Lifelong satisfaction in a job is rare. Some 70 percent of all workers are dissatisfied with what they do and would welcome a change. For the remaining relatively content 30 percent, there’s a significant reason we continue in our jobs. The fact is we enjoy work that fulfills our deeper needs and thinking styles. Unfortunately, most of us don’t probe our psychodynamics before we choose a job.
We all might be better off if we did.
While a professor of management at the University of Southern California, Dr. Alan Rowe uncovered several crucial factors that relate to happy work adjustment. He identified four basic thinking styles. When we match these styles with what our job requires, the chances are good we’ll be professionally satisfied.
If you feel unhappy with your position and wonder if a change will help you live up to more of your potential, the quiz below might help. It is based on a test devised by Rowe after some six years of research, and it will suggest whether you and your job are meant for each other.
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TEST: Choose two answers for each question. Give yourself 2 points for your first choice and 1 point for your next choice.
Do the quiz for yourself first. Then, guess what Sammy would say.
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1. I enjoy a job that a. has much variety b. involves people c. allows independent action d. is technical and defined
2. My main objective is to a. be the best in my field b. feel secure in my job c. get recognition for my work d. have a status position
3. When faced with a problem, I a. apply careful analysis b. rely on my feelings c. look for creative paths d. rely on proven approaches
4. When uncertain about what to do, I a. search for facts b. delay making a decision c. explore a possible compromise d. rely on hunches and intuition
5. Whenever possible, I avoid a. creating incomplete work b. conflict with others c. using numbers or formulas d. long debates
6. In social settings, I generally a. think about what is being said b. listen to conversations c. observe what is going on d. speak with others
7. I am good at remembering a. places where I met people b. people’s personalities c. people’s faces d. people’s names
8. Others consider me a. disciplined / precise b. supportive / compassionate c. imaginative / a perfectionist d. aggressive / domineering
9. I dislike a. boring work b. being rejected c. following rules d. losing control of others
10. I am especially good at a. solving difficult problems b. interacting with others c. seeing many possibilities d. recalling dates and facts

“A & P”
The Personality Quiz for Sammy and you!
Tally up the number values you’ve assigned to each letter. Place that number in the open line under each column. The two letters that have the highest scores correspond to your two major thinking styles as defined in the explanation section that follows.
Explanation:
A. ANALYTICAL: Analytical people are problem solvers. They have a desire to find the best possible answers.
They examine lots of details and use large amounts of data. They are innovative, creative and enjoy variety.
B. BEHAVIORAL: Behavioral people need human contacts. They are supportive, empathetic people. They use little data in making decisions, preferring to talk things out with others. They communicate easily and prefer to use persuasion instead of pressure to win their point of view.
C. CONCEPTUAL: Conceptual people are broad-minded thinkers who like to contemplate the “big picture.” They are future-oriented and achievement-oriented and tend to be independent, humanistic, and creative.
D. DIRECTIVE: Directive people are authoritarian taskmasters. They need power and expect results. They act decisively and are rule- and regulations-minded. They are highly verbal and tend to rely on intuition.
These patterns predict the kind of work that might suit a person best. Businesspeople, for example tend to score high on the analytical and conceptual scales. They like to consider many options and develop broad plans for their companies. Technical people, engineers, scientists, and others in similar lines of work are analytical and directive. They enjoy solving problems logically, working with numbers, and finding mathematical and scientific answers.
Those in the helping arts, like nurses, doctors, and social workers, combine conceptual and behavior frames of mind. They like to work closely with people in developing an understanding of human affairs. People who combine the analytical-behavioral frameworks tend to go into the fields of education and law, while directivebehavioral people are often found in sales and politics.
The highest score obtainable in any category is 50, but few people ever make this. The closer your score is to 50, the stronger your thinking style is in that category. Match your thinking style with your current [or future] job, and consider how well your work satisfies [or will satisfy] your personality needs.
Didato, Salvatore V. “Does Your Job Satisfy Your Personality Needs?” The Big Book of Personality
Tests. New York: Black Dog and Levanthal Publishers, 2003. 111-12. Print.