The Complete Guide to WGU Career Assessments and PathwayU

Prospective students use a public degree quiz on the main website, while current students and alumni utilize a four-part career platform called PathwayU.

Public Degree Quiz For Prospective Students

People thinking about attending the institution use a short degree quiz titled Get Degree Suggestions on wgu.edu. The tool requires no login and asks multiple-choice questions about user preferences, desired fields, and career goals. Because WGU only teaches specific programs, the quiz does not test for external careers such as chef or electrician.

PathwayU Platform For Enrolled Students And Alumni

Current students and alumni log into PathwayU at wgu.pathwayu.com using their WGU email accounts. Built by Jobzology and licensed to universities, the platform requires users to complete four short assessments in any order. UW-Green Bay estimates that answering the questions takes about 20 minutes in total. Schools on the platform recommend finishing each assessment in a single sitting because half-finished work may not save.

The four assessments draw on established research models to evaluate different aspects of a user. The interests section uses John Holland’s six types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. The values section relies on the Theory of Work Adjustment to sort six needs, including achievement, independence, and working conditions. The personality test uses the HEXACO model, which scores six traits like honesty-humility and emotionality. Finally, workplace preferences use a modified version of the Organizational Culture Profile to assess company culture desires.

My Next Move And Goal Setting Additions

A third tool sometimes gets included in career searches through WGU’s goal-setting page. That page guides students through a self-assessment worksheet, a SMART career goal, and the free My Next Move interest profiler hosted at mynextmove.org. My Next Move features 60 short questions that provide the same Holland interest types used in PathwayU.

Match List Limitations And Free Alternatives

PathwayU combines scores into a ranked list of career matches using a predictive algorithm, though maker and university accuracy figures remain unpublished. For individuals without access to PathwayU, free alternatives include the My Next Move interest profiler, while paid options like the Strong Interest Inventory and Myers-Briggs are also available.

The WGU career quiz needs no login and only suggests WGU degrees, while PathwayU needs a WGU login but suggests careers beyond WGU programs, and both are free.

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