Sunday, September 15, 2013

People Keys {A Review)

A helpful tool to understanding how your child (or even you) works and thinks.

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PeopleKeys

The Essentials - What you need to know
PeopleKeys
 DISC Career Style Report
• Age Range: 13 to adult
• An online test that identifies the students personality style, using the DISC system.  The results can be printed.
• $12.00

The Review

 photo peoplekeys-discprofile_zpsfb30d227.jpg We are at a place in life where the question "what do you want to do when you grow up" is becoming a little more urgent.  I wanted to review this product from PeopleKeys because I hoped it would give my daughter a little more insight into what she might enjoy doing as a career so we can begin to plan high school and higher education. I think that it accomplished that goal.  

This product is a really quick, painless way to get a wealth of information.  The test is online.  We were sent a list of instructions and a link via e-mail which we followed to a test.  I read the questions to Zippy to make sure that she understood the vocabulary.   One type of question asked the student to put words in order from what is most like them to what is least like them.  That portion led to quite an interesting vocabulary lesson but in the end she understood what the questions were asking and I believe that we got an accurate assessment.  There were also multiple choice questions.  The assessment did not take very long to do.  When the end came it surprised me because in the beginning they make clear that the test will take some time to take.  When the test portion was over it offered an analysis that could printed out.

You may be asking what is DISC? DISC is a personal assessment tool.  At the most basic level it classifies a person with four different aspects:  Dominance, Influence, Stable, Compliant.   There are many applications for the DISC assessment tool.  The test that Zippy took, the DISC Career Style Report, is actually designed to look at a person's strengths and weaknesses in the workplace and suggest potential careers based on the test information.

This assessment tool offered more than just a list of potential jobs.  First it described her style.  It gave a general description then it went into some detail in how her style interacts with other people, with projects and time management.  Everything in the report was phrased in the context of an employment situation, which was a little odd for me to read about my thirteen year old daughter, but this test is meant for thirteen and older and it is an assessment of how a person would react in a work environment.  There were also three boxes that gave bullet points of general characteristics, motivators, and her ideal environment.  I'm glad that this portion of the analysis was first.  It allowed me to hold up their assessment to what I know of my child. She could hold it up for herself and ask the question is this how I behave in this situation or that?  I agreed with the vast majority of this description, which allowed me and her to accept that the list of careers might be something that she would be a good fit for.

The analysis then when on and described Zippy's professional style and give some interactive workplace characteristics.  Then it gave some tips for her particular style in the workplace.  Every style has strengths and weaknesses.  This really gave some wonderful insights in how to interact with other styles, people who see the world differently.  Zippy is a high I, by the way.  Here is an example of one of the tips it gave her: high Is have a loose interpretation of time, and it suggested that other people may be more structured in their timeframes.  It gave several suggestions on how to not be late for important appointments.  I found this to be especially enlightening as a parent because it gave me some insight into my child.  I know that I am almost her complete opposite on the DISC spectrum.  It helped me to work out some frustrations that we were having with schoolwork.  Because right now her workplace is her school, which happens to be in our home.

Last, but certainly not least is the lists of occupations enjoyed by a particular style.  It gave lists for the two styles that she scored the highest in.  In total there are more than one hundred different occupational choices.  A really nice starting place to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up.

Overall I think this would be a valuable tool for any middle or high school student who is looking to understand how they interact with people and how that might affect the job they may have or one day have.









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