When I work with people pursuing a career change, I hear this a lot:
“I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.”
These smart, experienced people have hit the end of one career and are ready for “Next.” They’re not happy with what they do. They want something new. But? They just don’t know where to start.
If only there was a simple test you could take to find the perfect job for you.
Well there is. Kind of. A career assessment may — or may not — help.
Assessments 101
Career assessments are tools. They are tests that try to learn about you and offer insights to help you make choices. Short assessments take as little as five minutes, long ones might take an hour or more. Answer a series of questions et voila, you get insights and (sometimes) recommendations. Depending on the assessment these recommendations might include:
Specific jobs — for example “Web Developer” or “Interior Decorator”
General career paths — for example “teaching” or “medicine”
Types of work — for example “You are most alive and engaged when you are making things.”
Fill out a few questions, find your perfect job — sound too good to be true?
Unfortunately most of the time, it is. Career assessments have downsides. But that doesn’t mean assessments can’t be a good resource to use in your career search.
Let’s take a look at some things to consider when considering assessments.
What to look out for
Assessments promise answers, of a sort. But how useful, affordable, viable, and comprehensive are those answers?
How useful are those answers?
There are lots of assessments out there, and they all offer different types of insight. For example the Demartini assessment explores your values and interests. The Career Pathway Test offers specific career matches. These assessments deliver very different answers. When considering assessments, consider the type of answer you need. Does the assessment you’re considering offer that?
How affordable are those answers?
There are dozens of assessments out there. Possibly hundreds. Many are free, but many are not. The more affordable paid assessments seem to range from $25 to $100. Are they worth it? Paid assessments generally claim to be more comprehensive, more in-depth, and more evidence-based. They’re also typically delivered by people with specific training. If that appeals, then they may be worth the price for you.
That doesn’t mean that there’s no value in free assessments, though. If you’re considering assessments as part of your career search consider a free option first. Use the free ones to see what type of assessment is most useful for you. Then you can move on to a paid assessment if you want more depth.
How viable are those answers?
Most assessments don’t factor in your current reality. For example imagine your assessment tells you that nuclear medicine is a great fit. How realistic is retraining as a doctor if you’re in your 50s with a mortgage and kids? Viability can be a major issue with assessment recommendations. But with so many assessments available it’s not a surprise that some do consider this. For example MyNextMove factors in the education you are willing to pursue.
How big are those answers?
Not all assessments give specific job recommendations. Those that do draw their recommendations from databases of known jobs. Some of these databases are small and include just a couple hundred jobs. That’s a big limitation. There are literally millions of jobs in the world. A small database means that an assessment will miss as many job possibilities as it finds. If you want specific job recommendations, look for an assessment that uses a big database.
How deep are those answers?
The last thing to consider when picking a career assessment is the depth of that assessment. An assessment that takes just 5 minutes to complete can’t ask a whole lot of questions in that time. That means it’s working with less information about you. That means it can’t know you as well as a longer, more in-depth assessment. So when evaluating your options consider how in-depth each assessment goes. If you want deeper insights or recommendations, you may need to go with a longer assessment.
Which assessments are the best?
Okay, we’ve looked at factors to consider when choosing a career assessment. But which ones are the best? Well “best” is very subjective but here’s a starting point. The following assessments were recommended by professional coaches in the World Business & Executive Coach (WBECS) community.
Free assessments
Fee-based assessments
Parting words
Okay, so you’re ready to try some career assessments and see what they say. Great! Here are some parting suggestions for getting started:
Start free. See if free assessments give you useful insights before moving to a paid assessment. If nothing else it’s a way to see what type of assessment will be most helpful for you.
Triangulate. When working with free assessments, try a bunch! What patterns emerge? Look for recurring themes and suggestions.
Don’t discount strengths, interests, and values. It can be tempting to focus on assessments that make specific job recommendations. But a satisfying career is one that connects with your values and interests. If you’re not sure what those are, consider an assessment that explores these.
Explore your results with a career coach or strategist. These people can help you figure out how to act on your results. They can also help you go beyond them to find even more opportunties.
So there you go. There are lots of career assessment tools, both free and paid. There are also some important factors to consider when choosing between them. Odds are that you won’t get a perfect answer from any one assessment, but they can definitely help. And with so many free options out there, there’s no harm in trying them.
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