Student Career Personality Test
Many students can be confused and frustrated about choosing a career path. You may find that your interests are varied or that you have no idea what you want to do. If you were to visit a career counselor, she would first suggest that you take a career test that measures your personality and, using that, match you with appropriate careers.
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Parsons
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According to vocational psychologists Bruce Walsh and Mark Savickas, Frank Parsons is widely believed to be the founder of vocational guidance. Parsons stated that to have congruence between a career and personality, you must know your traits and match those to workplace factors. Parsons believed that there is only one perfect job per person. John Holland's theory is similar to Parsons theory, known as Trait Factor Theory; Holland's theory is currently the most widely used for career personality tests.
Holland
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Career personality tests are most often based on John Holland's theory. According to Johns Hopkins University, Holland has outlined six personality types: Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E) and Conventional (C). Based on your three letter code, you search for a work environment that will best allow you to express your personality. When this happens, there is satisfaction and congruence; when the career and personality do not match, there is dissatisfaction and a lack of congruence. Some of the career tests based on Holland's theory are the Strong Interest Inventory (SII), Self Directed Search (SDS) and the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). The primary difference between Parson and Holland lies in the number of appropriate jobs. Parson's theory holds that there is only one right job for a person; whereas, Holland would say that there are many careers that would allow a person to express his personality.
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Limitations
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While matching your personality with a job is a solid first step and important, personality tests are often limited as constructs such as values and abilities are not measured. These are important because it is not enough to know what work you would like to do; you also need to know what you are able to do and what you are willing to do. For example, a career personality test states that you will be a good fit for a doctor, but your values are such that you don't want to spend the amount of time and study it takes to become a doctor. Conflicts like this can be avoided if tests are administered that measure personality, aptitude and values.
Discover
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The Discover test was developed by the ACT Corp. and is offered through their website. The test measures your interests, personality, aptitude and values; it then uses those to compile a comprehensive list of occupations that will be congruent according to the responses you gave. The Discover also has built-in information about careers, job availability and college degrees so that you don't have to visit any other site to get all the information, unless you choose to. While the test isn't free, many schools and colleges have free access for students, so check with a counselor.
Follow-up
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A career test is a great starting point on the road to choosing a career. After you have your results, perform additional research on the occupations that you like. This research can include visiting the Bureau of Labor Statistics website for occupational info such as salary, educational requirements, etc. Research also includes finding colleges with the program that will lead to your degree and meeting with an admissions counselor. To get even more insider info, find someone who is in the career that you're interested in and interview him or try to line up an internship. The only person that can choose a career for you is you, and the more information you have, the better your decision will be.
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