Finished high school and wondering what the next step is? Perhaps you’re stuck in a rut at your current job, eager to find a new career that makes you happy?
Identifying the right career can be stressful and complicated when you’re unsure about what to do with your life. If only someone could make the decision for you, right?
Well, bingo! There are several career tests and assessments out there that can indeed help determine the right job for you. Based on your skills, interests and personality traits, these tests can pinpoint which career options are best suited to your working style.
So, to help clear the clutter of career options, here’s a list of the 10 best career tests that might point you in the right direction.
How to choose the best career test
Finding the right career test for you can entail a bit of thinking, such as considering what stage of your career you’re in. Are you feeling a bit lost as a recent graduate, for example, or have you been working for a few years and are longing for a change? Depending on your experience, you might want to find a test that’s geared towards individuals facing a similar situation as you.
Then, you’ll want to consider how perplexed you’re feeling professionally. Do you know your strengths and are unsure of how to monetize them, or do you feel confused as to where your talents and interests even lie? Do you have clear, long-term goals, or does the term “career” induce panic in you?
Different tests can allow you to explore different aspects of your professional life as well as your aptitudes, values and personal qualities, so think about what areas you’re looking to shed light on.
Lastly, besides your needs, you’ll want to consider your budget: while you can find plenty of free career tests out there, some can be pricey!
10 best career tests
Having too many options can make it hard to choose, whether we’re talking about career tests, what to eat for lunch or what to wear to work. To help narrow things down for you, we’ve selected the top 10 career tests out there!
1. CareerHunter
CareerHunter is our very own career-matching platform, created in 2017 to help students, recent graduates and working professionals identify and pursue their ideal career path. The assessment, which comprises a total of six individual tests, was put together by our in-house team of career experts as well as a team of psychologists and psychometricians.
CareerHunter works by evaluating people’s interests, personalities, goals and professional skills, and matching that information up against a database of over 250 professions.
Once you’ve taken all six assessments, which range from interests tests to reasoning tests, you receive a personalized, downloadable report with a list of suggested occupations for you, including emerging career paths you may not have previously considered. Your career matches will also be accompanied by course recommendations where applicable, so you can start working on receiving the right training right away.
See CareerHunter in action:
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2. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
The MBTI instrument will help you find the right career and learn a lot about yourself, too.
Different areas of your personality are assessed, including your likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. Your decision-making abilities, how you acquire energy, how you see the world, and other intricate characteristic and behavioral habits are tested, which eventually sort you into 1 of 16 different personality types.
The test (which costs $59.95) delves deeper into your work style, values and preferences, as well as your compatibility with people in the workplace.
Although more of a personality assessment, the MBTI can ultimately provide results that help you understand who you are, which can be matched to your career goals.
3. CareerExplorer
Career Explorer by Sokanu offers an assessment that takes about 30 minutes to complete, and can be taken by anyone, from high school and college students to working professionals.
The test is divided into five sections and provides in-depth insights in real time, matching individuals up with careers that fit them based on their personality and personal preferences.
CareerExplorer was built by industrial-organizational psychologists, and draws data from sources such as the US Department of Labor’s O*NET Database and the US Bureau of Statistics. Harnessing data from millions of other users with similar interests and motivations, the career assessment test is able to provide informed, on-point suggestions to help users identify their ideal career path.
The best part? The test can be taken for free.
4. CareerFitter
CareerFitter offers both a free career report, as well as a premium 10-page report you can access for $19.95. That’s a one-time purchase that gives you unlimited access to your career dashboard for a year, which, besides your results, features a tool that connects you to US-based employers with job openings that suit you.
The assessment, made up of 60 questions, matches you up with 1,000 possible career paths, analyzing four dimensions that influence your work personality. These are: energy (in other words, what work environments energize you), perception, decision-making style, and planning style.
Once you’ve answered the questions, you can also get a detailed outline of the requirements expected of you to enter the profession, plus information on salary prospects and general job outlook.
5. Big Five Personality Test
How well you work with others has a big impact on your job choice. The Big Five Personality Test will examine exactly this and more.
This scientific personality assessment will test your five personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. The results will reveal your ability to communicate with coworkers, your stress temperament in the workplace, how self-disciplined you are, and your openness to new experiences, giving you an insight into what kind of job role best suits you.
A fairly quick, easy (and free) test, the Big Five Personality assessment will give you an inkling of what career path you should be taking.
6. Self-Directed Search
Self-Directed Search will present you with various career options instead of one targeted role. After answering a series of over 80 intricate questions, you will be categorized into three of the six personality types (developed by John Holland): realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. Your top three personality attributes are then combined to present a range of career options for you.
Self-Directed Search is a useful tool that analyzes your aspirations, activities and talents, and ultimately suggests the ideal career choice. What’s more, it also offers an overview of salary data and resources that will assist you with career planning — a comprehensive package for just under $15.
7. MAPP
One of the most commonly used career quizzes, the MAPP career test is a comprehensive analysis that provides job suggestions based on your personality. In this test, you will select statements that most and least apply to you over a course of around 22 minutes. A summary of career choices, a report of tasks you excel in, and an outline of how you deal with people, mathematics, reasoning and temperament are provided.
The paid version may be one of the priciest in our list ($89.95+), but it’s certainly worth taking if you want more career advice. There’s always the free option, too, which gives limited information.
8. O*NET Interests Profiler
The O*NET Interests Profiler is a great free tool to use when wanting to explore your career interests and skills. This platform was designed for those who need clear direction on where their knowledge, skills and abilities lie. The easy-to-use tool is sponsored by the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, meaning you can be quite confident that it will point you to a suitable career in the US.
The O*NET Interest Profiler gives you 60 questions that are targeted to help you identify where your interests are and how you can align these with your career. Your responses will then match up to a range of potential occupations and careers with key information including what skills and qualifications are required to land that role.
9. Career Strengths Test
If there’s one person that you’d like to draw inspiration from, it’s Oprah. Well, the motivational celebrity has actually got a career test on her site! Developed by the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation for Oprah, the Career Strengths Test doesn’t ask you basic questions about your work habits, but more about your strengths in different job sectors.
Separated into five career aptitude tests, you will be assessed on your abilities in the workplace. Your skills are then categorized into particular jobs, helping you identify which careers best fit your overall strengths. The five areas tested are concept organization, inductive reasoning, structural organization, numerical reasoning and foresight. This is a superb free test that might even reveal hidden skills you weren’t aware of!
10. CliftonStrengths
This career test puts you on a quest to determine your strengths. Targeted mainly to students, CliftonStrenghts (formerly StrengthsQuest) helps you find confidence in your career journey. You may already know where your skills and strengths lie, but this test is created so you can learn how to apply these abilities to your working life, such as relationships and decision making.
Once you take the CliftonStrengths test (prices start from $19.99), you’ll get a customized report listing your top five talent themes that reflect your personal strengths. From there onward, you’re given action items to help apply these talents to your career success.
Final thoughts
Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of work, considering a career change or wondering if you’re in the right job, taking a career test will help you uncover your strengths and point you onto the right path, for increased career satisfaction.
Of course, you don’t have to swear by the results you gain from a career personality test. But they’re a great way of finding inspiration and knowing how to step towards the right career for you.
Did you take any of these tests? How satisfied are you with your results? Share your experiences with us in the comments section below!
Originally published on September 13, 2020. Updated by Electra Michaelidou.