A professional assessment is an essential step for anyone wishing to take stock of their career and take off in a new direction. If you want to know how to make a success of this assessment, don’t miss this article. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot.

What is a professional life review?

This is a personal analysis carried out by every professional at some point in his or her life. It summarizes past objectives in order to project the individual professionally into the future. This assessment enables you to apply for internal mobility to a higher position, or to enter the job market knowing your strengths, skills, personality and so on. This document should not be confused with a skills assessment, which is nothing more than a review of your professional skills.

Here, skills are only one component, not the core of the analysis. For recruiters, the professional assessment is a very important document, demonstrating not only your preparation and interest in the job, but also your skills and personality. If you haven’t yet thought about doing one, you’ll know what to do by the end of this article.

Why should you consider a career assessment after at least 10 years in the profession?

REASON N°1: DIAGNOSE YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE
First and foremost, it’s recommended that you have at least ten years’ experience in your field before thinking about a serious assessment. The first objective of such a document is to diagnose your professional life. But why? For the simple reason that it is assumed that in ten years of experience, the person concerned has experienced enough. He’s therefore in a position to identify the positive and negative points of his experience. On the other hand, someone who has only just started working will have nothing concrete to put into a professional assessment.

REASON N°2: BE AWARE OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL ASSETS AND SKILLS
When you’re in full employment, you may not always be aware of all your qualities and skills. This document helps you get to know who you really are. Most of the time, it’s done by professionals. So there’s no risk of the results being biased. It can also be done at your employer’s request for a promotion. Those looking to make a career change also need this assessment.

REASON N°3: ANALYZE POSSIBLE PROJECTS AND THE SKILLS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE THEM
A career assessment is not done at random. It can be motivated by a career change or by the desire to reach a higher level in your field. Who wants to stay in the same job for over 10 years if they can do better? By carrying out a professional assessment, you’ll be able to orientate your future professional life, and define the lines you need to follow to achieve your new professional goals.

REASON N°4: SELL YOUR PROFESSIONAL IMAGE
A person who knows who they are is a thousand times more likely to present themselves well to a recruiter than someone who doesn’t know enough about themselves. Professional results enable you to learn about your assets and skills in reason n°2, and this reason n°2 leads to reason n°4, which is the one that enables you to better sell your professional image. It’s not a question of over-inflated ego, but if the professional assessment is carried out with the aim of professional retraining and not with the aim of internal mobility, this reason takes on its full meaning.

REASON 5: TO GET TO KNOW YOURSELF BETTER ON A PERSONAL LEVEL
This last reason may seem fleeting to you, but it makes perfect sense. The purpose of a career assessment is not simply to take stock of your skills and strengths. It’s also about taking stock of your personality. Whether you like it or not, personality has a lot to do with the type of profession and position you can occupy. Your personality determines your leadership style. This assessment also helps you find out who you are: extrovert or not, leader or not, etc.

What are the components of a career assessment?

A career assessment is based on three fundamental pillars:

your current situation ;
your envisioned future ;
and finally, feasibility.

WHERE AM I AND WHAT CAN I DO NOW?
The assessment starts at the present moment. What position do you currently hold? If you were taken on as a professional in your field, what could you do? What are your qualities as a person? What type of leadership do you embody? These are just some of the questions you need to answer. In practice, this is done either on online sites or with people who specialize in carrying out professional assessments.

WHAT WOULD I LIKE TO DO?
Are you satisfied with your job? Are you satisfied with your job? In 5 or 10 years’ time, where do you see yourself professionally? If you think you need to change job or position, do you have the required skills? These are just some of the questions and analyses you need to make in order to choose your future. To get there, base your choices on your motivations and desires.

WHAT DOES THE JOB MARKET SAY?
You’re thinking of professional retraining or even internal mobility. But is the new profession you’re considering viable or losing ground? Is there a need for someone in a senior position in your company? You need to be able to adapt what you want to the realities of the job market.

Finally, the conclusion is the last hidden phase of a career assessment. It summarizes the three phases above: your personality traits, your skills, your projects and detailed action plans. Often, these conclusions are written down in a document that is submitted to the employer or employee for analysis, depending on who initiated the assessment.

Normally, you have the theory behind the so-called professional assessment. If you’ve already done one in your professional life, can you share with us the mistakes to avoid?