<p>Career tests&comma; advice books&comma; and counseling can all help you choose a suitable career path&period;  However&comma; these don&&num;8217&semi;t offer the best career planning opportunities&period;  Experience is the best teacher in every area&comma; including career development&period;  Experience challenges your assumptions and forces self-awareness like nothing else&period;  Through experience&comma; you learn&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Your true values and interests<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Career tests can show what you <em><strong>think<&sol;strong><&sol;em> you value and what you <strong><em>think<&sol;em><&sol;strong> interests you&period;  But you may discover new values and interests as you&&num;8217&semi;re exposed to different environments&period;   For example&comma; you may think you value a high income&comma; but you may discover that work&sol;life balance is much more important after working in a high pressure environment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What you absolutely cannot tolerate<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Even bad experiences can serve an important purpose&colon; helping you learn what you can&&num;8217&semi;t tolerate&period;  No job is perfect and every workplace or position will have downsides&period;  Experience can help you identify job characteristics that you can tolerate and those that make you dread going to work&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What you really need to do your best work<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Working in a variety of environments exposes you to conditions that affect your work performance positively and negatively&period;  There is no test to identify the conditions in which you&&num;8217&semi;ll thrive&period;  Only through experience can you really know what motivates and energizes you&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Getting work experience can be a challenge for college students&comma; but there are great options designed solely to provide you with experience&period;  Number one is internships&comma; which will allow you to get experience in a variety of industries without having to make a long-term commitment&period;  Another great option is temp work&comma; which is available in a variety of fields and offers more flexibility than a permanent job&period;  Finally&comma; volunteer work offers a way to discover your passions and interests as well as the type of work environment you&&num;8217&semi;d enjoy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;