Career tests: What does it all mean?

[Gaze]

How did you make sense of the career tests over the years?

 

[NeverAmI]

Applying roles to society members as quickly as possible to cement that specific style of role into their head through repetition as much as possible. I actually don't really believe that. I think it is just yet another method of assigning metrics to how to live life. If they are keeping statistics and doing trending it could be very valuable for seeing what works and what doesn't work with the tests.

I don't think the tests are in depth enough to really give a specific recommendation. As soon as the kid hears the results a bias forms in one way or another which could potentially cause more damage than benefit depending on what state they are in at that time, rebellious of life circumstance or not.

I can't remember what I even got on those tests, or if I even took one.

 

[That Girl]

These always reminded me of IQ tests. Supposedly they're supposed to determine how you're going to do in the future. I think this is b.s. They don't take into consideration the environment or the social pressure around the child. A promotion of learning and self-regulated learning will actually push up a child's IQ while without it, it will go down. I'm sure these tests are just trying to get kids to look into their options, and they are trying to find what interests them, but I would go about it differently. I think their should be a career week that has each day devoted to different areas of careers. The days could be devoted to different personality types. Then kids could see all of their options as opposed to what some government computer program thinks they should take.

 

[That Girl]

I will try again.

When I was younger I always got answers that had to do with the sciences or mathematics. I was horrible at math and science seemed boring to me unless we were talking about theory. I have always held theory close to my heart. I tried to get into the idea of being a Vet because the test told me I'd be good at it but I couldn't wrap my head around all the vocabulary and chemical properties needed to get into a good veterinary program. I'm useless when it comes to remembering things I'm not interested in. I tried to fit into what the test told me I should be and it just left me miserable.
I knew I wanted to be a teacher even when I was telling people I wanted to do other things. I was just scared that they'd tell me that I would suck at it. I love literature so I threw away what the test told me and followed my own path. I think I'm happier because of it. The idea of someday becoming a professor and teaching education theory makes me absolutely giddy.

 

[Siamese cat]

I'm not really talking about the validity of the tests. I'm asking about results and compatibility with current career choices and job satisfication. Because I can clearly see now, that although I don't regret the field i chose for study, i would've probably done better or excelled in other fields if i'd chosen an area recommended by the tests.

What makes you think that you would probably done better if you'd chosen recommended?

I'm the one of those people that like to take test both written and life ones, and I consider tests that you are mentioning here only as a guideline, and recommendation is only that and nothing more.

The way you see things is the way you should utilize for learning, which means that even somebody who is recommended to go the route of a mathematician can excel in languages if he utilizes his ability to see things abstract in his language learning. There is no objectively right approach to learning and application of learned, there is only your way when you do and learn. That is the problem with schooling and these tests, they are trying to find the approach that would work on most people and similarities between them, and at the same time they are neglecting those differences that might make you distinctive inside a field that you are seemingly not suited by the same tests.

 

[Gaze]

I will try again.

When I was younger I always got answers that had to do with the sciences or mathematics. I was horrible at math and science seemed boring to me unless we were talking about theory. I have always held theory close to my heart. I tried to get into the idea of being a Vet because the test told me I'd be good at it but I couldn't wrap my head around all the vocabulary and chemical properties needed to get into a good veterinary program. I'm useless when it comes to remembering things I'm not interested in. I tried to fit into what the test told me I should be and it just left me miserable.

I knew I wanted to be a teacher even when I was telling people I wanted to do other things. I was just scared that they'd tell me that I would suck at it. I love literature so I threw away what the test told me and followed my own path. I think I'm happier because of it. The idea of someday becoming a professor and teaching education theory makes me absolutely giddy.

I had similar experiences with the sciences.

 

[NeverAmI]

Nice. I can relate to this. I also hated chemistry, etc. and didn't do well in it at all, but i enjoyed studying theory/abstractions. I struggled with math in elementary and high school. But then again, that could be because of how the class was taught - i had overly strict teachers who made us cry at the blackboard if we didn't get the answer correctly, which can traumatize a kid i think. I didn't mind biology to be honest and physics was meh. But because of grad school, i realized that i was very interested in logic, and maybe I couldn't done well as a math major since i did better than most in the math classes in undergrad. So, you never know.

I like math but memorizing theorems without understanding the practical purpose or how they relate makes me want to puke.

 

[Ecton]

See my blog. Priest or Truck Driver. I didn't want to drive a truck and you can't be a Priest of a religion only you believe in, that's called a Heretic, and Heretic wasn't an option on the test results.

I think the test was right, but it was also useless.

 

[randomsomeone]

The focus of the question is the idea that a result may've been right, but it was ignored, and now it makes you wonder whether you would've faired better doing something else.

There is an old saying I like: "No matter what vocation you choose in life, you will live to regret it."

The point is that everybody wonders at some point in their life, "what if I had done this instead of that?" It happens. And every job can seem like a dead end at times, too. The thing is to not worry about it too much and don't be afraid to constantly reinvent, even if you stay in the same career. If it's any consolation, I'd rather decide with my gut and my informed intuition than solely from a test instrument. If one did that I think the (inevitable) regrets would cut much deeper.

In any case, what one does for a living is less important than the kind of person we become. Find your highest angels and your inner energy...the greatest good always comes from that.

 

[Siamese cat]

I'm not arguing that the tests are always right and that we MUST follow them. I'm trying to suggest a different take, since i know most people who decide not to follow a test when making decisions about their life are probably happier than those who try to fit the mold.

My interest is in those rare cases when the tests were right, and unfortunately someone chose an area, which didn't fit their abilities or cognitive preferences, who find that they are not as happy or as successful in their current field, and the reason maybe that they chose an area which did not fit.

And I wanted to say that the tests are probably right most of the time and in most cases, but the recommendations are wrong. They should say you what your preferences are in terms of reasoning, logic, verbal skills and such, but nothing more than that. People should focus more on finding their unique way of utilizing their preferences in the field that they have interest, and less on wanting to get their path recommended by someone else.

I wanted to say that everyone can fit where ever they want but in their own way, and that someone might be not that successful or not that happy as the rest of people in that field not because he chose a field that he doesn't fit in, but because he didn't find the way to fit the field to himself.