A number of testing mechanisms exist to identify one's suitability for certain occupations. One of these is the 16PF, a self-report questionnaire utilized by psychologists, human resource professionals and counselors to attain detailed information on sixteen personality traits which are considered essential in determining career suitability. These traits include warmth, intelligence, emotional stability, dominance, impulsiveness, conformity, boldness, sensitivity, suspiciousness, imagination, shrewdness, insecurity, radicalism, self-sufficiency, self-discipline, and tension (GVSU.edu, 2002). The 16PF also allows a means to quantify "neurosis, anxiety, adjustment, and behavioral problems" and to identify problem areas such as "academic, emotional, and social problems" (NCSpearson.com, 2002). The purpose of this paper will be to evaluate the usefulness of 16PF results in determining an individual's suitability for the counseling field. To this aim, the 16PF test results for the fictional "Mr. Smith" will be evaluated. Although the 16PF results for Mr. Smith suggested the fields of counseling and social work, there were some interesting returns in regard to several of the sixteen personality factors which raise the question of whether or not Mr. Smith could indeed be a good counselor.
Mr. Smith tested normal on most of his test results. This was true for the factors of self-control and empathy, both of which were average. This "normalcy" is actually good in these factors. Although a good counselor must be capable of empathy he or she must not become overly involved in their patients" problems if they are to be effective. At the same time while a counselor must be able to exert self-control no one expects them to be superhuman in this qualification. Similar arguments could be presented for Mr. Smith's average results for most other 16PF categories. There were, however, several factors in which Mr.
