How Do Career Tests Work?

The Department of Labor currently provides a massive amount of text, data and video material on 949 careers. All of this information is merged and presented in the occupations module of the VCC’s Automated Advisor program. You can browse these careers like books in a public library, but mastering their contents will require extraordinary time and effort.

Career exploration tests shorten the process. They do not tell you what career you should choose. They simply match some of your personal characteristics with aspects of various jobs. You can then explore these specific occupations in detail rather than feel burdened by a need to learn everything about the world of work.

Some tests use Holland or RIASEC interest codes, named after John L. Holland whose research showed that people and jobs can be classified into six basic categories: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. The interests of most people and the characteristics of most jobs do not fall into only one category. An RES score, for example, means that this person’s interests are primarily realistic, but enterprising and social interests are present to lesser degrees as well; a good place to begin a career search would be jobs likewise classified as RES.

Other tests match people and jobs on the basis of occupational values. The O*NET Work Importance Profiler offers the most useful framework today; it assesses six occupational values (Achievement, Independence, Recognition, Relationships, Support, and Working Conditions) and matches people to jobs in which those values can be realized.

Professionals in the Career and Technical Education field frequently administer the Career Clusters Interest Survey which assesses career interests in each of 16 federal occupation clusters linked to curriculum requirements in public education. Alternatively, some test developers have mathematically converted their usual scores into cluster scores. The Personal Globe Inventory, for example, produces both RIASC and 16-Federal Cluster Interest scores so either interest framework can be used to find corresponding occupations.

Still other tests match people and jobs on the basis of abilities. O*Net’s Ability Profiler is not constructed for on-line administration, but may be downloaded. CareerOneStop’s Skills Profiler is linked on-line to the VCC. Both tests were developed by the Department of Labor.

Be wary of career tests offered by some on-line commercial vendors. The validation of a career assessment device is a painstaking process often taking years of research-and-development activity. Many on-line career tests do not have a scintilla of science behind them.

Finally, be careful about using personality tests in conjunction with career tests to discover occupational possibilities. Personality tests are developed for use in research and/or mental health settings, not to help you make occupational choices. Personality tests also have validity challenges of their own to address. Purported clones of the Myers-Briggs test, for example, are available all over the Internet. There is no point in spending time or dollars on personality tests lacking a strong basis in research; they are worthless except for their entertainment value.

Copyright 2008, John J. Horan, Ph.D.