Career Counseling has seen a very slow growth in India because of the nature of the closely knit Indian family system. Parents and close relatives dictated to the child whether he should become an engineer or doctor. Hardly anybody took notice of the child’s interest in the subject or his or aptitude for it. The role of the career counselor was unthinkable. The shift from agro-based economy to an industrialized city economy brought about a gamut of changes in the job domain. The advent of modern technology also opened up new career avenues throughout the country. People started looking for time bound performance oriented jobs that earned those good monetary benefits and other perks. Government jobs became very popular but with increase population the competition has become very cut throat. Then people’s attention shifted towards private firms or corporate jobs which needs both academic qualification and new skills. Choosing the ‘right’ career options became very important. Parents and teachers then turned to professional career experts for sound advice. This is how career counseling came into being in the first place. Now the focus of the article is how psychometric test and career counseling is integrally linked. It can be said without exaggeration that psychometric test is but a pillar on which career counseling stands strong. The test results are a foundation on which successful careers are built.
You may have heard your school counselor or teachers talking about a psychometric test. What exactly is it? Psychometric tests are standardized objective tests that measures mental skills, aptitudes and personality traits of a person. These tests are used to measure individual differences. The results are consistent, reliable and valid. The psychometric tests include intelligence test, interest test and personality tests.
Online psychometric tests are cost-effective yardstick to measure an individual’s abilities, personality and skills. These tests not only help to judge the employment quotient of a person it also makes him or her aware of their natural abilities and soft skills. It points out areas of improvement and what new skills they need to acquire to become ready for a particular job. The tests can give students a fair idea whether they have to improve in their verbal, non-verbal and problem solving skills and also their strength areas in these fields. The students can take the exam alone and find out what their present status is in terms of employ ability. These tests can also be used to select subjects or stream of study after completing the tenth standard board exams. The data collected is authentic since the tests are standardized. You can rely on the results since the test is used by most human resource and job-consultancies.
HOW DO I CHOOSE THE RIGHT CAREER?
Now the challenge is whether the students can interpret the results of the psychometric tests accurately. It is best that parents and teachers urge them to consult a career counselor with the results of psychometric tests. The counselor will effectively point out to the students or job aspirant their strengths and weaknesses. Other than that career counselors also enlighten you on the minor changes that you need to bring in your life in relation to the development of skills and improving one’s personality. They give pep talks, arrange for demo job interviews, building a resume, improving attitude and encouraging students to keep themselves updated on general knowledge and current affairs. Working professionals who are looking for a career change or students who are opting for a different field of study can take the help of both psychometric test and the advice of career counselors.
Each individual is unique and they don’t even know what makes them so. This is where they need the intervention of a professionally qualified career counselor. A career counselor will help the student to select courses based on their intelligence, interest and personality and prepare them for the career they will be good at. Most of the times students select subjects or streams under great emotional pressure from parents, relatives or peers. Neither the parents or the students realize that career decisions are crucial and irrevocable. A person invests so much time and resources on academics but underestimate the value of career counseling.
The students can complete the online psychometric test from the comfort of their homes and get the results interpreted by the computer immediately and then they can approach a career counselor. A person may desire to be a scientist or an astronaut but only few are capable to become one. They force themselves to study the subjects to achieve their elusive dream and reach a saturation point soon. How to avoid that? Take a psychometric test. This test will will find out all your capabilities with just a few questions and that too within minutes. You will get to know how far your learned knowledge is going to help in achieving your dreams or whether your dreams are mere fantasy. This test will help you to look life in a more pragmatic way. A psychometric test is designed after years of scientific research which makes it objective. You can measure all facets of learning and personality with a test. Modern technology or better internet makes it accessible to all. You career counselor will suggest which test you should take. Always prepare yourself before the test and most important be honest!
Everyone makes assumptions about their own skills and abilities but a psychometric test can actually surprise you with unexpected career options. Career counseling based on psychometric test can actually help you to avoid wasting your time in the wrong career. One shouldn’t actually believe advice given without a test, it is baseless. A psychometric test will tell you whether you are on the right track. This test is originally devised by the Chinese was utilized by the armies of both United Sates of America and United Kingdom post world wars to choose the right candidate. Psychometric test have become more sophisticated and many are opting for it instead of traditional interview with a counselor or a reference or CV method. The results are so accurate that it can tell you how you will behave and perform at work. Surprised, take the test and see it for yourself! It will give you new confidence to achieve things that you didn’t know about. Career counselor will give advice based on them but employers using the test for recruitment will actually tailor the results based on the job role that you have applied for. You can also tell about your strengths at the interview, the employers are impressed that you know yourself so well. This way you will stop comparing with others and focus on your abilities and the areas you need to focus more. This way you can take the final call on your career decision based on your specific abilities. The test will also help you to deal with stress related issues and calm you down even before you apply for a job. So you can avoid becoming an anxious prone nurse or salesman by improving your interpersonal communication skills required for those who want to work with people or in teams.
Have many questions about your career ?
The results of psychometric test may appear like a list of numbers to you. However, a career counselor can add a whole new meaning to these numbers. An expert career counselor will combine the personal interview with the results of the test and give you the correct career advice. The counselor will point out which careers are best suited you, what are the career options available for you matching your skills and how to achieve each of these options. Even if your plan A fails you have a contingency career plan you can easily bank upon. Your success matters most to the career counselor and to help him or her to guide you better it is important you take a psychometric test. This will make it easy for both them and you to attain success.
