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How Do I Choose the Best Online Career Test?

S. Gonzales
S. Gonzales

Online career tests are great ways to assess your abilities and interests to determine a suitable career. Not all online career tests are created equally, however. The best online career tests are those that are developed with the help of professionals, offer large numbers of questions and reflect a large job pool.

When looking for an online career test, verify that the tests have hundreds of careers that can be used as results. You'll want to take tests that reflect a large job pool and not just a few parts of the available job sector. Taking a test with only a few dozen potential job suggestions can yield inaccurate results.

Woman with hand on her hip
Woman with hand on her hip

It might be beneficial to take tests that rely heavily on your interests as well as your aptitudes. If your interests are taken into account while providing results, suggested careers can be better suited to your lifestyle and goals. Choosing a career that correlates with what interests you can increase your overall job sanctification.

Generally, the longer the online career test, the more likely the test will provide you with accurate results. No single test will be completely accurate, but more questions to answer can result in a higher accuracy rate. Don't be tempted to take short tests to save time when a longer, more in-depth test can better steer you toward a potential career. Similarly, choose tests that allow you to scale your responses, such as from 1 to 5. Tests that allow only two answers, such as "yes" and "no" or "agree" and "disagree," won't measure your interests and aptitude as accurately as those that allow for rated responses.

A good online career test will have professionals associated with its design. Career counselors and psychologists are often consulted when developing these types of tests, and many of those professionals take an active hand in their construction. Tests that have more than one professional involved might be able to give you better results than those that have none involved.

Try to look for online career tests on the websites of career or education centers. Aside from the probability of their high accuracy, they might also be offered for free. If you're a student, and you find that you have to pay for an online career test, ask about student discounts.

When in doubt, consider taking more than one online career test. Taking multiple tests can help you gain a better understanding of what you might be good at, and it can reaffirm previous results. For example, if more than one test advises a career as a hairdresser, you might seriously consider pursuing employment in that field. Taking multiple tests might let you know about careers related to your primary matched career result, as well.

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