Career Anchors Inventory

The items in this inventory are designed to help you think about what you want out of your career. This is not a standardized test but an inventory that will help identify what is essential for you to consider in determining next career steps. It should take 15-20 minutes to complete.

For each of the items that follow, rate how true each statement is for you (never, sometimes, often, or always).

CA 1: I want to be so good at what I do that others will always seek my expert advice. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 2: I am most fulfilled in my work when I have been able to integrate the efforts of others toward a common task. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 3: I dream of having a career that will allow me the freedom to do a job in my own way and on my own schedule. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 4: I am always on the lookout for ideas that would permit me to start my own enterprise. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 5: Security and stability are more important to me than freedom and autonomy. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 6: I would rather leave my organization than be put into a job that would compromise my ability to pursue personal and family concerns. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 7: I will feel successful in my career only if I have a feeling of having made a real contribution to the welfare of society. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 8: I dream of a career in which I will always have the challenge of solving ever more difficult problems. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 9: I will feel successful in my career only if I can develop my skills to an increasing level of competence. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 10: I dream of being in charge of a whole organization. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

For each of the items that follow, rate how true each statement is for you (never, sometimes, often, or always).

CA 11: I am most fulfilled in my work when I am completely free to define my own tasks, schedules, and procedures. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 12: I would not stay in an organization that would give me assignments that would jeopardize my job security. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 13: Building a business of my own is more important to me than being a high level manager in someone else's organization. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 14: I have felt most fulfilled in my career when I have been able to use my talents in the service of others. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 15: I will feel successful in my career only if I have met and overcome increasingly difficult challenges. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 16: I dream of a career that will permit me to integrate my personal, family, and work needs. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 17: Becoming a senior functional or technical manager in my area of expertise is more attractive to me than becoming a general manager. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 18: I will feel successful in my career only if I achieve complete autonomy and freedom to define my work. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 19: I usually seek jobs in organizations that will give me a sense of stability and security. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 20: I feel most fulfilled when I have been able to build something that is primarily the result of my own skill and effort. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 21: I will feel successful only if I become a high level leader in some organization. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 22: Using my talents to make the world a better place to live is what drives my career decisions. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 23: I have been most fulfilled in my career when I have been able to solve seemingly unsolvable problems or won out over impossible odds. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 24: I feel successful in life only if I have been able to balance my personal, family, and career requirements. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 25: I dream of a career that will allow me to feel a sense of stability and security. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 26: I would rather leave my organization than to attempt a rotational assignment that would take me out of my area of expertise. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 27: Balancing the demands of my personal and professional life is more important to me than a high level leadership position. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 28: I dream of being in a career that makes a real contribution to humanity and society. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 29: I will feel successful in my career only if I have created an enterprise of my own based on my own ideas and skills.

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 30: Becoming a general manager is more attractive to me than becoming a senior functional manager in my area of expertise. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

For each of the items that follow, rate how true each statement is for you (never, sometimes, often, or always).

CA 31: The chance to do a job in my own way, free of rules and constraints, is very important to me. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 32: I prefer work opportunities that strongly challenge my problem-solving and competitive skills. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 33: I dream of starting up and building my own business. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 34: I would rather leave my organization than accept a position that would undermine my ability to be of service to others. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 35: I am most fulfilled in my work when I have been able to use my special skills and talents. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 36: I would rather leave my organization than accept a job that would take me away from the path to general management. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 37: I am most fulfilled in my work life when I feel that I have complete financial and employment security. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 38: I would rather leave my organization than accept a job that would reduce my autonomy and freedom. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 39: I have always sought out work opportunities that minimize interference with my personal and family life. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

CA 40: Working on problems that are difficult to solve is more important to me than achieving a high level leadership role. *

Never

Sometimes

Often

Always

Review Your 40 Statements

Before answering the next question, review the statements below and identify the five item numbers that describe you most clearly. Statements you rated “Always” may be a good place to start.

CA Top 5: Select the 5 item numbers that are most clearly descriptive of how you feel.

Source: Edgar H. Schein, Career Anchors, 3rd Edition

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