Self-Assessment for Rewarding Career Connections

Career assessment, such as completing an interest inventory (e.g., the Strong), can help you choose a rewarding educational and career direction. Learn more about career assessment by reviewing the information below. Also see the list of Assessment Tools (left).

Standardized and Non-Standardized Career Assessments

What's the difference?

• Standardized assessments are based on extensive psychometric research and evaluation of their validity and reliability. This increases confidence in the assessment results.
• Non-standardized assessments are based on limited psychometric research, which limits confidence in results.

How accurate are assessment results?

• All career-related assessments have measurement error. For this reason, critically review all assessment results.
• Question how well the results fit your experience and perspective:
  • Do I agree with these results? Disagree? Not sure?
• To help narrow down your educational/career direction, keep a clear, detailed picture of you as unique person. As people and situations can change, self-assessment is an ongoing activity. 
• Also consider the impact of factors in your situation, such as relationships, location, the job market and financial resources. And, anything else that's important to you.