Career choice decisions are one of the common reasons people hire career counselors, so I’m always looking for efficient and cost-effective methods to help clients learn about themselves so that they can more easily choose work that fits well with who they are.
I recently tried out a career choice assessment system that can be completed in 90 minutes online. I am impressed with it because in such a short time, the career choice guidance system identifies the intersection between interests, abilities, and values. For instance, you may have high interests and high abilities in Business but find that your values are higher in a different field, like Communication. If you also have high interests and abilities in Communication, then Communication is likely to prove a more satisfying career choice in the long run, as values congruence is highly predictive of career happiness.
Click here to see a sample report using the Career Occupational Preference System Summary. Notice that the client, Sarah Sample, has two career fields where her interests, abilities, and values are high: “Business, Professional” and “Service, Professional.” She can click through and see that “Business, Professional” means “positions of high responsibility in the organization, administration and efficient functioning of businesses and governmental bureaus. They involve finance and accounting, management, and business promotion.” “Service, Professional” means “occupations that have positions of high responsibility in caring for the personal needs and welfare of others in fields of social service, health and education.”
At this point, Ms. Sample could explore specific occupations to decide which ones are most congruent with her career goals. She would be starting with a much smaller list for exploration than if she hadn’t participated in testing.
It can be humbling to participate in this type of career choice assessment because this particular type of testing includes timed tests of ability. Please note that few people are good at everything. Please don’t fret if you find that you are challenged by certain tasks. For instance, I have a particularly difficult time with tasks that involve spatial skills. That’s OK because my career doesn’t depend on spatial skills much at all, fortunately.
If you would like to take the COP System 3C and receive an interpretation session where I help you make sense of the results and plan next steps in career decision-making, please contact me.
I look forward to assisting you.
Dr. Janet Scarborough Civitelli