I have run into many people these days talking about the Enneagram in particular. It's a
personality profile that is extremely easy to understand and, in my opinion, offers some interesting things to consider about your patterns. I think it's great that people are doing what they can to understand themselves and dig a little deeper into their patterns.
Like anything, I am MOST INTERESTED in how your heart / your parts REACT to information presented to you vs. the actual data itself. Still with the Enneagram, those who write books / webpages about it offer you suggestions about your deepest fears, your deepest desires, various patterns etc. I encourage you to read those after you take a test and really wrestle with them. "Huh, that really resonates".... or "nope, that's really not me." All with the goal of further understanding yourself.
I also recently discovered how I can offer a couple formalized assessment tools to clients and figured I would put up this blog post to plop all the information together and you can use these tools if you would like.
First up is the STRONG INTEREST INVENTORY.
In brief, I like using this for clients that would like to get some ideas about career paths that line up with your INTERESTS, not aptitude. You take this test and rate your interests in various activities and it sends you a report of careers and paths and even work styles that you line up with (or college courses / volunteer opportunities depending on which assessment you choose).
I am big on chasing after desire in your life, and if you are at a transition point in your life... considering college, a career pivot, or even want help thinking through your interests to see if you can apply that information to your current career path, this could be a cool, generally inexpensive way to get some info. Here's their formal website with the explanations.
I purchased an account so I can offer these assessments, just click below, take the assessment, and then you only have to pay for the assessment if you want the results. Here are the links:
Strong Interest Inventory with Skills Confidence Inventory - (this is a nice little add-on that also rates your personal confidence in the skills you would need for that particular career path. I think of it as almost like a to-explore list you can then use for personal growth)
Strong Interest Inventory, College Edition - Includes info on college courses and volunteer opportunities
Strong Interest Inventory and MBTI (Myers Briggs) Personality Inventory - this gives a ton of data that also includes your Myers-Briggs personality information and how it integrates with your STRONG inventory
The Enneagram
There is so much I could type here, but if you are here, I likely have sent this to you and explained why. Here is the Enneagram Institute's web page with lots of information about the different types, and also a link to the assessment that they apparently prefer to recommend. It's $12, so it won't break the bank, but to me, adds a little credibility that it's not just a free one created out of someone's curiosity / passion.
The RHETI Type Indicator (Enneagram) Test
My hope is to keep updating this list as I recommend things to clients. If you love a particular assessment, let me know and I'll add it here.