I Took A Career Assessment Test In College — Here’s What Happened 5.5 Years Later

*If you don’t know where this photo is from, I don’t know what to say.

About five and a half years ago, I was invited by my university’s career counselors to participate in a first-time, experimental run of a career aptitude test. Only a handful of students were selected — I like to think they chose me because I was so damn good.

But it was probably because I stalked the living hell out of them.

My counselor and friend brought me in her office one afternoon and explained the trial exam. This is what they use at Harvard, she told me. And since I didn’t go to Harvard — or anything resembling it — I thought, “sure, why the fuck not?”

It turned out to be an exhaustive test that asked me everything and anything. I don’t remember much of the content, but a question similar to this appeared:

What would you rather be?
A coach of a team
A player
The owner
Etc.

(Or something like that.)

Anywho, the results came back and we reviewed our printouts with our counselors. At the time, it basically confirmed a few things about my career path I already knew (like that I would work in finance, duh), some things I never considered, and a few of my not-quite-crippling weaknesses.

I let out a respectful whistle and shoved them into the glossy, deep-blue University of California, San Diego folder they gave me.

I never saw them again.

Well, until a few days ago.

For some odd reason, I saved that folder. Now, people, that means a lot. Because I throw everything away. Every few months, I sift through all my things and throw out (or donate) everything I don’t use, read, or wear anymore. No more Christmas cards from the Bush Administration, business cards from Tupperware people, or shirts from my *oversized T-shirt* phase.

Heck, I don’t have anything I had from college and I’m not quite sure where my diploma is. (It’s still in the envelope it came in, though.) So when I did my traditional “spring cleaning” a few nights ago, I couldn’t believe it was still there.

I pulled out the sheets of paper with a few highlights and scanned through it. It was amazing! Incredible! Stupendous! I mean, I don’t even care about finance anymore. I work in a completely different field and do completely different things. So many things changed — I feel like a new man now. But here’s the crazy thing:

It was still correct.

*
Now, the scores were relative to what the other, thousands of students scored on the test, and everything was divided into three sections:

Your Interests
Your Motivators
Your Abilities

Things I Did Well On:

“You have a high interest in creative production,” it says and explains that I’d enjoy “bringing something entirely original into existence — whether it’s a product, marketing plan, way of delivering a service, or entrepreneurial venture.”

It also explains away why I get bored with something so easily. “You’ll likely find the initial stages of new projects much more stimulating than later phases,” it says, “so a job that may have been a good match at first may feel less and less satisfying over time.

And it explains why I’ve quit so many jobs. “In fact, may people with this interest change jobs more frequently than other people for this very reason — not because of an inability to persevere or make a commitment.”

Then, it suggests that I work in career field I currently work in now. “You may prefer to work in an industry in which the product or service is highly creative by definition, such as entertainment or advertising.”

And even during those years I hated writing, it still hinted that I might like it. “You enjoy writing and talking to people,” it reads, “with the specific goal of gaining their agreement on a particular topic.”

“Don’t let a lack of prior experience with creative work or with influencing others keep you from gaining the knowledge or strengthening the skills you’ll need to express theses interests,” it adds.

What about who I’d work for?

“You would feel most comfortable in an organization that places a premium on trying new approaches: ‘If it isn’t broken, see if you can make it better anyway,'” it says. “People who work in such companies, departments, or teams are willing to take risks in the service of possible improvements.”

What about my abilities?

Well, believe it or not, I actually had an ability or two. (Yay!) One, surprisingly, was “Written Communication.” Another one was was “Quick Thinking (picks up new ideas and processes new information quickly and easily).”

Here’s a quick side story about that:

When I was in language school in Taipei, I started behind everyone else — they were cruising through their second term while I just started. I rarely studied, I never once did my homework, I didn’t pay much attention in class, and I always came late.

Soon, I started setting the curve.

How?

Easy. Remember that homework I never did? Well, I’d go to some random coffee shop, find some local students, and ask them to help me with my homework. Invariably, they’d do everything for me. Then, I’d spend the next hour or so talking to them in Mandarin Chinese and sharpening my abilities. Sometimes, I made a friend. And whatever I didn’t know, I’d write it down.

Then, the next day, I’d go to class, interrupt the lesson, and ask, “So yesterday, I overheard someone say XYZ. What does that mean?” Then, my teacher would tell me, I’d write that down and circle it in red, and the cycle would continue.

One time, after I interrupted her to translate something, she stared at me and asked, “Did a girl tell you this?!”

“Uhh,” I said. “Maybe?”

Things I did poorly on:

Empathy skills: Can see things from other people’s points of view

Whoops. I will say I’ve gotten a tiny bit better at this and there were a few books that helped shift my paradigms and helped me understand other people’s perspective and where they came from:

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Awareness
Stumbling On Happiness
Letters of a Stoic
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

Self-control: Does not act of speak impulsively; does not easily lose composure

Ugh. I still struggle with this. Sure, I could go into my history and upbringing and rationalize why this is how it is, but I won’t do that — I’m not a kid anymore, and I need to assume complete responsibility for my actions.

But you know one thing that really helped was surrounding myself with people who stand on the opposite side of the spectrum. When I was in Korea, for example, I hung out with a lot of super-relaxed, calm, and happy people — on purpose. I purposely hung out with them because I wanted to learn through osmosis. And it unlocked a new world and showed my how one could and should respond to difficulties.

It helped a lot.

*

Ultimately, even though I changed careers a bunch of times, bounced around a lot of places, and, uhh, cheated my way through Chinese school, that career assessment test was still really accurate. It provided the motivation behind my actions and suggested that I end up doing the things that I ended up doing.

There was, however, one thing I scored very low in. “Application of Technology. Interested in learning about and using new technologies. Enjoy analyzing and designing (or redesigning) business processes such as production and operations systems.”

Thank God.