Brian Stewart was uncertain what career to choose so he decided to use career interest assessment to help him make a career choice. Brian took an assessment that uses a Holland type code to categorize his interests. (This is the same type of code used in the most widely used career interest assessment, the Strong Interest Inventory). Holland categories are:
– Realistic
– Investigative
– Artistic
– Social
– Enterprising
– Conventional
Some career interest assessments rename the Holland codes to more descriptive categories:
– Building
– Thinking
– Creating
– Helping
– Persuading
– Organizing
Brian’s assessment results were:
Realistic/Building – High
Investigative/Thinking – Moderate
Artistic/Creating – High
Social/Helping – Moderate
Enterprising/Persuading – Moderate
Conventional/Organizing – Low
Using these results, Brian decided to enroll at a college where he could take classes in editing and publishing. While he was in school, he completed internships in online/digital marketing (writing and editing blogs and online content and learning about SEO). The internship led to a full-time job for a resume writing business. Brian wrote all the content for their websites, managed online promotions, wrote guest blog posts to market the business, and created/edited resume templates.
After a year with the resume writing company, Brian landed a job as a digital marketer for Humberview Group, an automotive sales company. Brian writes content for their website and manages digital marketing. Brian says, “I am very satisfied with my current job and career. I credit the assessment with helping guide me to this path.”
Key points from Brian’s success story:
– Career interest assessment can narrow your career exploration to a manageable number of options to explore.
– Go beyond job titles. Most career interest assessments will not list something as specific as “Digital Marketer” or “SEO Specialist” but they will evaluate your interest level in broad categories that will then help lead you to specific careers within those areas. The titles will change as the workplace evolves.
– Once you have an area of focus, start building a track record as Brian did. Opportunities will evolve as you gain skills and connections.
If you are interested in taking a career interest assessment, many community colleges offer assessment services to the local community. Private practice career counselors do, too. To find a qualified practitioner in your area, put:
Strong Interest Inventory <name of your city>
…in Google. For instance, I put:
Strong Interest Inventory San Francisco
… and this was the first option that came up: Career Therapy
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