Chapter 1: Know Yourself

Chapter 1: Know YourselfChapter 1: Know Yourself

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Careers in Criminal Justice

Sage Publications Inc.

What are your Weaknesses?

What are your Weaknesses?


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What are your Strengths?

What are your Strengths?



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Purpose of the Hiring Interview

To give the employer an opportunity to assess certain personality and character traits of an individual that can’t be sufficiently discovered through a written test or from the application paperwork.


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What are employers looking for?

• Good communicator• Assertiveness • Ability to work well with others • Hard worker • Independent thinker • Ability to follow a chain of command• High level of integrity


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• Some students aren’t fully aware of their own strengths and weaknesses.

• An un-coached student with desirable qualities might not adequately describe his or her strengths in an interview and subsequently be passed over by others who are better prepared.


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• Sadly, some well qualified students don’t feel ready and therefore don’t even apply.

• There are also those students who aren’t ready (or are not a good fit for the job they seek), but they aren’t aware of it.


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• How can students become more in touch with their individual personality, temperament, strengths and weaknesses, biases and beliefs?

• What types of careers might be a good fit.


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• Just as a house needs a good foundation to be built upon, learning about oneself is the right place to start if the best results are to be achieved.

•Self awareness is the gateway to self improvement.


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• The biggest stumbling block for some students is the belief that they already have a handle on the way things are.

•This stagnant way of thinking develops naturally from everything a person has experienced through their lives using the five senses coupled with reassurance and confirmations from peers.


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• Stagnant people have slowed their growth and sometimes never crawl out of the hole they dig for themselves.

•Stagnants feel comfortable around others who think like they do.

• It is a natural tendency for people to consider someone who thinks like them as normal, or even intelligent.


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This poem by John Godfrey Saxe (1873) helps demonstrate how people get stuck in such a rut.

It was six men of Indostan

To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the Elephant

(Though all of them were blind),

That each by observation

Might satisfy his mind.


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The First approach'd the Elephant,

And happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side,

At once began to bawl:

"God bless me! but the Elephant

Is very like a wall!"


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The Second, feeling of the tusk,

Cried, -"Ho! what have we here

So very round and smooth and sharp?

To me 'tis mighty clear

This wonder of an Elephant

Is very like a spear!"


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The Third approached the animal,

And happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands,

Thus boldly up and spake:

"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant

Is very like a snake!"


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The Fourth reached out his eager hand,

And felt about the knee.

"What most this wondrous beast is like

Is mighty plain," quoth he,

"'Tis clear enough the Elephant

Is very like a tree!"


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The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,

Said: "E'en the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most;

Deny the fact who can,

This marvel of an Elephant

Is very like a fan!"


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The Sixth no sooner had begun

About the beast to grope,

Then, seizing on the swinging tail

That fell within his scope,

"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant

Is very like a rope!"


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And so these men of Indostan

Disputed loud and long,

Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right,

And all were in the wrong!


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Moral

So oft in theologic wars,

The disputants, I ween,

Rail on in utter ignorance

Of what each other mean,

And prate about an Elephant

Not one of them has seen!


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•To learn more about ourselves, we should first put our own existence into the proper perspective.

•Current estimates suggest that there are over 165 billion galaxies in the universe, each with hundreds of billions of stars.

• The universe is estimated to be over 12 billion year years old

• The average life span of humans is estimated at 78 years.


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• Let’s just consider what we can learn about our own planet.

•There are 7 continents, containing 193 countries on which approximately 7 billion people reside, speaking over 6,000 different languages.


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• Our planet has an estimated 146 million books

•If someone were to read one book per day between the age of 6 and 86, he or she could only read 29,200 of those books in a lifetime. In reality, the average American only reads about 15 books a year.


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•There are hundreds of degrees available, but

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2004) only 29% of high school graduates in America receive a bachelor’s degree or higher.

• Seldom does anyone devote the time and money to have more than one bachelor’s or master’s degree.

•Like the blind men who felt only one part of the elephant, there is so much we don’t know.


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Realizing and accepting our nothingness is the key to having the learning attitude that we need.

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility. (Saint Augustine, 354-430).


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What do you want to do with your degree?

•Typical answers:• Police work• Forensics • Attorney• Corrections• FBI• DEA• U.S. Marshals• Victim services• Child interviewer• Profiler


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•Professors recognize students’ strengths and weaknesses and could point students towards a good fit for a career •This is easier to do if students are somewhat aware of their own strengths, preferences, and natural tendencies.

•The ideal situation is for students to learn about themselves at the earliest point possible.


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•There are several tools available to help us realize our own temperaments, personalities, likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, and even what type of people we would be happiest with and what careers we would be best fit for.

•It is highly recommended that students learn all they can about themselves (and what makes them happy) before progressing far into a degree program.


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Having true insight early on will help you search out the best volunteer positions or internships that will not just get your foot in the door, but in the right door.


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What Color Is Your Parachute? Richard Bolles

The 2013 edition can be found on Amazon for as low as $10.00.

Over ten million copies sold.

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Advancements

What Color Is Your Parachute?Bolles gives these three steps to job hunting success:




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What Color Is Your Parachute?• According to Bolles (2000), everyone has skills, but “there is such a thing as being deeply unaware of our skills.”

• Candidates who are not ready for questions about their own strengths and weaknesses in the hiring interview often find themselves surprised at how hard it is to articulate one’s own skills.


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Keirsey Temperament Sorter

•Authors David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates published a book in 1984 titled Please Understand Me.

• The book focuses on the concept that everyone is fundamentally different and that differences are neither good nor bad.


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Keirsey Temperament Sorter • They asserted that self assessment is “foreign” to most people and therefore using some kind of examination tool is very helpful.

• They created the Keirsey Temperament Sorter consisting of 70 questions that can be found in the book on page 5.


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Keirsey Temperament Sorter • The test identifies where the test taker fits into 16 different personality types.

• The book follows up with detailed information about each type, which assists a person in understanding more about what the results of the assessment mean.


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Keirsey Temperament Sorter • A web site was created allowing people to answer the KTS II questions on-line for free and receive a scored report.

•The report has minimal information to help students better understand their own temperament and style.

•For a more detailed report on the results, one would have to pay a small fee.

Rationalist

RationalistIdealistIdealist


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ArtisanArtisan GuardianGuardian

Keirsey Temperament Sorter The free report includes your basic personality type

And four subtypes



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Keirsey Temperament Sorter II• Can also be accessed at www.keirsey.com. • Takes about 20-25 minutes to answer the questions.• The results come back immediately and can be printed out.

•You can buy the book, which contains the KTS II questions and score sheet, several pages of detailed information about each type of personality, careers you would be best fit for, and what type of person you are a good match for.


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True Colors• Roger Birkman

• Can be purchased at https://store.birkman.com/?items=books

• Birkman was fascinated with the topic of perception and posited that our perceptions, whether right or wrong, influence everything we do. He felt that by gaining the proper perspective on one’s own perceptions, other things would start to fall into place.


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True Colors• According to Birkman there are no criteria anywhere that defines what is normal, so “therefore, nobody is normal, and everyone is.” • Birkman also suggested “there is great freedom in knowing one’s own strengths and weaknesses, for as soon as these are identified; it becomes a much simpler matter to focus on the things you do well and look for help in your weaker areas.”


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True Colors• In the book True Colors, Birkman explains there is no limit on the number of “normal” or “right” behaviors, but that the unlimited number of normal and right behaviors can be categorized to some extent.

•Birkman categorizes people in four quadrants, using the colors of red, yellow, green, and blue.

•He explains what each color represents.


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True Colors• If you fall under Red, you are friendly, decisive, energetic, frank, and logical.

• If you favor the yellow quadrant, you are orderly, concentrative, cautious, and insistent.

• Green people are competitive, assertive, flexible, and enthusiastic about new things.

• Blues are insightful, selective sociable, thoughtful, reflective, and optimistic.


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True Colors• Birkman lists 10 classifications of interest with possible occupations that are a good fit.

Artistic: photographer, architect, artist, florist, designer, painter, or decorator.Clerical: secretary, typist, office worker, or financial manager.Literary: writer, editor, literary scholar, reporter, or librarian.Mechanical: Engineer, machine designer, auto mechanic, carpenter, pilot, or plumber.Musical: professional singer, musician, or songwriter.Numerical: cashier, accountant, mathematician, or administrative office worker.Outdoor: carpenter, farmer, animal trainer, sportsman, forest ranger, or field engineer.Persuasive: salesperson, teacher, counselor, public relations director, politician, or auctioneer.Scientific: scientist, lab worker, detective, meteorologist, doctor, or dentist.Social Services: teacher, social worker, counselor, personnel or employment manager.


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What Type Am I?•Renee Baron

• Baron explains that learning her own temperament gave her a strong sense of relief to finally identify her real self. It was this great feeling of self worth that inspired her to teach it to others for the next 18 years.


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What Type Am I?

•She starts her book with an overview of the Myers-Briggs system, which is one of the most popular and comprehensive personality assessments to date.

•The Myers-Briggs scheme measures both preferences and temperaments.

•The first part of the book deals with preferences.


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What Type Am I?

• The four pairs of preferences are listed as opposites, which are:

Extraverting (E) and Introverting (I)

Sensing (S) and iNtuiting (N)

Thinking (T) and Feeling (F)

Judging (J) and Perceiving (P)


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What Type Am I?•Baron wrote full chapters on each of the opposite pairs.

• She starts each of the chapters with a 20 questions inventory to help the reader distinguish which preference is dominant.

• The second part of the book delves into temperaments, which is “a pattern of characteristic behaviors that reflect a person’s natural disposition”


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What Type Am I?Myers-Briggs lists the four temperaments themes as follows:

SJ – Sensing Judging: Duty Seekers

SP – Sensing Perceiving: Action Seekers

NT – iNtuiting Thinking: Knowledge Seekers

NF – iNtuiting Feeling: Ideal Seekers


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What Type Am I?Ultimately the Myers-Briggs system classifies a person in one of the following 16 categories:

ESTP ESFP ISTJ ISFJENTP ENFP INTJ INFJESTJ ENTJ ISTP INTPESFJ ENFJ ISFP INFP


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What Type Am I?Baron explains the meaning of these types in great detail.

She says in her last paragraph of the book that this valuable information changed her life.

She said it started her on the path to acceptance and “that it was alright to be me, an ENFP”


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The Four Temperaments•Renee Baron

• Contains a Personality Inventory that starts on page nine and consists of 80 questions.

•These 80 questions are divided into four different groups of 20 questions each.


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The Four Temperaments

Security Seeker

Security Seeker

Experience

Seeker

Experience

Seeker

Knowledge

Seeker

Knowledge

Seeker

IdealSeekerIdeal

Seeker


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The Four Temperaments• Security seekers make up approximately 40% of the U.S. population

• Experience Seekers make up approximately 40% of the U.S. population

• Knowledge Seekers make up approximately 10% of the U.S. population

• Ideal Seekers make up approximately 10% of the U.S. population


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The Four Temperaments

• Baron includes some closing thoughts at the end of her

book in which she says “Although temperaments do not

explain everything about people, they certainly give us a

great deal of practical insight into human behavior, which

can have a life-transforming effect on our relationships

with ourselves and others”


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What Color is Your Personality?

• Carol Ritberger

• Ritberger’s book includes a personality assessment that helps you to determine if you are a Red, Orange, Yellow, or Green personality type.

• She explains that it is more crucial to understand ourselves than it is to understand others.


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What Color is Your Personality?

• Ritberger categorizes the colors as follows.

• The Red person needs to be in control. This need causes stress, which could be released through physical activity.

• The Orange person needs to always be doing things for others, so there is hardly any time for self.

•Yellow types find themselves frustrated by indecision because they can see both sides very well.

•Greens can get angry when they feel disorganized or out of control.


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HumanMetrics

• Another free on-line personality test is located at http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp .

• The test is based on Carl Jung’s and Isabel Briggs Myers’ typological approach to personality.

•To take this assessment you answer 72 yes or no questions and then submit it for grading.


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GAcollege411• Another website with a career assessment and free results is https://secure.gacollege411.org/Career_Planning/Learn_About_Yourself/Learn_About_Yourself.aspx.

• From this webpage one can choose several different assessments.

• A good option is the Career Cluster Survey that takes 15-25 minutes.


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GAcollege411• Another option on this website besides the Career Cluster Survey is the Career Key that takes 10-15 minutes.

•The Career Key introduction has you answer a few questions about yourself in 5 categories.

•You then see your personality types (or interest areas) and discover related careers.


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Discussion Questions

1.What is the difference between group skills we possess and use and the actual work we do in group projects?

2.Do you agree with the statement “Self awareness is the gateway to self improvement?” Why or why not?

3.What is the moral of the poem of the six blind men from Indostan?

4.Do you agree with Bolles’ statement “everyone has skills, but “there is such a thing as being deeply unaware of our skills?” Why or why not?


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Discussion Questions

5. What does Birkman mean when he says “nobody is normal, and everyone is?”

6. Do you agree with Ritberger when she explains “it is more crucial to understand ourselves than it is to understand others?” Why or why not?

7. Do you agree with the results you get from the free on- line personality test located at http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp? Were there any surprises?

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Chapter 1: Know Yourself

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