00:00 Hello everyone, this is yet another special episode of the channel. And this time, we’ll be talking a little bit about the Ontology of Value Test, also known as the Odyssey Test. And I have to say, the last two years were two years of hard work for this career test.

I was working a lot on developing the concept and doing field research; researching human motivation and the rules of human motivation. And also, the scope of possibilities in the job market, the bottlenecks and pitfalls are different career tracks.

00:27 Working with a lot of people on the content and then analyzing the data, creating the model, building the infrastructure etc. And in the process, I forgot about one thing and one thing only, and that was taking this career test by myself. I was only told this by my friends in the recent few weeks once they started taking the test all by themselves and telling me, ‘Hey, this is spot on.

I learned so much.’ Or, ‘This was an eye opener. I understand myself better right now, what’s your result?’

How Did She Approach Taking the Test Herself?

00:53 And I was like, ‘Hey, I forgot to take this career test myself. I was so focused on others that I forgot about myself’. I had to fix this and I was curious about my own results of course.

This is it. Today I woke up early morning, I took the test. In this episode, you will find all my journey and my results of the test; and my own reaction.

Here we go.

01:17 It’s 7am Sunday, I decided to take myself by surprise and do this career test just right after I wake up. I don’t have time to really think about it; I just wake up, sit by my computer and do it. I prepared myself a coffee, cheers, and headphones.

I’ll just put on some nice music. Maybe Tiesto, my favorite music for work and here we go. Let’s see.

The moment of truth has come. Let’s see who I am according to my own test. Cheers.

01:59 Okay, so now I have to fill in my own data and read the instructions carefully just like everybody else. Now, I tried to forget that I pretty much wrote the all the questions and all these instructions. I’m just trying to put down this part of my brain that remembers everything and treat this test as if I never saw it before.

How Did She Answer the Test’s First Question?

02:20 Question number one, quite irrelevant, we have August. August in the Netherlands is a dead season; nobody works in August. I can relate.

August was always peaceful, I used to be the only person at work who was still in the office. Yeah, what would I do, I think I have an idea … That’s an interesting one.

I think my answer would change here since a few years back, I was much more into getting praised.

02:51 Now my praise is my bank account. If someone is willing to pay me for my service, I don’t need to hear compliments anymore. Now, I don’t really think so and I’m not really looking forward to get praise verbally.

But I was one of those people I think, when I was especially a teenager, who was looking forward to praise a lot. With this one, I also changed.

03:20 I used to be a person who had a very clear view of what I want, I thought. When I was in academia, I had this picture I want to be a university professor and that’s a very clear goal. And now I think more, in terms of okay, I have a plan for this year and then we’ll see.

Because the next steps will depend on the results from the projects this year. Whatever goes well, I will follow because I have to communicate with my clients. Whatever they want, they need, I have to adjust; I serve to others.

Why Does Uncertainty Matter for Her Career Path?

03:52 If they think this test is great, then I will do more tests and help them with more problems. If they prefer my writing, I will write more text. And maybe if they prefer my videos, then I will make more videos or whatever else.

Maybe I will work with teams to help them understand each other better. It really depends. Now, I don’t really need that long-term planning, in the perspective of 10 years.

04:21 And now, I embrace the uncertainty, I think. The fact that I don’t know what I’ll be doing in 10 years is more exciting than scary, I have to say. I changed completely.

Oh, yes. How often do you come up with creative solutions? All the time.

I have this problem that even when I’m taking a shower or a free day. When I take free days, I usually have the best ideas and they literally bombed my head. That’s why I’m afraid of taking free days.

According to a peer-reviewed study on career decision ambiguity tolerance published in the Journal of Career Assessment, tolerance for ambiguity in career decisions is positively associated with career decision-making self-efficacy and lower career indecision, which matches the shift Natalia describes toward accepting an unclear career path rather than forcing a fixed plan.

What Does She Say About Her Own Indecision?

04:54 Yeah, I always had this problem. I would say all of these, I have all of these, so hard to choose. Oh yes, one of the most iconic questions from the whole test.

I would tell myself all of these. But I think for me, personally, yeah, I worried a lot. I worried a lot but some of my worries came through.

Meanwhile, I hesitate between study and plan. I would say plan. Because basically, I think my biggest mistake was that I was not changing plans when the situation required early enough.

What Almost Made Her Quit in the Past?

05:41 I was sometimes … There was time to quit and realize that, like, the career path I was going was not the right one. But I was taking way too much time for making a decision.

Or I was listening to advice from all of those who are saying, ‘Come on, take it easy. It will be better; it will be better.’ While it was clear to me that it won’t be.

I would say, don’t plan or don’t stick to your plan so much. Just change your plans when necessary. Don’t plan too many years ahead.

06:16 Oh, yes. Another one of my favorite questions. What do you notice first?

I used to notice social relations between people first. You know, like, there’s a stereotype that women always see who sleeps with whom. Everything that people don’t say, it’s obvious from their body language.

I think that’s my favorite thing to observe, people. That’s why I chose this profession. That’s another iconic question, which clearly shows the difference between experimental groups.

06:55 Let’s see, what do I think? What is the primary reason why we shouldn’t steal from others? Well, well, well.

I always believed in karma, so I think I’ll choose that one. Lastly, my favorite question. I always thought, if only I knew the future, I will be fine.

In practice, I would just make the proper investments and forget about stress, and just do what I enjoy doing which is work anyways. I think I would just go with the ‘Well of Time’.

How Long Did the Test Take to Complete?

07:29 Let’s look at the time, I spent 1 hour and 40 minutes on this career test, which is I think within the average. As most people spend between 1 and a half, and 2hours altogether. I think this is like an average score.

Knowing the questions didn’t really help to get is completed faster. Maybe it was because it was early morning as well. Let’s see what I’ve got; a moment of truth.

And this is it. Oh, wow. Honestly, wow.

Oh, like exactly what I felt about myself actually.

08:09 When I was trying to guess would get, I would think, probably a creator, an investor. And these two probably would come on top. I’m just not sure which one would come first, which one would come second.

And maybe linchpin as well, because I like connecting people as well. But I thought creator and investor will be the top two. And that’s exactly what happened and it’s even higher than I thought.

I thought I would score 90 and more but not 99.

‘. I don’t know the parameters of this career test; it’s thousands of numbers. Honestly, I didn’t have knowledge of which answers to the questions score for what roles.

I didn’t have any bias really. Oh, I’m also an achiever, apparently. I don’t really feel that competitive.

Maybe this is something … I push myself to be better than yesterday, but I don’t really compare myself to much to others. Honestly speaking.

What Surprised Her About the Results?

09:14 I always try to find niche projects and avoid competition, so I didn’t really think about myself as an achiever. But I had in the back of my mind that it might come high as well, just because of this ambition to be better than yesterday. I had a presumption that I would score low as contributor because I don’t really like to be anonymous in projects.

And missionary, I like working one-on-one with people. But this is not my preferred way of working, so I thought it would be low.

09:49 Specialist, I wasn’t sure. Specialist, I would expect a little bit higher because I’m a researcher after all. I created this test.

I also worked out how to do the data science behind it; how to construct it. But at the end of the day, perhaps, I don’t enjoy it that much going deep into one problem; I’m a generalist. I like analyzing very, high-level problems and multitasking, so perhaps that’s why.

10:20 I’m clearly an investor and I’m clearly a creator. Yes, I’m happy. These results are higher than expected.

I didn’t think I would be the top one percentile. It’s cool. And the other parts; entrepreneurship.

Yes. 04%. And I treat it more like a disease and a curse than a talent or opportunity.

I always make these choices that require risk.

Which Career Paths Did the Test Rule Out?

10:58 And I put myself in so much trouble in life because of this, like itch for, and this craving for doing entrepreneurial projects. It puts me in more trouble than anything in life. But okay, now I know.

Now I know the data; what the data says. The data says, this is my fate, apparently; and freelancing also. These two often come hand in hand.

11:23 And academia as well. This is a bit surprising. Because I left academia, I didn’t like the system.

The fact that I would do well. Maybe I would do well, if I get to the level where I’m independent. Because from this test, it’s clear investor and creator are two most independent roles.

I think I’m quite independent, so it seems. And I think in academia, I would do well, if I reached the point where I’m already getting independence as a professor or maybe assistant professor.

According to the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, only 33% of U.S. doctorate recipients with definite job commitments in 2022 were headed into academic positions, down from 52% in 2002, reflecting the same broader move away from academia that shows up in her own test results.

What Would a More Senior Role Have Meant for Her?

12:12 If I took one of these more senior positions, then I think I might be fine with academia. But the problem is, I would never get there because I would not get through the postdoc phase. I would be burnt out already on that stage, so this is a bottleneck.

I feel this is why the results came as such; I can understand them. But I know that in academia, I would probably dropout halfway anyways. that’s my problem.

And I tried it already, I wanted something new in my life. I’m happier with my choices.

Which Path Matched Her Results Best?

12:44 Academia, bye academia, not for me. Startups. I also tried to be a startup member as a member of a core team.

Yeah, I also felt like, it was in a category of ‘maybe’. Not necessarily, yes. 100% for me, or 100% not for me.

And consultancy companies, corporations; I knew corporations will be on the very bottom. And the same about public institutions. I mean, I cannot see myself working as an employee of a public institution.

I’ll just feel like I died already, that’s not for me. I have a great deal of respect for anyone who works in public institutions, don’t get me wrong, but it’s completely not for my career path; I would suffocate. I knew that.

I’m not surprised with the results of this career test.

13:36 Altogether, I think this is exactly 100% what I think about myself. And it’s my biggest blessing, also the biggest curse to be like this. Because it’s so clear that I have a specific type of mentality that just doesn’t fit.

I could never fit as a contributor in the public institutions, for instance. That’s why certain career paths are definitely close for me. I would never ever make it, I noticed.

What Final Reflections Does She Share?

14:07 And unfortunately, I’m one of those people who have to take risks and go their own way. I knew that from the start, that’s why I started the company. And that’s why I decided I have to take the heat.

I have to do risky stuff. Also, I have to suffer from uncertainty because this is me. I cannot be any different; I was born this way.

I’m happy with the results … that explains a lot. Okay, so this is it for now.

I’m happy and relieved. And now I know that I chose the right way. I chose the right career path.

14:51 This is it. It seems I’m doomed. I will make it as a company owner or I will die.

I don’t know but that’s how I feel. Thank you so much for your attention. And of course, if you’d like to take the test, please find the link below.

And if you took the test by yourself already, please share your results below and let’s discuss.

15:11 Please let me know what surprised you, what you agree with, what you disagree with what you learned, and maybe what decisions you took regarding the results. Please let me know below. And if you would like to learn a little bit more about the methodology behind the test, and also the literature behind it and the background and all the steps we took to develop this career test, please take a look.

Because I recorded one hour of a lecture about it, that is also available here on the channel. Of course, you’re welcome to take a take a look. And thank you so much.

Take care. Have a good day.