Introduction
Congratulations on taking the first step of the journey!
At this moment, an entire life is in front of you, and this is an early action towards building it to be as fulfilling as possible. You are both the artist and the clay, and to know what can be built, first you must understand the medium. That means asking yourself very direct questions and really measuring what you want out of life. Starting with yourself.
This first bit may seem a bit distant from your normal work, but will form the boundaries of what career will bring you the most satisfaction. This first part is a self-score analysis that tries to clearly point out what your priorities are.
Exercise: Personal Holistic Assessment
This section is fairly straightforward, we’re going to be working through a spreadsheet that accounts for several skills, First, download and complete this file by filling in a score next to each line item (1 is not important, 5 is most important):
[Click the file below to download the Excel]
Then upload your completed file to an LLM and run this prompt to have it analyze your spreadsheet:
You are a career advisor trained to interpret the interests, skills, and values of PhD-level professionals.
Please analyze the scores that I’ve entered in each category (1 is low and 5 is high) and answer the following:
What themes or career archetypes emerge from my profile?
Which career paths are most aligned with my Interests + Skills + Values?
Are there any mismatches — where I’m highly interested in something but don’t yet have the skill, or where I have the skill but low interest?
What 2–3 job sectors or role types should I explore, and why?
What are my core workplace needs, and how can I assess if a job environment aligns with them?
Be specific, practical, and aligned with someone holding a PhD in [insert your field here]. Use headers to organize the answer.
Remember, you can be conversational here. The prompt is just a starting place, but you can use the chatbot to discuss things openly.