How a career path quiz can help you plan your future!

Whether unsure about what your future career should look like or considering a career change, a career path quiz can help you discover insights about the right type of job progression. Your future career path depends on what goals you set. Learning about what your next move could be along your career path will help you to achieve the best outcome.

We’ll cover these key points in this post.

• Why take a career path quiz?

• What is a career path?

• Examples of career paths

• Career path quizzes

• Find your best career path

Why take a career path quiz?

You can learn more about your personality interests and what motivates you by taking a relatively simple career path quiz. Those interests are what impel you to choose jobs. But are you selecting the best jobs suited to your interests? That’s one way a career quiz can answer the question to help you find a new career path.

Another plus to taking a career path quiz is that it enables you to learn about jobs in a field you may not otherwise know about. You can expand your knowledge to include researching more about those types of jobs and their connected industries. This can help you narrow down your focus to the right satisfying career.

What does a career path look like?

There are two ways you can explore a career path; with the help of a manager where you currently work, or as something you do independently of your current work situation. Which method is right for you depends upon your current job situation and what your future career goals are. 

Organizational career path

A career path is the progression of jobs you take to move you along your career path to your ultimate career goal. For example, you can move forward while staying in one company provided you know what top job you seek. That would be called an organizational career path because it is mapped out with the help of a manager who mentors you at your company. 

Personal career path

You can also explore a personal career path separately from where you currently work. You do that when you want to move your career progression by changing to another industry or job. Sometimes that’s called a lateral move because you move sideways with little change in job title or duties and / or salary. A motivating factor in tackling a lateral move might be that the current company culture you are in is not a good fit. Thus, you find a similar job but receive a better working environment.  

What are examples of a career path?

You can start a career path with what education you have achieved. Let’s say you got a degree in Business Administration. That type of university degree can lead you to a broad range of industries and jobs within an industry. 

Here is an example to show you a generalized career path: 

Business Administration Bachelor’s Degree → Office Manager → Office Director → VP of Office Operations

It doesn’t specify what industry because the application of this particular career path could be for a variety of industries such as; accountant firms, law firms, human resource departments, and so on. 

You can see from this example how a person could narrow down their choice of industry or field. Also, since the person started out with a college degree, they could skip starting as an entry-level office clerk and apply straight for a manager position. Then they could map out their career path forward.

Here’s another example: 

Computer Science degree → Programmer (specific coding languages) → Manager (of a programming team) → Director (overseeing a much larger team) → VP or Board level member (becoming an organizational driver steering an organization on a global level).

Here is an example for someone without a college degree:

Hotel clerk → Hotel Front Desk Manager → Hotel General Manager→ Hotel Brand District Manager (someone who now oversees more than one hotel or several at a time). 

What are the best career path quizzes you can take?

Now that you have an idea what a career path can look like, how do you apply it to your career choice? By taking a career path quiz, you can compare the suggestions given to what you have actually accomplished so far already. This is where the testing can be fun to learn about the specifics of your career path through a quiz. Let’s look at some quizzes you can take.

1. Asafuturescapes is modern and very cool to use. Eleven questions in one minute can help you find a future career related to your passions. Start by inputting your birthdate and move on to the first question. The interaction feels fun because the questions are similar to what you might do in any given situation in real life. When you get to the end, it will show you your strengths. From there, you can explore what industries would best suit you. Click on an industry to discover the various fields within that industry. And within that field are specific jobs.

2. MyPlan offers an initial free test called the Values Assessment Test. Instead of answering questions, there are 20 cards with statements on them. You choose the statement that best answers how you feel about your ideal job. Next, you sort the cards into groups by level of importance. Submit the report and get your answers. They also offer a paid package consisting of three career tests and the free test. 

3. The MAPP career matching test has been taken by over 8 million people. There are 71 questions. Each question gives three choices; one that you like the most, one that you like the least, and the third is to be left blank. After completing the 71 questions, you will be introduced to the following sections; Interests, Temperament, Aptitude, People, Things, Data, Reasoning, Mathematical Capacity (no math is required in the questions), and Language Capacity. The top 20 career choices are presented. You can opt to purchase a paid package or continue to explore more career planning information.

4. MyNextMove has 60 questions related to job activities. It is created by O*Net as sponsored by the US Department of Labor. You simply answer by selecting one of five emoticon faces as to the level of like or dislike of certain kinds of work activities. You don’t have to be concerned about salary or education. After you complete the five pages with ten choices, you are given your interest profiler results. Click on each link to learn more about what describes your motivations. Next, it moves on to job zones and, after that, onto actual job descriptions. You can research at least 1000 jobs with the free test. 

5. The Predictive Index or PI Behavioral Assessment shows you traits of your workplace behavior. You answer two pages displaying adjectives describing the following; the first page is for how you think others at work expect you to be, and the second page displays words you choose to describe how you are. It will create a reference profile with a scale pointing to your performance in four key areas; dominance, extraversion, patience, and formality. This particular test requires using a work email address to sign up. 

These career path tests state there are no wrong or right answers because it is uniquely about what feels right to you. After all, your career is about you, not what others think you should do. It’s about finding your strengths and where they are best used in an occupation you enjoy.

Don’t waste your time in jobs that are not the right match for you

The time it takes to complete a career path quiz is immeasurable when it comes to learning and finding your best career path. Some tests are a few minutes, others are up to 20 minutes, but all reveal things about yourself to help you choose jobs that fit your career progression. That is invaluable and can save you a lot of time and hassle in pursuing the best career path. 

Will these career quizzes help you find a career you love?

It’s best to take more than one of these tests or as many as interest you with their test-taking style. Compare results to spot a trend. Does it ring true with you? Or did you get a completely different result from the current career you are pursuing? 

At best, these tests and quizzes will confirm much of what you know about yourself already. This can make you feel like you are on the right track career-wise. Occasionally, a result might pop up that makes you wonder if that is another direction you should take. But you would have to ask yourself if you really want to make a big career change or stick with a natural progressive path you are already pursuing that feels right.

As the old saying goes, “If you love what you are doing, you’ll never work a day in your life.”  It just means that if you are passionate about what you are doing, it won’t feel like a drag in your life. In fact, you might work even harder because you enjoy it so much. That should be your clue you found the right job. 

Key takeaways

1. Take more than one career path quiz and compare the results

2. Determine if you are on the right career path presently or need to change

3. Map out a course of action to follow your job progression