How to evaluate a good test for yourself?

Psychological or psychometric tests are not just vague, they are standardized. By standardization, we mean uniformity in administering and scoring the test.
When a test is developed it is necessary that the test should be standardized.
A good career test should be having the following 3 characteristics:
Reliability: It can be understood as the consistency in the results. For example: if a person measures his IQ and takes the test again in a weeks’ time, the score that should be obtained in both the tests should be the same as otherwise the test cannot be considered as a good test.

There are two types of reliability “internal” and “external”.
Internal reliability refers to measuring the consistency within the test such as split-half reliability-which means that all statements of the test contribute equally to the consistency of the test.

External reliability refers to the variation in the measure from one use to another such as Test Re-test reliability which measures the stability of the result within a different interval of time.

Validity: it can be defined as the extent to which the test measures what it actually claims to measure.
There are various types of validity in a psychological test such as :
Face Validity: it is one the most used and not so sophisticated measure of validity. It determines the validity of the test on the basis of the face value of the statements or the questions.

Construct Validity: can be understood as the validity determined by the scores obtained on the test and the prediction made on the basis of the scores obtained.
Content validity: refers to the type of validity when the test seems to cover the entire range of possible items that should be covered.

Norms: refers to the understanding of where the individual lies among the population. The raw scores that are obtained from the test seem to have no meaning until they are interpreted with respect to their position in relation to the others.
Norms can be based on the basis of age, gender, class, literacy etc.

How do I decide which career test is best suitable for me?

Not all career tests are suitable for every individual, the tests are designed considering the age, class and the stream of the individual. As we know, that career counselling is a lifelong process and in the Indian scenario, it should begin by the 10th standard as that is the time when the child enrols into their respective streams.

Thus, in order to understand which career test will be best for the student/ client at a given point in time can be understood by the following:
If the student is about to enter class 10th and is confused about which stream he/she should opt for then the test that can be taken by the student is STREAM SELECTOR TEST. This test will help you assess your aptitude and personality and will let you determine which stream is best suitable for you after class 10th.

If the student is in 11th/12th standard, then the best career test for commerce and science (without biology)student will be commerce career selector and Engineering branch selector test respectively. These tests will share a brief knowledge about the various career options available after the 12th and will help the student to make a firm decision regarding the career. Commerce stream selector can also be used by the B.com students in order to make a clear choice about their career and further studies.

Ideal career test- can be used by people of all age groups who are not satisfied with their current career or those who just want to know which career is best suitable for them.
Skill-based career test – can be taken up by people who want to learn some new skill or are willing to take up some vocational course, the reports will tell about the area of interest and various sectors where the individual can develop their career.

For all the graduates and working professionals, the best career test that can be taken up is the Professional Skill Index Test, this test will help the individual identify the area where they can excel. It will help the individual understand their professional skill parameters.
Thus, these are the tests that an individual can choose from on the basis of their needs.