This Test Will Reveal Your Career Calling in 15 Minutes! Part 5
In the introduction, it’s essential to define the scope of the career guidance test, its origin, and its real impact. You've seen titles like this before, right?
Do you want to know why these tests assume you’re even more gullible than you might think? Keep reading.
But hey, don’t be disappointed about not having a magic test to take! What you’re about to read will be far more revealing and interesting.
The idea here is for you to grasp the essence. So yes, as the late Jean-Pierre Coffe would say, “Tests are CRAP!”
And yet, they’re in every women’s magazine, self-help website, and psychology blog – and you love them. If you didn’t, they wouldn’t keep feeding them to you. Yes, they’re junk, but you still consume them.
Especially for career guidance.
But do you know why? Many people still use them for misguided reasons.
You need to understand the problem, the mechanism, and the deceit behind this approach to help your teenager make informed choices. Let’s dive in!
Our attraction to tests is rooted in at least three aspects of human psychology:
- The pleasure of the basic instinct to know more about ourselves.
- The natural tendency to identify with whatever is said, even without context. This is known as the Barnum effect.
- The third aspect is our tendency to put off or even delegate to others what we could or should do ourselves. In short, laziness – and for teenagers, this gets mixed with emotional rewards that feel much more satisfying than thinking about their future, since career questions can be anxiety-provoking.
This explains the appeal of astrology or fortune-telling.
Tests form the foundation of 95% of career guidance methods.
In 20 years, I’ve advised brilliant students who based their futures on these results and three pieces of advice.
The reality? It’s a well-oiled scam.
And here’s why, in brief:
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These famous “career guidance tests”? They’re actually work personality tests (RIASEC, MBTI) repurposed from their original context. Though somewhat useful, they’ve gained exaggerated importance in the workplace and self-help world. Everyone falls for it and uncritically assumes it’s normal to think you need a certain personality type for a particular career. But no – personality doesn’t determine skills or interests.
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While certain personality traits may be useful, they’re based on an outdated, narrow perspective:
- Personality is supposedly “stable”
- Aptitudes are “fixed”
- Qualities for certain careers are “predetermined”
Who acts exactly the same at work as they do at home? No one.
The second hidden effect (look up “Kiss Cool effect” on YouTube for a fun break):
These tests (like all career guidance services) subtly shift your original question: You ask: “What job do I really want to do?” They answer: “What job is suited to you?”
Think about it – they can’t answer the first question!
It’s like introducing someone to you, then telling you after two hours of chatting that they’re your soulmate, when in reality you don’t feel any affinity with them and don’t particularly like them. It’s quite disorienting.
So why doesn’t it work?
Personality, skills, strengths, weaknesses, and test results have nothing to do with what we love or want.
How can a standardized test take into account:
- A student who’s passionate about 10 different fields
- The artist who’s bored in the traditional system
- The “scanner” who loves to constantly explore new horizons
- The visionary who dreams of a career that doesn’t even exist yet
- The gifted individual
- The multipotential
It’s not a question of personality, nor solely a question of skills!
Do you know the skills of a single parent? They can clean, organize, help with homework, give the kids a bath, and cook dinner simultaneously. And much more in multi-tasking mode. Do you think every single parent would want a career that leverages these skills?
I won’t elaborate here on the influence and threat to a student’s objectivity in reflection, but I invite you to think about it.
I think we’ve covered the topic of tests.
Career guidance is about making a choice. Choosing a career, a professional path.
Let’s turn this sad reality into a bit of fun: what’s been your experience with career tests? Have they really influenced your career choices? Share your story!
