Get a College Degree
How Can My Personality Strengths Assessment (PSA)© Help Me Decide What to Do about a College Degree?
Let’s meet Alicia.
When she graduated from high school she didn’t have any money but she did have determination. So everyone wanted to help her. Her high school counselor gave her the personality strength tests, and she got her PSA©.
Her teachers look at her PSA©. They tell her that she is intelligent but her real strength is examining all of her options, testing them, and then selecting the most promising one (Theoretical Value at 99%). Then she has the commitment to Achievement (higher than 95% of us) to accomplish what she sets out to do. She was Editor of the school newspaper and always got it out on time. Because of these personality strengths, people a lot smarter than she is won’t accomplish as much as she will.
She has been working her way through college for three years. She is the oldest of five children. When she gets a college degree and a good job she will help the younger ones go to college, too.
She works at a department store selling women’s clothes. She likes working retail and is learning about fashion. In fact she is considering going into fashion design as a career and tells her supervisor Karen.
Karen likes Alicia’s work ethic. She gets raises and promotions for her. She is glad to hear that Alicia is considering a career in fashion design. Alicia asks her supervisor’s advice (Ability to Ask for Help at 81%).
She also encourages Alicia also to consider majoring in business with a concentration in marketing. That way Alicia’s success would not be tied to how many people can afford to buy new clothes.
Alicia studies her PSA© again as she gets closer to choosing between the two careers – fashion design or business with a concentration in marketing.
As you study her PSA© which degree do you think Alicia should get?
Print out Alicia’s Test Results so that you can study them while you read about her.
Which college degree is the best one for Alicia?
She thinks about what her supervisor Karen said about possibly majoring in business with a concentration in marketing. She really doesn’t want her success to be tied to how many people can afford to buy new clothes. She knows people who majored in fashion design. They are really dedicated to their art – high in Aesthetic Value – she is at 35%. She does like fashion design; however, she wants to manage people in a caring work environment more. And her personality strengths show her that.
She does want to make money (Economic Value at 75%). She majors in business with a concentration in marketing and a minor in fashion design.Alicia tells Karen that she is doing this. Karen sees the wisdom in this. Karen tells Alicia that she will tell management.
Let’s meet Edward.
Edward Uses His PSA© to Decide Whether or not to Get a College Degree
When Edward graduated from high school he had no interest in going to college. His parents paid for him to get his PSA© to help him figure out what career to have.
Edward is a natural born leader – people just want to follow him (Dominance at 99% and Political Value at 99%). They may follow him because they really like him. Customers really like him. They listen to him and buy from him. He is higher in Dominance, Political Value and Sociability than 99% of us.
Edward has been with the company for 5 years. His supervisor Walt sees that he is a natural born salesman. The company is opening new branches at such a rapid rate that they have a management development program for sales personnel who will be groomed for management positions. Based on Edward’s progress for 5 years, Walt is wondering, “ Should I recommend Edward for this management development program?”
Edward loves sales. He wants a larger territory.
As you read Edward’s PSA©, what would you advise Walt to do about giving him a larger territory?
What did Walt do about Edward’s request for a larger territory?
Walt thought about it a lot. Management has a serious concern about Edward. He has not taken any college courses, even though the company reimburses employees for taking them.
He tells Edward that if he does not get a college degree he has a low ceiling on how far he can advance in the company. However, with a college degree he could easily be promoted. Walt asks him, “Edward, what do you want to do?”
Edward says, “I am going to take a college marketing course at night.” Walt says, “That’s a great idea. In fact, I will arrange it so that you can take a course during the day, too.” Now Edward sees a reason to go to college. It could be fun to apply what he learns at college to what he does at work. And, he can probably use company data as part of the research he has to do for class reports.
Edward thinks college is fun. Gets really good grades. The second semester he took 3 courses. In summer school he takes 12 hours. Walt calls Edward into his office. Management is impressed with his sales record. Now that Edward is also making As in college, he gets on the list to take the management development program for sales personnel.
Walt is not going to increase Edward’s sales territory right now because he is taking so many college courses. All in good time
Edward is on his way!
Can I use my PSA© to help me figure out if I want to get a college degree or which college degree?
Sure.
You already learned a lot about how to use a PSA© to consider whether or not to get a college degree or which college degree to get by reading about Alicia and Edward. You know a lot about your current situation.
1. If you have not already done so: Print out Alicia’s and Edward’s PSAs© and how they use them to make decisions about college. You might want to print out this case study, too. Scan them and save it as a document in a folder named “My PSA© and My Career.”
2. To order your PSA©: Go back to the Home Page. When you take your tests: Think of yourself as you are when you are at your very best.
3. After you get your PSAs©: Use them to help you understand how to use your PSAs© to see how to use you’re your personality strengths to make your career all that it can be.
4. The more you think about your strengths the more you will see how to make them work together…and you get to see how they build together for all of your life.
You can do this!
