Running Head: Career Assessment, MAPP, Strength Finder 1

Career Assessment, MAPP, Strength Finder

Kelli Amaya

Wilmington University

April 6, 2018
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Step 1: MY PROFESSIONAL CAREER MOTIVATORS

I have always wanted to pursue a career in the helping fields for as long as I can

remember. When I was about 17yrs-old, I fell into a wonderful chance opportunity to work as an

EKG technician while I was a Nanny for a Medical Doctor and Psychologist. I learned how to

perform cardiac and pulmonary testing in one of their medical facilities while interacting with

geriatric patients with chronic mental illness. That opportunity lead to working full-time as a

Pulmonary Technician with a private doctor and then in 3 major hospitals in New York City for

about 5-6 years. While working at Bellevue Hospital in New York City as a Pulmonary

Technician, I worked with some of the brightest minds in medicine and medical research.

Working in a full functioning laboratory setting, I performed advance breathing tests on

patients with mild to severe lung dysfunction. I learned medical technology, diagnosing,

infectious disease control and prevention, sanitizing techniques, advanced blood drawing

techniques and testing. I also assisted medical residents, students and fellows with leading

research on HIV/AIDS, new drug therapies, and asbestos exposure in high-risk occupations. The

studies were later published in major medical journals of JAMA and NEJM.

As a technician, I assisted with numerous medical procedures, operating various medical

devices and medical software. I perfected my administrative skills in medical billing,

transcription, and coding, office management, front desk operations, patient advocacy,

professional communication skills and even learned to speak Spanish fluently to improve testing

results and barriers that affected access to adequate care for Latino patients.

I encountered patients from every ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic group as I

continued to work in the top research hospitals in New York City. Bellevue hospital is known to

be the best trauma and psychiatric hospital in the world, and it’s located in the heart of Alphabet

City in New York City. Working in the most heavily historic melting pot of the world, I was
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culturally immersed, and indelibly infused with a love for every culture, ethnic and

socioeconomic group. I loved working in a field that improved the lives of the people I touched.

I was forever changed and in 1992 I was encouraged by my supervisors and co-workers to go

back to school to pursue a career as a physician in recognition of my efforts for influencing,

leading and improving the lives of others.

That experience influenced my decision to attend New York University and study Pre-

Med sciences with a minor in Psychology and Sociology. I was determined to expand my

professional career by learning more about other cultures and ethnicities in a formal setting.

Although my career pursuit to become a physician was cut short when my daughter was born

with a life-threatening illness, my professional journey opened doors to work with low-income

populations in Medical Education, Career, Family and Substance Abuse Counseling and Case

Management.

Over the course of 20 years as I moved through all these wonderful helping fields in the

human service sector, I learned many complex and important skills that shaped my love for

working with diverse groups. As a Counselor, I became a student member of the American

Psychological Association and took many continuing education courses including going to

CADC training to increase my clinical knowledge in evidence-based treatment modalities.

Step 2: STRENGTHS FINDER ASSESSMENT RESULTS

The Strengths Finder Assessment revealed my top 5 talents are in: 1) Communication; 2)

Analytical; 3) Restorative; 4) Woo; and 5) Belief. As a Communicator I can draw people in and

make them feel comfortable. I can easily put my thoughts into words and be a good

conversationalist and public speaker. I long to be with friends and can easily pull newcomers into

a conversation. I like being a part of a team that allows others voices to be heard and recognize

conversations are a valuable source of new information. As an Analytical, I like to search for
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reason and cause and can think about all the factors that might affect a situation. I give deep

thought to many matters and people benefit from my clear-sightedness and sympathetic insight. I

rely less on emotion and more on logic to draw reasonable conclusions. I expend mental energy

thinking about data and measurements and aim to understand what the numbers mean. As an

objective and logical thinker, I can calculate measurements in my head and count progress, profit

and attendance. I get frustrated with people who can’t support what they’re saying without the

facts. I notice problems as they arise and figure out how to fix them.

As a Restorative, I adept well at dealing with problems. I can figure out what’s wrong

and resolve it. I gravitate to conversations that are intelligent, unemotional, and reasonable where

thoughts are freely exchanged. I consider what I need to change to better myself as a person and

a professional and can be surprised when I realize how much time I spent thinking about an

important problem, issue, or question. I like to prepare for things and execute much better when

I’m prepared. Woo inclined makes me a people lover. I love meeting new people and winning

them over. I like to break the ice and make connections with another person. I can welcome

outsiders and make them feel comfortable in personal as well as professional settings. I make

people feel like they met a new friend.

Finally, being a person with “Belief” I am highly motivated by my value system. I want

purpose and a meaningful existence. I am determined to contribute to the well-being of

individuals and family. I am very honest and committed to truth and abhor lying. My work ethic

enables me to give my children what I didn’t have. I am aware of other people’s moods,

thoughts, and responses to various experiences. I place more value on purpose and what I do than

I do on money.

Step 3: MAPP ASSESSMENT

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The MAP Assessment was very similar to the Strengths Finder Assessment in that the

results matched the careers from the Clifton Assessment almost perfectly. It chose Social

Worker, Clergy, Community Health Worker, Educational, Vocational School Counselor, Health

Educator, Medical and Public Health Social Worker, Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Counselor, Probation Officer and Correctional Treatment Specialist. I have worked in 3 out of 4

of these careers already and had considerable success because it is equally matched with my

strengths. You must have good communication skills, be good with people you’ve just met and

must be able to establish a rapport with clients quickly when you’re a Substance Abuse

Counselor. You must also be Analytical and be able to make very solid and accurate conclusions,

treatment plans, and diagnosis from client information, interviews, assessment tests and

behavioral patterns. To establish clear boundaries, you must have a clear belief system and

having mine in family speaks to why my clients always see me as a “family member” they never

had. I am also able to speak and write my client notes clearly and concisely because of my oral

and written communication strengths.

After taking the assessment test, I learned you must be honest while you’re taking it or

else it won’t be accurate, and the results could give you a false sense of your strengths. I learned

that my strengths are well matched with the fields I’ve been in so far and it speaks to the

immense joy I’ve had working with clients and seeing them thrive and achieve the goals they

once thought were impossible.

Step 4: CHOSEN CAREER

I chose a Substance Abuse Counselor, Epidemiologist or Postsecondary Teacher. I chose

these fields because they are a good fit to my results from the Strengths Finder and MAPP

Assessment tests and I have already worked successfully in 2 out 3 of them. Being a Substance

Abuse Counselor and Postsecondary Teacher allow me to use all my strengths together in
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combination which is the most enjoyable feeling ever. I enjoy using my communication,

analytical, belief, woo and restorative strengths to help people who are in crisis see a way out. I

communicate with clients in sessions and use my analytical skills to develop treatment plans,

diagnose which puts into practice the restorative process of fixing problems in a way that

captivates my clients into action to help themselves. My belief system of family values allows

my clients to feel that they are genuinely cared for and when I am with them that they come first.

This is very important in the field of Counseling to be successful.

I also chose an Epidemiologist because I am getting a lot of experience during my

Internship working with Epidemiologists in the Riverside County Epidemiology & Program

Evaluation Department. I enjoy researching data and organizing the quantitative and qualitative

data to help the team strategize the Trauma Informed Care Initiative. I may never have chosen

this field if I didn’t have this opportunity to get hands on experience to see that it fits perfectly

with my Analytical strengths. It’s also attractive because it also pays very well and would help

me to achieve a sense of accomplishment after some career setbacks and salary stagnations in the

last few years.

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References

US Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2016). Retrieved from: https://www.bls.gov/

Assessment.com. (n.d.). MAPP Assessment. Retrieved from:

https://www.assessment.com/MemberCenter/MAPPMatching/MAPPMatchSelectONETS

ocCode

Rath, T. (2007). Strengths Finder 2.0. Strengths Finder Career Assessment. Retrieved from:

https://gx.gallup.com/services/pdf?v=pdfGeneration.prince.7.0.binPath