An Online Personality Quiz

If you’re wondering what to do for an online career, take this brief personality quiz. While it’s not a substitute for a full-blown personality assessment, it may give you a sense of where you might fit in the world of online work.

Do you:
• Love a challenge?
• Think analytically?
• Organize and prioritize well?
• Constantly have new ideas?

Maybe you’re a researcher. You always know who’s guilty before the last page of a mystery, and no Sudoku puzzle is safe in your presence. You have a need to solve problems and “find the end of the maze,” and while you’re doing so, it doesn’t feel like work at all. Time flies.

If this sounds like you, consider a job in court research, or in a scientific niche. If your problem-solving skills work well on your friends’ or family’s personal issues, have a look at the growing life or executive coach niche.

Or do you prefer computers to people? If so, try home-based help desk and similar technical positions.

If you’ve read every Agatha Christie book, and only wish she had written more, consider becoming a Virtual Assistant to a private investigator. (If you’d like to qualify as a private investigator yourself, don’t forget state-specific licensing requirements. For an overview, go here.)

Do you:
• Have a knack for persuading people to see things your way?
• Have a good “feel” for people?
• Delegate with authority?
• Know how to fire people up and get them going?

Maybe you’re a leader. Good leaders are hard to find, but perhaps you need look no further than the mirror. Focus on jobs or projects that allow you maximum autonomy, and the opportunity to manage others. Project manager, forum moderator, virtual call center supervisor -- these are just some of the online gigs you may want to consider.

If you’re a “do-it-yourself” type, starting a home-based or online business in a niche you feel passionate about will let you see just how far these skills can take you.

Do you:
• Doodle anytime you have a pencil?
• Like working with your hands?
• Set your own trends rather than follow the current style?
• Express yourself freely?

Maybe you’re creative. Left to your own devices, you’re spontaneous and original. You often take joy in improvising, and your friends consider you artistic. People may look to you for guidance where “aesthetic” things are concerned.

If this sounds like you, you might find a perfect career fit as a photographer, artist, cartoonist, blogger, interior designer, greeting card writer, or advertising executive. Reach beyond “traditional” jobs (you’ll be uncomfortable there) to find your own career satisfaction.

Do you:
• Often serve as the sounding board for friends’ ideas or predicaments?
• Enjoy helping others?
• Live for social interaction?
• Love to talk or write?

Maybe you’re a communicator. When you talk, people listen. But just as importantly, when they talk, you listen. You’re a skilled communicator, with compassion and empathy.

With these skills, you could thrive in a career as a journalist or blogger, online teacher, radio or podcasting personality, concierge, sales representative, or customer care agent.