lecture five

Yesterday’s class was pretty much a review for me. In second year I took a course called personality psychology, and in that class we learned a lot about ourselves. It was good to see how consistent my personality has remained over the past two years, especially in relation to OCEAN; or how the textbook addresses it: CANOE. The Myers Briggs inventory was new to me, and it was interesting to see where I stand relative to my peers. My personality type was XNFJ which means that I am both introverted and extroverted, and I use intuition, feelings, and judgments to make my decisions. This knowledge will help me to match my personality to a career that is best suited for me.

The textbook and lecture helped me to learn that I am more likely to set higher personal goals for myself, and I’m more motivated and have higher performance expectations than individuals with low levels of conscientiousness. In addition, I am more likely to provide better customer service. Now that I look back at myself, I can agree with all the statements above; I do set personal goals for myself, and I am very motivated when it comes to school.

The case we discussed today, “Pushing Paper Can be Fun”, is a classic example of what goes on in the workplace. No matter where you work, everyone always wants to do the fun stuff, but no one ever wants to do the dull and boring tasks. This goes for volunteer work as well. For example, most of my volunteer positions involve filling out a bundle of paperwork, following my shift, and I often find myself leaving these tasks to the last minute, as I do not want to complete them. I found that this one agency I volunteered with solved this problem during training. The agency made it clear that if we could not complete the paperwork, then we could not volunteer, as a big part of our job was ensuring that we had accurate and up-to-date paperwork in case of a lawsuit. I think that this is the best way to go about the problem in the case study. During training, potential officers need to be sure that their paperwork is complete, clear, and concise, as someone’s life may depend on it. Paperwork should be a requirement of the job, and it should be stated along with the job description. As for current officers, they should all be retrained in how to write and complete paperwork, and the importance of this task should be stressed during their training. In addition, the department should notify all officers that their job description has changed, and it is now absolutely mandatory for all officers to complete paperwork; if an officer does not fulfill these requirements, he or she will have to deal with the consequences (i.e. go through retraining, or work the graveyard shift etc.)

The MARS model we learned in lecture today helped to identify problems and issues in everyday situations. I found it to be extremely useful when analyzing the Pushing Paper Can be Fun case. I’m glad that we learned this model, as I will be able to apply it to everyday situations including my career project. Following my research, I will be able to see if I am motivated, have the ability to work as CA, what my role perception of the field was before and after my research, and what types of situational factors will effect my possibility of becoming a CA. This analysis will help me to evaluate if the career is indeed a perfect fit for me.