By Emily Maguire – Reflections Career Coaching
Career assessment tests can be helpful tools to build self-awareness and clarify what your ideal job role might look like. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a popular starting point, offering useful insight into personality and preferences. For free options, the National Careers Service and Prospects both offer well-regarded assessments. For younger individuals, the Buzz Quiz (based on MBTI) translates your personality into an animal; it may sound quirky, but it’s super fun, intuitive and engaging quiz, that even adults may enjoy!
That said, the real benefit comes when these results are explored in more depth, ideally with a trained career development professional. As someone with postgraduate training in career theory, I help clients move beyond surface-level interpretations and use these insights to make strategic, informed decisions about their career journeys.
How to determine the right career path for you
Sometimes, clients struggle to find alignment between their sense of self and the world of work. With so many career options available, it can feel overwhelming to choose the right one. To make wise choices, the starting point is understanding who you are in relation to your working life.
Matching self: What are your work needs, wants, and what can you offer? This includes your values, preferred environments, and transferable skills.
In Career Construction Theory, Mark Savickas explores how individuals develop their career behaviours through personal meaning. In other words: what matters to you, what are your beliefs, and how does this shape how you engage with the world?
When clients begin to answer those questions, they’re able to more confidently navigate the labour market and pinpoint the options that are truly right for them.
How to make the transition to a new career (essential vs. transferable skills)
Transferable skills are the golden thread connecting your past experience to future opportunities. These are the qualities that travel well between sectors, communication, leadership, and adaptability, for example, and they often form the backbone of a successful career transition.
But every new role has its own essential skills. Identifying what’s non-negotiable (e.g. coding in tech) allows you to create a personal development plan, whether through CPD, mentoring, or short courses.
Career change isn’t always about starting over. It can also be about repackaging what you already know, strategically investing in the gaps, and then stepping into new roles with confidence.
Factors to consider with a career change or transition
The world of work and your career is a lifelong journey, and people may shift professions several times across their lives. No one can predict the future (unless you have a crystal ball!). But you can control how you prepare and respond, and that’s the key!
CPD: Stay ahead of the changing landscape by refreshing your skills or acquiring new ones
Networks: Build a support system that helps you navigate the highs and lows. Surround yourself with people who challenge, cheerlead, and inspire you.
Informed Decisions: Be active, not reactive. Pause, reflect, and plan. This is where coaching comes in, empowering you with context, strategy, and momentum.
Biography
Emily Maguire, PGDip, RCDP, is a Level 7-qualified career development consultant with over two decades of experience in business management and mentoring. She is the founder of Reflections Career Coaching, which provides career and business consultancy, and Reflections Talent Agency, an international company representing actors for TV, film, and theatre for more than 12 years.
Emily is an appointed school governor with the David Ross Education Trust (DRET), a registered member of the Career Development Institute (CDI), and serves as a regional representative for Yorkshire and Humberside members.
She is also the founder of Incentivize Creatives, a platform designed to upskill and connect emerging creative professionals. A regular contributor to national media outlets, Emily’s insights on career development and the future of work have been featured in publications including BBC Worklife, Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, This is Money, US News, Backstage, Stylist, and iNews.
Her career tools, including interactive apps, labour market insight reports, CV and cover letter templates, and school resources, are widely used by educators and career seekers across the UK, Europe and beyond!
Featured image: FatCamera, Getty Images
