Changing Careers
You’ve made the decision: It’s time for a career change. The only problem is that you’re not sure what you want to do, or even why you’re unhappy with your current job. That’s where taking a career assessment can help.
These tools help you understand your own motivations and values so that you can find a fulfilling career. As everyone knows, happiness at a job is far more than just being paid well. There are many deeply rooted reasons in each person for why they are or aren’t satisfied with their current jobs.
What tasks do you enjoy doing? What sort of work environment suits you best? How do you prefer to interact with your manager? By taking a few online assessments, you can answer these questions for yourself.
More importantly, by taking these assessments you’ll actually be preparing for a potential job interview in beginning a new career. Inevitably, interviewers will ask questions such as, “why do you want to work in this position,” or, “what makes you a great fit?” After taking a couple or more of these assessments, you’ll be well prepared to answer those questions and make quite the impression on your potential new employer.
Below, you’ll see a few of our favorite assessment books and quizzes. Take a few minutes and learn about new career possibilities, you might like what you find!
Career Assessments
• The classic book in career assessment is What Color is your Parachute? You can buy the latest edition on Amazon or find it at any local library, as it is popular and well known. This book is very in depth and uses other assessment tests such as the Holland code. You won’t be able to complete the assessments in this book in an hour, or likely even a day. But if you devote time to it, you might find the self-knowledge incredibly rewarding.
• To see what really drives you, it might be worthwhile to take a life inventory assessment. This helps you identify your life values. After doing so, you’ll see how your career fits in with your values.
• Another great assessment is available through My Plan. Their career values assessment is free, but you’ll have to pay for the others. Still, this is a fantastic starting place and if you like the free content, you might want to consider paying for the additional tests.
• Finally, Monster has compiled many other assessments in this post.
Remember, these assessments are to help guide you in your exploration of new career possibilities, not necessarily provide you with exact answers on what that career should be – that will take some self-reflection in light of these assessments.
Nicolle Osequeda, LMFT, is the founder of Lincoln Park Therapy Group, specializing in anxiety, depression, and relationship counseling in Chicago. As a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator, she incorporates Dr. Brené Brown’s research into her therapy. Nicolle holds a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco and is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Illinois and California. She is a Clinical Fellow of AAMFT, a member of IAMFT, and the Financial Therapy Association. Nicolle has Gottman Method training and has taught at DePaul University, dedicated to helping individuals and couples achieve meaningful change. 
