With so many options out there, choosing a career to pursue has never been an easy task for most people. However, it’s believed that a career test can help, because assessing career choices from time to time can be a valuable exercise for an employee, especially if you want a fulfilling job.

According to different studies, it’s evident that career assessment is an important tool that can help one identify possible avenues on one’s career path, and be the instrument that opens up communication between the employee and the employer on how best to proceed.

A career test may cover skills, strengths, interests, emotional intelligence, values, and personal traits, among other things.

This way, an individual gets to understand their interests, values, and skills to determine where they fit in the job market.

For better career choices, David Kwizera, the owner of Citybuddiz, a tourism company, believes that making a career assessment is vital as it provides one with the information needed to make good decisions in the future.

A career test or assessment is a practical tool that can offer insights, even when choosing to change a career.

Jane Nakaayi, an educator, says although career assessment is mostly applied to those in school or soon-to-be graduates, even people already employed at some point might need it, especially when changing jobs or fields.

The goal of a career assessment, she says, is to evaluate the qualities and talents of an individual, which might include one’s strengths and weaknesses.

When one identifies this, Nakaayi says the next step is to find out what needs to be improved, skills to be used, as well as interests.

"A career assessment simply aims at helping one learn more about themselves so that they can discover which jobs rhyme with their goals,” she says.

This, Nakaayi explains, is important because when you find out what you are interested in before entering the job market, you will be more passionate about it.

Significance

Kwizera says the assessment normally provides one with the right information needed to make better career decisions.

When it comes to employees, a career test on a regular basis is a valuable exercise as it keeps you up-to-date with opportunities.

A career assessment, Nakaayi says, also gives one confidence to take on the job of their choice. "When this happens, an individual is more content with whatever they are doing, thus better productivity.”

A career test doesn’t only apply in the workplace, she says, and one can apply this in real life. It helps one learn about their personality and interests, something that will help them connect better with others in the community.

A career test is also believed to help one decide what they can do about their current situation, especially if they are not satisfied with what they are doing at the moment.

Aveek Pal Chaudhuri in the article "What are the Benefits of Career Assessment Tests?” writes, "Career assessments provide transparent and in-depth results, based on what answers an individual gets to what occupations are best fitted according to their skills, the ideal environment in which it should work, how the individual should communicate with others, what the strengths and weaknesses of the individual are, and most importantly, a thorough analysis of their passion.

"Career assessment tests help an individual to limit the number of career choices and help the individual unlock skills. The results are useful for aligning an individual’s career to their talents and personal goals. A career assessment test assists an individual who has unorganised skill sets realise the value of their unexplored skills. The tests are different and unique and help an individual make worthy career decisions.”