Making a career change can feel daunting at any stage of life. Whether you’re in your twenties or fifties, the process requires careful planning and self-reflection. Fortunately, there are many excellent resources available to help you navigate this transition smoothly. Objective online career assessments, such as those included in our Career Change Kit, can save you a significant amount of time and effort. They provide a clear understanding of your strengths, preferences, and values. This can help you make informed decisions about your next steps. These career assessments can confirm a new professional direction you’re considering. Or, they might open your eyes to possibilities you hadn’t thought of before. Who knows, you might discover some hidden talent that you weren’t aware of.
Your ideal career is aligned with your core values and passions and uses your natural talents and abilities. Figuring out exactly what your talents and values are isn’t always so easy, though. That’s where these powerful career assessments can help guide the way to that fulfilling new career you may not have even considered.
Below I’ve listed some of the best resources and career assessments that can help you figure out what you want to do in your life at any age. If you’ve been hitting the snooze alarm and dreading Monday mornings, it’s time to make a change!
Highlands Ability Battery: Uncover Your Natural Talents
One of the standout tools in our Career Change Kit is the Highlands Ability Battery (HAB). If you could only take one test, this is the gold standard and, as far as I know, the best in the world, which is why we’ve included it in our kit. This online assessment is not just another personality test. It’s a comprehensive and objective evaluation of your natural abilities. The assessment measures various aptitudes, including problem-solving, spatial relations, and musical talent—even if you’ve never touched a musical instrument. Amazing! This isn’t about what you like or dislike—it’s about discovering what you are inherently good at.
Why is the HAB so helpful? Knowing your natural abilities can guide you toward a career where you’ll thrive. For instance, if the HAB reveals that you have strong spatial abilities, you might excel in fields like architecture, engineering, or design. Understanding your strengths can help you avoid career paths that may not be the best fit for your inherent skills, saving you time and frustration in the long run. And, if you need to retrain for your next career, you’ll want to be confident you’re heading in the right direction. You don’t want to waste time and money on the wrong course of study or training.
O*NET Interest Profiler
The ONET Interest Profiler helps you identify your work-related interests and matches them with potential careers using the ONET database. This is an amazing database of jobs and careers. And the Highlands Ability Battery in the Career Change Kit will match your natural abilities to the careers that use those talents. Very handy as it can help you narrow down your new career options to the ones most likely to be a good fit for you.
DISC Assessment: Understanding Your Behavior
Behavioral assessments like the DISC test are also part of our Career Change Kit. The DISC assessment helps you understand your behavioral style and how it influences your work and interactions with others. DISC stands for Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness, representing different aspects of your behavioral style.
Understanding your DISC profile can be incredibly beneficial during a career change. It helps you recognize your communication style, strengths, and areas for improvement. For example, if you have a high Dominance score, you might thrive in leadership roles where decisiveness and assertiveness are key. On the other hand, a high Steadiness score might indicate that you excel in supportive, team-oriented environments. Knowing where you’ll thrive can make it easier to choose the best job. If you currently feel like a square peg in a round hole, it may be that your personal style isn’t suited to the job.
Values Test: Discovering Your Motivating Values
A crucial, but often overlooked aspect of a career change is aligning your work with your core values. Our kit includes a values test designed to uncover your hidden, motivating values. These values are the principles that drive you and bring fulfillment to your life and career.
Why is this important? When your career aligns with your values, you are more likely to find long-term satisfaction and success. So, if one of your core values is creativity, a career in a rigid, rule-bound environment might leave you feeling unfulfilled. Seems obvious but you’d be amazed at how many people think aligning your values to your career doesn’t matter. Let me assure you, it does. You could last a few years in a company that doesn’t match your values, but it won’t be your happy place. By understanding your values, you can make more informed career choices that resonate with your authentic self.
Coach Yourself to a New Career
Another helpful resource is my book, Coach Yourself to a New Career (included in the kit). This book is a step-by-step guide to help you through the daunting process of career change. It’s filled with exercises, real-life examples, and practical career change advice to help you gain clarity and confidence in your career transition. The book will help you create your ideal career profile and discover your personal needs and core values. It’s like having a personal career coach (me!) by your side, providing you with the support and guidance you need to make informed decisions about your career path.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) categorizes individuals into 16 distinct personality types based on preferences in four areas. This assessment helps you understand your personality type and how it influences your career choices and work style. On the downside, the MBTI forces people into one of two categories on four dimensions (e.g., Extraversion vs. Introversion). This can oversimplify the complexities of human personality. Many psychologists argue that personality traits exist on a continuum, rather than in discrete categories. This is why we use the Highlands Ability Battery in our kit – it measures introversion and extroversion on a continuum.
Strong Interest Inventory
The Strong Interest Inventory measures your interests and compares them to those of people in various careers. This can help you identify which careers, activities, and work environments align with your interests.
You can find many interest surveys on the internet, but one of my favorites is CliftonStrengths. CliftonStrengths identifies your top strengths out of 34 potential themes. It focuses on what you do best, helping you leverage your natural talents in your career. You can access this excellent strengths finder in the book, Now Discover Your Strengths, by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton, but it is a one-time password so make sure you buy the book new or you’ll have wasted your money.
Wondering what is the difference between strengths and abilities? Your strength might be enthusiasm, but that may not show up on the Highlands Ability Battery which looks at abilities. Your abilities could also be strengths though. I like their book and assessment as it is another way of looking at strengths from a different angle.
Additional Resources: Tailoring Your Career Change Journey
While the Highlands Ability Battery, Coach Yourself to a New Career, the DISC assessment, and the values test are the foundational elements of our Career Change Kit, there are other resources you might find helpful. A simple Google search will turn up many free career assessments that you can take. Online courses, mentorship programs, and networking groups can also play a significant role in your career change journey.
Online Courses: Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning offer courses in virtually every field imaginable. Upskilling or reskilling through these courses can make you more competitive in your new career.
Mentorship Programs: Finding a mentor in your desired field can provide you with invaluable insights and guidance. They can help you navigate industry-specific challenges and introduce you to key contacts.
Networking Groups: Joining professional organizations and attending industry events can help you build a network in your new field. Networking is often a crucial factor in a successful career change.
Ready to start your journey towards a fulfilling career? Our Career Change Kit is designed to provide you with the best resources for a career change at any age. Whether you’re feeling stuck in your current job or eager to explore new possibilities, these tools will guide you every step of the way. Don’t wait any longer to pursue the career you’ve always dreamed of. Remember, it’s never too late to make a change—your new career awaits!
