Can On-Line Career Assessment Tests Help With Job Choice?

Can on-line career assessment tests help you find your ideal job?  The answer appears to be a qualified “yes”, according to a recent Wall Street Journal review.

WSJ columnists recently provided a review of four popular on-line career counseling websites, and the quality and applicability of the feedback that they received.   The sites reviewed offered the on-line completion of a career interest inventory, as well as a feedback report summarizing results.  Some of the sites also offered an opportunity to discuss the results with a trained vocational counselor.

There was wide disparity in pricing from the sites reviewed, and the WSJ reports that the higher-priced offerings offered more specific individual feedback and a more targeted list of recommended career choices.

In addition, the WSJ reports that receiving personal feedback on their results from a vocational counselor helped them better understand their results, and allowed them to ask questions about the data contained in their assessment reports.

In sum, the WSJ reviewers found that the career assessment sites offered valuable insights into career choice, and suggested that the information gathered from such sites, along with the insights of a trained consultant, could be an important part of the career search process.   The information obtained was also seen as being most valuable for those newly-beginning a career, or those thinking about changing careers, as opposed to those looking for more fulfillment in their current field of endeavor.