Free career tests are useful tools no matter what your age or career status. Trying to pick a college major right out of high school? Looking for a career change after 10 or 20 years in an industry, but not sure where to focus next? Career tests, even those sometimes disguised as personality tests, can point you in the right direction or at least get you thinking about careers you may have never considered.
Find Your Test and a New You
If you are in school, visit your academic advisor or guidance counselor to inquire about access to career tests. If you're not in school, it can be a bit more challenging to find career testing resources. A good place to start is local one-stop career center in your area. Visit servicelocator.org to find the closest location. Many career centers offer free career assessment tests for job seekers. In some cases the career counselor will offer you a structured test, but you may find that in other cases he will casually ask you questions about yourself and provide suggestions based on your responses.
If you don't have access to a school counselor or career counselor to give you the career guidance you'd like, you may be able to find the types of tests you need from online resources and books like the ones detailed below.
Where to Turn Online
- Similar Minds offers a quick test. You answer one page of questions, submit, and get instant feedback on the careers that could work for you. As the site will tell you when you're done, the results are dependent upon how truthfully you answer the questions.
- Fun Education offers a personality assessment that will then match you up to a number of career choices that traditionally work well with your personality type. This free test consists of over 400 questions, so make sure you have some time set aside to complete the quiz.
Hit the Books
These aren't necessarily free, but with a library card, it won't cost you a dime to take these tests.
- Everything Career Test looks elementary from its cover, but you know what they say: Never judge a book by its cover. This one will walk you through a values test, a skills test, an interest test, a personality test, and several more. This allows you to get a comprehensive look at what makes you, you.
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Discovering Your Perfect Career is another book that got high ratings on Amazon.
Not all books are set up in a "test" format but can prove very helpful when it comes to finding your perfect career.
Career Test Caveats
Whether you choose to take your free career tests in a guidance counselor's office, home in front of the computer or in the library, you can find a career that's suited to your personality, values, and aptitudes. Keep in mind that the right job is out there for you, and if you don't like the results that you receive from a career test, you can choose to take them with a grain of salt. While career tests can accurately gauge your personality and the types of work that may appeal to you, they're not 100 percent accurate and you may very well be suited for a different field. Make sure that you don't follow a career test blindly - always make sure you're also following your heart when it comes to your work.
