Career Quiz: Which Kind of Work Fits Your Interests?
Twelve questions about what you actually do with your time, scored on the six Holland interest areas, with real occupations from the O*NET database for each.
A career quiz matches what you enjoy doing to kinds of work. This one scores your answers on the six interest areas in John Holland's model: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional. Each of the twelve questions gives two points to one area, so every area tops out at 24. Your top two or three areas, not just the winner, are the useful part.
This quiz describes interests, not abilities, and it is not a validated career assessment. It does not account for pay, job demand where you live, or the training a job requires, so use it to decide what to read about next, not as a career decision.
What each result means
Realistic
Your answers lean Realistic: you like work you can see and touch.
Holland called this the Realistic area: practical, hands-on work with tools, machines, materials, plants or animals, often outdoors or on a site rather than at a desk. People who score high here tend to judge a day by what got built or fixed. The O*NET database lists these as illustrative Realistic occupations: Robotics Technicians; Agricultural Equipment Operators; Carpenters; Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity.
- You would rather fix it than read about fixing it.
- Results you can point at matter more to you than talk about results.
- Tools, vehicles, machinery or the outdoors feel like home ground.
Look up your top two or three areas on O*NET OnLine (onetonline.org) and read the task lists for a few occupations, then ask someone in a trade or technical program what an ordinary week looks like.
Investigative
Your answers lean Investigative: you want to know why.
The Investigative area covers work built around ideas, research and problem solving: observing, testing, analyzing and figuring out how things work, more than persuading or leading people. People high here are often happiest with a hard question and time to think. The O*NET database lists these as illustrative Investigative occupations: Biologists; Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists; Chemists; Sociologists.
- An unanswered question bothers you until you have chased it down.
- You trust evidence over confident opinions.
- Long stretches of focused, independent work suit you.
Read the task lists for a few Investigative occupations on O*NET OnLine (onetonline.org) and note the education each one usually needs, since many in this area expect a degree or more.
Artistic
Your answers lean Artistic: you want room to make things your way.
The Artistic area covers creative work with forms, designs, sounds, words and images, usually in settings with fewer fixed rules. People high here tend to value self-expression and freedom over set procedures. The O*NET database lists these as illustrative Artistic occupations: Craft Artists; Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators; Actors; Musicians and Singers.
- A blank page or an empty room looks like an opportunity to you.
- Strict procedures wear on you faster than hard work does.
- You notice design, sound or wording that most people skip past.
Many creative careers are built on a portfolio rather than a title. Pick one small finished piece to make this month, and read the O*NET OnLine (onetonline.org) pages for design, media and writing occupations too, not only the fine arts.
Social
Your answers lean Social: you want your work to help people.
The Social area covers work with people: teaching, caring, advising, coaching and serving others, where talking and listening are the main tools. People high here usually measure a good day by whether someone is better off. The O*NET database lists these as illustrative Social occupations: Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors; Child, Family, and School Social Workers; Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education; Registered Nurses.
- People bring you their problems, and you do not mind.
- Explaining something until it clicks for someone is satisfying.
- You would trade some pay for work that clearly helps.
Volunteer a few hours somewhere close to the work that appeals to you, a school, a clinic or a community program, and look up the licensing each Social occupation needs in your state.
Enterprising
Your answers lean Enterprising: you like to lead, persuade and win.
The Enterprising area covers starting and carrying out projects, especially business ones: leading people, selling ideas, making decisions and taking risks for a result. People high here tend to be energized by goals, competition and influence. The O*NET database lists these as illustrative Enterprising occupations: Advertising and Promotions Managers; Search Marketing Strategists; Lawyers; Retail Salespersons.
- You like being the one who decides and answers for it.
- Persuading someone feels like a puzzle you can win.
- Targets and a scoreboard motivate you more than they stress you.
Test it small before you bet big: sell something, run a fundraiser, or lead a project with a clear target, then read the O*NET OnLine (onetonline.org) pages for sales, management and law to see which daily tasks appeal.
Conventional
Your answers lean Conventional: you like order, accuracy and clear rules.
The Conventional area covers work with data, records and set procedures: organizing information, following and checking standards, and keeping things accurate. People high here tend to value clear expectations and getting details right. The O*NET database lists these as illustrative Conventional occupations: Environmental Compliance Inspectors; Financial Examiners; Database Administrators; Office Clerks, General.
- A tidy system gives you real satisfaction.
- You catch the error everyone else read straight past.
- Clear procedures feel like support to you, not a cage.
Read the O*NET OnLine (onetonline.org) pages for accounting, compliance, data and administration occupations, and notice how many of them sit inside fields you might not expect, from hospitals to software.
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About the Career Quiz
This quiz uses the six interest areas from John Holland's theory of vocational choice: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional, often shortened to RIASEC. Holland's idea is that people and kinds of work can both be described by these areas, and that people tend to be more satisfied where the two match. The O*NET database of U.S. occupations rates occupations on the same six areas, which is where the example jobs on each result come from. The twelve questions are our own, written about ordinary choices rather than job titles, because most people know what they do with a free Saturday better than what a financial examiner does all day. Each answer adds two points to one area and every area can reach 24, so the six bars on your result compare directly. Two honest limits. This is a short, unvalidated quiz; the O*NET Interest Profiler, free at mynextmove.org, has been tested far more thoroughly and is the better next step for a firmer reading. And interests are not abilities: they say nothing about pay, local demand or the training a job needs. Use the result to choose which occupations to read about, then read their task lists before deciding anything.
Frequently asked questions
What are the six Holland career types?+
Realistic (hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals), Investigative (research and problem solving), Artistic (creative work with fewer fixed rules), Social (teaching, helping and caring for people), Enterprising (leading, persuading and selling) and Conventional (organized work with data, records and procedures). Many people score well in more than one of them, which is why the result shows all six.
How is the career quiz scored?+
Each of the twelve questions has six answers, one for each area, and choosing an answer adds two points to its area. Every area can therefore reach 24 points. The result names the highest-scoring area and shows all six scores, and it tells you if the top two are tied rather than quietly picking one.
What is a Holland code?+
It is your top two or three interest areas in order, written as their first letters, so someone highest in Social, then Artistic, then Investigative would be SAI. To get yours from this quiz, take the three highest bars on your result. O*NET OnLine lets you browse occupations by these letters.
Is this the same as the O*NET Interest Profiler?+
No. The Interest Profiler is the official O*NET interest assessment, built on the same six areas and studied far more thoroughly than a twelve-question quiz. This quiz uses the six-area model and O*NET's example occupations, but its questions are our own. If you want a firmer reading, take the Interest Profiler for free at mynextmove.org.
Can a quiz tell me what career to choose?+
It can point you at occupations worth reading about, which is useful, but it cannot weigh your skills, your finances, the jobs available where you live, or how much training you are willing to do. A school counselor or a career counselor can help you weigh those; in the U.S., American Job Centers offer career guidance at no cost.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. ManyTools has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. The quiz questions are ManyTools' own and are not taken from the O*NET Interest Profiler.
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