How diplomatic are you? Take this quiz and rate your skills

"Where do you see yourself in five years?" is a popular question recruiters and employers ask job candidates. OfficeTeam (Memo Park, Calif.; 650-234-6289; www.officeteam.com), a staffing service specializing in high-level professional managers and administrators, offers five tips for developing a five-year career plan:

Record your goals. This allows you to make revisions and track progress. Diane Domeyer, an OfficeTeam executive, says a recent survey revealed that only 23% of respondents keep such records.

Consult with others. The survey ranked parents as having the greatest career impact on an individual, followed in descending order by a current or previous manager, co-worker, and friend.

Read. "Build at least 10 minutes into your schedule for your daily news feed to keep current on events impacting your profession," says Domeyer. Still, 33% of respondents admitted they spend no time at all at keeping abreast.

Reward yourself. A residual Puritan ethic pervades the respondents, less than half of whom (48%) admitted to rewarding themselves for success in their career paths.

Be a diplomat. "Knowing how to navigate office politics tactfully and professionally has a direct impact on your...advancement," counsels Domeyer. To test your skills in the diplomatic arena, take the quiz in the sidebar, "Career Diplomacy Index." For the answers, see the sidebar, "Career Diplomacy Index: Answers."

How did you do? Grade yourself as follows:

9-10 right: Excellent job. Your skill in handling sticky situations will help your career now and years down the road.

7-8 right: Good. You are able to handle tough dilemmas you may face in your career.

5-6 right: Not bad, but look again at the questions you missed. How can you better respond to those questions in the future?

3-4 right: Begin to work on your people skills to better approach these common workplace problems.

0-2 right: You've got some work to do. Review the questions and answers, translate them into typical situations in your office, and learn how you would resolve them. LI

Sidebar

Career Diplomacy Index

1. You've been asked to hire the senior principal's daughter for the summer. You know her background and skills are not ideally suited to your department, even for a short time. Do you:

a. Approach the principal immediately with your concerns and offer to help the...