7 Criteria for Deciding Which Career Test Is Right for You

So you want to know what career path to pursue? It’s a tough decision, and I’ve got 7 criteria that will help you make the right choice.

First of all, you need to ask yourself whether or not your goal is specific or vague. If it’s vague, then there are lots of tests out there that might help you determine what career is perfect for you. But if it’s specific – like wanting to be an engineer – then it should be easier for you to find a test specifically tailored for engineers. You might also consider figuring out which careers are in demand and which ones have a lot of variation. If there are a lot of differences in the kinds of jobs that exist, then you’ll be able to narrow down your choices much faster. And you’ll also know what kind of tests you should buy.

Second, you need to ask yourself whether or not you want to test yourself now or save it for when you’re older. Almost all tests have a requirement that the student must be 16 years old or older; otherwise, they can’t take the test. So if you have plans to go back to school or go into the Armed Forces after getting your degree, then take whichever test will give you the most information about what kind of career path would best fit your interests now and in the future.

Now you need to think about the purpose of this test – why do you want to take it? Do you want to take a fun test or do you want a serious test? If the test is fun, then the results likely aren’t that reliable. But if you’re taking it for an important reason, then a serious one is probably best.

Third, ask yourself how much time and money you have. If there are tests that are expensive and others that are cheap, then you’ll have to pick based on whichever has the most information per dollar or per minute of your time. If you don’t have a lot of time or money, then you might have to take an abbreviated version of the test or don’t take the test at all.

Fourth, you need to decide whether or not you want to choose a specific career or just see what kind of careers there are. If you’re undecided about what kind of career would be perfect for you and want to find out, then almost every single test will give you the information that will help make your final decision easier. Or if there are careers that would interest you but aren’t necessarily your “dream career,” then almost any test will help narrow down the possibilities for better job options. But if you already know what kind of career you want, then that narrows down the tests a lot.

Fifth, think about how you’ll take the test. If you don’t have a computer or Internet access, then that narrows down your choices significantly. Also, if there are specific kinds of tests that only let students who speak English take it, then those are likely out of the running for people who aren’t native speakers. And if there are any kind of specific requirements like being able to lift 50 lbs, then those also need to be taken into consideration before deciding on which test is right for you.

Sixth and finally, think about how much guidance or help each test offers. If there are tests that offer lots of help and ones that don’t, then pick the one that offers the most.

The Criteria for Judging Tests

In my opinion, a good test should have as many of these criteria as possible:

1) It should have a specific focus on the career you want. If you want to be an engineer, then there should be a lot of questions about how well you can use math in real life. If you want to get into the arts, then it should ask a lot about how much you enjoy visual or performing arts. And if you want to be in business or politics, it should ask about how well-developed your interpersonal skills are.

2) It should have a lot of information that’s not obvious and can’t be found just by reading a book or watching the news. I hate the tests that tell you what everyone in the world knows so well, like mathematical formulas, verbal ques, and memorized lists of famous people. Those kinds of questions could be answered by a five-year-old with a calculator. The ones that don’t have obvious answers or aren’t common knowledge should underscore this fact too – if you know something, then you shouldn’t have any trouble picking out relevant questions on the test.

3) It should give you a good sense of what kind of a job you could have in that career. There shouldn’t be any obvious questions that can be answered with just, “Yes/No/Maybe.” Those kinds of questions are not only easy to answer, but they don’t really tell you anything about the job or what sort of work would be involved.

4) It should test the general skills and abilities that the job requires, not just specific things like knowing how to read a thermometer and build a table, but also reading instructions and following them correctly and carefully. Again, most jobs require more than just knowing how to do something on your own; they require certain skills.

5) It should ask questions in as many different ways as possible and then give you a range of answers from which to choose. For example, if you’re taking a test for what kind of hobbies you like, then you should be able to pick out of about nine or ten different categories.

6) It should tell you not only what type of job is right for you, but also why it’s the right job. Most of the tests out there just tell you that they think they have the perfect career, but they don’t tell you why they think it’s perfect or if their answer would be valid for everyone.

7) It should test not just what you know, but also what you can do. If you’re taking a test to see if you’re ready for College, then it should have questions that everyone can understand and that relate directly to the course requirements at your college or university. If you’re taking a test for a specific job, then it should ask about things that are important to that job. And if it’s a placement test for an internship or volunteer position, then most of the questions will be related to some of the theoretical courses or skills required in that type of internship or volunteer position.

8 ) It should automatically give you scores, even if you’re not taking a computerized test. It should tell you how many questions you got wrong and which ones they were or show a list of the questions that are most important to your career path. If it doesn’t have this capability, then I wouldn’t bother taking it at all.

9) It should be able to answer many different types of tests, not just the one kind that you picked out. If it can give scores for different kinds of tests, then it will also be able to recommend other tests that might be beneficial for your situation.

Conclusion

There isn’t a perfect test, and there will always be people out there talking about something that’s “The Perfect Test” for whatever you want it to be. But since the tests are just meant to show you what the world thinks, I have to conclude that there isn’t a perfect test. Most of them will do the job of showing you what career options are available based on general knowledge and skills, but many of them won’t tell you when some particular job could be right for you.