Conduct a strengths analysis

Grant Snider, Incidental Comics Links to an external site.

Now that you've begun to critically reflect on your own "wanderings" (your intellectual and career biography), it is time to use some research-based tools to help you articulate the unique strengths that you have expressed, and continue to build, through these wanderings.

Read this first

• Don Clifton, Clifton Strengths for Students, part one, "Your college, your strengths, your journey"

Complete these steps

1. Take the quiz.  In your CliftonStrengths textbook there is a unique code granting you access to the online StrengthsFinder assessment tool.  Use this code to login to the StrengthsFinder web site and take this assessment.  

Note: If you purchased a used copy of the CliftonStrengths textbook, it is possible that the code has already been used by a previous student. In this case you will need to go to the StrengthsQuest web site and purchase an individual code separately. The cost should be around $12 using the "educator price."  Here is the link: 

https://www.strengthsquest.com/234665/top-clifton-strengths-students.aspx Links to an external site.

You may choose

"CliftonStrengths For Students Top 5
$ 11.99
EDUCATOR PRICE”

To take the individual quiz to discover your top five strengths.

2. Record your strengths.  Make a screenshot, printout, or photo of the screen at the end of your assessment, so you can capture what the tool suggests your five top strengths are.  Then open a new word processing document and list these five strengths at the top, as you prepare to reflect on them.  

3. Research your strengths.  Now read through the sections of the CliftonStrengths book that correspond to your top five identified strengths to learn more about what they mean (and to begin to consider whether you agree with the tool's assessment of your strengths).  Notice that each strength is described in positive, productive language appropriate to use when describing your value in a cover letter or interview situation.

4. Evaluate your strengths.  Write a paragraph reacting to the top five strengths that this tool has identified.  In general, do you agree or disagree with this list?  Are there any strengths is this list which you had formerly considered liabilities or weaknesses?  Are there any other strengths in the CliftonStrengths book which you think should be included in your top five?  Put together, what do these strengths say about you as a student and a future professional?

5. Reflect on one of your strengths.  Now pick one strength identified in this quiz that you agree describes you well.  Write a second paragraph describing some specific ways that you have used that strength in your past accomplishments.  (You may want to refer to your wanderings diagram for ideas.)  Finally, write a third paragraph describing some specific ways that you might continue to practice and improve this strength in the future, and what benefits that might bring for your academic and career goals.

6. Turn it in.  Upload the document containing the list of your top five strengths, your reaction to the strengths quiz, and your reflections on one of those strengths, to Canvas to get credit for this assignment. 

Notes on this assignment

• Remember that this analysis -- or any career-related "who are you?" analysis -- is only meant to spark your reflection and discussion about your next steps in life, not to objectively define your or to contradict your own view of who you are. 
• Do you believe the tool has accurately pointed to your top five strengths?  Are any of these five strengths surprising to you?  Are there other strengths that you believe you posses which the tool did not identify?  
• Are any of your identified strengths something that you might otherwise have considered a weakness? Is it useful casting that characteristic as a strength instead?
• How might you articulate these identified strengths on your LinkedIn page or in a resume?
• Your TA may ask each student about their top strength in class, to get an idea of the breadth of strengths represented by the group.  If you were an employer, would you want a team of employees who all shared the same strengths, or who each brought different strengths to the organization?  Which strengths do you think would work well to reinforce or complement each other?  
• Your TA has also taken this strengths analysis quiz, and may choose to offer their own reflections on whether they think the quiz accurately reflects their own strengths -- and if so, how they talk about and practice those strengths as part of their own academic and career development.
• Advisers at SuccessWorks will have advice about other kinds of strengths inventories (or interest and personality inventories) that are available for you to try at their office and elsewhere around campus.  For example, the BadgerStudents web site has a page on assessing your skills, and the CareerLocker service has plenty of self-assessment tools under their "Assessments" tab (free access through your MyUW page).
• Students often wonder: How accurate are results like these? There are different ways to answer that question. 
      In terms of the test itself, the people behind the Strengths Finder instrument have found that standard testing measures like inter-item correlation (the internal consistency of the questions asked) and test-retest reliability (whether you'll get the same score if you retake the test six months later) are both acceptable according to standard norms in the field of psychology. (Buckingham and Clifton 2001, 252). 
      A larger question is whether one's strengths results persist over years. The test's advocates argue that "Just as personality may flex according to the demands of the situation, but be stable and consistent over time, so strengths may fluctuate according to situational demands, but will always remain largely consistent.” (Linley and Harrington 2006, 88) 
      Finally, the most important question might be whether knowing one's strengths -- even if those strengths are tied to a particular stage in one's life -- helps one make better academic and career decisions. Gallup, the company behind Strengths Finder, reports that in follow up studies "Fifty-nine percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, 'Learning about my strengths has helped me to make better choices in my life.'” (Hodges and Clifton 2004, 260)

Examples

• The strength that I recognized most in myself was the “learner” strength. All my life I have been a very curious person, my parents told me that I was that stereotypical annoying little kid always asking question after question after question. As I grew older I began to grow into my curiosity, and I began teaching myself history through reading books and watching documentaries. I think history appealed to me because it always felt like story telling [...]  I can continue honing this skill by exploring ways to learn that I may not have tried yet. I could attend seminars by professors of history and poli sci, and I could attend my professor’s office hours more often. I could experiment with new methods of note taking, and continue to practice analyzing events and trends from new and different perspectives. Most of all I can just continue finding topics that pique my interest and diving in to learn all I can.

• One strength of mine that I have seen in the past is Discipline. I use this trait in everything from my athletics in high school, to academics, my job, and much more. I believe that discipline is very important in my life, and keeps me grounded. If I stay true to myself and what I am supposed to do, or what I plan on doing; I will be successful. I see the world being a product of what I make it and how I go around in the world. Without discipline, I don’t believe that I would be attending UW Madison or be nearly as successful as I am today.  If I still use my trait of discipline in my life, I believe that I will be able to achieve any goal that I set for myself. As a sophomore, I found that my freshmen year was harder than expected and let myself go. For this and future years, I plan on being discipline in my studies and always being prepared. With this mentality, I am hoping on making it in the medical field and hopefully changing and impacting lives someday.

Activities for discussion

Here are some activities your TA may organize during section when you discuss this assignment:

• Your TA may ask each student to identify their top talent/strength and write these on the board, to get a sense of the range of different strengths represented by the group.  Or your TA may ask students to stand up and cluster according to the four different areas of strength that the CliftonStrengths assessment uses, based on your top strength.  
    
  
  How does the description of your top strength or your top strengths area map onto patterns you’ve noticed in your work experiences? Do you feel like you've used this top strength in the workplace?  In school?  What is the result when you use this strength?  If you were an employer, would you want a team of employees who all shared the same strengths, or who each brought different strengths to the organization?  Which strengths do you think would work well to reinforce or complement each other?  
• Your top five strengths really start out as latent "talents Download talents" until you take time and effort to build them.  Your TA may call up the UW student jobs site (https://studentjobs.wisc.eduLinks to an external site.) and use some real employment opportunities to inspire a discussion about which strengths might best apply to these various positions -- or, in other words, which positions might offer a chance for a student to practice and grow a particular strength.
• Some strengths don't always have positive connotations, and in some cases our greatest strengths are also areas of weakness for us.  Your TA might ask you to think through the "balcony/basement" exercise using the diagram below.  First, choose one of your top five strengths or talents.  In the "balcony" box, write down descriptions of that strength that sound like compliments.  In the "basement" box, write down negative descriptions of that same strength, or descriptions that make the strength sound like a barrier.  Can you think of situations when you have been frustrated at work or in school in a way related to one of your strengths?  How might you deal with this by focusing on another of your strengths in a more positive way instead?
  
  
• Your TA has also taken this strengths analysis quiz, and may choose to offer their own reflections on whether they think the quiz accurately reflects their own strengths -- and if so, how they talk about and practice those strengths as part of their own academic and career development.
• Your TA may ask you to think about situations at work or school where conflict arose or where a group had to collaborate on a large project.  How might an understanding of different people's strengths help address conflict or improve the results of the collaboration?
• Advisers at the UW-Madison Career Exploration CenterLinks to an external site. sometimes ask students to reflect not only on their strengths, but also on their values.  Take a look at this handout on values Download handout on values and think about which ones you'd identify as closest to your own.  If you had to choose five most important values related to a future career from this list, which would they be?  Do these five values relate to the five strengths you've identified?

Here are some questions your TA may ask you to consider during section:

• Do you believe the tool has accurately pointed to your top five strengths?  Are any of these five strengths surprising to you?  Are there other strengths that you believe you posses which the tool did not identify?  
• Are any of your identified strengths something that you might otherwise have considered a weakness? Is it useful casting that characteristic as a strength instead?
• How might you articulate these identified strengths on your LinkedIn page or in a resume?
• What other kinds of reflective assessments besides "CliftonStrengths" might be useful to explore?  Have you performed any assessments like this?

To learn more

• Taking Initiative Student Guide Download Taking Initiative Student Guide
   chapter 03, "Career theories and concepts."
• P. Alex Linley and Susan Harrington, "Playing to your strengths," Psychologist 19:2 (2006). Download P. Alex Linley and Susan Harrington, "Playing to your strengths," Psychologist 19:2 (2006).
   Important background article describing theory and history behind "Clifton Strengths" book. 
• Donald O. Clifton and James K. Harter, "Investing in strengths," in Kim S. Cameron, Jane E. Dutton, and Robert E. Quinn, eds., Positive Organizational Scholarship (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2003). Download Donald O. Clifton and James K. Harter, "Investing in strengths," in Kim S. Cameron, Jane E. Dutton, and Robert E. Quinn, eds., Positive Organizational Scholarship (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2003).
  Talks about the historical origins of the StrengthsFinder quiz that you took, and covers some of the research that has been done to test and validate this approach.
• Bill Gothard, Phil Mignot, Marcus Offer and Melvyn Ruff, "Career development theory," in Careers Guidance in Context (Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2001). Download Bill Gothard, Phil Mignot, Marcus Offer and Melvyn Ruff, "Career development theory," in Careers Guidance in Context (Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2001).
    A general introduction to contemporary career counseling.
• Timothy D. Hodges and Donald O. Clifton, "Strengths-based development in practice," in P. Alex Linley and Stephen Joseph, eds., Positive Psychology in Practice (New York: John Wiley, 2004). Download Timothy D. Hodges and Donald O. Clifton, "Strengths-based development in practice," in P. Alex Linley and Stephen Joseph, eds., Positive Psychology in Practice (New York: John Wiley, 2004).
  An earlier version of the research reported in the Hodges article below.
• Timothy D. Hodges and Jim Asplund, "Strengths development in the workplace," in P. Alex Linley, Susan Harrington, and Nicola Garcea, eds., Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology and Work (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). Download Timothy D. Hodges and Jim Asplund, "Strengths development in the workplace," in P. Alex Linley, Susan Harrington, and Nicola Garcea, eds., Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology and Work (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009).
  Argued "the strengths philosophy is the assertion that individuals are able to gain far more when they expend effort to build on their greatest talents than when they spend a comparable amount of effort to remediate their weaknesses".
• Robert Pryor and Jim Bright, "Complexity, uncertainty and career development theory," in The Chaos Theory of Careers (New York: Routledge, 2011). Download Robert Pryor and Jim Bright, "Complexity, uncertainty and career development theory," in The Chaos Theory of Careers (New York: Routledge, 2011).
  This brief chapter describes the basic ideas behind career development theories of the twentieth century.