Vocational Discernment and New Hiring Practices /// Myers Briggs Test

Dear M,

I learn lots of interesting things from "The Week," a magazine to which Aunt Janet subscribed me. http://theweek.com/ 

In a recent article about online learning, I learned that an expanding number of employers favor candidates who take online courses after they graduate college. 

Increasingly, Human Resource departments are heartened to see resumes from job applicants which list these free resources. 

Employer Andy Rice says: "I definitely want to hire people who are always questing for new knowledge. Life's not about what you learn when you're 22."

In this regard...

Decades ago I asked myself how I would conduct a job interview if I were looking for employees.

It occurred to me that I would arrange for applicants to wait in a comfortable, well-lit room -- by themselves -- for a full hour after their scheduled interview time.

In this room, there would be an easy chair, a sofa and a big bookcase stocked with high quality literature - both fiction and non-fiction. (It might be desirable to stock the shelves with books concerning "the topic in hand.")

There would also be an encyclopedia. (Perhaps there would only be an encyclopedia.)

Then, I would watch applicants through a one-way mirror to see what they do. (Nowadays, it would probably be necessary to have people leave electronic devices with the receptionist.)

To learn more about online learning, check out the following TED Talk. http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education.html

Another thing I recently learned from "The Week" is that 59% of Americans would choose a different profession if they could start all over. 

I have long considered "early tracking" a mistake... except for people whose vocation (whose "calling") is clearly apparent at an early age. 

Take your time. Listen to the guidance of Universe. (Remember: "Obedience" derives from the Latin words "ob audiens" meaning "thorough listening.") 

When we are obedient to The Whole, vocation comes clear. 

Haste makes waste. 

You have a LOT more time than America's insanely pressured culture leads you to believe. 

Determine to do what you love. 

Discerning such work -- work that makes you happy -- is a great good thing. 

Generally speaking, peaceful contemplation (which, surprisingly, is imbued with tremendous "productive impulse") is worth more than all the money in the world.  

Love

D-man

PS A useful "vocational discernment tool" is the Myers-Briggs test. 

A free, short-form of Myers-Briggs is online at http://www.sminds.com/mbti (Under "Jung Tests," click on "Short Test - 53 Items.")

This 48-question online test -- and its "longer siblings" -- are famous for helping people understand interpersonal differences (without manifesting customary judgmentalism), and also for "getting a fix" on which occupations are best-suited to the test-taker.

Before starting to answer the questions, I encourage you to take considerable care making sure you understand the "direction" of the "graduated responses." It seems relatively easy to reverse the intended "direction," a mistake that would confound results.

In the last 6-7 years, I  have taken this test three times and each time the result has been the same, albeit with some percentage variation. 

Introverted (I) 58.62% Extroverted (E) 41.38% Intuitive (N) 67.74% Sensing (S) 32.26% Thinking (T) 53.13% Feeling (F) 46.88% Perceiving (P) 53.33% Judging (J) 46.67%

Your type is: INTP

INTP - "Architect". Greatest precision in thought and language. Can readily discern contradictions and inconsistencies. The world exists primarily to be understood. 3.3% of total population.

For more information about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator