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Free career test
Find careers that fit what you enjoy. Rate 60 work activities, and get your three-letter interest code and real jobs that match it, at every level of training.
You have a test in progress. Continue where you left off
- Built on the O*NET Interest Profiler, the free career interest tool of the U.S. Department of Labor
- Uses Holland's six interest types (RIASEC), a widely used model for career interests
- Your result is free and shown on screen, with no account
Example: closest careers
Pay and projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. All jobs: $50,980, +3.5%.
In short: this free career test measures your interests, not your aptitude. You rate 60 everyday work activities from the US Department of Labor's O*NET Interest Profiler, which takes 5 to 20 minutes, and get a three-letter Holland code matched against 923 occupations with pay data. No test can name your perfect job, so treat the list as a starting point.
What career is right for me?
The careers that suit you best usually match what you enjoy doing. This career test helps you figure out what type of job suits you. It asks about everyday work activities, such as building cabinets, teaching a class or starting a business, and finds the interest areas you lean towards. Holland's idea, behind most career tests, is that people do best in work that fits their interests. Your result then lists jobs that share your interests: it works like a career finder, narrowing thousands of options to a short list of jobs suitable for you, so you can start choosing a career path.
No test can name your perfect or dream job. Treat the result as a starting point for your future career: read about the careers it suggests, talk to people who do them, and try the work where you can. Our guide on how to choose a career takes you through those next steps.
How the career quiz works
Rate the activities
The questionnaire lists 60 work activities. Rate each one from strongly dislike to strongly like. Don't think about pay or training: only whether you would enjoy it.
Get your Holland code
You get a score from 0 to 40 for each of the six interest areas. Your top three make your three-letter code, such as SAE or RIC.
See careers that match
Choose how much training you have or plan to get, from none to a graduate degree, and see matching careers at that level, with median pay.
The six interest areas (Holland codes)
The psychologist John Holland grouped work interests into six types, known by their first letters as RIASEC. A Holland code test like this one measures all six. Most people have two or three strong ones.
Realistic
Work involves building, repairing, maintaining, installing, driving, or working with hands. People with Realistic interests often like work that includes plants, animals, electronics, real-world materials like wood, the outdoors, machines, equipment, or tools.
Investigative
Work involves studying, researching, testing, analyzing, diagnosing, discovering, thinking, or problem solving. People with Investigative interests often like work that includes science, knowledge, laboratory settings, ideas, or facts.
Artistic
Work involves creating, performing, writing, designing, dancing, composing, or self-expression. People with Artistic interests often like work that includes art, media, music, theatre, or graphics.
Social
Work involves helping, teaching, educating, guiding, advising, or nurturing. People with Social interests often like work that includes people, service, social activities, health, or communication.
Enterprising
Work involves managing, supervising, negotiating, marketing, selling, leading, or directing. People with Enterprising interests often like work that includes employees, customers, products, business, law, or politics.
Conventional
Work involves organizing, recording, filing, sorting, inspecting, or attention to detail. People with Conventional interests often like work that includes information, data, regulations, office environments, procedures, files, or rules.
Descriptions from the O*NET Interest Profiler score report.
A career test for adults, students and teens
Adults and career changers
Thinking about a career change at 30, 40 or 50? Your result shows careers at the training level you have now, and the full report shows what one more step of training would open up.
College and university students
Use your code to compare majors and the jobs they lead to. Choosing what to study? The college major quiz shows your results as majors.
High school students and teens
Wondering what to be when you grow up? A career quiz for teens doesn't need work experience: the activities are everyday ones. Start with careers that need little preparation, and look ahead to the ones you could train for.
Is this a career aptitude test?
Many people search for a career aptitude test when they want to know which career suits them. Strictly, an aptitude test measures what you would be good at, and an interest test measures what you like to do. This test measures interests. If you also want to measure reasoning ability, take our free IQ test, and for how you tend to think and behave, the Big Five personality test. Interests, abilities and personality traits together give the fullest picture. You can also read the Big Five test questions before you start.
What you get, free and in the full report
| Included | Free result | Full report$6.99 one-time |
|---|---|---|
| Your three-letter Holland code and six scores | ✓ included | ✓ included |
| What each interest area means | ✓ included | ✓ included |
| Matching careers at the training level you choose, with median pay | ✓ included | ✓ included |
| Your 40 closest careers of 923, ranked on all six scores | – not included | ✓ included |
| Job growth to 2035, openings and typical tasks for each career | – not included | ✓ included |
| Study programmes that lead to your top careers | – not included | ✓ included |
| Your next step at each training level | – not included | ✓ included |
| Your interests and personality together (with the Big Five test) | – not included | ✓ included |
| A 30-day career planner you can tick off, and a PDF to keep | – not included | ✓ included |
One-time payment, no subscription. The test and the free result stay free.
Career test questions
What is a career assessment?
A career assessment is a test that helps you find careers that suit you. Some measure interests, some abilities, some personality or values. This one measures interests: the kinds of work activities you would enjoy.
Is the career test really free?
Yes. The test and your result, with your Holland code, six scores and matching careers, are free and shown on screen. You do not need an account or an email address. An optional full report costs $6.99 once, with no subscription.
How long does the career quiz take?
There are 60 activities, and each needs one quick answer from strongly dislike to strongly like. Answer with your first reaction. The O*NET Interest Profiler Manual puts the web version at 5 to 20 minutes. Your answers are saved as you go, so you can stop and finish later.
Do career tests work?
An interest test cannot tell you which job you will succeed in, but it can point you towards work you are likely to enjoy and give you a short list of careers to explore. The O*NET Interest Profiler was developed and tested for career exploration by the O*NET program of the U.S. Department of Labor.
What is a Holland code?
Your Holland code is the first letters of your three strongest interest areas, in order. SAE means Social first, then Artistic, then Enterprising. There are 120 possible three-letter codes.
What is the best job for me?
The careers in your result share your strongest interests. Pick a few, read what they involve, and compare them with your skills, the training you are willing to do, the pay you need and where you want to live.
What career should I pursue?
Start with the careers at the top of your result, then narrow them down by the training you are willing to do, the pay you need and where you want to live. The full report ranks your closest careers and shows pay and job growth for each.
What should I do after the career test?
Pick two or three careers from your result, check the training, pay and job outlook for each, and try the work in a small way, for example by talking to someone who does it. Our step-by-step guide on how to choose a career walks you through it, with a free tool to compare your shortlist.
Is this a career explorer?
Yes, in effect. Your result matches you against 923 occupations from the US Department of Labor's O*NET database and shows your closest careers, so you can explore jobs you may not have considered. The optional full report ranks your 40 closest careers with pay, projected growth and study programmes.
Is this career quiz suitable for high school students?
Yes. The O*NET Interest Profiler it is based on is often used with high school students, and its statements were written for an eighth-grade reading level. Its manual recommends it from about age 14, because younger students' interests change quickly, and suggests retaking it every few months or years to see how your interests develop.
Can I take the career test again?
Yes, as often as you like. Interests can change, especially in your teens and early twenties, so it is worth taking again later. Each result gets its own private link.
Is this the same as career counselling?
No. The test gives you a structured starting point; a career counsellor or adviser can then talk your options through with you. Many people bring their result to that conversation.
What should I major in?
Take our college major quiz: it uses the same 60 activities and shows the majors that fit your interests, grouped by field, with the careers they lead to. Your career test result also has a Majors view.
Is my result private?
Yes. We do not ask for your name or email. Your result has a private link that only you, and anyone you share it with, can open, and you can delete it from the result page at any time.
About this test
This career interest inventory (also called a career interest survey or vocational interest test) includes information from the O*NET Interest Profiler and the O*NET 30.1 database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the O*NET Tools Developer License and CC BY 4.0. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Our changes: the 60 activities are shown one at a time on screen, rotating through the six areas, and careers are ranked by how closely their interest profile matches yours; the activities, answers and scoring are unchanged. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications, and is not liable for any damages from their use.
Sources
- National Center for O*NET Development. O*NET Interest Profiler Short Form and Interest Profiler Manual. onetcenter.org
- O*NET 30.1 database, U.S. Department of Labor. onetcenter.org/database
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035, occupational projections and median wages. bls.gov
- NCES and BLS, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. nces.ed.gov
- Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. K., and Gupta, R. (2003). Meta-analysis of the relationship between the five-factor model of personality and Holland's occupational types. Personnel Psychology, 56, 45-74.
Find careers that fit what you enjoy
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