Choosing a career can feel overwhelming. With so many options, how do you even begin? That’s where BigFuture’s Career Search, offered by the College Board, comes in handy.
This free online tool helps you explore career paths that match your interests, skills, and goals. Whether you’re in high school or just starting to plan your future, BigFuture gives you resources, ideas, and guidance to make informed decisions.
In this article, you’ll find how BigFuture Career Search works,its benefits,how to use your quiz results to plan next steps and Extra tools and strategies to build your skills and make decisions.
How BigFuture Career Search Works?
What Is It?
BigFuture Career Search is a suite of online tools to help students explore careers. It includes the Career Quiz, career profiles, clusters, and other planning guides. All of it is free and accessible with a quick College Board account sign-up.
Why Does It Help?
Figuring out a career is tough because interests, skills, and job markets all matter. This platform blends those factors—your likes, your strengths, and real job info—to suggest careers that are a good match.
The Career Quiz: Your Personalized Career Matchmaker
What It Is?
The Career Quiz is a short survey with about 60 questions, designed to be completed in around 15 minutes.It asks about six types of career traits—like whether you prefer hands-on work, helping people, solving problems, being creative, leading, or organizing. These align with the well-known Holland interest areas: Realistic (Doers), Investigative (Thinkers), Artistic (Creators), Social (Helpers), Enterprising (Persuaders), and Conventional (Organizers).
What Happens After You Finish?
Once you finish, the tool gives you 30 careers that match your interests and preferences. It also shows details like:
- Average pay (median yearly income)
- Required education
- Job outlook or growth expectations
Why It Works?
The system is backed by real data from O*NET (the U.S. Department of Labor’s careers database). It uses your quiz answers and your test skills—like from the PSAT or SAT—to suggest jobs that fit both your interests and academic strengths.
Diving Into Career Profiles and Clusters
Explore Over 1,000 Careers
Beyond the quiz results, you can explore a library of over 1,000 career profiles. Each profile gives deep insights into:
- What people in the job do daily
- Typical education paths
- Earnings and job growth data
Career Clusters to Try
Jobs are grouped into clusters—like STEM, business, health, arts, and more—so you can explore fields that share similar skills. This helps if you’re curious about a general field before diving into specific roles.
Using Your Results to Plan Next Steps
Skills and Class Planning
Once you know where your strengths lie—say, you like analytical thinking or being creative—you can pick high school classes that strengthen those areas. For example, math or writing classes can build your skills for careers that value them.
Linking Interests to Careers and Majors
Your results can help find college majors or training programs that align with your interests. BigFuture also offers information on:
- Certificate programs
- Associate or bachelor’s degrees
- Local technical programs
Tracking Progress
BigFuture provides checklists by grade (9–12) so students can stay on track with planning, testing, and exploring careers.
Extra Features: Career Insights & Personalized Support
Career Insights Snapshot
If you’ve taken the SAT or PSAT, your score report may include a Career Insights Snapshot. It lists growing careers in your state that match your academic skills and local job market trends.
This helps ground your exploration in local job opportunities.
Connecting with Counselors
BigFuture encourages talking with guidance counselors, teachers, or trusted adults for support in understanding your options and making plans.
Resources for Adults and Educators
There are guides, videos, and toolkits available for adults who support youth. If you’re a parent, mentor, or teacher, you can find conversation starters and planning tools to help students explore careers.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the BigFuture Career Quiz?
It’s a 60-question tool that takes about 15 minutes to complete. It matches your interests and preferences to 30 career suggestions.
2. How accurate is it?
It uses real data from the O*NET database and is designed to match your interests, skills, and job trends. While no tool is perfect, it’s a smart starting point.
3. What do I do with the quiz results?
Explore each suggested career—look at what’s required, how much it pays, and whether it’s growing. Then, plan your courses, volunteer experiences, or information interviews accordingly.
4. Can I save my results?
Yes—create a free College Board account to save your career list, checklists, and profiles.
5. What’s the difference between Career Search and Career Clusters?
Career Clusters group careers by field (e.g., health, science, business). Career Search is your personalized results list based on your quiz. Clusters help when exploring broadly.
6. How does the Career Insights Snapshot work?
It uses your SAT or PSAT scores to highlight careers growing in your area that match your skills, combining academic data with job trends.
7. Is this only for students heading to college?
No! Career Search includes certificate programs, associate degrees, and other pathways. It supports all post-high school goals.
8. Who can help me understand my results?
Talk to your school counselor, a teacher, or a trusted adult. There are also guides online for educators and families.
Conclusion
Making career decisions can be challenging—but you don’t have to figure it out alone.
BigFuture’s Career Search and Career Quiz offer a clear, supportive path for exploring over 1,000 career options based on your interests and strengths. With tools like personalized quizzes, career profiles, clusters, insights from test scores, and action plans, this free platform equips you with the knowledge and confidence to plan your future.
Try the Career Quiz today—it only takes 15 minutes, and it could open doors to a fulfilling and exciting career journey.