Part 5: Career Personality Test Types – The Right Career Test for You
All career personality tests fall into three categories: occupation generating, occupation matching, and neither occupation generating nor matching. Each type of career personality test has unique features and addresses different career needs. This blog should help you find the right career test for your situation.
Occupation Generating Career Tests
Some career personality tests are paper tests that generate jobs lists
These are inexpensive, simple to use, and quick tests. They are most appropriate for persons wanting many career options, needing an inexpensive test, wanting a paper test (as opposed to online), and for lower level jobs in corporations, trades, or front-line service. Among the most common and best on the market are: COPS system tests and SDS tests.
Occupation Matching Career Tests
Next, occupation matching tests are meant to align personality traits and jobs that require those traits for success and satisfaction. That means that after taking this test, your personality traits will be matched with a career that will most likely result in your success and happiness. These are, therefore, especially useful for persons seeking to discover their first career, a new career, a career direction, an ideal career, getting clues to define a career niche, and changing careers because of career dissatisfaction. The best tests of this kind include Strong Interest Inventory and Myers Briggs Type Test.
Non-occupation Generating or Matching Career Tests
Lastly, non-generating or matching tests do not produce a list or a set of occupations matching your personality. Instead, they give descriptions of how the test-taker would likely behave on the job. For example, the FIRO-B test describes how one relates to others on the job such as a boss, co-workers, teams, and colleagues. Another such test, the DISC test, measures one’s natural and adapted ways of communicating, contributing, leading, interacting, and performing at work. These tests, therefore, are usually used for job performance improvements, employment screening, and career development.
The test you choose depends on your life context. What is your current career? Do you know your purpose (career change, satisfaction improvement, etc.)? What is your income or desired income? Choosing the right career test might be tricky. Fill out the form below to ask The Career Profiler for help if you need it.