Are Career Assessments Worth It?

I’m a bit of a skeptic by nature. Is one assessment really that much better than another?

Maybe it was all those years in mortgages, but despite being impressed when I took the Career Direct assessment, I wanted to see the numbers — does it work? Is it worth the investment? Can’t I just take a free test online and get the same result?

If you’ve ever wondered about these things, you’re in good company.

Not All Assessments Are Created Equal

So many assessments, so little time . . . . there are SO MANY career tests! How do you choose?

You’ll notice some focus on personality. Some look at interests. Others highlight strengths or abilities. All of which is helpful. But it’s only part of the picture.

According to CareerOneStop, MIT Career Services, and others, a strong career assessment should include:

• ‍ Personality Inventory

• Interest Inventory

• Skills Inventory

• Work Values

• Overal Aptitude Testing

True career clarity and the ability to take actionable steps come when all of these parts are combined and work together.

In addition, assessments need to be personalized and highly engaging, have good data and research behind them and focus on interests. One of the goals of any career assessment is to increase one’s level of self-awareness. “Self-knowledge has been hailed as an absolute prerequisite to informed career exploration.”(Kuder.com)

If You’re Wondering About Your Own Work . . .

If you have questions like:

• “Why does my work feel hard and draining?

• Is this the right place for me, or is there a better spot for my talents?

• Do I need to “tweak” my workplace, or do I need to rethink my direction completely?

It might be worth checking things out.

My Own Experience (and my GIFT to you!)

When I took my first Career Direct assessment, I was pretty impressed. It seemed comprehensive, I felt like it “nailed” me (with the exception of one offending characteristic*), and it offered a lot of follow-up work to continue career research after the consult concluded.

About a year later, I resigned my mortgage position and looked into becoming a Career Direct Consultant. As a part of my training, I took another assessment and found my results nearly identical. That consistency mattered. It confirmed the assessment’s excellent test-retest ratios and ranked its reliability among the top assessments available. My research at that time convinced me this was a statistically viable test and one I could easily recommend to clients and friends. While preparing this post, I gathered that material into a simple guide for you.

A Note on Self-Perception

Sometimes, the biggest barrier to clarity isn’t the tool — it’s our assumptions about ourselves.

Those assumptions can come from:

• family expectations

• self-expectations

• or simply years of doing what was required

But when those don’t align with how we’re actually wired, work becomes harder than it needs to be.

(*This was certainly true for me — especially when it came to how I naturally approach structure and detail. You can read more about that in my earlier posts.)

I’ve put together a free guide that covers:

• popular career assessments

• what each one measures (and what they miss)

• what to look for if you want career clarity and the ability to take actionable steps.

Not all assessments will lead you forward — but the right one can. (Enjoy!)

Download the guide: Choosing the Right Career Assessment