Career Tests and Career Tools, Work-Related Tests, Organizational Behavior Tests

The following are various tests which you may find useful for career exploration, career planning, and career counseling. I have tried to restrict this list to tests which I think are important, widely-used, and grounded in valid and well-established theory. As I come across other useful tests, I will add them to this list. If you notice that any of the links don't work (or, worse yet, that any sites require a fee!), please send me a short note.

For background information on career and vocational psychology and career development theory (on which the following tests are founded), see my Career and Vocational Psychology Resources. For some guidelines on how to examine and think critically about psychological theories, see the Bolton Institute of Psychology's workbook, Assessing Theories in Psychology. For more detailed information on these tests, including psychometric data, see the Measurement Excellence and Training Resource Information Center, the Mental Measurements Yearbook (Buros Institute), and James Neill's Summaries of Tools, Instruments & Questionnaires.
 

Assessment of Character Traits Profile (ACT)
http://psychologytoday.psychtests.com/tests/act_access.html
This test is based on research completed over the last 20 years with over one million professionals in organisations that include: United Parcel Service, Walt Disney World Attractions, Silicon Graphics, Gannett Publishing, Consumer's Union, Citibank, and British Airways. The test assesses 11 different personality traits in an effort to help you better understand your personality and behaviour styles, and how these styles affect your on-the-job attitudes, work performance, and social lifestyle. The comprehensive results help you "make more informed choices about the kinds of behaviors you want to demonstrate in the future and increase your success and satisfaction at work."

Burnout Test I - Revised: Form I for Service Industries
(from Yahoo Health, Psychology Today, and PsychTests.com)
http://psychologytoday.psychtests.com/tests/burnout1_r_access.html
This test detects signs of burnout in people working in service sectors and measures the severity of symptoms. Provides an over all result with interpretation. Subscores include: emotional exhaustion; detachment/dehumanization of clients; overwhelmed feeling and loss of interest; and general exhaustion. Offers suggestions on avoiding burnout. Popular for employee testing, counseling and therapy, and personal interest. "If you work directly with people (clients, patients, students, customers, etc.), providing any kind of service, hit the 'Take the Test' button". Statistical analysis shows the test to be valid and reliable; it has been validated on 8,000 individuals.

Burnout Test II - Revised: Form I for Non-service Industries
(from Yahoo Health, Psychology Today, and PsychTests.com)
http://psychologytoday.psychtests.com/tests/burnout2_r_access.html
This test detects signs of burnout in a job that does not involve any interaction with clients and measures the severity of symptoms. Provides an over all result with interpretation. Subscores include: emotional exhaustion; overwhelmed feeling and loss of interest; and general exhaustion. Offers suggestions on avoiding burnout. Popular for employee testing, counseling and therapy, and for personal interest. Statistical analysis shows the test to be valid and reliable; it has been validated on 5,000 individuals.

Career Interest Inventory
(Via Chamber of Commerce, Huntsville/Madison County)
Interactive: http://www.careers4you.org/inventory-printable.htm
Printable Version: http://www.careers4you.org/inventory-printable.htm
Online version of a popular test that helps children as well as adults begin career exploration. The test comprises 60 questions in which you choose your preference from 2 available choices. This test is used frequently by guidance counselors. Once this test is completed, you should follow up with others in order to get more detailed and focussed information about your interests and possible career paths.

Career Interests Game (Based on Dr. John Holland's Career Theory)
http://career.missouri.edu/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=146
This game can help you choose a career based on your specific personality type. The game is based on Dr. John Holland's widely-recognised theory of vocational choice: that people with certain personality types will find certain jobs more satisfying than others. The game is linked with the Occupational Outlook Handbook—the pre-eminent guide to the market for hundreds of jobs.

The Career Key
(Lawrence K. Jones, North Carolina State University)
http://www.careerkey.org/
A test that measures your skills, abilities, talents, values, interests, and personality in order to help you with career choices, career changes, or selecting a college major or training program. According to the site, more than 5,000 people visit every day, including students, mid-career changers, and many others.

Common Careers for Personality Types
(from The Personality Page, BSM Consulting)
http://www.personalitypage.com/careers.html
Lists the characteristics of the the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types and how they relate to career choice.

Gaining Power and Influence Test
(Florida Gulf Coast University)
http://itech.fgcu.edu/cgi-bin/lchallenges/survey/survey.pl?survey_no=survey5
Measures the degree to which you want to gain social power and influence and the way in which you like to do it. Includes questions pertaining to organizational behavior. The desire to gain social power and influence in a shrewd and calculating way is considered a factor in the Machiavellianism personality trait. Use this test in conjunction with the Social Influence Styles / Social Power Test and the Using Influence Strategies Test.

How Ethical Are You?
(Humanlinks.com)
http://www.humanlinks.com/personal/how_ethical1.htm
In recent times, a lot of importance is being given to the value system of employees. Many organisations use various instruments to find out the nature and extent of value system development in candidates, during interviews. The objective being finding out the degree of alignment between organisational and the individual value systems. The present instrument is an attempt towards mapping the extent of an individual's value system development ... Psychologists have concluded on the basis of twenty years of research that there is a sequence of 3 stages in the development of a person's ability to reason out moral matters. Each of these stages again has two sub-stages as given below:

Stage I - Compulsion
A. Punishment and Obedience Orientation
B. Instrument and Relativity Orientation

Stage II - Convention
C. Interpersonal Concordance Orientation
D. Law and Order Orientation 

Stage III - Conviction
E. Social Contract Orientation
F. Universal Ethical Principles Orientation

Machiavellianism Scale (aka Mach Scale)
http://www.salon.com/books/it/1999/09/13/machtest/, and
http://www.humanlinks.com/personal/power_orientation.htm, and
http://killeenroos.com/2/Machiavelli.htm
Designed to measure your level of Machiavellianism, a personality trait characterised by a tendency to manipulate others for social gain. Introduced by US psychologists Richard Christie and Florence L. Geis and discussed in their book Studies in Machiavellianism (1970). The trait is named after the 15th century Florentine philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli who, in his book, The Prince, argued that it's in society's best interest to be governed by the use of manipulation. Take all three versions of the test to increase validity. See also Using Influence Strategies Test.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Quick Test
http://www.businessballs.com/maslow5quicktest.pdf (for test based on original 5-level model) and
http://www.businessballs.com/maslow5quicktest.pdf (for test based on revised 8-level model)
These two tests help you determine which of your basic needs are being satisfied and which areas are a focus of growth and development for you. The tests are based on Abraham Maslow's motivational needs model, which has enjoyed significant influence in human resources, career counselling, and career planning.

MindTools: Essential Skills for an Excellent Career
http://www.mindtools.com
Excellent articles covering the following career- and work-related topics: time management; stress management; memory improvement; information and study; creative thinking; understanding complexity; decision making; project planning and management; and job hunting skills.

Myers-Briggs-June Type Descriptions and Career Preferences
(Tim Flynn)
http://similarminds.com/mbjung/enfp.html
Lists the characteristics of the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types and which careers each type tends to favour and disfavour.

Occupational Outlook Handbook
http://stats.bls.gov/oco/
"The...nationally recognized source of career information, designed to provide valuable assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives. Revised every two years, the Handbook describes what workers do on the job, working conditions, the training and education needed, earnings, and expected job prospects in a wide range of occupations." If this address does not function, try locating the handbook at http://stats.bls.gov.

Procrastination Test
(from Psychology Today and PsychTests.com)
http://psychologytoday.psychtests.com/tests/procrastination_access.html
Determines whether you procrastinate (we often kid ourselves into believing we don't, so a test can be a nice wake-up call), to what extent, and in what areas of your life. Provides detailed interpretation and tips on dealing with procrastination. Popular for personal interest and human resources testing. Statistical analysis shows the test to be valid and reliable; it has been validated on 16,000 individuals.

Self-Directed Search (SDS) for Career Selection
http://www.self-directed-search.com
The SDS is one of the most widely-used tests for people looking to choose college majors or careers (and for people wanting to change careers). The 15-minute test is based on Dr. John Holland's theory of vocational choice: that people with certain personality types will find certain jobs more satisfying than others. The SDS places you into one of 6 personality types and then helps you choose careers based on that type. Unfortunately, it costs $8.95 to use the online version of the test, but the cost is well worth it because you get a detailed 8-16 page personalised assessment.

Self Monitoring Scale
(Developed by Mark Snyder, 1974)
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~ckb/SELFMON2.html or http://www.outofservice.com/self-monitor-censor-test/
This test measures your level of self monitoring—a concept developed in 1974 by US-based Canadian social psychologist, Mark Snyder. "High self monitors" are strongly motivated by to pay close attention to social and interpersonal cues to adjust their behaviour and self expression as appropriate to the situation. "Low self monitors", conversely, are not motivated like this and are more like to behave and express their personality the same way across most situations. High self monitors can be chameleons; low self monitors don't change very much. (I myself am a low social monitor). Carole K. Barnett, Whittemore School of Business & Economics, University of New Hampshire:

1. Preliminary research evidence suggests that high self-monitors tend to pay closer attention to the behavior of others and are more capable of conforming than are low self-monitors. High self-monitors are more likely to be successful in managerial positions where individuals are required to play multiple, and even contradicting roles. Thus, the high self-monitor is capable of putting on different "faces" for different audiences.
2. High self-monitors are often more effective than low self-monitors in jobs that require boundary spanning (communicating and interacting with different groups of people who, because of contrasting goals, training, or skills "speak different languages"). Since they can readily adjust their actions to the norms, expectations, and style of each group, high self-monitors are more successful in dealing with them than are low self-monitors, and this improves performance. Boundary-spanning roles are very important in most organizations, so assigning high self-monitoring people to such positions may yield substantial benefits.
3. Examples of occupations or positions that might require high self-monitoring would include HR manager, CEO, organizational development specialist or marketing and sales director. (Robbins, 1993: 108).
4. High self-monitors tend to be better at clear communicating than low self-monitors.

The Seven Rules About Taking Careers Tests
(Richard N. Bolles, JobHuntersBible.com)
http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/counseling/ctests.shtml

Social Influence Styles / Social Power Test
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
http://assessment.psych.uiuc.edu/spower/spower.asp
Measures your personal way of influencing other people. Using social influence strategies in a shrewd and calculating way is considered a factor in the Machiavellianism personality trait. Use this test in conjunction with the Using Influence Strategies Test and Gaining Power and Influence Test.

Success Likelihood Test - Revised
(from Psychology Today and PsychTests.com)
http://psychologytoday.psychtests.com/tests/success_r_access.html
Measures whether you embody the behaviours and attitudes necessary for success. Provides an over all success likelihood ratio score with interpretation, as well as subscores measuring: your fear of success; success avoidance; fear of social consequences of success; drive and ambition; and fear of failure. Offers advice on increasing likelihood of success. Popular for career planning and human resources testing. Statistical analysis shows the test to be valid and reliable; it has been validated on 5,000 individuals.

Thinking Styles Assessment (Katherine Benziger, PhD)
http://www.benziger.org
Information and articles on recent physiological research supporting Carl Jung's theory of psychological types: the idea that different people have different ways of perceiving, understanding, and relating with the world (ie, introversion and extraversion, feeling and thinking, intuition and sensation). Includes: a brief history of Jung's type theory; information on the relation between Jung's styles and the physical brain; and details on Benziger's falsification assessment—a test which helps determine the extent to which a person's most developed and/or used skills are outside his/her area of natural giftedness or preference (a scenario in which it is theorised that: the person's brain must work harder; the person is irritable and has trouble mastering new tasks; and, over the long term, the person experiences exhaustion, depression, a lack of satisfaction, premature ageing of the brain, and susceptibility to illness). Benziger's assessment tools are used by human resources departments, career counsellors, and therapists. Although there is a fee to receive a detailed, individual assessment and profile, it may be worth the money for some people (so long as they get enough information about the validity of the assessment test).

Type A Personality Test - Revised
(from Yahoo Health, Psychology Today and PsychTests.com)
http://psychologytoday.psychtests.com/tests/type_a_r_access.html or
another version of the test: http://www.psych.uncc.edu/pagoolka/TypeA-B-intro.html
Measures whether you have the characteristics of Meyer Friedman's so-called "Type A" personality vs. the "Type B" and "Type C" (see underlying theory). Type A characteristics include: competitiveness (sometimes to the point of obsession); high drive; strong sense of urgency (always in a "hurry"); difficulty relaxing; and reward orientation. Type B and C characteristics are essentially the opposite of these characteristics. Meyer found that Type As were more likely to suffer cardiovascular disease (perhaps mainly due to the hostility component of their personality). This test measures your personality on a spectrum from Type C to Type A (keep in mind, this is just one facet of one's entire personality). Subscores include: competitiveness; time urgency; hostility/anger; negativity; perfectionism; tough-mindedness; relaxation; reward orientation; drive; and workaholism. Popular for personal interest, human resources testing, and counselling and therapy purposes. Statistical validation and reliability studies still in progress for this particular test (although there are other, well-established and well-validated tests measuring Type A, B, C and personality). Two other versions of the test are available:

• http://itech.fgcu.edu/cgi-bin/lchallenges/survey/typea.html
• http://www.psych.uncc.edu/pagoolka/TypeA-B-intro.html

Using Influence Strategies Test
(Florida Gulf Coast University)
http://itech.fgcu.edu/cgi-bin/lchallenges/survey/uis.html
Brief test indicating the degree to which you use influence strategies to get others to comply with your wishes. Using influence strategies in a shrewd way is considered a factor in the Machiavellianism personality trait. Use this test in conjunction with the Social Influence Styles / Social Power Test and the Gaining Power and Influence Test.

Values Profile - Revised
(from Psychology Today and PsychTests.com)
http://psychologytoday.psychtests.com/tests/values_r_access.html and
http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/valuestest.html (take both versions)
This test measures your personal values—something important to be aware of considering that our goals in life (including career goals) are influenced by our values and vice versa. "The values test that follows is loosely based on the theories of Allport, Vernon and Lindzey, and on John Holland's Vocational Interest Types. Both of these classifications of values types were derived from Eduard Spranger's Types of Men, a book written in the early 1900s. These researchers theorized that we all have some combination of six different values types, whether it is just one dominant value type, a combination of two or three, or some aspects of all six. We have modernized the six types, but on the whole they are still current today." The test provides an introduction to values and a general overview of which values influence major areas in your life. Subscores include: work values; personal life values; and crisis/core values. Popular for personal interest, career planning and counselling, and human resources testing (for both pre-employment and employee assistance programs). Validity and reliability statistics not currently available (I'm working on finding them).

X-Y Theory Questionnaire
http://www.businessballs.com/mcgregorxytheorytest.pdf or
http://www.css.edu/users/dswenson/web/theoryxytest.html
This questionnaire, based on McGregor's XY management theory (aka theory xy), helps you assess the management style of your organization as well as the kind of management style under which a given employee performs best.

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