“What occupation is right for you” tests?

[Garga]

This summer, I thought it would be nice for my boys and me to take a few “what job are you suited for” types of tests.  I need to go back to work in a few years and kinda can’t think of anything I want to do.  😞

My oldest will be entering 12th and my youngest will be entering 9th and they also don’t know what they want to do.

I don’t want these tests to be anxiety producing.  I’m not talking about super serious tests that need other specially trained people involved, and I’m also not talking about those goofy tests you see on Facebook that someone made up as a source of amusement, like, “tell us your favorite color and we’ll tell you how many cats you have!” 

I’d like something that just gives us a tiny bit of a direction to point ourselves into, or at least to give us all something to think about.

Does anyone know if what I’m wanting exists? 

[Momto6inIN]

I think I remember reading somewhwre on here about a website named You Science? Or something like that?

[Lori D.]

Check out the linked threads at the bottom of PAGE 6 of the "College Motherlode" thread on the College Board -- there is a section for Career Exploration threads there, and some links to the various types of tests.

There are 4 types of "career tests":
- interest inventory (preferred ways of working and areas of work)
- work values inventory (what is needful for you to have purpose and value and enjoyment in working)
- personality inventory (your character traits and how you relate to others -- in the workplace, home, life)
- aptitude (what skills, abilities, strengths do you have -- usually given by an employer to see if you can do the specific job)

Below are all FREE career exploration options:

You will probably want to go for an "interest inventory" type of test, as that helps you narrow down your top 3 interest areas (out of 6), which then allows you to explore occupations that use those interest areas -- and you can switch the order of your top 3 interests around, which generates a different list of occupation ideas to explore.

The CA Career Zone website is free, but if you don't register, it doesn't save your results, so finish the test before exiting the website and write down your results for use later on, lol:
- interest profiler -- find your top 3 interest areas
- quick assessment -- plug in your top 3 interest areas to generate a list of occupations to explore
(also plug in your top 3 interests into NY Career Zone "assess yourself" search engine--it generates a more comprehensive list of occupations)
- work importance profiler -- a work values inventory
- industry sectors -- explore groups/clusters of occupations by CA industries

Or, you can print off and take the Career Cluster survey, and then explore the 16 clusters of occupations that are grouped by industries/education pathways.

Or, you can enjoy exploring the 25 occupation groups (see list at left side of the webpage) on the US Bureau of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook. That website also allows you to do some searches by educational level, by salary, by "future growth outlook" etc.

Happy exploring! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited June 19, 2019 by Lori D.

[Lori D.]

PS -- and for you, Garga, I'd suggest eventually doing the more comprehensive Interest Profiler at O-Net (short for "Occupational Network"), the huge US Dept of Labor occupation database. That will lead you into the "Next Move" sections of the occupation database.

The reason I don't suggest this site for teens is that it is a much more complex to negotiate.

Also, teens need things like the CA and NY Career Zone websites that have descriptions and videos of different jobs and what they're like, while adults have more life experience and awareness of those things. Also, at the Occupational Outlook Handbook website, the very clear and direct statements of what post-high school training/education is needed for each job helps teens see they need to plan for the future -- again, something that adults are much more aware of. 😉

Edited June 18, 2019 by Lori D.

[klmama]

Whatever you choose, I don't recommend the free online test via the CC that just steers students toward an available track there. One of my dc took it three times, each time giving more ridiculous answers, and each time it said dc should be an accountant.  Um... no.  Dc was decidedly not suited for that.  

[RenaInTexas]

I took a comprehensive Strong Interest Inventory test and Myers-Briggs test in high school and it was spot on. It was administered by the military (meaning it is also what they use). But it is the same test you can get from their website.

I took some free tests and they are just not as comprehensive (meaning they don't ask as many questions) and thus not as accurate or as complete (meaning the results were not as informative and they didn't completely capture 'me', some results were just wrong). If you want complete, valid results, go ahead and pay for the real test.

 

Edited June 20, 2019 by RenaInTexas

[Dudley]

I liked youscience . It had an interest survey and some aptitude tests. It also gave a lot of careers for you to look through. And it tells you how you match up to the job, like this one won’t challenge you enough in this area so you may have  to use this skill elsewhere.Or you are detail oriented and that is what this job needs. Etc. 

They have a 1/2 off sale right now through 6/30 code success50 I think we paid $30 so looks like it should be $15 If the price didn’t go up

[Arcadia]

On 6/17/2019 at 9:08 AM, Garga said:

I’d like something that just gives us a tiny bit of a direction to point ourselves into, or at least to give us all something to think about.

 

YouScience did took my kids quite a long time to finish yesterday. They asked me for milk and snack and said the questions need thinking.

I just read my kids profile reports and they tally with my kids WISC profile as well as real life experiences. My kid with the slower processing speed did have similar stuff show up in his report. My DS13’s profile shows up as chatty introvert and DS14’s profile shows up as listening/silent introvert (which is really how they behave in real life 😂  )

I haven’t seen the career suggestions for my kids yet but their profile reports does tally with what DS14 said years ago that he would be a generalist at work and specialist for after work hobbies.

On 6/20/2019 at 9:06 PM, Dudley said:

They have a 1/2 off sale right now through 6/30 code success50 I think we paid $30 so looks like it should be $15 If the price didn’t go up

 

I forgot to purchase by 6/30 so the promo code didn’t work yesterday. $30 per kid is still affordable for us.

[Arcadia]

The careers suggested by YouScience for my kids are definitely spot on for DS14 when he showed me the list. He is so happy that he has something to think about. DS13 mentioned some of his career suggestions but didn’t have time to show me his list.  DS13 is amused and now has a wider range of choices to consider. Both my kids are generalists in different ways.

[MerryAtHope]

Just know that for some people, these kinds of tests might not work, so don't be too discouraged if that's the case. My son did so many of these--Youscience, Myers-Briggs, Strong's Inventory, What Color is Your Parachute for Teens (which is a book)--and several others. I was the same way--I never was able to identify a career when I tried tests (and even took a college course!) like this back in the day either. It's fun to do though, and usually you learn something about yourself (my son learned lots of things he did NOT want to do, LOL, but it also got him thinking about things like the type of work environment and how he might like to use some of his skills/personality.) 

[Arcadia]

YouScience college results isn’t useful but I wasn’t expecting it to be. What was interesting was Landscape Architect was one of the top occupations listed for DS14 and it tallies with how he judge college campuses when we toured them while my husband did college interviews for his company. DS14 usually hides his creative side but it shows up in his career suggestions. 

[Jackie]

On 7/12/2019 at 8:14 PM, MerryAtHope said:

Just know that for some people, these kinds of tests might not work, so don't be too discouraged if that's the case. My son did so many of these--Youscience, Myers-Briggs, Strong's Inventory, What Color is Your Parachute for Teens (which is a book)--and several others. I was the same way--I never was able to identify a career when I tried tests (and even took a college course!) like this back in the day either. It's fun to do though, and usually you learn something about yourself (my son learned lots of things he did NOT want to do, LOL, but it also got him thinking about things like the type of work environment and how he might like to use some of his skills/personality.) 

 

I’ve had a couple of careers now. I’ve been really drawn to them, and did very well in them. And when I took these types of tests afterwards, the careers I loved were specifically listed in the lists for people with opposite profiles from mine, and definitely not in my profile. Most the ones listed in my profile sounded miserable to me. So I’m seconding the thought that kids should be guided to accepting the information from these tests as a single data point, and not a guiding light.

[Lori D.]

Yes, I have done a number of career exploration sessions with homeschool youth, and try and emphasize that the tests are NOT meant to put you in a box, or are necessarily going to "tell you what career is your bullseye job on the target", but can help you explore jobs you might never have thought of before. Many students (my own 2 DSs included), have NO idea of what they want to do, even after graduating from high school, and even though they went through career exploration. For many, it takes either going to college and radically switching majors partway through (over half of college students do this), OR, getting some life experience and working various jobs and just seeing what's out there, firsthand.

Edited July 15, 2019 by Lori D.

[ElizabethB]

Have them take the MBTI online, then search jobs for their type.  http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

For example, my type is INTP, I had a variety of different jobs in the Air Force, the ones I liked the best were my type or just off my one letter.  There are a variety of jobs that are listed on websites once you find the type, you google the four letter type and jobs.  For example, I would type "INTP best jobs."