As a career coach I often encounter individuals with little or no knowledge of their unique abilities. Or, if they have identified their expertise, they lack an understanding of how to find jobs or careers that match.

Today, I will offer some ideas for finding the right fit.

If school or previous jobs have left you feeling that you simply aren’t smart and that is why you haven’t landed in the right career, you are probably smart in ways that aren’t rewarded in school, and which may be less obvious. Let me assure you, everyone is smart in one way or another.

The trick is to match your kind of smarts with careers that require and reward it.

Howard Gardner, American cognitive psychologist and author, proposed the theory of multiple intelligences.

The intelligences that he identified are naturalist: understanding living things and reading nature; spatial: being able to visualize the world in 3D; linguistic: finding the right words to express what you mean; intra-personal: understanding yourself, what you think and feel and what you want; interpersonal: sensing people’s feelings and motives; logical-mathematical: ability to quantify things, and make and prove hypotheses; musical: able to discern sounds, their pitch, tone, rhythm and timbre and bodily-kinesthetic: coordinating your mind with your body.

I recommend reading or listening to 7 Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Multiple Intelligences by Thomas Armstrong to get a clearer understanding of your unique brand of smarts.

The book explains each and includes an intelligences checklist along with examples of famous people who demonstrate each one.

If you feel hemmed in by limited job or career options, the onetonline.org may be able to expand your choices.

This site identifies thousands of job/career options for a wide variety of skill sets. You can search for careers by key words, industry and interests.

You can explore careers with a bright outlook, by career clusters and by the amount of preparation needed to enter the field. If you are currently or were recently in the military, you can use the site to cross reference jobs with your MOS.

Each entry includes specific information about required skills, knowledge and abilities. It offers insight into success traits and technology requirements. You can do advanced searches based on job duties, professional associations, related activities and soft skills. In addition, it provides specific information about occupational outlook, income and education requirements. What I really appreciate is the vast number of occupations it highlights, many of which are viable options that may not immediately come to mind.

Finally, there is aptitude testing. I have written in-depth about this in previous columns; however, it bears mentioning again. Aptitude testing provides insight into your inborn gifts and talents, many of which we may have a hard time recognizing or appreciating. It is the combination of high, medium and low aptitudes that track to specific jobs, and which are the harbingers of career success and job satisfaction.

If you are interested in exploring this option, check out Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation at jocrf.org. They have been testing aptitudes since 1922.

You deserve a job that provides meaning and satisfaction. If you are feeling disheartened, frustrated or lost, these resources can open the door to a lifetime of success and fulfillment.

Mary Jeanne Vincent, career expert and strategist, has a coaching practice in Monterey. She may be reached at 831-657-9151, mjv@careercoachmjv.com, or www.careercoachmonterey.com