Experts have successfully used career testing for decades to determine suitable career options based on a student’s skills and interests. Many students first encounter career tests in middle or high school. Without any career testing, many students are left without guidance on which careers will provide them an income while also being personally fulfilling.
Has the drop in career testing led to unfulfilled dreams? An overall lack of direction? And should career testing be standard practice for students? Consider the following arguments to bring back career testing and why it would be beneficial.
Career tests can provide your students insight into more than just career exploration.
Many students admit it’s a challenge to assess their career prospects independently. You may even witness your students struggling to plan for their future. Career tests come in handy for this very reason. They can unbiasedly analyze a student’s innate strengths and weaknesses.
The results of career tests help students work on skills that specific careers demand. Career tests help match the students’ personalities with career requirements giving them a starting point for career exploration.
Career tests can also be used to gauge soft skills and emotional intelligence. Career tests assess various skills, including leadership, empathy, team spirit, and negotiation skills. These test results allow students to improve these skills and conceptualize their value in the modern job environment.
Career tests can reveal passions or talents as potential careers. Career tests might reveal surprising elements about the students’ personalities, which may motivate them to try their hand at something new or unexpected.
Consider Pavane Gorrepati, a medical doctor who ventured into journalism in 2018. Pavane and her colleague launched The Doctor Is In, a weekly column in the Daily Iowan newspaper. Dr. Pavane and her colleague sought to guide medical students in their endeavor to publish science and opinion journalistic articles. Would a career test have revealed Dr. Pavane’s journalistic talents, leading her on a different path altogether?
A career test can steer students in the right direction and help them learn about themselves while matching their ethics and principles to viable career options. For example, the Professional Accountants Code of Ethics (released in 2005) established a conceptual framework guiding all accountants to comply with five fundamental principles and ethics. These include:
Students aspiring to be accountants should ask themselves: Do I value the five principles above and hold them dear in my daily engagements? Can I honestly subscribe to them in the future?
As teachers, we need to do all we can to support our students; this includes encouraging career testing. As part of the students’ career test, you may want to pose further questions such as:
By offering a career test, you help your students reflect on career opportunities that favor their personalities; you help them weigh themselves against career dynamics and existing market needs.
Take the time to explore their results and take a deep dive into each field to determine its true viability. Your students will appreciate your enthusiasm.
Career tests allow students a chance to explore careers that may best match their personality. Finding fulfillment in a career can lead to happier adults, and as teachers, we want to do all we can to set our students up for success.
If your school does not already use career testing, explore your options and work with your students to find a testing program that suits your budget and school needs. Pick a reliable and trustworthy platform with an impeccable track record.
Most of all, listen to your students and explore various careers to help them seek the appropriate higher education degrees and land the right job for them.
Written by John O. Ndar
Education World Contributor
Copyright© 2022 Education World