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Are there online tests or surveys that could help me narrow down a potential major/career?

#career #college-major #career-counseling

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Ken’s Answer

Yes, but your will get better results by having the interest and aptitude test administered by professionally trained staff at your high school or college. The use test that are more sophisticated and are able to interpret them in a more meaningful manner than you might experience by doing it yourself from less sophisticated testing online, which you need to interpret yourself. However, testing and the interpretation of the testing is only one part of several which would allow you to learn which career area would be best for you to pursue.


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
Thank you comment icon Very helpful. Thank you so much for responding. Tristan
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Lashay’s Answer

Hello Tristan: Yes, there are assessments that can increase your awareness of your interests personality and relate them to majors and careers. Two of the most popular are Myers Briggs Type Indicator and Strong Interest Assessment. Each will ask you a series of questions and produce a report from which you can learn about how you tend to inteact with others (extrovert/introvert) take in information (sense or intuition) and others as well as your top areas of interest (art, social, science, investigative and others). From the outcomes, researchers have related various lines of work that you might naturally be good at without too much effort. There tends to be a cost associated with each but review a few websites or visit your schools guidance or career counselor to see which ones your school offers for free. If you are not a current student, search online for free or low cost career assessments similar to MBTI or Strong Interest. You can also give yourself an informal assessment by listing all of the experiences you have had until and during the current time. Any volunteerism with groups or alone, jobs part-time or full-time, job shadows, internships, or anything that you've learned about work. Create a like and dislike column on paper. List the skills or duties that you liked from each and as well as those that you disliked. Then go to onetonline.org to search job titles by skills listed on your page. Maybe even rank the skills from most to least liked. Good luck!

Lashay recommends the following next steps:

Two of the most popular and highly studied assessments are MBTI and Strong Interest (cost are available electronically and on paper)
List skills that you liked using and disliked using. Search onetonline.org for skills related to jobs to get an idea of some you might like.
Thank you comment icon That is very helpful. Thank you so much. Tristan
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Hope’s Answer

Hi, Tristan.

Here is a pretty cool one to check out: https://www.pymetrics.com

Good luck and have fun!

Hope LeNoir
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