Second Career Help

Most of the websites for second career guidance seem to promote seminars or assessment tools that are costly. The AARP http://www.aarp.org/ website has numerous links to articles about job searches for older workers and is somewhat helpful. My recommendation for self-assessment is to read the following information from the National Career Development Association(NCDA) http://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/Home_Page and then take a few of the free on-line surveys. I did the Princeton Review Career Quiz and the MAPP Assessment. The results were interesting and not very surprising. I spent less than an hour and no money!


"Many well-known and validated inventories are provided for a fee by their publishers on the Internet. These instruments are not covered here; they are covered in NCDA's publication A Counselor's Guide to Career Assessments.Most assessment instruments described in this section are provided free of charge. Counselors are reminded of the need to find out about their psychometric properties before using them with clients.
CareerStorm Online Assessment Center
Created by CareerStorm Ltd. in Finland, the CareerStorm Online Assessment Center is a suite of four independent assessments you can make available to your clients online. These are designed to help clients map their career path, create a plan to move towards their ideal career, choose between career options, and finally map out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in a personal career. Counselors can customize their gateway to the assessments to make the site more personalized. A free trial is available to qualified professionals.
Interest Assessment from the Career Exploration Links
The Counseling and Psychological Services Department, housed within University Health Services at the University of California-Berkeley, developed an interest assessment based on Holland types. This simple tool lists tendencies and talents for each group and matches these to short profiles of UC Berkeley students, listing their majors, interests, and possible career paths. This page links to longer lists of areas of study or occupations that the person might pursue.
MAPP - Motivational Assessment of Personal Potential
MAPP is an interest survey designed by the International Assessment Network in Minneapolis, MN. A free sample MAPP Career Analysis is provided to help individuals identify their preferences for working with people or things and other job characteristics; it also suggests some occupations that match these preferences. The assessment is offered in English, French, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish; it can be completed in about 25 minutes. It is possible to stop the test and resume at a later time. The resulting report is sent to the user via e-mail, outlining his or her "natural motivations and talent for work" and matching these to five occupational descriptions from O*Net.
Queendom.com
Queendom offers a variety of personality, intelligence, and health tests and quizzes. Its motto is "serious entertainment," a reflection of dedication to providing users with "an avenue for self-exploration with a healthy dose of fun." The people behind this site include psychologists, and statistics and background information on most of the tests are available online. Users can register free, but paying subscribers gain access to additional resources and services.
Self Assessment from the Career Development Manual, University of Waterloo Career Services
The first section of the award-winning Career Development Manual is a collection of six assessment tools that can be printed out and completed.
These assessments cover personality and attitude, skills and achievements, knowledge and learning style, values, interests (based on Holland's theory), and entrepreneurism.
The Career Key
The Career Key, developed by Lawrence K. Jones, Ph.D., is based on Holland's work. The Career Key test measures a user's skills, abilities, values, and interests and returns information designed to help the user learn about him or herself, discover career options, and make good decisions. There is a nominal fee for the test which can be completed in less than ten minutes. Other areas of the site include good information and related resources and are free to access.
Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire
The goal of the CDDQ is to facilitate the career-counseling process by providing counselors with feedback about the focuses of their clients' difficulties. The CDDQ is a self-administered questionnaire provided free of charge, that can be completed in eight minutes before the first counseling session. It was developed and cross-culturally tested by Itamar Gati, Ph.D. and Samuel Osipow, Ph.D.; the theoretical rationale, supporting research, and the professional manual can be found in the Experts Section of the site. [Note, this link was applied for by the authors.]
Career Maze
Career Maze report will give you an in-depth knowledge about yourself and help you make sound decisions about career futures and job choices. It puts more than 15 years of consulting experience into an on-line tool designed to increase self-knowledge. A fee is charged.(Note: This link was applied for by Career Maze).
MyMajors.com
MyMajors interviews students who do not know what they wish to major in. After a 10 minute interview it recommends five majors for the student to consider and it offers extensive information about the majors commonly offered at most universities and colleges.(Note: This link was applied for by MyMajors.)"

Enjoy!