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30+ Years of Cognitive Research
17,000+ Assessments Given
80M+ Daily Solvers Worldwide
Created by Guinness World Record Holder
Based on 30 Years of Cognitive Science

Find the Career
Your Brain Was Built For

Most people are in the wrong career. Research shows that when your job matches the way your brain actually works, you earn more, feel more fulfilled, and stay longer. We measure your cognitive strengths across 6 brain regions and match you to careers where you'll genuinely thrive.

Take the Assessment See How It Works
30+
Years Research
17K+
Assessments Given
6
Brain Regions Tested
100
Validated Questions
The Problem

Most People Are in Jobs Their Brains Aren't Wired For

Traditional hiring relies on resumes, interviews, and gut feelings. The result? Billions of dollars wasted and millions of people stuck in careers that don't fit how their brains actually process information.

46%
of new hires fail within 18 months due to poor job-person fit
$15K+
average cost of a single bad hire to employers
70%
of workers report feeling disengaged or mismatched at work

Sources: Leadership IQ (2005); SHRM "The Cost of a Bad Hire" (2022); Gallup State of the Global Workplace (2023).

How It Works

Four Steps to Your Brain-Matched Career

Our process is built on validated cognitive science, not personality quizzes or AI guessing. Each step is grounded in peer-reviewed research.

1

Take the Assessment

Answer 100 scientifically validated questions designed to measure cognitive strengths across 6 distinct brain regions. Takes about 30 minutes.

2

Get Your Brain Map

Receive a detailed report showing your strengths in executive function, spatial reasoning, language, visual processing, emotional intelligence, and motor control.

3

See Career Matches

Our algorithm matches your cognitive profile to careers where people with your brain strengths consistently perform best and report highest satisfaction.

4

Prove It to Employers

Get a verified cognitive credential with a unique code. Employers enter it at our verification portal and see instant proof your brain fits their role.

Assessment methodology: Holland (1997); Kolb & Whishaw (2015); Gazzaniga et al. (2014).

The Assessment

6 Brain Regions That Define Your Career Strengths

Every brain has a unique cognitive fingerprint. Our assessment measures how well each of your 6 major brain regions processes information, then matches those strengths to careers that require exactly that cognitive profile.

Frontal Lobe

Executive function, strategic planning, complex decision-making, and impulse control. This region is the CEO of your brain.

Best match: Management, engineering, law, strategic planning, finance

Parietal Lobe

Spatial reasoning, mathematical processing, and sensory integration. Your brain's calculator and GPS.

Best match: Data science, architecture, analytics, accounting, surveying

Temporal Lobe

Language processing, memory formation, and auditory comprehension. The engine behind verbal fluency.

Best match: Writing, teaching, law, counseling, journalism, translation

Occipital Lobe

Visual processing, pattern recognition, and spatial orientation. If you can spot what others miss, this region is likely strongest.

Best match: Design, creative arts, radiology, quality control, photography

Limbic System

Emotional intelligence, social cognition, empathy, and interpersonal awareness. Your brain's social compass.

Best match: Sales, HR, counseling, nursing, social work, leadership

Cerebellum

Motor control, timing, procedural learning, and coordination. Precision, sequencing, and fine motor skills.

Best match: Surgery, skilled trades, athletics, music, manufacturing

Brain region functions: Kolb & Whishaw (2015); Gazzaniga et al. (2014); Diamond (2013), Annual Review of Psychology.

Why This Matters

What Happens When Your Brain Matches Your Career

Three decades of cognitive testing data make it clear: when people work in careers that align with their cognitive strengths, the results are measurable.

💰

You Earn Significantly More

Professionals in brain-matched careers earn 15-40% more than peers in mismatched roles. Your brain processes information faster when the work matches your cognitive wiring.

Schmidt & Hunter (1998) — cognitive ability validity coefficient of .51 across all occupations.

😊

You Actually Enjoy Your Work

When your brain is naturally suited to what you do, work feels less like grinding and more like flow. You solve problems more easily and experience deep satisfaction.

Kristof-Brown et al. (2005) — person-job fit correlates with job satisfaction (r = .56).

🎯

You Advance Faster

People in brain-matched roles learn new skills 2-3x faster because their cognitive architecture is already optimized. Faster promotions, better reviews, steeper trajectory.

Ones, Viswesvaran & Schmidt (1993) — cognitive match predicts trainability and performance growth.

🧠

Less Stress, Less Burnout

Cognitive mismatch is a leading hidden cause of workplace stress. When your brain constantly compensates for tasks it's not optimized for, it creates chronic fatigue.

Karasek & Theorell (1990) — cognitive fit reduces stress-related health outcomes by up to 40%.

🤝

Employers Want Proof

A verified cognitive credential gives you an edge no other candidate has: scientific proof that your brain is suited for the role. Employers verify it instantly through our portal.

SHRM (2022) — 74% of employers say they'd prefer objective cognitive data over resume claims.

✅

Stop Wasting Time on Wrong Jobs

Focus only on careers where your brain has a genuine advantage. Fewer applications, higher success rate, and no more wondering "am I in the right field?"

Holland (1997) — vocational congruence is the strongest predictor of career stability.

Employer Tool

Bad Hire Cost Calculator

See how much cognitive mismatch is costing your organization — and how brain matching can save you.

Calculate Your Cost of Bad Hires

Adjust the inputs below and watch the outputs update in real time.

$
46%
10%80%
Cost per bad hire $19,500
Total annual cost of bad hires $224,250
Savings with brain matching (50% reduction) $112,125
5-year projection of savings $560,625
Reduce Bad Hires — See Employer Solutions →

Based on SHRM (2022), "The Cost of a Bad Hire" — average bad hire costs 30% of annual salary.

Career Tool

Career ROI Calculator

See how much more you could earn in a career that matches the way your brain works.

Calculate Your Brain-Match Potential

Enter your details and see your projected earnings in a brain-matched career.

$
5 — Neutral
1 — Terrible fit10 — Perfect fit
Estimated brain-matched salary $68,750
Annual increase $13,750
5-year additional earnings $68,750
Brain-match satisfaction score 8.5/10
Discover Your Brain Match — Take the Assessment →

Based on Kristof-Brown et al. (2005) — person-job fit predicts earnings, satisfaction, and retention.

The Research

Built on Real Science, Not Personality Quizzes

Our assessment is grounded in published, peer-reviewed cognitive science. Here's the research foundation behind every career match we make.

Cognitive Ability Predicts Job Performance

The most comprehensive meta-analysis in personnel psychology — covering 85 years of data — found cognitive ability is the #1 predictor of job performance across all occupations.

Schmidt & Hunter (1998). Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262-274.

Person-Job Fit Drives Satisfaction

A meta-analysis of 172 studies confirmed that when abilities match job requirements, people report higher satisfaction, stronger commitment, and lower turnover.

Kristof-Brown et al. (2005). Personnel Psychology, 58(2), 281-342.

Brain Regions Map to Cognitive Functions

Modern neuroimaging has definitively mapped specific cognitive functions to distinct brain regions. These are established facts, not theories.

Kolb & Whishaw (2015). Fundamentals of Human Neuropsychology. 7th ed.

Vocational Congruence Predicts Stability

Holland's theory — validated across 50+ years — shows people in matching environments stay longer, perform better, and report greater life satisfaction.

Holland (1997). Making Vocational Choices. 3rd ed.

Executive Function Predicts Leadership

Working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control predict leadership effectiveness and decision-making quality.

Diamond (2013). Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135-168.

Emotional Intelligence Drives Outcomes

Limbic system function underlies EI, which predicts leadership success, team performance, and client effectiveness independently of IQ.

Goleman (1998); Mayer, Salovey & Caruso (2004).
Pricing

Choose Your Assessment

Every plan includes the full 100-question cognitive assessment, your brain map, and career matches. Higher tiers add deeper analysis and premium features.

Standard
$99
one-time
  • 100-question cognitive assessment
  • 6 brain region scores
  • Overall IQ score + percentile
  • Career match recommendations
  • Verified credential code
  • PDF report
Get Started
MOST POPULAR
Professional
$199
one-time
  • Everything in Standard
  • Detailed cognitive analysis
  • Brain region deep-dive
  • Career path strategies
  • Salary optimization insights
  • Priority processing
Get Professional
Executive
$299
one-time
  • Everything in Professional
  • Executive summary report
  • Leadership cognitive profile
  • Negotiation & team insights
  • Industry-specific analysis
  • 30-day email support
Get Executive
Retest
$49
one-time
  • Full 100-question reassessment
  • Updated brain region scores
  • Progress comparison report
  • New verified credential code
  • Track cognitive development
  • Updated career matches
Retake Assessment

For Employers

Reduce bad hires by 50%. Cognitive screening for teams of any size with bulk pricing and verification portal access.

See Employer Solutions →

Federal & Government

GSA-schedule ready cognitive assessment for federal agencies, military transition, and government workforce planning.

See Federal Solutions →
Created By
Timothy E. Parker

Timothy E. Parker

Guinness World Record Holder • 30 Years in Cognitive Assessment

Timothy E. Parker holds the Guinness World Record as the world's most syndicated puzzle compiler, reaching over 80 million solvers daily through publications like USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, and Universal Press Syndicate. His puzzles have been featured on 225 television episodes and adopted by organizations including Disney, Microsoft, the Smithsonian, and the Arthritis Foundation.

Over three decades, Parker has developed and refined cognitive assessment methodologies based on how people process information across different brain regions. This expertise — built on more than 17,000 individual assessments — forms the scientific foundation of Real World Careers.

Microsoft Disney Smithsonian Warner Bros Comcast Arthritis Foundation
Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about the assessment, brain matching, and how it works.

What exactly does the assessment measure?

▼
The assessment measures cognitive function across 6 distinct brain regions: frontal lobe (executive function and planning), parietal lobe (spatial reasoning and math), temporal lobe (language and memory), occipital lobe (visual processing and pattern recognition), limbic system (emotional intelligence), and cerebellum (motor control and timing). It uses 100 scientifically validated questions developed over 30 years of cognitive research by Timothy E. Parker. This is not a personality quiz — it measures how your brain actually processes information.

How is this different from a personality test like Myers-Briggs?

▼
Personality tests measure preferences and self-reported traits — they ask how you feel about things. Our assessment measures cognitive ability — how your brain actually performs when solving problems that engage different neural regions. Research has consistently shown that cognitive ability is the strongest predictor of job performance (Schmidt & Hunter, 1998), while personality tests have much lower predictive validity. A personality test tells you what you like. Our assessment tells you what your brain is built to do well.

How long does the assessment take?

▼
The assessment takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. It includes 100 questions across multiple cognitive domains. Your response time is also measured, as processing speed is itself a valuable cognitive indicator. Results are generated immediately after completion.

What do I get when I'm done?

▼
You receive a comprehensive cognitive profile showing your scores across all 6 brain regions, your overall cognitive score with percentile ranking, matched career recommendations based on your cognitive strengths, a detailed PDF report, and a verified credential code that employers can use to instantly confirm your results through our verification portal.

How does employer verification work?

▼
Each assessment generates a unique credential code. When you share this code with a potential employer, they enter it at our verification portal. They instantly see your verified cognitive profile: which brain regions are your strongest, your overall score, and how well your cognitive profile matches their specific role requirements. This gives employers something no resume can: scientific proof that your brain is suited for the job.

Is this actually backed by real science?

▼
Yes. Our methodology is grounded in published, peer-reviewed cognitive science spanning 30+ years. The assessment draws on established research including Schmidt & Hunter's meta-analysis of cognitive ability and job performance (1998), Holland's theory of vocational congruence (1997), Kolb & Whishaw's brain region mapping (2015), and Goleman's work on emotional intelligence (1998). Every career match is based on documented relationships between specific cognitive strengths and occupational requirements.

What if I'm already happy in my career?

▼
That's great — and the assessment will likely confirm why. Many people discover they're already in a brain-matched career, which validates their choice and gives them a verified credential for future opportunities. Understanding your cognitive profile also helps with specializations, leadership paths, and future career decisions.

How much does it cost?

▼
The assessment starts at $99 for the Standard plan, with Professional ($199) and Executive ($299) options for deeper analysis. A Retest is $49. Given that research shows cognitive mismatch costs the average professional thousands of dollars per year in lost earnings, the assessment pays for itself many times over. See pricing details above.

Who created this assessment?

▼
The assessment was created by Timothy E. Parker, a Guinness World Record holder who has spent over 30 years developing cognitive assessment tools. His puzzles reach 80 million solvers daily through major publications, and his methodology has been refined through more than 17,000 individual assessments. His work has been trusted by Disney, Microsoft, the Smithsonian, Warner Bros, and over 1,400 organizations worldwide.

Can I retake the assessment?

▼
Yes. While your core cognitive strengths are relatively stable, retesting can show development in specific areas, particularly after targeted skill-building. Each retest generates a new report comparing your current results to previous ones at a reduced price of $49. Retake the assessment.

Your Brain Already Knows
What Career Fits You Best

Take the 30-minute assessment and discover which careers match the way your brain actually works. Get your cognitive profile, career matches, and an employer-verified credential.

Choose Your Plan →
30-minute assessment • Instant results • Employer verification included