Career Tests or Self-Fulfilling Prophecies?
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I’ve had to deal with this question ever since I was little. During most of my childhood, my answers were ones that seemed trendy at the time. I’ve wanted to become a princess, a movie star, and even a police officer. In 6th grade, under my name in my elementary school yearbook it was written that I wanted to become a botanist. Clearly, that’s what I had told my friend who was writing my profile. The fact that I had said that I want to work with plants is a joke that’s still told at my family gatherings. My parents find it particularly entertaining as they know very well that my relationship with nature and the outdoors has not been a fruitful one.
However, it wasn’t until high school that the question of what I wanted to pursue in life became a serious one. Which career was best suited for me? Could I be a doctor? A lawyer? A mathematician? Luckily for me, in grade 11 my high school’s career counsellor came to every graduating class and administered a career aptitude test to each student.
This was my first experience with a psychological test. The counsellor instructed us to answer in the most honest way possible, and that depending on our aptitudes, interests, and personality traits, the test would be able to come up with a list of the careers best suited for each and everyone of us. At this point in time, I was inclined towards applying to a Commerce program in CEGEP because of my love for math, but also because of my general indifference towards the rest of the natural sciences. As I was completing the test, I found myself answering questions untruthfully just so that the final result would confirm my interest in management. There was a question on that test that still strikes me to this day. I was asked: “In your free time, what do you enjoy doing most?” to which I answered: “Reading articles in the Economist. This couldn’t be farther from my actual interests and hobbies. Despite my knowledge of answering falsely, I felt a compelling need to do so. I needed my top result to be something economically related, and only this way could I feel content with my choice.
Had I responded truthfully during the test, it might have oriented me toward psychology, which turned out to be my passion. Though at the time I had no knowledge about what I was experiencing, I now realize that I was engaging in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Truth is, I probably wasn’t the only one. This has left me wondering… To what extent do these career aptitude tests work? Are they worth being mass administered to graduating students, or should students be encouraged to follow their hearts, and see where it leads them?
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