Ireland Miller
The Career Development Center at Purdue University Fort Wayne provides assessments that concentrate on helping students and alumni match their interests, strengths and education with a satisfying career.
For students who are struggling to pick a major or have little idea of what career they may want to pursue, the online assessments that the Career Development Center offers focus on an individual’s personality, interests, skills and values to help guide them in the right direction.
“It also gives you another way of looking at what you value when it comes to work and how all of that goes into developing your actual career plan,” Assistant Director of the Career Development Center Tracey Hanton said.
Assessments such as the TypeFocus 7 Career Assessment offered through the PFW website are taken online. This assessment prepares participants with questions that help guide them to their desired outcome without making the final career decision for them.
“[Assessment takers] get an opportunity to do what is very important, and that’s research,” Hanton said.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Strong Interest Inventory (SII) assessments are also available to both students and alumni to take with an additional cost of $25 each. These tests are more extensive, giving students an in-depth idea of career options while looking at both the costs and benefits.
No preparation is required to take an assessment, but Hanton said she suggests being in a quiet room paying full attention to the questions for the most accurate test results.
“It is not something you want to spend hours thinking over. You definitely want to make sure that you don’t answer the questions the way you think you should answer them. You just really want to answer them just as they are,” Hanton said.
Assessments do not have to be taken at a certain point in time. Although not required, career assessments can be taken multiple times throughout a student’s life in order to address the question, “Did I change?”
“I think a person should take an assessment when they’re in college, sometimes even before, and depending on what it is that they need, they might take another one in five years,” Hanton said.
Career assessments consider the individual’s answers and generate a list of possible outcomes for their career, keeping in mind their goals and interests. However, the individual’s options are not limited to the displayed results.
“[The assessment] does not eliminate all options. Statistics say we’re going to do about 14 careers in a lifetime anyway,” Hanton said.
When taking a career assessment, individuals can seek help navigating their results by scheduling an appointment with PFW’s Career Development staff.
The information can be found under the Career Development tab on the university’s home page.
Edited by Lydia Reuille