A career test is a great form of career guidance that advises you on the types of jobs that would best suit your interests and abilities, work personality, and overall lifestyle.
Although taking a career test is not the be-all-and-end-all deciding factor of what your job title should be, it will at least lead you in the direction.
So, how can you use a test to guide you toward your ultimate career path? In order to answer that question, we first need to look at the purpose of career tests and whether you should even bother taking one (the answer is always yes, you should).
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What is a Career Test and Why is it Important?
Put simply, a career test is an assessment comprised of a series of questions that centre around your interests, personality, skills, strengths, and weaknesses.
The purpose of a career test is to offer you amazing career guidance that will help you learn more about who you are as a person and whether you will be able to succeed in your ideal work environment.
The Benefits of Taking a Career Test
The biggest benefit of taking a career test is direction. The results you get from one of these tests will reveal exactly what your skills, interests, and talents are as well as your strengths and weaknesses. This helps you choose the right subjects at college or university, ultimately setting you on your ideal career path.
There are several ways that these assessments answer this question, and it all depends on the type of career test you take (and how much you’re willing to pay).
What are the Different Types of Career Tests?
So, what are the different types of career tests? In this article, we focus on three major career test types:
- Professional career services: This is a service whereby you pay professionals who are trained to help students like yourself find the career that suits them best.
- Free career tests: This can be anything from a BuzzFeed quiz to a more in-depth assessment done online.
- Career guidance offered by universities: These are institutions that offer free or paid career guidance to South African students.
Let’s take a deep dive, shall we?
Professional Career Services for Students
Professional Career Services are paid-for services that offer career guidance, so it does come at a price—but the results are definitely worth it.
If you’re looking for personalised results as opposed to just a general assessment, then this is the way to go. Basically, these professional career services make your test all about you!
Free Career Tests for Students
Although not as detailed and personalised as the professional career services above, these free career tests and quizzes still give you a surface-level overview of the direction you need to go in.
So if you’re at the point where you don’t even know where you should be looking or what answers you should be giving to the professionals, this is where you’re going to want to start.
Career Guidance for South African Students
A variety of South African universities offer career guidance to students, including everything from counselling to career tests and assessments.
These range from free to paid services, although you do have the option of getting a special rate or free access if you’re a registered student.
Now that you know what the 3 major career test types are, here’s a look at the top 10 career tests for South African students:
Top 10 Career Tests for South African Students
Okay, before we start, know that there are tons of popular career tests. However, we took it upon ourselves to find only the best of the best.
Take a look at our top 10 picks:
1. Level Up Assessments
Who is Level Up Assessments?
Level Up Assessments is made up of a team of HPCSA accredited and registered psychometrists that specialise in educational assessments.
Wait, a psycho-what now? Don’t worry, we’ll explain:
A psychometrist is a person who is qualified to administer and score neuropsychological, psychological, personality, and academic tests. They also assist mental health professionals by helping them identify students with learning disabilities, mental illness, or brain injury.
What does Level Up Assessments do?
With this service, you’re given personalised, relevant, and achievable recommendations on your potential career options and subject combinations.
These recommendations are based on the career tests you’re given and they explore everything from your personality, values, and interests to your aptitude.
To take a career aptitude test with Level Up Assessments, all you have to do is:
- Book an appointment.
- Have an informal interview over Teams or Zoom.
- Take the career assessment online (this can take 2-4 hours so get comfortable).
- Wait 5-7 business days to get awesome in-depth feedback from their team of professionals!
How much does Level Up Assessments cost?
A comprehensive session with Level Up Assessments costs R3 450. However, if you go through Fundi, you can get an additional 15% knocked off!
So, what exactly are you paying for?
- A “get-to-know” you interview with one of Level Up Assessments’ team of experts
- A comprehensive assessment that tests your career personality, interests, abilities, values, maturity level, and cognitive abilities
- A feedback session where you sift through the detailed results of your report together
- An extensive report that describes your results and includes career options as well as the next steps
2. Online Career Guidance
Who is Online Career Guidance?
Online Career Guidance is a service that provides students with comprehensive career guidance that is based on their skills, interests, and personality.
Although the test was created by psychologist John Holland, it is not a psychometric test. With that said, it’s still incredibly comprehensive and serves as a great starting point for those who are just entering their career journey.
What does Online Career Guidance do?
The website acts as a resource for students who need some career guidance in their lives. It has loads of information that’s been extensively researched to provide you with all the information you need to make the right decision about your future.
All this information is given to you once you pay the registration fee and do a 35-minute career test. A report is then generated based on your results and outlines the following:
- Your ideal career path
- The tertiary qualifications for each option
- Suggested institutions of learning
If you want to do the career test with Online Career Guidance, all you need to do is:
- Register your account.
- Complete the career test.
- Receive a comprehensive report that’s centred around your ideal career choice.
- Get lifetime resources for everything you need for your career journey.
How much does Online Career Guidance cost?
The aptitude test is a once-off payment of R350, with a 15% discount for those going through Fundi.
3. FundiConnect Career Quiz
Yep, that’s right! We have our very own career quiz. And it’s accurate too (even if we have to say so ourselves).
For example, as the writer of this article, I was told to go into Media & Journalism (which is exactly where I’m at).
So, who is FundiConnect? Let’s dive in:
Who is FundiConnect?
FundiConnect is a student resource platform that specifically caters to college and university students in South Africa. If you’ve got a question about your studies, funding, or career, we’ve got the answers.
What does FundiConnect do?
From helpful tips and tricks to important news and updates, we’re here to answer all your studying and work-related questions.
The website has a host of resources and career tools at your disposal—including a CV generator and, of course, our quiz!
The FundiConnect career quiz is super quick and takes roughly 15 minutes to complete. After you’re done, you’ll be told which industry you should be in based on your answers.
4. 16Personalities Test
Ah, the famous 16 personality types test. You may have come across one of these “personalities” or acronyms while stalking one of your new friends on Instagram. You know what we’re talking about.
You open up their profile and they’ve got their name, pronoun, and then a combination of letters. INFP, ISFJ, ENTP … the list goes on (okay, it goes up until 16, but you get it).
Well, this test isn’t just about discovering your personality. The 16Personalities test also gives you super useful career guidance, such as the suggested job roles for your personality type, your strengths and weaknesses, and how you perform in the workplace.
Here’s everything you need to know:
What is the 16Personalities test?
The 16Personalities is based on something known as the “NERIS® model”, and combines the Myers-Briggs assessment as well as the Big Five personality traits.
The actual test is called the NERIS Type Explorer®, but many people know it as the 16Personalities test.
What does the 16Personalities test do?
The theory behind this assessment is that everyone’s personality falls under one of these 16 personality types.
Its aim is to teach people more about who they are as a person, which also lets them figure out which career suits them best.
How does the 16Personalities test work?
The questions are designed with the purpose of placing you under one of the 16 personality types. It follows a linear rating scale that goes from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”.
Once you’ve worked your way through the quiz, you’ll be shown your personality, strengths, weaknesses, and suggested occupations.
Take the 16Personalities test.
5. The 123Test Career Test
A privately owned company, this website has 36 career, personality, and career-themed assessments that you can take. For the purpose of this article, we’re going to be looking at the career aptitude test.
Who is 123Test?
123Test is just a nice group of people from the Netherlands who understand the struggle of trying to find your dream job.
What does 123Test do?
The team came up with the website as a means to help people find a career that suits them or that they’re passionate about. Their main claim to fame is their career aptitude test.
With this particular test, you’ll be shown pictures with occupations that you can click on. You’ll then be able to mark two of the four pictures with either a “tick” or “x”. So choose one that you strongly agree with and one you strongly disagree with.
6. CareerFitter’s Work Personality Analysis
If you’re wondering what CareerFitter is all about, then all you need to do is look at the name. This test helps you see which work environment you’ll fit into best.
Who is CareerFitter?
CareerFitter’s website was designed with the purpose of helping young adults (that’s you) figure out what their work personality is.
What does CareerFitter do?
CareerFitter is not just a career aptitude test, the whole site is dedicated to all things work-related. There’s an entire tab filled with career advice, although their main purpose seems to be the career test.
So, how does it work? Well, with this test, you’ll be given a whole round of questions, each with two options to choose from. Overall, the website advises you to take 20 minutes to answer these questions
7. The TuCareers Test
If you’re looking for a free career aptitude test that does a fairly detailed report, then this is the TuCareers Test.
What is the TuCareers Test?
TuCareers is a website with one mission: To give you the tools you need to find the right job, education, and skills across your lifetime.
What does the TuCareers Test do?
The team at TuCareers uses psychological testing that assesses a variety of things, including our work style, abilities, and values. All of these factors are then used to identify your ideal career.
In terms of how it all works, this career test comes in two forms: free and paid. The free test consists of 19 pages, so be sure to set aside a fair amount of time to complete it.
To take it, you’ll need to fill in a couple of details, such as your email address, occupation, and the type of report you’re looking for.
Be sure to select the “free” option to get a partial report and summary.
8. UJCareerWiz Assessments
Owned by the University of Johannesburg, the entire UJCareerWiz platform is dedicated to helping registered students get free career counselling.
And, of course, it offers UJ students a whole range of free career assessments they can do. Couple that with career consulting and walk-in service, there’s no excuse not to find your career path.
9. The Psychometric Career Assessment
The Psychometric Career Assessment is a programme offered by the University of the Witwatersrand.
It runs from January to mid-December and is done over two sessions. Although Wits students get a special rate, this assessment can be taken by anyone. This includes learners in grades 9 to 12, university students, and even adults going through a career change.
Learn more about the Psychometric Career Assessment.
10. Keirsey Temperament Sorter
Offered as a resource by the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the Keirsey Temperament Test is freely available with career guidance provided by the university.
There are a total of 70 questions in this career test, which will give you a result similar to the MBTI test. You can then interpret your results on the university’s website to see what job you’re most suited for.
Tips on Choosing a Career Test for South African Students
Not sure which career test you should take? Here are a few things to consider before taking the test:
- Your needs. Think about what you’re trying to get out of this test
- Professional support. Do you just want a personality test, or do you need professional career guidance?
- Reviews. If you’re looking to take a career test, always be sure to read the reviews to see if it’s legit.
- The results. Make sure you understand the results of your assessment before jumping straight into a new career.
Final Thoughts on Career Tests
Choosing a career is never easy, which is why these tests are here to help you out. That way, you can end up in a job that you truly enjoy and that’s the perfect fit, instead of just jumping into the first thing that pops up.
If you want some additional guidance, you can always go to FundiConnect for helpful tips, tricks, and information that will help guide you through your career planning and journey.
Looking to Fund Your Career Path?
Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, it’s time to move on to the next big step. Applying to university and making the most out of your career test results! Although … this may come with a new challenge—funding your studies. But let us be the ones to worry about that.
Make funding a non-issue and get a student loan with Fundi!
