How to Define Career Interests
Deciding on your career interests can be challenging without the right tools. While professional help is not necessary to define your career interests, it can certainly aid in your pursuit of a rewarding and satisfactory career path. Whether you're working alone or with a career counselor, by completing free career assessment tools and creating a list of preferred career paths, you can define, evaluate and study your career interests for better job placement.
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Instructions
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Complete a career interest survey, which can help you determine what type of person you are and what career interests you have. Complete each section -- which can type you according to practicality, intellectualism, creativity, outspokenness, persuasiveness and adaptability -- and review your career matches. You can find a career interest survey at Edonline.com. (See Resources.)
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Create a self-assessment that you can use to evaluate your interests, values, personality type and skills. Answer questions related to each content area and create an inventory for each. For example, create an interest inventory of the activities you enjoy performing and a values inventory of the most significant values you require for personal fulfillment at work.
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Evaluate your ability to perform well in a specific occupation. Career tests look at your general and professional interests, professional skills, aptitude for various subjects and personality type. List your career interests in descending order from highest to lowest level based on your results. You can find career tests at CareerTest.com and HumanMetrics.com. (See Resources.)
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Define career interests based on your personality type. Advanced personality tests are based on Carl Jung and Isabel Briggs Myers' typological approach to personality. Respond to all questions and review your results at the end. You can find a personality test at HumanMetrics.com.
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Find job profiles through the Bureau of Labor Statistics at Bls.gov. As you review work conditions, education requirements, training requirements and job outlook information, determine if any occupation matches your career interests.
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Tips & Warnings
Obtain additional education and training for those career paths you already qualify for or are interested in pursuing.
Create new resumes when switching career paths.
References
Resources
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