Comparison of Career Matching Tools
Best interest surveys in 2025
This review compares popular career-matching tools. It is intended to provide a feature comparison, price comparison, and some guidance to help choose between tools. Why? Because if our service doesn't meet your needs, the next best thing we can do is help you find one that does.
I'm Dr. Rhys Lewis. Views expressed on this page are mine alone. Here are my credentials:
Runners-up are the Strong Interest Survey and CareerHunter.
Runners-up are the O*Net Interest Profiler and Job Bank Canada.
Top-tier surveys cover 30+ Basic Interests. In my research into perceived accuracy of career matches, measurement of Basic Interests makes (by far) the biggest difference. The performance advantage is so large that any career matching tool covering Basic Interests should outperform any tool that doesn't.
The tradeoff is longer administration times. Measuring 30+ Basic Interests takes longer than measuring just the ~6 RIASEC Holland Code interests covered in most other career surveys.
1 to 60
939
58 Basic Interests
RIASEC Interests
Personality
Needs/Values
Aversions
US
Canada
RIASEC matches
Info on careers
30 to 45
Up to 244
30 Basic Interests
RIASEC Interests
Personality
US
No free service
30
1217
39 Basic Interests
RIASEC Interests
Personality
Needs/Values
Aversions
US
First 10 matches
Info on careers
120 overall
15 for interests
15 for personality
20 for needs
70 for skills
234
27 Basic Interests
Personality
Values
US
Can answer items but not see results
20
30 job groups
34 Basic Interests
10 custom interests
Personality
US
No free service
Tier 2 surveys satisfy 3 criteria. First, because they do not cover Basic Interests (the criteria to be a Tier 1 assessment), they must at least measure industry-standard RIASEC Holland Code interests. Second, they must also measure at least one other dimension when making career matches (e.g., needs, aversion, or personality). Third, they must use appropriate item formats for efficient psychometric measurement.
90
900+
RIASEC Interests
10 custom interests
Study interests
Personality
Aversions
Aptitudes
UK
Australia
No free service
60 overall
25 for interests
20 for personality
15 for skills
1110
RIASEC Interests
Skill preferences
Values
US
Values only
60 overall
10 per quiz
520
5 custom interests
Personality
Values
Others
Canada
Everything
10
Matched to 16 career clusters
Has info on 925 careers
RIASEC Interests
Personality
School subjects
US
Everything
Tier 3 surveys suggest career matches based solely on RIASEC Holland Code interests. They are usually short and often free. Tier 3 surveys provide less accurate career matches than the Tier 1 or 2 tools because they measure less stuff - only 6 scales. They are ideal for people who only want to spend 5 to 20 minutes answering items. If you are willing to spend more time or money, Tier 1 or Tier 2 tools can provide more accurate matches.
Note that TESTERLY® also offers a free Tier 3 assessment. By completing the first 5 minutes of the TESTERLY® Career Survey tool, you will be matched to careers based solely on your 6 RIASEC Holland Codes. There is no cost for that service. The key difference is that with the TESTERLY® service, you also have the option to complete additional materials to further improve your matches.
20
923
RIASEC Interests
US
Everything
10 to 15
923
RIASEC Interests
US
No free service
20
900+
RIASEC Interests
US
No free service
5
20 recommended
RIASEC Interests
US
Everything
Tier 4 surveys commit a psychometric error by using forced-choice (ipsative) item formats for scales that should not use them. Forced-choice formats force respondents to choose between competing interests (e.g., would you rather play piano or build a house?). They differ from standard rating formats in which respondents rate their level of interest in each activity (e.g., How much would you enjoy building a house?). Compared to standard rating formats, forced-choice formats have major disadvantages:
Because of those major disadvantages, experienced psychometricians only resort to forced-choice formats when there is a compelling need to do so (e.g., to combat faking). There is no such compelling need in career interest contexts. Career interest respondents have little or no incentive to lie.
If anyone from these companies reads this review, I encourage you to update your items to industry-standard 5-point response scales instead of using forced-choice triads or tetrads. I would be happy to move your revised assessment to a different Tier.
15
900+
Custom Interests
Temperament
Skill preferences
US
2nd top 10 matches
10
900+
Custom interests
US
Results on 4 "colors" and a list of career suggestions
5 to 10
900+
10 custom interests
Skill preferences
Personality
Values
US
Top 10 matches
Info on careers
Surveys in the bottom tier assign people into personality "types." Anyone within a certain "type" will receive the same career matches. Although the concept of personality types was popular in the early days of psychometrics (e.g., before 1960), it is no longer a scientifically valid or accepted practice. Modern Psychology measures people's interests and traits. Those interests and traits are inherently multidimensional such that any attempt to categorize someone as a single "type" of person is a gross and unnecessary oversimplification. In 2025, a person's career matches can (and should) be based on all their multidimensional interests and traits. In 2025, personality "types" should not be used for career matching.
40
~20
Personality type
US
Canada
No free service
45
900+
Personality type
US
No free service
10 to 15
328
RIASEC Interests
Personality type
US
Overview of results
15 overall
5 for personality
5 for aptitudes
5 for aversions
1000+
Personality type
Skill preferences
Aversions
US
Basic report
Recommendations for which service to use typically depend on your situation and needs. People looking for a free or short assessment would be best served by one service, whereas people looking for the most accurate matches would be best served by another. I'll provide those traditional use-case-specific recommendations below.
You might notice that I included TESTERLY® as one of the top options for each use case. There's a reason for that. When building the service, I put a lot of thought into how to design a service that I could confidently recommend for all use cases instead of just optimizing for one or two of them.
With matches available after just 6 items (1 minute), TESTERLY® offers the shortest assessment. Improved matches are available after 5 minutes.
The next shortest Tier 1 or 2 surveys are Job Bank Canada's (10 minutes per quiz) and the Career Cluster Interest Survey (10 minutes), followed by CareerHunter (15 minutes for interests), and the Jackson Career Explorer (20 minutes).
If you loosen criteria to include Tier 3 surveys that cover only RIASEC Holland Codes, 123test.com offers a 5-minute assessment. O*Net Interest Profiler's 20-minute RIASEC assessment is longer than others on this list, but it has excellent measurement and validation properties.
You can obtain free RIASEC-based matches and reports by completing the first 5 minutes of the TESTERLY® Career Survey. The key advantage over other free services is that you also retain the option to complete additional material to improve your matches.
US citizens looking for other free services should consider the O*Net Interest Profiler. It is sponsored by the US Department of Labor. O*Net Interest Profiler is an excellent and entirely free service that combines a thoroughly validated measure of RIASEC Holland Codes plus a wealth of resources for each career. For Canadians, the Job Bank Canada assessment is a similar free service sponsored by the government of Canada. Beyond those government-sponsored free services, Career Cluster Interest Survey, 123test.com, and the Princeton Review Career Quiz likewise have no material behind any paywalls.
For people willing to invest an hour into answering items, the TESTERLY® Career Survey should offer the most accurate matches because it:
The next best alternatives would be the other Tier 1 Surveys: the Strong Interest Survey, CareerHunter, Sokanu CareerExplorer, and Jackson Career Explorer.
Almost all career matching services offer some level of information on each career. They typically include a job description, list of duties, typical income, and required level of education.
When designing career pages, I tried to learn from existing services to make the pages at TESTERLY® the most comprehensive and digestible.
Other career pages I recommend include CareerHunter's. Their pages are designed well, though they are limited to 234 careers rather than the 900+ careers common to most services. Sokanu Career Explorer put a lot of effort into creating write-ups and resources for each career. I also highly recommend CareerOneStop, a service funded by the US Department of Labor. They have a wealth of information on each career. For Canadian residents, Job Bank Canada is the most similar government-sponsored service.
I intended for Testerly's $23 price for premium matches (beyond the free RIASEC matches) to be a bit crazy/disruptive. All other Tier 1 services charge double that or more. Even the for-profit Tier 2 surveys are more expensive! Consequently, I hope Testerly is a clear winner in value for money.
The next best values include the Strong Interest Survey ($40), CareerHunter ($80), and Morrisby Careers (£25). I also feel compelled to mention the O*Net Interest Profiler and Job Bank Canada. Both are government-sponsored services that provide excellent value for no additional cost to respondents (i.e., all costs are shared by taxpayers).
