Studieomaten gives you a starting point to help choose a study programme - especially if you prepare properly for it.
Keep the following in mind:
1. Take your time - and stay focused
In order to give you a thorough and well-founded result, the test includes 65 questions, so it takes some time to complete. Once you’re finished, you’ll receive an in-depth personal profile. It is worth taking the time to properly understand it.
Your career will likely take you well beyond the age of 60, and you’ll spend a significant part of your life at work. That’s why it’s worth investing time in choosing the right path. Take Studieomaten somewhere quiet, where you can reflect properly on your answers. And if you need a break partway through, that’s absolutely fine – just keep the tab open and come back when you're ready.
2. Take Studieomaten alone
It’s easy to be influenced by others - both inspiring friends and well-meaning parents. It can be super helpful to discuss your choices with those around you - but do it after you’ve got your results. When you take Studieomaten you should try and minimise external pressures, so that your profile represents the real you.
3. Try and get in the right headspace
Studieomaten looks at four dimensions: your subject interests, your personal motivation, your economic motivation, and your interaction style. These are very different measures, and it can be helpful to make sure you’re in the right headspace before each category.
- Subject interests: Remind yourself what you’ve always liked and disliked at school.
- Personal motivation: Think about what it is you really care about.
- Economic ambition: Consider how much you’re motivated by economic position and financial success.
- Interaction style: Think about how you relate to other people.
4. Be ready - the questions may be difficult
Studieomaten is based on paired comparison, or choosing between two options. Sometimes these choices will be easy, sometimes they’ll be hard. You might feel caught between a rock and a hard place, where neither option really rings true, or you might be equally tempted by both options. Either way, you’ll still have to make a choice.
Don’t worry, you’ll likely get the same sort of question again - with a different set of answer options. It won’t be word-for-word identical, but it’ll be measuring the same traits. This means you’ll get the chance to prioritise your choices more accurately overall. It’s also one of the reasons there are so many questions in the test.
5. Think through your reasoning
There are no right or wrong answers in Studieomaten – only what feels true for you. But that’s not always straightforward. Some questions involve difficult trade-offs, and you might find there’s more than one way to reach an answer. Will you follow your head, your heart, or your gut? Do you choose what feels true today, or what you hope will be true in the future?
For example, if you don’t feel like you’d want to be a leader now, but you dream about leading a team someday, that dream means something. Choosing the “leader” option isn’t necessarily inaccurate.
Of course, goals that haven’t materialised are different from outright lies. There’s absolutely nothing to gain in trying to trick Studieomaten, you’re only tricking yourself. So think through the difference between who you are now and who you want to be in the future, and answer as accurately as possible.
Good luck!