Career Quiz

Clear your desk, take out a piece of paper and jot down the answers to the following:

1. Do you prefer analyzing data or supervising people?
2. T or F: A surgeon would be classified as a "Conventional" career.
3. Do you prefer synthesizing data or making precision things?
4. T or F: It's legal for employers to refuse to hire people because of they are too old.
5. T or F: You should wait two day before sending a thank you letter to an interviewer.
6. T or F: You should prepare a list of questions you want to ask the interviewer.
7. Do you prefer computing or instructing?
8. T or F: You should take notes while you are being interviewed.
9. T or F: If the interviewer doesn't call you when they said they would, you should wait a week and then call him/her.
10. T or F: On this website, the Wagon is a symbol of skills.
11. Do you prefer making things or coaching people?
12. T or F: A philosopher would be classified as an "Artistic" career.
13. T or F: A police officer would be categorized as an "Enterprising" career.
14. T or F: One of the six categories of jobs is "boring".
15. T or F: SIC codes are "Standard Industry Classification" codes.
16. T or F: One of the 15 general questions to ask yourself is "What are your 6 strengths?"
17. Do you prefer compiling information or constructing objects?
18. T or F: Jobs which require mechanical ability are categorized as "Realistic."
19. Do you prefer operating equipment or negotiating with people?
20. T or F: People who like to observe should check out "Investigative" jobs.

Your school probably has access to vocational interest tests made by professionals. Just like this quiz, they won't tell you what you should do but they can help you think about areas you might have overlooked. Here's how to understand our quiz:

Career Knowledge:

• Items 2, 4-6, 8-10, 12-16, 18 and 20.

2. False. A surgeon would be classified as a "Investigative" career.

4. False: It's illegal for employers to refuse to hire people because of they are too old.

5. False: You should send a thank you letter to an interviewer within 24 hours.

6. True: You should prepare a list of questions you want to ask the interviewer.

8. False: You should take a notebook but unless there is something special to write down, don't take notes while you are being interviewed.

9. True: If the interviewer doesn't call you when they said they would, you should wait a week and then call him/her.

10. True: On this website, the Wagon is a symbol of skills.

11. True: A philosopher would be classified as an "Artistic" career.

12. False: A police officer would be categorized as an "Investigative" career.

13. False: The six categories of jobs include Artistic, Enterprising, Realistic, Investigative, Conventional and Social.

15. True: SIC codes are "Standard Industry Classification" codes.

16. False: One of the 15 general questions to ask yourself was "What are 5 your strengths?" But there's no reason it couldn't have been 6, or 7 or 10. Tricky question, huh?

18. True: Jobs which require mechanical ability are categorized as "Realistic."

20. True: People who like to observe should check out "Investigative" jobs.

• Give yourself 1 point for each right answer

A low score (0-4):

When it comes to career knowledge, you're still a tenderfoot

A high score (5-9):

You're a seasoned stampeder!

A very high score (10-14):

What are you doing in school? You already know everything!

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DOT Items:

• If you chose "a" for items 1, 3, 7 and 17, you probably enjoy working with data more than you do people or things.

• If you chose "b" for items 1, 7, 11, and 19, you probably like working with people more than you do data or things.

• If you chose "b" for items 3 and 17 and "a" for 11 and 19, you probably are more comfortable working with things than with data or people.

If all that sounds confusing, wait until you read the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. It has over 20,000 job titles already rated for how much the job requires using data, working with people and handling things. You can pick a job that is high in data and low in people and things. Or a job that is high in all three. Check it out.

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