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Career and Job Search Guide
  

Career Tests: Are They For You?

What is a career assessment?

Career assessments come in a variety of different forms, including questionnaires and card sorts. Whatever assessment is taken, the purpose of a career assessment is to help people determine potential career options.

The Strong Interest Inventory is one of the most accurate career assessments. Many human resource specialists and career counselors utilize this assessment since it contains hundreds of questions designed to help individuals narrow potential career options.

Do they work?

Certain career counselors rely heavily upon career assessments, while others do not use them at all.

Regardless of personal opinion, career assessments are a useful tool since they get people who have not decided upon a career considering different options.

Those who go into these tests with high expectations often get discouraged since they often expect immediate answers to their career questions.

Nobody should rely exclusively on a career assessment when setting career goals. It is ultimately the responsibility of individuals to make difficult decisions regarding careers. However, career assessments can get people undecided about a career to begin thinking about their skills, interests, and future aspirations.

A beginning, not an end

Career seekers should view the career assessment as one of the first steps in their journey to find the ideal career. Once the assessment is completed, it is recommended to review the results and use this information to narrow done some possible careers. Then, learn more about these different careers through research and personal conversations with professionals already working in these industries.

You know you want to try it…

Now that career assessments can be approached realistically, it is highly recommended for anyone undecided about a career to meet with a career counselor and take a career assessment.

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