About Pathways Career Testing
This page provides you with detailed information for the student and adult test process and how to use the reports. For your convenience, some information from other pages is repeated on this page.
Please Note: It's easier to understand if you are looking at your own test results.
Overview of Pathways Career Testing for Students and Adults
It can be overwhelming to choose or change a career path or a college major. There are literally thousands of options—and it can be heartbreaking and aggravating to discover you chose the wrong one.
Pathways Career Testing can help you choose the right path for you. It can save spending extra time and money in college, and keep you from taking the wrong job. It uses research-validated tests, and it links your results to a national jobs database.
Are you the perfect fit, looking for the right niche?
Your results generated by Pathways Career Testing gives you knowledge about jobs—many jobs you didn't know existed. It also gives you some good insights about yourself like what are the kinds of jobs where you'd be likely to fit, and the ability to make wiser choices that won't waste your time, your money, your life…
Depending on the option you choose, Pathways Career Testing can generate two reports for you. The first report is the Pathways Career Report that lists jobs and income associated with those jobs. The second report is the Pathways Career Index that goes into depth about your behavioral preference, communication style, motivators and career interests.
The Pathways Career Report
The purpose of the Pathways Career Report, generated from the test, is to determine career choices and jobs that match your natural behavioral style, top two motivating factors, and top three career interests. This is important because it can take a lot of time, money and emotional investment for you to find and prepare for a job that fits.
Will your job support the lifestyle you want and will it be worth the debt you must pay to prepare for that career path or job? Pathways Career Testing helps you answer these questions.
Finding a Good Starting Point
The main thing you get from the Pathways Career Report is a listing of job options that match your profile.
Please Note: It's easier to understand if you are looking at your own test results.
Overview of Pathways Career Testing for Students and Adults
It can be overwhelming to choose or change a career path or a college major. There are literally thousands of options—and it can be heartbreaking and aggravating to discover you chose the wrong one.
Pathways Career Testing can help you choose the right path for you. It can save spending extra time and money in college, and keep you from taking the wrong job. It uses research-validated tests, and it links your results to a national jobs database.
Are you the perfect fit, looking for the right niche?
Your results generated by Pathways Career Testing gives you knowledge about jobs—many jobs you didn't know existed. It also gives you some good insights about yourself like what are the kinds of jobs where you'd be likely to fit, and the ability to make wiser choices that won't waste your time, your money, your life…
Depending on the option you choose, Pathways Career Testing can generate two reports for you. The first report is the Pathways Career Report that lists jobs and income associated with those jobs. The second report is the Pathways Career Index that goes into depth about your behavioral preference, communication style, motivators and career interests.
The Pathways Career Report
The purpose of the Pathways Career Report, generated from the test, is to determine career choices and jobs that match your natural behavioral style, top two motivating factors, and top three career interests. This is important because it can take a lot of time, money and emotional investment for you to find and prepare for a job that fits.
Will your job support the lifestyle you want and will it be worth the debt you must pay to prepare for that career path or job? Pathways Career Testing helps you answer these questions.
Finding a Good Starting Point
The main thing you get from the Pathways Career Report is a listing of job options that match your profile.
With Option 1, the Pathways Career Report provides important career- and job-related information
Note that we list your top job matches for the three separate headings of Behaviors, Motivating Factors and Career Interests sections. Your Career Report also lists job matches for various combinations of your Behaviors, Motivating Factors and Career Interests—job lists for the combinations are usually shorter.
Most people can expect at least 200 jobs listed in their Report, and this should be enough to find several interesting starting points to research for your career path. You will want to pay attention to the Zone breakdown and clusters of jobs you will see on your report.
Each section of jobs is broken down into five Zones: jobs in Zone 1 need less preparation and education than those in Zone 5. Scan the five zones of jobs for the levels of preparation that you want to achieve—this would be zones 3 and 4 if you have or plan to get an undergraduate degree.
Two Kinds of Job Clusters
In addition to the actual jobs listed, look for two kinds of job clusters.
One job cluster would be the kinds of jobs you see in your report, such as supervisory jobs, technical jobs, creative jobs, research jobs, sales jobs, etc. If your report shows a lot of jobs with similar positions, then you'd want to focus on those kinds of jobs. For example:
The second job cluster would be the kinds of industries. Does your report show multiple jobs in the field of medicine, healthcare, education, architecture, engineering or other industry? A wide variety of jobs might be a fit for you in a particular industry. For example, if you decide you'd like a career in the medical field, in addition to doctors and nurses, they need accountants, researchers, salespeople, clerks, managers, directors, technicians, HR specialists, and a range of other jobs.
Your Action Plan
You will find a Career Exploration Action Guide at the back of your Career Report. This will give you an idea of what to be thinking about and looking for, and it will help you explore and identify careers that are of interest to you.
Your Career Report also gives you a link to a site where you will be able to get more information about jobs that fit your profile, as well as to see what the educational requirements are and what other related jobs you might like to explore as well.
The Pathways Career Index Report
Whereas the Pathways Career Report focuses on the job options, the purpose of the Pathways Career Index, generated from the test, is to give you valuable insights into yourself. It includes sections on your Natural Behavioral Style, your Motivators that you must satisfy for your own sense of personal success and fulfillment, and your Career Interests to indicate career and job options that are more likely to match with who you are.
Most people can expect at least 200 jobs listed in their Report, and this should be enough to find several interesting starting points to research for your career path. You will want to pay attention to the Zone breakdown and clusters of jobs you will see on your report.
Each section of jobs is broken down into five Zones: jobs in Zone 1 need less preparation and education than those in Zone 5. Scan the five zones of jobs for the levels of preparation that you want to achieve—this would be zones 3 and 4 if you have or plan to get an undergraduate degree.
Two Kinds of Job Clusters
In addition to the actual jobs listed, look for two kinds of job clusters.
One job cluster would be the kinds of jobs you see in your report, such as supervisory jobs, technical jobs, creative jobs, research jobs, sales jobs, etc. If your report shows a lot of jobs with similar positions, then you'd want to focus on those kinds of jobs. For example:
- If you have a lot of creative jobs listed, then you might want to focus on learning how to fill a creative/design type of position.
- If you have a lot of supervisory jobs listed, you might want to focus on getting a supervisory position or a job that can lead to a supervisory position.
- If you have a lot of engineering jobs listed, you might want to research various types of engineering jobs
The second job cluster would be the kinds of industries. Does your report show multiple jobs in the field of medicine, healthcare, education, architecture, engineering or other industry? A wide variety of jobs might be a fit for you in a particular industry. For example, if you decide you'd like a career in the medical field, in addition to doctors and nurses, they need accountants, researchers, salespeople, clerks, managers, directors, technicians, HR specialists, and a range of other jobs.
Your Action Plan
You will find a Career Exploration Action Guide at the back of your Career Report. This will give you an idea of what to be thinking about and looking for, and it will help you explore and identify careers that are of interest to you.
Your Career Report also gives you a link to a site where you will be able to get more information about jobs that fit your profile, as well as to see what the educational requirements are and what other related jobs you might like to explore as well.
The Pathways Career Index Report
Whereas the Pathways Career Report focuses on the job options, the purpose of the Pathways Career Index, generated from the test, is to give you valuable insights into yourself. It includes sections on your Natural Behavioral Style, your Motivators that you must satisfy for your own sense of personal success and fulfillment, and your Career Interests to indicate career and job options that are more likely to match with who you are.
Option 2 includes the Pathways Career Report plus a second report, the Pathways Career Index, that expands
on your Behavioral Style, Motivators and includes a 55-minute coaching session.
on your Behavioral Style, Motivators and includes a 55-minute coaching session.
Your Natural Behavioral Style—How You Do What You Do
We focus on your natural behavioral style because that is how you naturally prefer to communicate and behave. By identifying careers that allow you to be yourself, you will feel more comfortable and ideally less stressed because you are not forced to "become somebody you're not" in order to perform your job.
This is not to say you cannot adapt how you communicate with others—we adapt to different job and social situations all the time, but it's best to choose a career where you can be yourself. For example, if your profile indicates you prefer quality, analysis and accuracy, it would probably be very stressful and draining for you to work in a highly competitive job where speed and frequent interruptions are normal.
Your Motivators—Why You Do What You Do
Your top three motivators are what drive you, and you want at least 1 or 2 of your top motivating factors to be fulfilled by your chosen career. If these motivators are not adequately addressed, then you likely feel dissatisfaction—like something is missing. Satisfying your top motivators leads to a sense of personal satisfaction and fulfillment. Once you know what your top motivators are, do you really want a career or job that does not satisfy at least some of that?
Your Career Interests—Areas You Are Likely to Like
Your Top three career interests are associated with job tasks and skills you said that you liked on the test. It should be noted that we are using the careers listed by the U.S. Department of Labor. As new jobs are created and added to that database, we will add them to our database as well.
Together, the Career Report and the Career Index help with the following six things:
We focus on your natural behavioral style because that is how you naturally prefer to communicate and behave. By identifying careers that allow you to be yourself, you will feel more comfortable and ideally less stressed because you are not forced to "become somebody you're not" in order to perform your job.
This is not to say you cannot adapt how you communicate with others—we adapt to different job and social situations all the time, but it's best to choose a career where you can be yourself. For example, if your profile indicates you prefer quality, analysis and accuracy, it would probably be very stressful and draining for you to work in a highly competitive job where speed and frequent interruptions are normal.
Your Motivators—Why You Do What You Do
Your top three motivators are what drive you, and you want at least 1 or 2 of your top motivating factors to be fulfilled by your chosen career. If these motivators are not adequately addressed, then you likely feel dissatisfaction—like something is missing. Satisfying your top motivators leads to a sense of personal satisfaction and fulfillment. Once you know what your top motivators are, do you really want a career or job that does not satisfy at least some of that?
Your Career Interests—Areas You Are Likely to Like
Your Top three career interests are associated with job tasks and skills you said that you liked on the test. It should be noted that we are using the careers listed by the U.S. Department of Labor. As new jobs are created and added to that database, we will add them to our database as well.
Together, the Career Report and the Career Index help with the following six things:
- Identifies and prioritizes your primary career interests so you know where to start looking
- Helps you to make informed decisions about careers and jobs that you should look into and what to major in for those jobs
- Pinpoints motivators you must satisfy for success and personal fulfillment
- Indicates where you’ll be most happy and productive in matching your behavioral style
- Shows realistic potential earnings for over 200 jobs linked to your test results
- Indicates amount of education and preparation needed per job
At some point, you have to quit packing your saddle bags and get on the horse.
—Charles Mitchel (Cheerful Charles)
Three Options for Students and Adults
Option #1. You get the online test and the Career Report test results with job and salary options. If you choose this option, you get the Career Report to review on your own. It does not include the Career Index of your in-depth personality profile or a coaching session.
Option #1. You get the online test and the Career Report test results with job and salary options. If you choose this option, you get the Career Report to review on your own. It does not include the Career Index of your in-depth personality profile or a coaching session.
Highly Recommended:
Option #2. You get the online test, the Career Report test results, plus an expanded Career Index report of your profile that improves your chances of success, plus a 55-minute career coaching session to help you quickly put it all together.
Option 2 Includes a Second Report and Coaching Session. In option 1, your Pathways Career Report gives you a lot of valuable information to digest on your own. If you'd like some help, consider Option 2 or 3 that includes a Career Coach to go over your results with you. The coach can make it a lot easier to understand and use your results.
In addition, you get a second report with Option 2, the Pathways Career Index, which expands on your behavioral style and motivators, such as your strengths, preferred environment, preferred communication factors, and work style—information that can help determine your success and happiness in life by focusing more on who you are and what you need for your own success.
Option #2. You get the online test, the Career Report test results, plus an expanded Career Index report of your profile that improves your chances of success, plus a 55-minute career coaching session to help you quickly put it all together.
Option 2 Includes a Second Report and Coaching Session. In option 1, your Pathways Career Report gives you a lot of valuable information to digest on your own. If you'd like some help, consider Option 2 or 3 that includes a Career Coach to go over your results with you. The coach can make it a lot easier to understand and use your results.
In addition, you get a second report with Option 2, the Pathways Career Index, which expands on your behavioral style and motivators, such as your strengths, preferred environment, preferred communication factors, and work style—information that can help determine your success and happiness in life by focusing more on who you are and what you need for your own success.
Option #3: Career Coaching: Because Change Is a Pain in Your Brain. The research is in, and we knew it all along: Change is a pain in your brain. If you're changing jobs, careers, graduating, needing to find a job or any major life transition, your brain sees change as a threat, and tends to process change through its pain centers.
Your brain can ambush your best effort, and this can make your life transitions extremely challenging. Consider a Pathways Career Coach to help you stay focused and moving forward until you find the job you want to keep!
Option #3 is for career coaching to further utilize your results and support your efforts to find a rewarding and satisfying career path. It can be challenging to "go it alone" without a trusted resource in your favor. The career coach can help you sort out the ongoing challenges of identifying the career and getting a job you want.
If you have questions not addressed here or on the FAQ page, please see the Connect page.
Your brain can ambush your best effort, and this can make your life transitions extremely challenging. Consider a Pathways Career Coach to help you stay focused and moving forward until you find the job you want to keep!
Option #3 is for career coaching to further utilize your results and support your efforts to find a rewarding and satisfying career path. It can be challenging to "go it alone" without a trusted resource in your favor. The career coach can help you sort out the ongoing challenges of identifying the career and getting a job you want.
If you have questions not addressed here or on the FAQ page, please see the Connect page.
Wishing you all the best on your adventure of self-discovery and career choices!
Please see our Adult and Student pages for your immediate purchase options.
Click here for the ADULT Career Testing page.
Click here for the STUDENT Career Testing page.
Please see our Adult and Student pages for your immediate purchase options.
Click here for the ADULT Career Testing page.
Click here for the STUDENT Career Testing page.
