getTarget.com - Career Guide:Motivations Assessment

Motivations Assessment

(Print this worksheet to complete this exercise)

Motivation plays a part in making career decisions because of built in rewards; either material or psychological. Knowing what matters to you -- materially or abstractly -- may help you decide which interests to pursue in formulating a career. You might think about the importance of your strongest interests (from the previous exercise) in the light of the next exercise on values; whether they exist in those interest areas.

These statements are divided into 14 distinct groups, each of which is a category of work motivation. Rate yourself as thoughtfully as you can. These ratings will help you focus on what is important to you, what you value, and what you need. Next to each statement is a space for you to assess how much it applied to you.

For example, if the statement is "I would like to have my work seen and admired by others", mark it very close to "yes" if respect and recognition from others are very meaningful to you. Mark it close to "no" if your own approval of what you do provides you sufficient satisfaction.

Achievement (Attaining mastery of a field, self-advancement, growth)
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I enjoy seeing the results of my efforts.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I like to work toward broad and important goals.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	It is important to me that my work lead to better opportunities.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I am most satisfied if I have a chance to learn from what I do.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	When I do something, I like to do it well.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I would not want to waste my time.
Total:

Challenge (Handling difficult or complex work)
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	If there is a difficult problem, I have an urge to tackle it.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	Easy work bores me and hard work stimulates me.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	The work world seems to offer me the satisfaction of solving tough problems.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	Without challenging work, I would feel useless and unfulfilled.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I want some real intellectual challenge.
Total:

Creativity (Contributing new ideas, being original and inventive)
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I am proud of my ability to offer ideas in many situations.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I like to come up with a new way to handle an old problem, or to implement a more efficient approach or technique.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I like to try out original solutions rather than rely on conventional tactics and established procedures.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I like to tackle problems that others prefer to avoid.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I have creative talents that I want to develop and use.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	People tell me that I/m always coming up with ideas and solutions that are new.
Total:

Dominance (Exercising leadership, directing, having power, influence over others).
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I like to use my leadership abilities.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I enjoy planning and organizing a program or activity.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will feel good about myself if I am responsible for large enterprises.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I would get a feeling of satisfaction from directing and supervising other people's work.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I know I have good leadership qualities which I could put to use.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I like to see things happen, change, develop as a result of my efforts.
Total:

Independence (Being free from supervision and restriction, "standing on one's own feet")
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I want the feeling that I can depend on myself for a decent living wage.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will want to have some part of my life that is independent of others with whom I share my life.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I just like the feeling of being independent.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I feel that my family would be better off if I were not dependent on them.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I like to do things on my own, without having a lot of orders or directions.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I would welcome the chance to use my capacity for independent thinking and action.
Total:

Interest (Finding a stimulating activity)
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will want activity outside of my job to keep life interesting.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	Having only job responsibilities would still leave me with too much unfulfilled time.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I enjoy being busy at interesting work.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will want an absorbing career commitment.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will want time for my home and for leisure as well as for my job.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will want to organize my life around my job.
Total:

Interpersonal Relations (Being with others employees, colleagues)
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I want the opportunity to be with people who share my interests.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I enjoy the opportunity to meet people.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	The isolation of working at home would be depressing to me.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I feel best when I'm with other people.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I think that a career would enrich my life through interaction with interesting people.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I like to be part of a team, to participate with others, in a piece of the action.
Total:

Money (Gaining in socioeconomic status, meeting material needs)
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will have to base my job decisions on the amount of salary and fringe benefits.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I think that I will tend to measure my worth as an employee according to my salary.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will have to meet financial needs, sharing this responsibility with my husband or providing for myself independently.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	It will be important to me to have as high an income as possible.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	Getting money and material things is important to me.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will need the money a job would provide.
Total:

Moral Values (behaving in a way consistent with some moral code)
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I would feel ashamed if I failed to use what I am learning in college.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I believe that work builds character.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	If a person doesn't want to work hard, s/he is probably lazy.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	To me, it is important to do work that helps to make a better world.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	Everyone should work, to give back to society all s/he takes.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	Service gives me pleasure.
Total:

Recognition (getting respect, prestige, social approval)
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I want to have my work recognized and valued by others.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	It will be important to me to be acknowledged by others in my field.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will want to work for a well-known institution.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will want a job that is somewhat glamorous in the eyes of others.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	My title will be important to me.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	Promotions will be important to me.
Total:

Self Expression (working in an area particularly suited to the development of one's abilities)
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I would like to test myself on the job to confirm my sense of who I really an and what I am good for.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I have a feeling that I would really grow if I got into the right work.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I think that a lot of my natural talent would be wasted if I didn't have a meaningful job.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	Being able to express myself is important to me.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I would like the opportunity to try out some of my own ideas.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I want to grow as a person and develop my abilities.
Total:

Social Welfare (Doing something that has meaning for others, working for society or another person's benefit)
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I need the feeling of helping someone directly.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I would be happiest working in a service organization.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I would like to do a good and useful job anywhere I am needed.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I want to use my energies and abilities to help make the world a better place to live in.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I like to help others, to be and feel useful.
Total:

Variety (preferring diverse activities "changes of scenery")
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I want a career that would permit me to be involved in different activities of the business or professional world.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I always welcome changing activities and changing roles.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I would enjoy a variety of challenges rather than just a single area of concentration.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I will need more stimulation and variety than I would get sitting at a desk all day.
Yes 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No:	I dislike routine activities and thrive on variety.
Total: