What kind of people take The LiveCareer Test?

Our users include a broad cross-section of the population at all levels of age and experience, including students and both salaried and hourly workers:

• Students planning their university major or post-secondary education
• New graduates who are weighing different career and job alternatives
• Career changers who are interested in changing careers, either because they are dissatisfied or simply want a change
• Returners to the workforce after an extended absence due to travel or raising a family
• Early retirees who are interested in finding rewarding ways of spending their time or are simply too young to retire

Why is career assessment so important?

Working in an unsatisfying career can dramatically reduce happiness, productivity, self-confidence and self worth. Career assessment helps you learn about yourself and your interests so that you can make better career decisions, market yourself to your best advantage, and avoid spending money on the wrong education. Most people can only name a few career possibilities even though there are thousands from which to choose. With assessment you uncover the tasks, experience, education and training needed for your next career move. Career tests are essential tools in opening up new possibilities and helping you to make important career decisions at key points in your life. LiveCareer is here to help you.

Who created The LiveCareer Test?

The LiveCareer Test was created by Sigma Assessment Systems which has been developing psychological career tests since 1967. The test's author, Dr. Douglas N. Jackson, is a nationally acclaimed assessment expert. Among his many achievements, he is the former chairman of the American Psychological Association Division of Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics and the 2004 reward recipient for the Samuel J. Messick Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions. This is the highest honor bestowed by the American Psychological Association's Division of Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics. He has published over 200 research articles and developed an intelligence test used to select NASA astronauts.

What's the difference between LiveCareer and other tests that try to map your career?

There are many different tests available on the internet, but most are of poor quality. If you want to learn about your career potential, you need a career test. LiveCareer is exactly that. Unfortunately, some companies have taken personality tests, personal potential tests and others and skewed their reports to focus on career. These other tests can be valid but are better suited for teamwork analysis and dating.

To find a career where you will find the most satisfaction, you need to take a test that reliably measures your career interests, like The LiveCareer Test.

How was The LiveCareer Test developed?

The more scientific name for LiveCareer is the Career Directions Inventory or CDI. The development of the CDI took place over a period of years using extraordinary measures to foster careful item development and selection. The construction of the CDI involved a number of specifications that make the CDI unique among career interest assessments.

Is the test accurate?

Yes, quite accurate. The scoring of your LiveCareer Test results makes use of complex algorithms in which your answers are compared to those of a large sample of people representative of the general public, as well as people from a wide variety of occupational and educational groups. Your response patterns are further analyzed to determine how consistently and carefully you responded. Research has shown that the results have a high degree of reliability.

Tell me more about The LiveCareer Test.

LiveCareer’s mission is to help people make important career and educational decisions at key points in their lives. LiveCareer Limited is a Cyprus based company that was founded by a group of leading US and Canadian career professionals and investors in conjunction with Sigma Assessment Systems, Inc. Sigma has been in business since 1967. Over a million people have successfully taken the LiveCareer Test.

I’m a career counselor. How can I get more information about The LiveCareer Test?

Please visit our career counselor area, we'd love to hear from you.

How long does the test take to complete?

For the average reader, the test takes about 25 minutes to complete. You can stop and restart the test whenever you like but we recommend completing the test in one sitting.

Where does the data come from?

Salary and job growth data are collected by each state through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) at the U.S. Department of Labor. National trend estimates are developed by BLS. Job details are provided by the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), a comprehensive, database of worker attributes and job characteristics.

Why is some of the data a few years old?

An extensive data gathering process involving high data standards ensures that data estimates are accurate, while protecting the privacy of the participants who provide the data. As a result of this process, there is a lag in time between when the data is gathered and when it is released.

What does ‘-’ mean?

The dash mark indicates where data is currently unavailable. Data collection and quality assurance is ongoing.

What is included and excluded in salary estimates?

Salary estimates include base rate, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazardous-duty pay, incentive pay (e.g. commissions and production bonuses), and on-call pay. Salary estimates do not include back pay, jury duty pay, overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, health insurance benefits and tuition reimbursements.

What does average salary mean?

Average salary gives you a general idea of earnings you would expect in this profession. It is presented here in annual terms, or in other words, the average earnings in an entire year for a particular profession.

Average salary has been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual salary has been directly calculated from reported survey data.

What do the salary percentiles mean?

Salary data provided for occupations is given in an annual salary amount or an hourly wage rate. On the job details page, it is provided at the following percentiles: 10, 25, 50, 75, and 90. The dollar value given at a percentile shows the salary distribution for the job and can be interpreted as follows:

• At the 10th percentile, ten percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 90 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
• At the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
• At the 50 percentile (also referred to as the median), 50 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 50 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
• At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
• At the 90th percentile, 90 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 10 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.

What do the job growth trends show?

Job growth trends show the estimated change in total employment over the period 2004-2014 and is relative to the average national growth rate across all jobs.

Do job growth trends take outsourcing into consideration?

The model used to produce the job and industry data does include outsourcing. The data reflects current outsourcing (in the current employment data) and any expected trends (trends analysis built into the model of estimation). However, the model is limited by the interpretation of the current data and assumptions about trends made at the time the data is produced. Recent economic indicators will not be reflected in this data.

Job Growth Trends – What does % Change mean?

Percent change indicates how fast employment is expected to increase or decrease during the specified period. The larger the positive percent change, the faster employment is growing. A large positive percent change is generally an indicator of favorable employment prospects. Likewise, the larger the negative percent change, the faster employment is declining, and the more unfavorable the employment prospects.

What does New Job Openings include?

New Job Openings includes both turnover that results from people who leave the occupation (e.g. quit, retire, death) and new jobs that are created.

How are jobs matched to Education, Training and Experience information?

Jobs are matched education and training levels based on the following:

• A job is mapped to the level that best describes the education or training needed by most workers to become fully qualified.
• Postsecondary awards, if generally needed for entry into the occupation, take precedence over work-related training even though additional skills or experience may be needed for a worker to become fully qualified.
• The length of time an average worker generally needs to become fully qualified through a combination of on-the-job training and experience is used to categorize jobs in which a postsecondary award is not needed for entry.

What do the different scales mean?

Salary and job growth data are collected by each state through the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) at the U.S. Department of Labor. National trend estimates are developed by BLS. Job details are provided by the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), a comprehensive, database of worker attributes and job characteristics.

Context - includes a variety of scales with some unique and specific work context variables.

Extent - indicates the degree to which the value affects the nature of a job.

Importance - indicates the degree of importance a particular descriptor is to the job. The possible ratings range from "Not Important" (1) to "Extremely Important" (5).

Level - indicates the degree, depth or point along a continuum, to which a particular knowledge, skill or ability is needed to perform the job.

When I click Find Jobs I don't get any valid results.

You may have entered the wrong area code. Please update your profile with your area code and try these links again.

What about salary and job growth data for other countries?

At This time, we are not able to provide salary or job growth data for countries besides the U.S. You may find international salary information at payscale.com or salaryexpert.com.

I would like to come to the U.S. to work.Can you tell me how to do that?

LiveCareer does not provide information about immigration or visa services. You may find the information you need at: http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_1750.html

How do I use my personal job matches?

• To see how your job results differ based on education, use the education drop down list.
• Sort Jobs by clicking on the column heading. This will order jobs alphabetically or from highest to lowest.
• Compare jobs by checking 2-3 jobs then clicking Next or Compare at the bottom of the page.
• For detailed job information, click on the Job Title.
• Click on Find Jobs to see current job openings in your area.
• Use Advanced Options to select jobs based on salary, job growth, education or job category.
• Back to initial matches link shows your original job matches based on your test results and the education level you entered during the registration process.