9 Free Assessments to Help You Find Your Way

Do you want to know more about yourself? Are you searching for the right career path? Or perhaps you just want to gain some insight into why you think or act the way you do? If you’re surfing the web, you can find free assessments for just about anything out there. Some are just for fun, and some are actually useful. Sometimes it’s hard to differentiate between the two.

To save you some time, and point you in the direction of free assessments that might cover your specific needs, I’ve complied a list of my 9 favorite and most useful free assessments to help you find your way in life or in your career.  And, as a bonus, I’ve included at the end, two paid assessments that have been particularly helpful to me and to my clients.

Some of the assessments in my list offer paid upgrades, but each of these assessments listed below are free to take and get results. You may have to offer up an email address, but it is a simple matter to unsubscribe from any list after you get your results.

I’ve found these assessments very helpful in moving past some blocks and in setting goals and determining direction for my business and my life. Many of my clients have also found them useful as we work together.  You—or your clients—may find them helpful too.

And in case you are wondering, yes, I have completed all of these assessments—except for parts of the O*NET.

Free Assessments for Career Exploration and Development

Entrepreneurial Self-Assessment

First up is the Entrepreneurial potential self-assessment quiz from Business Development Bank of Canada.

This questionnaire includes 50 statements and will take you about 10 minutes. It helps you to evaluate your entrepreneurial motivations, aptitudes and attitudes. This site also offers many other free entrepreneurial resources that are useful whether or not you live in Canada.

Take the Free Entrepreneurial Assessment Here

The Passion Test

Are you interested in clarifying your passions? When choosing a career path or even determining your personal path, it can be helpful to understand what really lights your soul on fire. GeniusU.com offers a number of different quizzes and assessments including this one called the Passion Test.

Take the Free Passion Test Here.

O*NET Career Exploration Tools

Are your trying to figure out the right career path? Whether you’re considering changing careers, starting a business or going back to school, knowing what best suits and interests you—and its career potential—can save you massive time and money. The O*NET suite of tools is tied in to the US Department of Labor database by the same name. These are powerful resources that you might pay hundreds, if not thousands, to access through a professional career counselor. If you are a career counselor, you may want to take a close look at this tool.

This is an excellent resource for gaining some insights into your career path and the type of work you may enjoy. Be aware—although this is a free resource, it is somewhat more complicated to use than some of the other resources here. Portions are available online, and other portions are pencil and paper, but there are multiple resources to download for each of the three tools.

There are three components in the O*NET Resource Center. The three tools are:

O*NET Ability Profiler—measures nine job-relevant abilities including verbal ability, spatial ability, manual dexterity, and arithmetic reasoning among others. It is designed to be administered by a coach or counselor. It is a pencil-and-paper test and includes downloadable scoring and interpretation resources.

O*NET Interest Profiler—helps persons discover the type of work activities and occupations they would like. It has a web-based (but not mobile) version as well as a paper-and-pencil test. This can be self-administered or given by a coach or counselor.

O*NET Work Importance Locator—this tool measures six types of work values: achievement, independence, recognition, relationships, support, working conditions. It is a pencil-and-paper tool and can be self-administered and interpreted.

Take all three assessments here.

Free Assessments for Personality

16 Personalities

The Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator is probably the best-known personality assessment in the world. Knowing your personality type can help you understand so much more about your motivations, about the work and social environments you prefer and about how you make decisions and view this world.

While nothing can replace a comprehensive personality assessment with a trained and licensed psychiatrist, most of us don’t need a comprehensive assessment. This free assessment will most likely tell you what you need to know, and the website contains all kinds of resources for understanding it and implementing it in your life. According to 16 Personalities, you will “get a ‘freakishly accurate’ description of who you are and why you do things the way you do.”

As a bonus, if you’re not a native English speaker, the test is translated into 37 languages.

Take this free personality assessment here.

If you’d like to learn more about this most well-known of all assessments, and take the official Myers-Briggs assessment, you can learn more and order an assessment (it’s a paid one) on their website here.

DISC Assessment

This assessment offered free through Tony Robbins’ website is a massively popular test that helps you understand your personality type and your behavioral style. Some private counselors charge up to $250 for other versions of this test, but this free version will give you a wealth of information. I have seen this used in many workplaces to help create successful teams.

Take your free DISC assessment here.

The Color Code Personality Assessment

This assessment bills itself as “the most accurate, comprehensive, and easy to use personality test available.” I don’t know if that’s really true, but it does provide some interesting insights and is one of the most popular assessments around. It provides insight into what and why you do things, and offers tools for relationship improvements.

Take the free Color Code assessment here.

The Color Code also offers a more comprehensive customized report for a fee on their website. I haven’t bought that, so I can’t tell you what else might be included.

Free Assessments to Evaluate Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence Quiz

Emotional intelligence is our ability to recognize, understand and manage our emotions, as well as understand and influence the emotions of others. In some companies, this is considered at least as important a predictor of success in the workplace as job skills. You can learn more about Emotional Intelligence here.

You can take a free Emotional Intelligence Assessment here.

Interpersonal Self-Assessment

Interpersonal skills are essential to successful relationships in all areas of your life. This assessment helps you understand how well-developed your skills are and where you can improve.

Take the free Interpersonal Skills Self-Assessment here.

The 5 Love Languages

This test is an interesting and simple assessment to help you see how you most respond to receiving love and appreciation. It may help you understand why some relationships just don’t seem to work—and some do. If you have a romantic partner, you may want to have them take this brief assessment as well. Knowing your “love languages” can help you communicate and connect with others more effectively.

Discover your 5 Love Languages here.

Bonus Paid Assessment Tools

Gallup Strengths Finder

The Gallup Strengths Finder, also known as Clifton Strengths, might be the most used strengths assessment in the world. While some schools of thought suggest we should improve by focusing on our weaknesses, the StrengthsFinder allows you to see where your strengths are. And it provides you with information and tools to capitalize on those, which may be more effective in helping you succeed.

I took this assessment and paid for the “Full 34.” I will admit, it was an eye-opening experience. Most of my top strengths weren’t a surprise, but after studying them, I have found ways to capitalize on them more in my business.

After taking the assessment, you can choose to receive only your top 5, or pay an additional fee for the entire 34. Both are helpful, but I recommend the full 34 (and NO, I am not an affiliate).

Take the Gallup Strengths Finder Here

World of Work Inventory–WOWI

I personally have administered this test to nearly 50 clients during my time as a volunteer career counselor. This professional career assessment tool has been likened to the “Myers-Briggs” of the career world. Not only does it cover aptitude, but it also assesses work interests, work environment, and subject interest.

The test takes about an hour to complete and includes 300 questions. The comprehensive report highlights the areas where your skills are strongest and helps you understand how your work styles interact with work environments and cultures. It ends with a customized list of occupational recommendations.

If you are considering a career change, or you are a recent (or not-so-recent) high school grad trying to figure the right career, the WOWI is an invaluable tool. I can tell you that results from this test were life-changing for some of my clients. For others, it was confirmation that they were on the right track.

While it is most often administered by professional career counselors, they also offer a direct-to-consumer test for $49.95. I highly recommend it. And NO, I am not an affiliate here. I have just seen how powerful this test is for those trying to make career and educational decisions.

Take the WOWI here.

Have you taken any of these free assessments (or the paid ones)? What was your experience? Did it influence your career decisions or personal interactions? I’d love to hear. Also, if you have any assessments I should consider adding to this list, share them in the comments.