Questions about what you want to do with your career are among the most frequently asked questions you’ll hear when you’re a college student or a recent graduate. And it’s fine not to have an answer. Part of the point of going to school is to learn about different career options and explore ideas that sound interesting.
You can use free online career quizzes to get some ideas, but you can (and should) take it a step further and check out the resources offered by your career services office. The staff will be glad to assist.
When you’re deciding what you’d like to do, your first stop should be your college career services office. Many offer individual career counseling, career assessments, resources for exploring careers, networking programs, and assistance with finding internships so you can learn as much as possible about occupations of interest.
Your next stop should be online career assessments, tests, and quizzes if they don’t or if you just want to generate some ideas about possible occupations.
Review some of the best online resources you can use to learn about options that will help you decide which one is right for you at this point in your career.
Check With Career Services
Contact your career services office to see if they offer professionally administered career assessments, such as the Myers Briggs Types Indicator and Keirsey Temperament Sorter:
- The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) measures your personality type and can help you identify careers that match it.
- The Keirsey Temperament Sorter measures your temperament type and can help you find careers that are a good fit.
Career Services may also offer career exploration resources specifically for students and graduates:
- What Can I Do With This Major? provides information about common career paths and the types of employers that hire in the field.
- Handshake Role Pages have information on the most popular career categories for college students. You can read about jobs, review questions and answers (sign in to Handshake to ask a question), and learn about related occupations.
Your Career Services office can also assist with individual career counseling, setting up informational interviews, and tapping alumni connections. Many schools have programs and events you can participate in as well, including career networking programs and career fairs.
Free Career Tests for College Students
To start researching careers, here are free career quizzes and assessments you can do online.
CareerOneStop Toolkit
CareerOneStop has resources to help you explore options, get training, and find employment when you’re ready to start your career. Their Job Search Toolkit includes several tools you can use to assess your options and to find occupations that match your skills, interests, and values. Start with the Interest Assessment to learn about careers that might be best for you. It’s quick and easy—30 questions and 5 minutes—to complete.
CareerExplorer
Use CareerExplorer to assess your interests, understand your personality type, career values, and your preferred work environment to get suggestions. You’ll respond to a series of questions and get recommendations for career options.
College Board Career Quiz
The College Board’s Career Quiz. It’s an easy-to-take, 15-minute quiz to get matched with careers based on your likes and dislikes. It can help you find out what you like to do, what your interests are, and how they relate to the world of work. You’ll get a brief job description, medium yearly income, the most common education level, and projected job growth for each occupation you’re matched with.
Note: If you want to save your responses, you can sign in, but you don’t have to. If you’re not interested in registering, click “Continue Without Signing In” to get started.
Holland Code Career Test
The Holland Code Test consists of 48 tasks that you rate by clicking how much you would like or dislike performing each task. It will generate job options that match your interests.
LinkedIn Career Explorer
LinkedIn’s Career Explorer is a way to learn how your skills match job titles, find available jobs, and connect with LinkedIn members who may be able to help your career.
O*NET Interest Profiler
O*NET Interest Profiler is a 60-question interest inventory that generates a cluster of career options based on your answers. When you’re done, you’ll get a list of careers related to each cluster, and can review detailed information on careers of interest.
Truity Career Personality Profiler
The Truity Career Personality Profiler is a quick 10-15 minute test that evaluates your interests and your personality. After you answer a series of questions, you will be able to learn about college majors, occupations, and industries that are a match. There is a fee to receive a comprehensive report, but a summary of your results is free.
123 Career Aptitude Test
The 123 Career Aptitude Test matches your personality to career options. To take the test, you’ll see pictures showing work activities. Choose the activities you like the most and those you don’t like by liking or disliking each picture.
Resources for Exploring Careers
Once you’ve got some ideas about careers that might fit you, take time to learn about each occupation. The more information you have, the easier it will be to decide if a job might be one you want to pursue.
These resources will help you investigate the careers on your list:
More Ways to Explore Careers
Even though it’s important to research career options online, it’s just as important to find out what a job is really like before committing to it. There are many opportunities for students (and graduates) to talk to alumni, engage with employers, and participate in programs and events that will help you choose the right career path for the first phase of your career.
Here are some of them:
- Alumni career networks
- Career fairs
- Career networking programs
- Informational interviews
- Internships
- LinkedIn networking
- Networking with friends, family, and personal connections
- Volunteering
More Free Career Quizzes
Here are more career assessments you can use to find job options:
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