Career Test Guidelines
Campus and Online College Search
The Rules of Career Testing
By: Steve Boulden
Career testing is becoming more and more popular as a way of "discovering ourselves". Many people tend to accept their test results as the absolute gospel truth and this in a way can be a dangerous thing.
My advice to this is - "buyer beware".
The truth is that tests are abstract and generalized. It doesn't matter how good a test is or how good the developer says it is, career tests, career quizzes, and personality tests are not always the absolute gospel truth.
Here Are Some Guidelines To Keep In Mind When Taking A Career Test
The Rules Of Career Testing
No test is 100% accurate. Independent studies have proven that even the most glorified tests can be as much as 25% inaccurate.
Test results can vary. Yes, even the results from the same test taken by the same person at different times can change. Your mood and frame of mind can influence your test results from day to day and one different answer can mean completely different results. It's so important to give questions a lot of thought and be totally honest with your answers.
Take more than one test. Since no test is completely accurate and results can vary, it's important to take more than one test. In this way you can compare results to get an accurate assessment of matching results. You'll be able to eliminate mistakes by averaging matching results.
Not the end result. Always remember that career testing is only the beginning of your career planning process. It's not the end result. You now have something to work with.
Be true to you. Give your results some serious thought. Do some deep soul searching and trust your intuition. You'll know if the results are totally wrong for you. If you're reading one thing and it doesn't feel right, don't go running off in the wrong direction just because the test "said so". If you still don't get it, you may need to seek additional advice from a career coach or career counselor. There's nothing wrong with asking for help. See career planning and career coaching
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