It’s much easier — and more fun! — to do a job you’re good at. But how do you know what career matches your strengths if you don’t even know what strengths you have, let alone how they’ll match up in the workplace?
We made a career aptitude test that assesses strengths you already know about and matches them with in-demand job skills. That way, you’re not stuck researching “programming skills” — instead, you’re getting the answers you need quickly, easily, and 100% for free.
Why Should You Take a Career Aptitude Test?
There are so many different career paths, each with its own set of roles that require specific skills.
>>MORE: Learn more about hard vs. soft skills in the workplace.
A career aptitude test is a helpful way to understand how your strengths align with potential career paths you might not even know about or would have considered before. For example, you may think that because you like logic, a technology career path is right for you — but did you know that there’s logical thinking needed for a career like project management?
A career aptitude test can therefore be the link that bridges your skills to careers. At Forage, we work with top employers to help motivated students get great jobs. This gives us an inside view into top skills in the current job market and the specific skills employers are hiring for right now. With this knowledge, we’ve written a career aptitude test that helps us assess the most in-demand job skills — so you can figure out what your most hireable strengths are.
This career aptitude test will:
- Help you understand how your strengths translate to different career paths
- Teach you what work environments and cultures you work best in
- Give you a starting place to start exploring the right careers for you
- Share answers about your work strengths in an accessible (and free!) way
How to Take a Career Aptitude Test
This career aptitude test is designed to be accessible to all students, regardless of how much knowledge you have of specific skills or careers. Instead, it should be a quiz that helps you reflect on what you’re good at without any external pressure.
Before you start the career aptitude test, take a moment to “engage in self-exploration and introspection,” Matthew Warzel, certified professional resume writer and former Fortune 500 recruiter, says. “Take the time to identify your passions, interests, and natural talents. Reflect on the activities that energize you and make you feel fulfilled. Consider the tasks or challenges that you willingly invest time and effort in without feeling drained.”
>>MORE: ‘What Is My Passion?’ Quiz: A No-Stress Way to Learn What to Do in Life
To guide this self-exploration, Nathan Mondragon, Chief IO Psychologist at HireVue, recommends focusing on three main areas:
- Your overall interests: Begin by delving into your interests, hobbies, and activities that genuinely resonate with you. Reflect on what interests you in your academic pursuits, extracurricular activities, and leisure time.
- Your skills and competencies: List areas where you excel, be it problem-solving, communication, analysis, creativity, or technical proficiency. Recognize the strengths you’ve cultivated through education and experience.
- Your natural abilities: Think about traits that come naturally to you, such as critical thinking, empathy, leadership, or adaptability. These qualities can provide valuable insights into potential career paths.
Have a general idea about what you’re interested in and what you’re good at? Remember, you don’t need to think about job description skills like wireframing or business communication. Instead, all you need for this career aptitude test is a basic understanding of what you like and what you find you’re naturally best at.
Career Aptitude Test
What career is right for you? Take this quiz to find out. It’s completely free — you’ll just need to sign up to get your results!
Career Aptitude Test: The Bottom Line
Many career aptitude tests rely on you knowing corporate jargon and hard skills you might not even be familiar with. Yet you don’t need to know fancy words to figure out what your strengths are and how they might align with a career path that’s right for you.
Remember, your results are the beginning of your career exploration. Maybe you’ve never heard of those types of careers before — that’s great! You can start researching to understand what the roles are. Maybe you’re ready to start trying out the careers from your results, but don’t want to dive into an internship just yet. Job simulations can help you understand what different roles are like in just a few hours (and without leaving your room).
Whatever path you take from your results, know that you have unique strengths and abilities that are valuable to employers — when you find roles you’re passionate about that leverage these skills, the world is your oyster!
Image credit: Canva
FAQs
A career aptitude test measures your strengths, abilities, and skill set, particularly for skills that are valuable in the workplace. Typically, your results are different career paths that utilize your top skills.
Before starting a career aptitude test, take a moment to self-reflect and consider what you’re naturally interested in and what you excel at. Then, take the test as honestly as you can, without trying to manipulate the results toward one career or another — getting a result that surprises you might be for the best!
The best career aptitude test measures your skills and strengths without you needing to do additional research. It should be accessible and free, and your results should make you feel empowered in your career exploration.
