Reliable and valid career assessments are typically best administered and interpreted by career counselors, coaches, HR professionals, or career consultants, in collaboration with the real “expert” - YOU. In fact, these careers professionals often receive extensive hands-on training to become proficient in career assessments.
Beware of Assessment Self-interpretation
Trained career professionals can facilitate correct interpretation of the career assessment results. Applying objectivity and sensitivity, they can take into account your background, culture, challenges, perceptions and career beliefs to expand the interpretation into a more fully developed analysis. This analysis of the integrated career assessment data is the foundation for sound decision-making and action plans.
The authors of the Kuder Career Search assessment (highly reliable and valid for the student/entry-level population) put it best: “Users of interest inventories over-interpret their results”, often coming to simplistic conclusions. They acknowledge “the best possible circumstance for understanding the results of one’s Kuder Career Search is with the assistance of a knowledgeable counselor. The counselor can elaborate on new concepts, correct misinterpretations, urge further exploration, and in many ways assist survey-takers in realizing the greatest benefit from their results.”
Professional Help
A well-trained professional career counselor or coach, with a full understanding of your circumstances and background, can select and administer appropriate career assessments for your needs. Even more important, a professional can guide you in uncovering career options that are a good fit with you and assist you in developing a quick-start action plan. One place to find a listing of Career Counselors is at the National Career Development Association (Find a Counselor).
Bottom Line
Mis-use and mis-interpretation of career assessments unfortunately are rampant. In addition, the sheer volume of career tests which can be found on the Internet can be overwhelming and confusing. With all the conflicting information to sort through, it is no wonder that misconceptions about career assessments abound!
Make the most of your career assessment experience by heeding the four common misconceptions in this series. Doing anything less is cheating yourself of a valuable opportunity for career growth, based on real insight of your core career strengths and assets, as well as your potentially limiting beliefs and obstacles.
© Copyright, 2010, Susan Guarneri. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About the Author
Job-Hunt's Career Assessments Expert, Susan Guarneri, known as the Career Assessment Goddess, specializes in using personal branding and career assessments to empower professionals, executives, and budding entrepreneurs with career insight and action. Author of the Career Goddess Blog and co-author of Job Search Bloopers, Susan holds 16 career certifications, including National Certified Career Counselor, Master Career Counselor, Certified Master Branding Strategist, and Certified Online Identity Management Strategist. She has a Masters Degree in Counseling from The Johns Hopkins University and 24 years of experience.
