One of the main preconditions for building a successful career is choosing the right profession. People spend more than two thirds of their life working so selecting a job that they can both enjoy and can be good at is key. A recent study produced by top economists at the University of Warwick provides new empirical evidence on the relationship between happiness and productivity. Individuals within their sample population were randomly selected and made happier. The selected individuals ended up having 12% higher productivity.
As higher productivity is generally linked to higher compensation, choosing the right career is a decision that weighs heavily on soon-to-be graduates. Educational systems worldwide tend to spend too much time drilling students with exams that do not have any practical application to the “real world”. They fail to pay much attention to transferable skills used for professional development. Many students in fact don’t even know the full extent of options available to them when they leave university, let alone which employers will provide them with the best foundations for their future career.
The best companies and how to get a position
Fortunately large employers provide great training programs for the lucky few who get offered one of their coveted jobs. Firms that normally appear in the Fortune’s 100 Best Companies To Work For, or The Times’ 100 Best Companies provide graduate schemes that build all the skills needed for a successful career. Because these programs are so highly regarded, they tend to attract a lot of competition.
Around 90% of these companies assess which students to employ through psychometric tests, interviews and assessment centers. These steps are a method to filter out the top candidates. The problem is that schools do not focus on preparing their students for these career tests and interviews. Therefore students at universities with better career services or, worse, students whose parents can put in a good word for them at the employer get an unfair advantage.
Best preparation
A new startup, PAC Tests (www.pactests.com), aims to level the playing field so that anyone who wants to prepare for the tests is given all the material needed. PAC Tests offers psychometric, aptitude and career tests, which typically come from SHL tests used by the world’s top employers. The tests come directly from previous assessment centers, meaning students get to practice on the real thing.
People of all age groups take these tests, whether they are looking for a career change, are coming out of an MBA program or are looking to get onto the career ladder. However the majority of the users on PAC Tests are still students. New startups are therefore now starting to help more established firms find the best talent, whilst allowing students to make the best first step in their careers.
Please visit http://www.pactests.com for More Information.