Assessments
Free, online assessments can help your customers make more realistic decisions for training and career planning.
Online, self-directed career assessments provide a wealth of information for customers. They also can save time and money for counselors. Counselors can use these no-fee online assessments as homework for individuals, exercises in career exploration workshops, and resources on handouts. Many of the results link directly with online occupation descriptions.
Help your customers learn more about the benefits of assessments:
Customers often have unrealistic expectations of how to use career-related assessments. This summary describes benefits and limitations of assessment tools.
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Skills assessments
Employers hire people with the skills to match their needs. Help your customers define, describe, and improve their unique skills.
ISEEK Skills Assessment
This short, easy-to-use skill assessment matches preferred skills with occupations.Skills Profiler
A more comprehensive skill assessment that matches preferred skills with occupations and also allows customers to find more detailed descriptions of past jobs to use in resume writing and interviewing.O*NET's Ability Profiler
The O*NET Ability Profiler uses a pen and paper format to measure nine job-relevant abilities that include Verbal Ability, Arithmetic Reasoning, Computation, Spatial Ability, Form Perception, Clerical Perception, Motor Coordination, Manual Dexterity, and Finger Dexterity. -
Work Values
People who find work that matches their personal and professional values tend to be more satisfied and successful. As values can change, use these work values assessments to help you identify what's important to you in deciding on jobs, careers and employers.
Work Importance Locator
O*NET's Work Importance Locator is a paper and pencil instrument that can help your customers learn about what they "value" in a job.Minnesota Importance Questionnaire (MIQ)
*Note: MIQ does charge for distribution and scoring. MIQ is a measure of an individual's vocational needs and values, which are important aspects of the work personality. *Fees for the MIQ are dedicated to research and development in vocational psychology through the Vocational Psychology Research fund of the University of Minnesota. -
Interest inventories
Research shows that people in jobs that they enjoy tend to be more successful in their work. These online interest tools indicate what is enjoyable to them in the world of work.
MnCareers Interest Assessment
MnCareers Interest Assessment is based on Holland's Inventory of Basic Interests, (326KB, .pdf) sometimes called the RIASEC assessment. The Holland interest assessment shows that people with similar personal interest types often like the same types of careers. Results of this inventory will create an "interest profile" that corresponds to matching to occupations and their descriptions.O*NET's Interest Profiler
On O*NET's Interest Profiler, customers use pen and paper to discover the type of work activities and occupations that they would like and find exciting. Customers identify and learn about broad interest areas most relevant to them. -
Other assessments
These assessments help customers consider other important factors such as employability and lifestyle realities for effective decision-making.
Employability Checkup
The Employability Checkup provides a snapshot of one's ability to find employment with a specific occupation at a specific wage and location.Reality Check Tool
The Reality Check Tool is an interactive way to help customers identify their desired lifestyle and learn how to realistically achieve their goals through specific career or job choices, training, or education.
