Why Career Tests Don't Work

With the glut of free online career tests, it would be easy to get excited about the seemingly magical results they seek to provide to a persons career search.

But do they work?
One of the attractions of them is that they can be fun to complete and provide presumably quick answers for someone seeking career change advice.

However there are problems on a number of fronts when a person completes one of these assessments.



Results of such tests provide a list of careers* that supposedly suit a person's personality type and thereby assist them in finding a career that suits them.

As a career counselor who has in the past used a number of these instruments with clients, experience has now led me away from using them because:

1. A career aptitude test contradicts one of the core principals of career counseling.


2. A career placement test usually produces substandard results for a client compared to other career assessment methods.


3. Career assessment testing tends to minimize a person's uniqueness in the world of work.


4. There may be ethical issues around the financial benefits career counselors receive when using a career personality test.


5. Relying on a career assessment test in this way is part of a general trend towards quick fix solutions to people's problems.


6. There is growing support for the removal of career testing among respected career counselors.