8 Free Career Tests for Career Changers
Are you considering a career change? It might not be as hard to pivot as you think.
In today's job market, there may be jobs that didn’t exist when you started your career. You could find a brand-new job you can do with the skills you already have. Or you may be able to take a class or two to upgrade your skill set to get the qualifications you need for the next phase of your career.
What's the best way to explore options? You can use these free online career quizzes to quickly and easily generate ideas to help you get started. Once you have options to consider, you can talk to people in the field, research salaries, learn what you'll need to do to get hired, find training programs and job opportunities, and decide where your career will go next.
Online Career Assessments
To get started, try these free online career assessments that help you learn about occupations that might be a fit, jobs that match your skills, and investigate careers.
123 Career Aptitude Test
The 123 Career Aptitude Test will give you insight into careers that match your personality. To take the test, you view pictures that show work activities. Select the activities that appeal to you the most and those you aren't interested in by liking or disliking each picture. The test only takes five to 10 minutes.
CareerOneStop Interest Assessment
CareerOneStop's Interest Assessment asks questions about what you like and don't like to do. You'll get a list of jobs that match your likes and dislikes, the education requirements for each position, and the job prospects. In addition, you can learn more about the roles you're interested in and what you need to do to transition your career.
CareerOneStop Values Matcher
The Work Values Matcher is a tool that will help you find career options that fit your values. You'll respond to questions about different aspects of a job or workplace to help you find jobs and employers that match your values. For each question, you'll think about how it matches your ideal job and rate it on a range from the least important.
mySkillsmyFuture
Enter your current or previous job into CareerOneStop's mySkillsmyFuture tool to get a list of jobs that use similar skills, then learn about the jobs, including how much they pay and the educational requirements.
O*NET Interest Profiler
The O*NET Interest Profiler is a 60-question interest inventory that generates a cluster of career options based on your responses. You can review a list of careers related to each cluster and get detailed career information on the occupations that interest you the most.
Truity Career Personality Profiler
The Career Personality Profiler evaluates your interests and your personality so you can explore career alternatives. It's a quick 10-15 minute test, and after you answer a series of questions, you will be able to learn about jobs and industries that are a match. There is a fee to receive a comprehensive report, but a summary of your results is free.
Tip: If you're not sure about making a change, here are some signs that your career needs a makeover and you've stayed too long in your job.
Match Your Skills to Jobs
Another way to approach a career switch is to use tools that will help you find jobs that use the skills you already have. There are many online tools that you can use to help you evaluate your skills and find jobs where you can use them.
LinkedIn Career Explorer
Use LinkedIn's Career Explorer to find real jobs that match your skill set. You can learn how your skills match job titles, find and apply for available jobs, and connect with LinkedIn members who may be able to help your career transition.
CareerOneStop Skills Matcher
Use Skills Matcher to assess the skills they want to use in your job and career by rating basic and more specialized skills to find careers that match. You'll answer 40 questions to rate your level in various skills. Then, you can review a list of suggested careers that match your skills well. You will also be able to learn more about the career, the education requirements, the salary, and the job outlook.
Get Training
CareerOneStop Local Training Finder
When you're looking to unretire or start a new career that requires expertise you don't have yet, use CareerOneStop's Local Training Finder to search for training ranging from six-week certificates to two-year, four-year, and graduate programs in any career or industry in any local U.S. area. If you need help paying for training, the Scholarship Finder can help you with funding.
Free Company-Sponsored Training Programs
There are companies that offer free training programs to everyone—you don’t have to work there to participate. Here are some of them:
Our Favorite Tools & Tips
JobLogr: JobLogr is a new AI-powered site you can use to write cover letters, prepare for interviews (you can paste in the job description and get a list of key points from your resume to mention), and track your job applications. The application tracker is completely free, and you can sign up for a 30-day free trial to try out the other features. A premium subscription is $30 for 6 months.
Get Your References Ready: Do you have a list of references ready to give to prospective employers? Having references ready will help you avoid scrambling to find people who can recommend you at the last minute. Here's how to choose potential references and how to ask for a reference from The Balance.
Check Out Career Services: If you're a college student or graduate, check what resources your school offers. Many offer services, including career counseling, resume and cover letter assistance, internship and job search help, and a career network you can use to make connections to both students and alumni.
News & Noteworthy
Onboarding AI Workers: At first, we didn’t realize this was real, but it appears to be. According to an announcement on the company website, Lattice is making AI history: “We will be the first to give digital workers official employee records in Lattice. Digital workers will be securely onboarded, trained, and assigned goals, performance metrics, appropriate systems access, and even a manager. Just as any person would be.” We aren’t sure when bots became people, and we can’t figure out why this would be a good idea. But the comments on the CEO’s LinkedIn post are entertaining. You can read the ones that were posted before the commenting was turned off.
Layoffs, Layoffs, & More Layoffs: The latest monthly jobs report showed a rising level of unemployment, and layoffs continue to ramp up. Intel cut 15,000 workers, while Cisco is cutting 7% of its workforce. Fast Company reports that Dell, Legal Zoom, Axios, Eventbrite, and Paramount Global are all cutting jobs. Layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi estimates that tech companies have laid off 130,000+ employees so far this year.
Watch Out for Job Scams: Scams have always been a problem for job seekers, but it’s getting worse. CNBC reports that they increased 118% in 2023 from 2022. The increase in remote work and AI are contributing factors. Scammers often pose as recruiters and post fake job listings, then steal personal information during the hiring process. It can be hard to tell if a job is a scam, but here are some tips to help you tell the difference. Also, check out Mark Anthony Dyson’s Substack The Job Scam Report for regular updates on the latest scams and how to avoid them.
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This is very interesting. Thank you!
Alison and Jen, thanks for sharing my work!