From an early age, most of us have been told to “do what we love” and “follow our dreams and passions.”
In a perfect world, we would all know from day one what those are.
In reality, however, many people simply can’t figure out what they’re passionate about, while others find themselves interested in several areas and can’t narrow down their choices.
In turn, this can make choosing a career path quite stressful and confusing.
The good news is, there are numerous career aptitude tests out there that can help you discover what profession is best compatible with your traits, skills, values, and personality.
This is why we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best free career aptitude tests you can take right away, to find a career that will help you thrive professionally and personally.
Read along for:
- What Is a Career Aptitude Test?
- 10 Best Career Aptitude Tests
- Career Aptitude Test FAQ
What Is a Career Aptitude Test?
A career aptitude test is a test you take to learn more about yourself and to discover what careers you have the potential to excel in.
Career aptitude tests are usually taken online, in the form of a detailed quiz that covers various questions.
The goal of these questions is to uncover your personality, values, skills, motivations, and preferences, and match them with the most-fitting professional fields and careers paths for you.
10 Best Career Aptitude Tests in 2023
To make sure you choose the best out of the many options out there, here’s our list of the top 10 best career aptitude tests for 2023:
1. Career Fitter
The Career Fitter personality and career test is a 60-question quiz that’ll take you around 5-10 minutes to complete. The test’s free version only makes a general assessment of your potential career. Concretely, by the end of the career aptitude test you’ll know:
- How much money you can potentially earn from a career that fits your personality
- Career fields you should consider, and the number of careers that fit you
- Your “work personality” and its corresponding strengths and weaknesses
- Your leadership and management style
The premium version, on the other hand, is a 10-page report that costs $29.95 and dives deep into topics such as:
- Best career choices specifically tailored for you
- Personality chart
- Top 10 best personality details
- Ideal business environments and management approach
- Preferred team-building approach
2. Truity
Truity’s free career personality profiler consists of 94 questions that’ll take you about 10-15 minutes to complete.
It’s a scientifically proven career aptitude test based on the Holland Codes system and Big Five theories, that helps you discover:
- Real-world careers, industries, and university/college majors that match your personality and attributes
- Specific job tasks, activities, and projects you’re likely to enjoy
- How you work in a group or team setting, how you solve problems, and what drives your motivation
- What advice you should follow in order to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses
If you’d like a more in-depth, comprehensive report from Truity, you can purchase it for a small price of $19.
3. Career Hunter
Career Hunter offers a free, 27 question career interests test that won’t take you longer than 15 minutes to finish. The goal of this test is to help you discover your areas of interest, based on the work activities that you find most compelling and entertaining.
More specifically, you’ll be able to:
- Compare your interests against 27 general areas of interest, such as engineering, healthcare, entertainment, and science.
- Uncover new passions or hobbies to pursue
- Identify exactly which work activities you find more enjoyable.
If you want to further explore yourself, Careerhunter has a series of other quizzes that test your work personality, career motivators, and your abstract, numerical, and verbal reasoning skills.
They’re all accessible through a one-time purchase of $29.99.
4. MAPP
The Motivational Appraisal Personal Potential (MAPP) test is a career assessment test for students, recent graduates, and employed adults who are unsatisfied with their current job. The 22-minute free test is incredibly accurate because a number of psychologists have extensively tested its validity.
After you finish the quiz, you’ll gain immediate access to your:
- Career motivations
- Top 10 vocational areas
- Over 1000 possible careers that match your test results.
5. Career Explorer
Career Explorer’s career test is a 30-minute quiz that uses advanced machine learning to match your interests, goals, history, personality, and workplace preferences with potential careers.
What’s unique about this career aptitude test is that its system updates in real-time. So, anytime you enter a new piece of relevant information, Career Explorer automatically updates all of your career recommendations, on the spot.
With the free version of this report, you gain access to your top career matches, insights, and report previews.
With an annual $48 membership, Career Explorer sends you 800+ career matches from over 40 areas of study, along with a full version of your personality report. You can also take advantage of a free career coaching session.
6. Princeton Review
The Princeton Review career quiz consists of 24 alternative choice questions, where you are given a pair of statements and you have to choose the one that best describes you.
After the quiz is done, the results will give you an overview of what type of careers match your style and interests, as well as recommend specific fields you should consider.
7. My Plan Career Assessment
My Plan provides a free career value assessment test that won’t take you longer than 10 minutes to complete.
You’ll be given 20 cards, with each card containing a statement that finishes the sentence “In my ideal job, it is important that…” (as shown in the image above). Your job is to rank these statements from least to most important, based on personal preference.
Your results will be described and ranked according to 6 core work value clusters: independence, achievement, recognition, relationships, working conditions, and support. The overall goal of this career aptitude test is to help you learn more about your underlying needs and motivations in the workplace.
8. 123 Career Test
The 123 free career aptitude test is a short, 10-minute test that focuses specifically on answering the question: “What career best fits your personality?”
During the test, you have to go through 15 illustrative questions, similar to the one shown above, where you can either click the green tick if you enjoy doing the activity or the red X if you don’t. The results will tell you what specific type of personality you have, based on the Holland Codes. You’ll also get a full list of suggested occupations that fit your Holland code.
9. Buzzfeed
Buzzfeed has quizzes for pretty much everything, including career assessment. This fun 25-question career aptitude test, for example, will tell you what job best fits you based on some of your personality traits.
You’ll have to rate your interest in certain subjects, how much you agree or disagree with different statements, and how many different traits and attributes align with your personality and values.
10. Keirsey Temperament
The Keirsey Temperament test is the test if you want to better understand your personality and temperament type. It covers 70 questions and takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
The questionnaire places you into one of the following four temperaments: Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, and Rational. Each of these four temperaments is then further split into four character types, leading to a total of 16 possible personality types.
Career Aptitude Test FAQ
I Figured Out What Career I Want to Pursue! How Do I Get Started?
You’ve defined your career goals, you know what your top skills and talents are: what now?
Here are our top tips on how to start job hunting and land your next job:
- In order to apply for any job position you have to build a convincing resume. There’s a lot to creating a good resume, so we recommend you check out a full run-down of how that’s done in our dedicated guide to writing a resume. If you need more inspiration, you can also head on over to our 70+ resume examples & guides for any job position.
- Alongside your resume, add a cover letter as part of your job application. Check out our guide to cover letters to learn how to write one right.
- Use the right job board. You can pick a niche job board if you’re looking for a specific type of job (e.g. Hired.com for IT jobs, We Work Remotely for remote jobs, etc.), or a more conventional job board like Monster.com.
- Once you find a position you’re genuinely interested in, read the criteria carefully, to make sure you qualify. Apply for 5 to 10 positions a day.
- When applying, change the job title in your resume to the exact role you’re applying for.
- Prepare yourself before each interview. Check out our article on the most common interview questions and make sure you have a solid answer for these questions.
How Will A Career Aptitude Test Help Me?
Different career aptitude tests take into account different things.
For instance, some tests solely focus on evaluating a single factor, such as your personal beliefs and values. Others take into account several factors, such as your professional skills, talents, strengths, and other personal attitudes.
Regardless of what’s being asked, the end goal of each career aptitude test is to help you find the career options and work environments that align with your personal goals. These test results are also effective in evaluating the potential success and job satisfaction that different career options might give you.
How Accurate Are Career Aptitude Tests?
Career aptitude tests are developed, tested, and researched by professional psychologists and test developers.
Specifically, most career aptitude tests use what’s known as the Holland Codes, a system created by Dr. John L. Holland, an academic and psychologist. These codes have been shown to provide reliable and accurate results in matching people with suitable jobs according to their interests.
Hence, it’s safe to say career aptitude tests are a reliable option you can use to somewhat guide you in your professional life.
Is Taking a Career Aptitude Test Important?
Yes, taking a career aptitude test is important, especially if you’re a student or an entry-level professional uncertain about what career path to follow.
Once you get the results, you’ll gain a better understanding of your skills, weaknesses, strengths, and attributes, and use them to make a well-informed and thoughtful career decision.
How do I Find My Career Interests?
Besides taking a career aptitude test, here are some other ways through which you can find your career interests:
- List any hobbies you have an interest in. If you enjoy writing, for example, it may lead you to a career as a journalist.
- Think back to and take note of your favorite internships, classes, and projects. Which ones did you find most fulfilling?
- If you have previous work experience, think of the positions you enjoyed most and filter those that no longer interest you.
How Do I Choose the Right Career?
Choosing a career path is all about knowing who you are and what you seek professionally.
So, make sure you identify your:
- Soft skills: communication, leadership, time-management, etc.
- Technical skills: data analysis, Microsoft Office, photography, etc.
- Natural aptitudes: writing, project management, active listening, etc.
- Hobbies and interests: public speaking, dancing, board games, etc.
- Personality attributes: outgoing, confident, loyal, etc.
Then, make a list of specific requirements you seek from your future job, which can include:
- Salary requirements
- Working hours
- Location
- Benefits such as insurance coverage, vacation days, etc.
Conclusion
And that’s a wrap! We hope that after reading this guide, you’re more clear on what career path to follow, and what work environments best fit your personality, skills, and personal values.
If you need help going further down the job search process, check out these resources:
