL YOU START?

Starting a new career is exciting and sometimes a little intimidating. Whether you're preparing for your first job or making a midlife career change, the first question to answer is "What career is right for me?" You probably won't find a satisfying answer until you know who you are. Once you understand yourself, know where you started and where you are on your journey, you can move on to exploring possible careers as a good fit for you.

Know Yourself First

What does it mean to know yourself? If you examine your innermost qualities, your skills and talents, and where your passion lies, you'll probably find a very complex answer to that question. The result is worth the effort it takes to arrive at that conclusion. It can help you immensely whenever you're thinking "I don't know what career I want."

How to know yourself ? Get a pen and paper and answer these questions. This might be a big help in knowing what job should you apply..

-What are my job skills?

-What are my people skills?

-What personal characteristics do I have that would make specific careers easier or more challenging for me?

-Do I need to work on coping skills before I start a new career?

-What strengths have I never had a chance to show on a job before?

-What talents have I used in non-work settings?

-What have others noticed that sets me apart?

-How are my communication skills?

-Do I have skills that would help me in certain careers?

-What career should I choose, given my skills and strengths?

Identify Your Skills and Talents

Chances are, you already have job skills and talents. You can find them by examining your past school work, job experiences, hobbies, and interpersonal relationships. How do you do it? You can start with a period of reflection. 

Find Your Passion

While it's helpful to figure out where your strengths and skills lie, usually, weaker skills can be developed. What's even more crucial to your success in a new career is finding a career that excites you. Discover what you're passionate about to get a more complete answer to your question of "What career should I pursue?" If someone asks you what your passion is, the answer might not come to you immediately. The following questions can help you see what career might interest you most.

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Dear Students,

    Hello! So I will share to you my job application stories. Before I became a professor in lyceum, I used to be a call center agent. I had my first bpo job when I was in 3rd year college I used to be a working student.  I will never forget my first job interview and they asked me... "What can you say about the sky?" and I was like " whaaaaaat kind of question is that? is that appropriate? is that necessary?" I answered "The sky is blue this is where we can see the clouds and birds flying freely" .., I thought that job interview question will be formal like "Why do you choose this job?"

"Why should we hire you?" that's what I prepare for. That's how awful my very first job interview in my life so don't be too harsh on yourself if you feel bad on your job interview, you can actually improve it just what I did. How?

I assess myself, I start to get to know myself even more so that if any out of the box or normal question that people might ask me I can easily answer it. 

Job interview should be like story telling. More on story about yourself and should not be like you're answering an analytical question in mathematics. 

So I ask myself again the same question the interviewee asked my on my first job interview "What can you say about the sky?" I will simply say " When I look up in the sky I see nothing but peace, I see nothing but hope. When daylight, I see hope it means that I should get up and keep going. At night time I see peace and calmness that in every tiring day it means that it's one way that God say that we should take a rest."  You can notice the difference of my answer from the very first time I encounter this question to the time that I assess myself. 

Btw I got the job in my very first application. Confidence will always be the key. Just make sure that you look sure about your answers even when you're fully not. And again, I suggest that you assess yourself so that even the interviewer will throw you out of the box question, you can answer it confidently.

Love,

Tita Leyn