And who am I?

Sorry, but I had to use the Gossip Girl reference for this post, I love it!

I just got off the phone with a psychologist. He gave me my test results for the personality and cognitive testing I did for a job. Most of what he told me wasn't a surprise, I know myself pretty well and thanks to good performance evaluation systems in my last two jobs I know my work self pretty well too.

What spoke to me most was that typically people in my age group have a below average interest in leadership and I have an average interest, something that will serve me well in my career goals. The Dr. used the example that he sees a lot of people my age put in leadership positions they have no interest in. I realized that it does happen more than it probably should and usually in the financial/banking sector. Kids right out of school jump in to specialized jobs and they keep getting bumped up the ladder because they work hard and do well, but then they get to be in leadership jobs at the age of 25 and really just want to be working and playing, not leading. Many of those "kids" are probably out of work now, and they will be lucky to find a job that will pay as much as they made as "leaders", although they'll probably end up finding themselves getting employed at the level they should be, and want to be, at. Nature really does have a way of working these things out.

It was good to hear that the skills I believe I have, and the work I've put in to developing and growing myself in my professional life shows up in testing. It encouraged me that I am a great candidate and whatever job I end up getting I'm going to rock at it and the company that hires me is going to high five and slap itself on the back for snagging me.
It also really got me even more encouraged and ready to be working again. Talking about how I like to build work relationships, how I am insightful and a good coach, that I have leadership interest and aspirations and that my high energy levels allow me to work hard in active environments made me want to put it all back to good use again.
It also speaks to the skills I'd like to put to use sometime outside of the job market. I have many dreams of starting my own business, in different areas, and all of the strengths we spoke about would serve me well there too. If it was a different economy and I lived in a different market I'd like to think I'd do it, bite the bullet and take the plunge, to overuse some cliches. Instead I'm just hoping that what the Dr. reports to my potential new employer will be enough for them to take the plunge and hire me.