Career Interests and Assessments

Assessment is a natural first step in career development. Assessments help students to better understand their abilities and interests which guides students as they formulate a career path.  Assessments also assist educators to prepare students for the careers in which students are interested. 

The Transition Assessment Toolkit (2016) developed by the National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center, now known as the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: the Collaborative (NTACT:C), recommends the use of multiple evaluations that are used on an ongoing basis and answer the following questions:

  • Who am I?
  • What do I want in life, now and in the future?
  • What are some of life’s demands that I can meet now?
  • What are the main barriers to getting what I want from school and my community?
  • What are my options in the school and community for preparing me for what I want, now and in the future? (p.5)

Resources

Age Appropriate Transition Assessment Toolkit
This resource provides information about the process and value of transition assessments. In addition, practical suggestions for and samples of actual assessments are included.

Career Cruiser Career and Education Planning Guide (pdf)
Student activities include quizzes, games and checklists exploring interests, values, skills, motivation and more. 

Career Cruiser Career and Education Teacher's Guide (pdf)
Educator resources include Career Cruiser lesson plans and activities.

Career Interests Game
This inventory, hosted on the University of Missouri website, is based on Holland's model of occupations (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional). It is designed to help students begin thinking about how their personalities will fit in with specific work environments and careers. 

CareerOneStop Self Assessments
Free online career assessments include Skills Profiler, Ability Profiler, Interest Profiler, Work Importance Locator, Employability Checkup and more.

CareerOneStop Occupation Profile
Use this tool to search for detailed information about occupations of interest.

CareerOneStop Skills Profiler
Use this tool to match one's skills to jobs that use those skills.

Casey Life Skills Assessment (CLSA)
CLSA is designed to assess independent living skills for all youth ages 14-21. Test administrators must sign up for a free account to access the assessment.

Jung Typology Tests
These assessments are hosted on the HumanMetrics website and are based on the Jung and Myers-Briggs personality model (Introvert/Extrovert, Intuitive/Sensing, Thinking/Feeling, Judging/Perceiving). No login is required. Results are returned immediately.

Keirsey Temperament Sorter
This assessment is based on the 16 Myers-Briggs Type Indicators which are grouped into four temperaments (Artisan, Guardian, Rational and Idealist). Information on the four different temperaments and 16 personalities are provided.

More Successful Transition Planning: 20 Top Questions and Ways to Answer Them 
This resource provides answers to questions asked by students and teachers about interests, values, abilities and functional limitations related to work. Student worksheets included. (Free registration required.)

National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: the Collaborative (NTACT:C)
NTACT:C serves as a transition resource for state and local educational agencies, vocational rehabilitation agencies and service providers.

Non-Paid Community-Based Vocational Educational (CBVE) Programs (pdf) 
This TAP discusses guidelines and issues for non-paid CBVE vocational assessment where students perform work assignments for various businesses to collect information on their interests, aptitudes, needs, learning styles, work habits, behaviors, personal and social skills, values, attitudes and stamina.

Oklahoma CareerTech's Career Cluster Survey
This downloadable survey helps students (and adults) determine which of 16 career clusters they may wish to explore. The career clusters were identified by the U.S. Department of Education.

Parent Primer on Career Exploration (pdf)
Parent resources include a list of questions about whether a teen has the skills and qualities employers want.

Simply Careers! A Guide for Persons Involved in Transition Planning (pdf)
Educator resources for Step 1 (Career Assessment) of the seven-step career development process include information on Levels 1, 2, and 3 career assessments and reproducible masters for a student "All about Me Organizer" and a career-related Family Survey. SIMPLY Careers!  will be revised soon to incorporate post-publication changes.

Xello
Xello is a resource to support career planning and transition assessment for all Florida students. Xello is identified as Florida's official, K12 career planning and work-based learning coordination provider.

Additional Career Exploration Tools
O*Net Career Exploration Tools
O*NET Skills Search