Why It's Never too Late to Take a Career Test

“Have you thought about taking a career test?”

I looked at my theater teacher’s kind eyes and sniffled, “Isn’t it too late?”

I was nearing my second semester of sophomore year and I felt stuck. Stuck in my major, stuck in a career path that I had assumed was right for me, and stuck feeling like I’d made a rash decision too early on in my college career.

“It’s never too late,” my teacher said, reassuringly. “And it would be better for you to take it now and process your results than potentially getting stuck doing something for the rest of your life because you never stepped back to review your choices.”

The challenge was out there, so I accepted it. Thankfully, the career test worked wonders and I am now beginning my seventh year in my dream career. But I have to wonder, how many people feel like I did on that September afternoon? How many people think their career has already been set in stone for them, or that they’ve done too much work to turn around now, and end up stuck in a job that was never right for them? 

If you’ve struggled with this feeling, please know that it’s never too late. 

Why you keep getting stuck

One of the most common complaints about the current work environment centers around people feeling stuck in their jobs. You might feel stuck for a myriad of reasons: you’ve worked too hard to just give up, you only have experience in one line of work, or you’ve never given yourself the freedom to explore other options in your professional life.

There’s even a name for this type of stagnancy. It’s called rust out and it happens when you’re feeling under-used and under-fulfilled in your career. That might be because you’re better than the job you’re currently doing. Or it could be that your entire line of work is not a good fit for you.

In my case, I originally chose a college major, and thus a career, based on something I enjoyed doing as an extracurricular. I also chose it because it was one of the most popular career choices for my Enneagram wing. But once I started acting and pursuing theater professionally, I felt like I was slowly drowning because I knew something wasn’t right.

According to a study reported by The University of Tulsa, nearly 80% of college students change their major at least once throughout their college career.

This high statistic isn’t exactly shocking. Most college students choose their majors when they’re 17 or 18 years old and have very little, if any, professional or real-life experience. 

But nevertheless, it’s a tough decision to make. Many people still frown on the idea of changing your major or switching career paths, so you may get pushback from family members and people who think you’re doing the wrong thing. In today’s education and work environment, there’s a lot of pressure to choose one career path and stick with it no matter what. Work isn’t necessarily supposed to be something you enjoy or something that you’re passionate about. Instead, it’s something “safe” that “pays the bills.” 

And there’s definitely a fear of going back to square one.

But just like my theater teacher told me, it’s never too late to change your course. 

Break the pattern with a career aptitude test

Throughout your life, especially as you’re entering your college or early career days, several sources, people, and even tests will tell you what kind of a career you would be best suited for. 

While it can be beneficial to listen to these opinions, you never want to get pigeonholed into one specific career path without first assessing what your career personality is. 

This isn’t about what you’re good at, or even what experience you’ve had so far in your career. It’s about what motivates you to get out of bed every morning, and therefore what kind of jobs you’re going to be good at and will bring you joy.

No matter how good, safe, high-paying or well-respected a job is, if you don't have motivation backing you up at your workplace, you’re going to lose interest in your career quickly. 

So before you choose a career, it’s a good idea to make sure that your work style aligns with your career’s goals and requirements. 

For example, Truity’s free Career Personality Profiler test will support you by highlighting your preferred work style. The categories are:

• Humanitarian: Someone who is driven by wanting to make the world a better place. They fuse their creativity and imagination to make new solutions. 

• Caretaker: Someone who wants to help and serve others. They seek stable jobs and want to make everything and everyone around them secure.

• Innovator​​: These are the people who love thinking about complex problems. They are always working and coming up with new answers to problems. 

• Pragmatist: These are the people who love working toward real and accessible goals. They value efficiency and logic in their workplace. 

Once you’ve observed your highest-scoring work style, it’s time to look into your career interests. There are six interest areas: Building, Thinking, Creating, Helping, Persuading, and Organizing. 

While the interests might seem broad, pairing both results will help center you on the perfect job.

After you get the test results, you’ll receive a list of careers that fit your motivations, work style and career interests. While this doesn’t provide you with the only ones you can choose from, they’re a great place to start if you feel lost or stuck in the wrong career path. 

Career tests are the start not the finish line

I chose a major, and thus a potential career, that I had experience in, was good at and I knew I could do. 

But I didn’t love it and I wasn’t passionate about it. 

When I took a career aptitude test and evaluated the results, I realized that the things that drove me professionally aligned with very different career paths. My current career is on the list I received after taking the career quiz, but that doesn’t mean yours will be. 

You might take the test, receive the results, and realize that your dream career is adjacent to one of the results, or not on the list. And that’s okay.

A career test can give you some truly valuable insights into the jobs that will make you happy. But it’s important to remember that no one can tell you what to do or who to be. If you want to get unstuck, take a test but also look around and think of the things and activities that inspire you. More than likely, you’re already on the right path to finding your perfect career, you might just need a little push in the right direction to inspire you to leap.

A career test may just be the push you need. Thankfully, it’s never too late to take one and potentially change your life. 

Ready to find your perfect career? Take our free career aptitude test and unlock the path to your dream job!