What are the best career assessment tools to find your ideal job?

To land your dream job, start with step #1: Career Assessment. Why? Well, imagine navigating a crowded job market without a clear sense of who you are. It's like searching for treasure without a map. So, here's a top tool I recommend: Knowdell Card Sorts, created by the late Dick Knowdell. There are two valuable card sorts you can use. First, the Values Card Sort helps you prioritize what truly matters to you in your career. Second, the Motivated Skills Card Sort lets you identify and highlight the skills you're passionate about and love to use. Rather than diving headfirst into job market trends (like what jobs pay the most?), start by exploring yourself. Who are you and what do you really want?

Career assessments can get a bad rep but the assessment is based on your responses. People grow, evolve and change their minds so likely the assessment may show something new to align with that. Personally career assessments like MBTI Career Profile and Clifton Strengths have been helpful for me. Granted an assessment cannot delegate me to a role based on my INFJ-A personality. However, I can notice the patterns for the professions that are typically mentioned and I can uniquely discover my individual values, interests, and gifts. All of these can work together and are not mutually exclusive of one another.

While career assessment tools provide insights into your strengths, interests, and potential fits, it's essential to approach them as one of many instruments in our job search toolkit. A single assessment cannot capture the full spectrum of your career identity. It's also crucial to merge these results with real-world experiences, like internships or job shadows, to validate and refine the insights. Careers and jobs are dynamic, evolving with personal growth and changing circumstances. So, while these tools can spotlight potential paths, your career journey gets mapped out by your choices, experiences, and continuous learning.

While tools like MBTI (e.g. 16personalities.com) can offer insights into professional aptitudes and interpersonal dynamics, their generic nature means they might not always capture your unique essence. It's essential to contextualize these results, tailoring them to your individual circumstances and goals. Translating broad outcomes into specific, actionable steps is crucial when plotting your next career move. By dedicating time to these assessments, you cultivate deeper self-awareness, but remember: self-reflection should be ongoing. Even if you've assessed yourself before, values and objectives evolve. Regular introspection, whether tool-assisted or not, is key, but the ultimate focus should be on translating insights into actions.

The MBTI Career Profile has been invaluable along with StrengthsFinder. It is imperative not just know how your personality connects to your profession but also your performance. Understanding the motivation behind why we do what we do is our intention. I never took any assessment solely at face value but also reflected on the evidence that aligns with the results. This is imperative to consider when taking assessments. You independently must consider your own thoughts, beliefs, emotions, decisions, actions and results around your career experience.

Discovering your true career path and maximizing your potential is often a journey of self-discovery, and career assessment tools are the compass in this endeavor. They unveil hidden talents, reveal what brings joy and fulfillment to your work, and shed light on your unique personality traits that influence your professional life. These tools serve as invaluable allies, helping you not only make informed career choices but also providing a much-needed confidence boost. They empower you to fine-tune your focus, enrich your resume with your strengths and accomplishments, and approach interviews with a newfound clarity.

Career assessment tools primarily serve as prompts, spotlighting pertinent questions that can stimulate deeper introspection about one's professional path. Their primary value lies in raising awareness about key career aspects you might otherwise overlook. However, it's crucial to remember that simply recognizing the questions doesn't equate to having insightful answers. The onus is on the individual to take these broad outcomes, refine them in the context of their personal situation, and iterate until they arrive at specific, actionable insights that truly resonate. Only then can one effectively determine the next steps in their career journey.

Some tools can highlight what you're good at and give you ideas on areas you might never have considered exploring. They can help bridge the gap between your current position and your desired career, helping you to make more informed decisions. Balance the insights from assessments with personal experiences to ensure a well-rounded perspective on your career journey.

As a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, I'm slightly biased lol. Here are some ways you can harness the results of the assessment: Take the assessment to identify your strengths and read through the detailed reports that are offered once you complete the assessment. Work with a strengths coach to help you align your strengths with career paths to set clear career goals based on your strengths. Having a coach to work with (even once) can be immensely helpful in helping to highlight best practices specific to your strengths. Discuss your strengths in interviews as they relate to the role and company values Seek roles and company cultures that value your strengths and continuously assess and adjust your career based on your strengths.

Although, the career assessments are rarely used by the 300+ job seekers I have helped as a strategist, those who do them find them helpful for the most part. The thing about assessments is they do require deep reflection and acknowledgement of how one's experiences align with the results. StrengthFinders helped me highlight my unique success code. Also, taking in for my job in 2018 and taking it again as a grad student in 2020, my results were slightly different based on my life experience. Let's keep in mind that as people, we are always changing giving the lessons life has hopefully taught us. There were some core themes that always remained in my results like being Strategic and futuristic in my thinking.

Assessments can highlight compatible careers based on broad personality and interest categories. However, it's essential to remember that these tools work within frameworks, and real-world careers often don't fit neatly into predetermined boxes. Also, personal and professional growth can lead to evolving perspectives over time. While these tools can provide clarity, combining their insights with self-reflection, real-world experiences, and mentorship is crucial.

From a decade's experience working with top professionals on their careers, most career assessment tools offer broadly similar insights on values and objectives. The key isn't in the tool chosen but in the actions post-assessment. The genuine difference emerges when you personalize and act on these general insights. So, rather than seeking the "perfect" tool, focus on effectively translating its results to align with your unique career situation. It's less about the tool's output and more about tailoring this to your individual trajectory.

After using career assessment tools, the real challenge begins. With newfound clarity on personal priorities, it's vital to systematically map and prioritize job opportunities aligning with your values - literally NO ONE is doing this without professional help from my experience :( As opportunities arise, it's not just about seizing them, but assessing if they genuinely resonate with your aspirations. During the recruitment process, armed with self-awareness, pose the right questions to ascertain if a role truly fits. Avoid being swayed by mere salary allure or superficial perks. By the end of interviews, you should confidently discern if an opportunity aligns with what you genuinely seek.

You should engage with industry professionals for firsthand insights. Acquiring new skills or honing existing ones amplifies your adaptability and value in the job market. Volunteering and interning present opportunities for experiential learning, while networking makes way for potential job opportunities and mentorships.

While career assessment tools offer insights, overanalyzing them isn't the best use of your time. Opt for one or at most, three mainstream tools or refer to scientific search engines for psychologically recommended ones. But remember, the real emphasis should be on how you harness these preliminary results, not endlessly comparing them. Most people lack the depth to rigorously evaluate these tools, and honestly, it's not necessary. Often, different tools produce strikingly similar outcomes. If cross-referencing with another tool gives you peace of mind, go for it. But don't get caught in analysis paralysis. Instead, prioritize interpreting and personalizing the feedback you receive. That's where the real value lies in this process.

Career assessments serve as a compass, not a map. They offer insights, but it's up to you to navigate your own career path. Consider your passions and aspirations -- these can't always be captured by career assessments. While assessments shed light on potential directions, taking a more well-rounded approach that includes self-awareness, external input, and market realities is vital.

Finding jobs that actually fit your unique background & interests can be pretty hard. My biggest piece of advice is to take a job matching quiz. These sorts of career assessment quizzes will take in your preferences on location, industry, skill, salary, and culture to find you jobs that fit these criteria. It's a great way to find out job titles that you may not have heard of but are a great fit for you.

Career assessments are great for providing a foundational understanding of identifying potential careers, and understanding one's intentions and motivations within the realm of career. It is best to couple career assessment tools with your own evidence of powerfully partnering with purpose. Many people give enough reflection on their own values, gifts, and abilities that have always had. I knew I enjoyed helping people but did not grasp how exactly this could be something that also offers great compensation. We determine what career is ideal for us based on our experiences and evidence of how we felt when we truly tapped into our zone of greatness. This is often overlooked. This is why we need to write down our achievements in a brag book.

Discovering your ideal job is a journey. Career assessment tools are valuable guides in this process, offering insights into your strengths and preferences. However, don't rely on them alone. Interact with professionals in your desired field, seek relevant learning experiences, and build a network. Your career path is a combination of self-discovery and real-world exploration. Blend the insights from these tools with your unique aspirations and the ever-evolving job market to find your perfect fit.

My favorite is careerfitter dot com. Inexpensive; Simple to take and understand. I have been using it with my clients for years. I’ve had nothing but positive feedback.

Old jobs are replaced or modified by technology. New roles appear every day. The average person in the modern world could change careers 5-7 times during their working life. Continue self-discovery. Use AI tools that exist today and will appear soon. Learn more about your unique personality and gifts. Raise the bar and select jobs that bring you joy, growth, impact, and money at the same time. Every person has their own unique recipe.