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Career surveys, also known as career assessments, are quasi-tests to help individuals identify their unique interests, skills and values as they relate to employment. High school and college students often utilize a career assessment online survey software to help them with deciding on a career choice. In order to assist individuals to seek out careers that closely match their unique skills, interests and personal profile, various types of career assessment tools are used by:
* Career counselors * Guidance counselors * Outplacement companies * Executive coaches * Vocational rehabilitation counselors * Career development centers * Corporate human resource staff * High schools * Colleges and universities career services centers
Utilizing survey software, a career survey can help a person explore not only their career options, but research college, graduate, and professional schools. Career surveys can help in choosing a major in college, changing careers mid-life, or deciding on further professional training. Career survey tools are used in career planning, career placement, student development, and learning strategies.
Research has consistently told us that a person's interests are one of the most important predictors of both career success and career satisfaction. When there's a good match between personality, interest and work environment, job satisfaction and achievement often follows. Teens can be presented with career interest surveys to gain a better understanding of what subjects appeal to them most in order to help them choose a college major, college, and career path that parallels their interests and personality.
Self assessment, conducted through an online career survey, is often the first step in career planning. It helps an individual gain more of a deeper awareness into himself to make an informed career decision. Through a painless online survey, a career survey can tell an individual what they like and equally what they don't like. It can also reveal how a person would react under certain situations such as pressure, stress or a calm working environment.
A career survey can be broken down into a number of areas, including values, interests, personality, and skills. Values relate to the areas that are intrinsically important, such as autonomy, status and achievements. Interests typically are designed to measure what a person enjoys doing, such as playing golf or reading. Personality relates to an individual’s attitudes, needs, traits and motivational factors. Lastly, skills are activities that an individual is good at such as computer programming, writing, or mathematics.
Career assessment survey tools can be either self-directed or requires interpretative assistance. With a self-directed career surveys, the survey software is designed so that an individual can take it and review his results without the assistance of a trained or licensed professional help with the interpretation of the results. On the other hand, a career survey tool that requires interpretive assistance means that the individual needs to discuss the results with a trained or licensed individual who understands what the results mean.
Either way, a career surveys is a valuable self-assessment tool that has many practical applications at both the individual or organizational level. Because humans are complex beings, with many likes and dislikes, interests and indifference, skills and deficits, a well-designed career survey tool can help lead a person to job satisfaction and success.
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