The Socio-Professional Role Test
What is my role in the world?
Many of us ask ourselves this question in trying to find the perfect career or occupation. But there is so much more to your role than just a career. I have put together a test to help you find your purpose with a bit more clarity. It is in a similar vein to the Money Personality Test and has only 18 questions.
You can take this test completely for free here (a new window will open.)
Once you have completed the test you can read the results here (or the more in-depth results at Project Personality.)
Interpreting and Discussing the Test
What do these letters mean? In short: you have just completed a sentence about your professional life goals:
I work within established structure to make change in…. (S)
I create my own structure to make change in…. (C)
…. my own life (O)
…. the world (W)
The Types
CO – The Wanderer
Wanderers are definitely an “against the grain” type and do not like to follow the crowd, nor can they even if they try. Basically they just want to be left alone and carve out a unique path that feels right. This can be expressed in art, theater, business, and many other areas. It isn’t as important to a Wanderer what other people are doing, and the “ways of the world” are not all that important either. In fact, Wanderers sometimes feel like a stranger in the crowd, unconcerned with what others typically think about. It is sometimes difficult to find an ideal career path for this type, as they often feel like they want to be left alone. A Wanderer will sometimes settle for a job that they do not like just so that they can have time to pursue what they really enjoy on the side, but inside this doesn’t make them content.
CW – The Revolutionary
Revolutionaries throw out the old social order. This can be on a small or large scale. They can’t work well within the system as it’s set up, but tend to have very different ideas about how things should go. Professionally they often work for themselves and find some way of creating both change and having influence. Revolutionaries can be on both ends of the spectrum. Some will be bank robbers and others will be incredibly talented scientists, writers, and business owners. As a Revolutionary you will struggle to “fit in” early in life, but then will want to do just the opposite as you get older. A Revolutionary simply does not see the world as it is set up as ideal, and will (increasingly as they get older) work to make it a better place in their eyes, especially for others who are like they are.
SO – The Performer
Probably the most common type, the Performer feels most comfortable fitting in with a good team of people on the job and doing well. They are no ground-breaking types, but are very good at being dependable, loyal, hardworking and trustworthy. They tend to get along well with others because to them, this is required for a happy life. They usually have an easier time than other types finding a career that fits them, though they will often question whether they are good enough in others’ eyes. This can lead to some career trouble. Because their sphere of immediate influence is captivating and anxiety-producing enough for them, they are not truly that interested in the “big picture” of the professional and social world on a large scale.
SW – The Leader
These people can truly initiate change from within established professions. They are not followers by any stretch, but they instinctively know that in order to make change in the world they need to adapt themselves on some level to first “fit in.” They will usually go to school, do well, and find a good job early on. Once there, they emerge as a force and will use their minds to make significant changes. Leaders can find success in almost any professional arena, but in order to be happy they will have to feel like the work they do is valid and important. They are happiest when influencing others and creating systems that improve people’s lives. While their coworkers merely toil away they are truly interested in what they do.
If you liked this test also check out some other tests at The Great Office Escape:
Recommended
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The Self Employment TestMarch 19th, 2010
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Self Employment for the Myers Briggs Types: The ArtisansMarch 6th, 2010
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Self Employment for the Myers Briggs Types: The RationalsMarch 5th, 2010
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Self Employment for the Myers Briggs Types: The IdealistsMarch 4th, 2010
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Self Employment for the Myers Briggs Types: The GuardiansMarch 3rd, 2010
Alex A. January 27, 2011 at 1:04 am
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Great website! I think there are many valuable information and advices here. Along the same line, I came across the following website which I found interesting. Traditionally, personality tests such as MBTI have been used as career aptitude test. However, these tests have a very limited scope as they ignore many important factors such as person’s skills, values, and interests.
There have been many advancements in the area of career aptitude testing. Usage of artificial intelligence to evaluate suitability of a job for a person is one of the these techniques. You can take a complete version of the MBTI personality test plus many others such as memory, IQ, problem solving, and patience tests in OptYourLife. This website’s expert system tries to find the most suitable career path for you using neural network. Moreover, salary of different careers will be considered in the final analysis to provide a more insightful advice for you:
http://www.optyourlife [dot] com/
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A different Alex December 19, 2016 at 12:25 pm
This looks very interesting, but the link to Personality Project is expired.
mike February 28, 2017 at 5:19 pm
Thanks for pointing this out – we will be getting this test back online in the near future and will update the link at that time.