The Birkman Method is used around the world and is a leading career test.
It is used by some of the largest human resource companies specializing in career management globally. The Birkman Method reports on the respondent’s unique combination of individual personality characteristics, needs and interests to identify their alignment with over 200 categorized job titles.
In a recent survey of career and development coaches, 10% responded that the Birkman Test was their assessment of choice. In a market where there are literally thousands of different assessments available, this puts Birkman clearly as a leader.
Why should the Birkman Method be the Career Test of Choice?
Most competitive career tests focus on interest and social behavioural style without taking into consideration the additional complexity of a person’s environmental needs and reactive(stress) behaviour.
This is were the Birkman is different from other tests!
It compares your styles and motivations with the styles and motivations of other respondents known to be satisfied and successful in over 200 different career roles. The Birkman helps establish some of the key elements necessary for a successful long-term career.
Most people choose careers based on their skill set or in what they see others being successful in. This leads to a multitude of problems.
We have observed many situations with a professional family, for example Lawyers, where some members of the family find that despite years of study, they are simply not motivated by the work environment and tasks of that profession. They end up burning out or worse, becoming depressed.
It was recently reported in India that parents have encouraged (forced) their children to complete engineering or medical degrees. There are now too many people in these professions and not enough jobs with a large number of them also not motivated by the tasks and the environment associated with these professions.
What are Environmental Needs?
A person’s environmental needs essentially describe an optimal working environment. You can think of these areas as describing a workplace and working environment that would bring out your very best performance. Within the Birkman Method, they include the level of:
- Social interaction within the work environment
- Independence and autonomy preferred by the individual
- Variety within the work environment.
- Physical activity which the individual prefers
- Established structure and procedures in the workplace
- Sensitivity (or directness) needed in personal interactions
- Control preferred by the individual
- Competitiveness to bring out optimal performance
- Emotional expression and the emotional environment which the individual prefers
- Decisiveness demanded within the work environment
Why a Self-Aptitude Tests are a Poor Career Test?
The main problems with aptitude tests are:
- They are a self-assessment of a person’s ability to complete a task, but not everyone has the same ability to judge how good they are in a particular area.
- The ability to complete a task does not necessarily reflect the interest or motivation to complete that task on a daily basis.
For example you may hate mathematics, but because you happened to have a parent who was a mathematician and forced you to do your homework, you became an A-grade mathematics student. So in this case, your mathematics skills are a tool, but you should not build your career on your skill set. Using an Aptitude Test in this case as a Career Test may well see you burn out in 3-5 years.
Using the Birkman to help assess future career direction will uncover where your motivations align. With a supportive workplace, you will be in a better position to develop and grow your capability and be of more value in your chosen career.
If you want to find out more about the Birkman Method as a Career Test, do the Birkman today.