Career assessments

A career assessment is an evaluation of a child's aptitude. Aptitude is a child's natural ability in an area and is tested using a standardized test. A career assessment also investigates a child's personality traits and their values in order to see how these aspects fit together to create a career interest. A career assessment battery differs from psychologist to psychologist, but usually includes some form of aptitude test, a personality evaluation and value assessment.

Careers as we know them are shifting and changing constantly. In decades gone by, people had fixed careers. It was not unusual to hear of someone who had served in one company for 30 years or more. However, this is seldom the case in the current times and rather than careers we talk about career paths. 

A career path suggests that a person has a skill set that will be used in a variety of ways within their working years. For instance, a person who is good with children might be a teacher for a stint; then a writer and self-publish their own children's book; then a tutor and finally a swimming coach. All those jobs involved children, in varying capacities. A career path allows one to shift and change with life's seasons and to find fulfillment in all seasons, whilst maintaining a sense of loyalty to one's strengths and passions. 

The purpose of a career assessment, in the modern era therefore, is not to pinpoint specific careers. Rather, it is to highlight career paths most suited to a person.