Would it be fun to write computer programs for career counseling ?

Writing a “test” is a lot different from taking a test. (They aren’t really “tests”, they are more like surveys of interest.)

The writer of a career guide questionnaire need to know why particular question works, and what it indicates based on how it is answered. These kinds of questionnaires require a lot of study and research to be validated to be meaningful. A good career counseling questionnaire strikes a balance between questions about interests and questions about aptitude and skill.

Writing a computer program for scoring is not that complicated, it’s more a matter of just being able to parse the responses. The hard part is writing the questions and then structuring the scoring so as to be an easily used and useful tool.

My impression about writing code for anything is a pretty tedious and laborious process which only “enjoyed” by a few people who really have a passion for computers and coding. Guys similar to Gates, Wozniak and Jobs are the type willing to go without sleep, food etc. in order to advance their business.

For them, it’s a means to an end; not an end in itself.

I think you have a rather idealized viewpoint about the whole thing. Probably not too realistic. (To say nothing of the fact that in order to formulate effective questions, you need to have actually worked in the field in order to really know what you’re talking about.

I think you’re trying to put the cart before the horse :)

For the technology aspect of your question, I couldn’t answer.

BUT—I could not let this question go without telling you that there is a great, great need for GOOD career interest surveys for a variety of reading and grade levels, that consider a wide range of skills, interests, traits, etc- and actually are usable.

Most career interest surveys give choices from… 12–15 fields, if that many. We know there are way more than 12 career fields out there. I taught career classes when I was a teacher and it was almost ridiculous how many of the career assessment surveys were limited and unhelpful—almost like something to ‘fill time’ or ‘pretend that we know what we’re doing tests’ rather than tools to actually help students. Or the tests would find interest areas with no analysis of skill.

I never found a good, wide range, balanced test that covers several areas. It’s baffling how many test results include “writer” as a suggested possible job—seriously… a very few personalities really would enjoy the seclusion of writing, or the hectic fast-paced on your feet 24/7 demands of journalism. I wanted realistic results, not canned results. So, I created my own combination of tests to make them actually worth something.

My friend works in job recovery/adult job placement and he talks about how people need career guidance at adult ages as well, but need more specific tools that take their interests into consideration, but also their prior experience, or transferable skills. If you could create assessments that truly help this population, there is a hoard of vocational rehabilitation programs that would go for that type of assessment.

I would integrate information from several sources—from Strengths Psychology, from Positive Psychology, from MBTI, skills vs. interest assessments. If this is something you love to do—PLEASE do it… and let me know when you’re done! :D

Depends on the scope of what you have in mind. I am sure there are both people who undergo traditional academic studies like this, as well as people who just whip up surveys based on ideas they make up, people who make a career out of it, and everything in between.

There are web sites which let you build questionnaires without needing to program. (search questionnaire make my own, for examples)

Or you can learn to program, which is a big subject but can be fun and a questionnaire is a nice limited project to learn with. I would recommend doing an online beginner’s tutorial on the language Python (search python tutorial).

Yes. I think it is a thrilling idea for a career. Go for it!