Mark Uychoco

Unit 1 Self Assessment

I really enjoyed making my way through the Kruder Assessments. Reading through the questions

and scenarios was very eye opening, and I enjoyed sitting on some of the topics and really thinking

about them. I know this assignment was meant to be substantial, and now I can see why. These

assessments allowed me to think about my interests and skills in a critical lens that I never used before;

at least in this depth. Throughout the assessments, the Holland codes that carried over were Realistic

and Conventional; secondary codes were Enterprising and Social. In studying the results, I see these

codes to be true. In regard to Realistic, I like doing things with my hands; I prefer this over most things. I

don’t enjoy sitting stationary and doing the same thing over and over again. I like to work with my

hands, I like tools, I like learning how things operate and using my knowledge to troubleshoot. I get a

sense of self-achievement when I figure things out in a mechanical or technical sense. I grew up doing a

lot of home remodeling with my father. That gave me a great foundation of how to do things and the

knowledge and confidence to figure it out and do it myself. During the height of Covid quarantine, I

remodeled the whole living room in my condo. I built new walls and shelves, ran new wiring. Not

everyone has the ability to do that, but I do, and I am glad that I do. I like problems with practical and

concrete solutions. A lot of the career interests made sense. There were a lot skewed towards

engineering, surveyor, or inspector. This makes sense. I just said in conversation not that long ago, that

upon graduating, I really want to find a job where I can work more with my hands. After doing these

assessments, my statement of what I want for my future stands; it all makes a little more sense after

seeing my Holland codes. But, there was one career interest that really stood out, because it didn’t
make sense….it was a horse trainer! I have no idea where that one came from, but it did make me laugh.

And maybe that is an “aha” moment, maybe I should think about working on a ranch!

The skills and value based assessments were clear reminders of what I personally get out of

work and what I put into my work. I value my working relationships tremendously. I aim to build a family

at work and create a safe space for everyone to fully be themselves and be a part of a team. So, my co-

workers ranking number 1 and ranking the highest on the Work Values Inventory is spot on. Working in

an environment with bad relationships and bad energy is not fun for me. It makes the days longer and

the work harder; I do not want that for myself and I do not want that for anyone else I share my day

with. Lifestyle and Challenge were the next highest; which again makes sense. Work/life balance is

important for me in the next phase of my career. I have three kids and I want to enjoy my time with

them while I am home; I don’t want to be in a career where I bring work home and I am constantly

plugged in and not paying attention to my kids and not enjoying life. Life is more than work, and that is

an important thing for me moving forward. My lowest ranking value was prestige. I do not need the

fanfare of a job well done, that is not important to me. As long as I know I am doing good, and my

bosses above me know I am doing good, and whoever is below me knows I am doing good – that is all

that matters. I do not take stock in my ego in that sense. The Holland codes in regard to my skills were

Realistic, Conventional, Enterprising; realistic taking the highest marking. I am confident in my scoring of

Realistic and it was interesting to read the summaries of Conventional and Enterprising. A lot of the

tasks that I do now are conventional – keeping records, maintaining schedules and orders, establishing

and following guidelines. This is all part of my daily workload as a store manager. In terms of

enterprising, I am confident in my leadership and persuasion. I think I do a good job of coaching and

meeting my goals and the goals of my team – both on an individual and organizational level.
 In completing the Motivation and Career Anchors Assessment, my primary career anchor is

Managerial Competence and my secondary career anchor is Security, Stability, Organizational Identity.

Once I read the descriptions, the results did not surprise me. The description of managerial competence

fully encompasses what I think my strengths are. I am fully aware, thanks to my journey within getting

my degree, with what it means to be a good leader. To be a good leader, you need to wear many hats at

once. You need to be competent in solving problems (analytic), working with people (interpersonal) and

emotional accountability/competence. Throughout my classes I have come to fully understand what

each of these areas mean to me and I can see that this is where a lot of my current strengths lie. I enjoy

working with my team, building them up and achieving our goals together. While I recognize that I could

do better in each of these three areas, I am confident in my place right now and I know I will only get

better from here. I work within all three of these areas every day as a store manager. With my

secondary anchor (Security, Stability, Organizational Identity), I did not feel too tightly to it until I really

sat with and read the description. Yes, stability is important to me and providing for my family, but I

never really thought too heavily on it before. The statement about geographic location really stood out

to me. I have a wife and three kids. We are rooted in Chicago, our families are here, our help is here. We

rely on our “village” for childcare and help though any curve that life throws our way. While I would love

to move around, I also realistically have to think about what works for my family as a whole. And staying

in Chicago, especially as we rely on so much help, is too important. I think I would have to sacrifice this

to avoid moving around. My lowest anchor was in Entrepreneurial Creativity. This is no surprise to me. I

do not have any dream or ambition to start a business of my own. The prestige and need for large and

constant monetary gains and notoriety is of the upmost importance for me.

With the three additional and new assessments I took, I was not surprised by the results. In fact,

they all really described me perfectly, it was kind of weird to read the results and realize how true they

were. The one that stood out the most was the Enneagram Personality Test. The statements that stood
out the most were “I am defined by a desire to experience everything good and pleasurable that the

world has to offer, while avoiding boredom. Although they appear enthusiastic and fun loving, deep

down they have a fear of negative emotion and tend to disconnect from deeper feelings.” How was this

so spot on? I love adventure, I love being out in the city, traveling and exploring new cities and

countries. I love this part of life and myself, but on the opposite hand, I disconnect and shut down when

the deeper feelings appear. I don’t like to talk about them, but I am actively trying to change this about

myself. I recognize my avoidance of my emotion and I do not want to be like that or show that example

to my three sons. I also took the Jung test, which showed that I am an extrovert, which is true. If I were

dropped in a new location, all alone with people I never met, I could get along just fine. I enjoy

connection with people and consider myself outgoing. The last assessment I took was the Disc

Assessment which showed my disc type to be influence. Influence was described as “I look for ways to

motivate people and drive enthusiasm”. This is very much true to me. At work, I love coaching my peers.

I love having conversations that will trigger their growth, both personally and professionally. I like seeing

people grow, make positive changes, and find success. I find these assessments to generally be very

truthful and provoking. I am able to think about things and rate my reactions in a way that I normally

wouldn’t have time to think about. During a day, I sometimes do not have the time to sit with my

thoughts before acting/reacting. These assessments are a great tool to remember who I am and what I

want out of life – both personally and professionally.