Assessments

The Assessments section includes tools to help students better understand themselves and what they want for the future. The four assessments in this section are:

Matchmaker
My Skills 
Learning Styles Inventory 
Ability Profiler (U.S. version) 

Matchmaker

Matchmaker is an interactive survey that matches occupations to interests and provides students with a foundation to build an individualized plan. The assessment starts by asking 39 questions about likes and dislikes. For each question, there are five responses to choose from: Dislike Very Much, Dislike, Does Not Matter, Like, or Like Very Much.

Once the first 39 questions are completed, Matchmaker produces a list of 40 career suggestions that can be used to explore occupation profiles in more detail. Suggestions are ranked according to how well they match identified interests. Matchmaker also identifies career clusters or career pathways that match interests. A Level of Education filtering feature allows students to specify the level of education needed for career matches.

To improve results, students have the option of answering up to 116 questions. After completing the first 39 questions, click the Answer More Questions button to continue with the assessment. The Review My Answers button lets students review their responses and make changes if needed.

To access Matchmaker from the homepage:

1. Click Assessments at the top of the page.
2. Click Start Career Matchmaker.
3. Enter a Matchmaker label (e.g. date)
4. Click Start Now.

To access Matchmaker and/or Matchmaker Results from My Plan:

1. Click My Assessments.
2. Click Matchmaker & My Skills.
3. Click Start New Matchmaker above the table of saved results.
4. Enter a Matchmaker label.
5. Click Start Now.

Note: Keeping multiple Matchmaker results allows students to see how their interests evolve over time. Before beginning a session, students will be prompted to label the session. All results are automatically saved in the My Assessments section of My Plan.

My Skills

The My Skills assessment asks students to rate their level of skill in 45 key areas to see how those skills match up with Matchmaker career suggestions. Results can be used to determine what areas of skill need improvement to reach career goals. Students must complete at least the first 39 questions of Matchmaker to access the My Skills assessment. For each skill, there are five options to choose from: I Am Highly Skilled, I Am Skilled, I Have Some Skill, I Don’t Have This Skill, or I Can’t Answer This.

After answering the questions, students will be presented with their saved list of Matchmaker career suggestions. Each career will have an icon next to it with a skills score for that career. Click a career from the list to view the Suitable For You? chart, which provides specific feedback on how assessment results match up with the skills required for that career. Students can also search for other careers and view the Suitable for You? link in any occupation profile to see how their saved My Skills results line up.

Students can revisit and change My Skills answers by clicking on the Review My Answers button in the My Skills section of the career suggestions page.

To access the My Skills assessment from the homepage:

1. Click Assessments at the top of the page.
2. Click Matchmaker & My Skills.
3. Ensure students have at least one set of saved Matchmaker results.
4. Click Start Now under the My Skills column to the right of the Matchmaker results label.
5. Enter a Matchmaker label.
6. Click Start Now.

To access the My Skills assessment from My Plan:

1. Click My Assessments.
2. Click Matchmaker & My Skills.
3. Ensure student has at least one set of saved Matchmaker results.
4. Click Start Now under the My Skills column to the right of the Matchmaker results label.
5. Enter a Matchmaker label.
6. Click Start Now.

Learning Styles Inventory

The Learning Styles Inventory consists of 20 questions to help students understand how they learn and retain information, including tips for studying. The assessment analyzes preferences and tendencies according to three learning methods: visual, auditory, and tactile. Students may be identified as having a primary, primary and secondary, dual, or mixed learning style. Results are shown in a chart and graph format.

To access the Learning Styles Inventory from the homepage:

1. Click Assessments at the top of the page.
2. Click Start Learning Styles.

To access the Learning Styles Inventory from My Plan:

1. Click My Assessments.
2. Click Start Learning Styles.

Ability Profiler (U.S. Version)

The Ability Profiler is designed to help students 16 and older understand the relationship between their abilities and careers of interest. The assessment is composed of six timed sections that measure ability in key workplace-focused areas: arithmetic reasoning, verbal ability, spatial ability, computation, clerical perception, and form perception. 

Unlike the other assessments in Career Cruising, students do not provide their non-objective opinion; instead, their abilities are empirically tested in an exam-like format.  To ensure the Ability Profiler is completed under the proper conditions, those who are eligible to take the test must do so during a testing window set by a teacher or counselor. 

Once completed, Ability Profiler results integrate with Matchmaker results. Each ability rank will appear as “Close to or Exceeds” or “Needs Improvement” in the column next to the career name as it compares the examinee’s results from the test to the abilities of other individuals in that specific occupation.

To access the Ability Profiler from the homepage during an open testing window:

1. Click Assessments at the top of the page.
2. Click About Ability Profiler.
3. Enter the registration code provided by the test administrator.
4. Click Start Now.

To access the Ability Profiler from My Plan during an open testing window:

1. Click My Assessments.
2. Select Ability Profiler.
3. Enter the registration code provided by the test administrator.
4. Click Start Now.

Note: The Ability Profiler is designed to be taken only once. However, after a period of six months or longer, particular sections or the entire assessment can be reset for individual examinees. 

For more information about administering the Ability Profiler, including eligibility, testing conditions, and accommodations, please review the  Ability Profiler Administration Manual. To assist students in taking the test, you may find the Ability Profiler - Instructions for Examinees useful as well.