About FloridaCareerFinder
FloridaCareerFinder is an independent career guidance resource built specifically for Florida residents. Our mission: give every Floridian — regardless of background or budget — access to the same quality career guidance that used to cost hundreds of dollars at a career counselor's office.
Why We Built This
Florida has 140+ high-demand career pathways — nursing, HVAC, dental hygiene, welding, IT, cosmetology, and dozens more — that don't require a four-year degree and pay genuine living wages. But most career guidance sites either push expensive for-profit colleges or give generic national advice that ignores Florida's actual job market.
We built FloridaCareerFinder to match people to careers using the same validated frameworks that career psychologists use — RIASEC, the Big Five, Work Values, Multiple Intelligences — combined with real Florida labor market data from the BLS and Florida DEO. The result is a recommendation that's grounded in both who you are and what Florida actually needs.
The 5 Frameworks We Use
Our 45-question assessment combines five validated psychological frameworks. Here's what each one measures and why we use it.
RIASEC / Holland Code
9 questionsWhat it measures: Maps your interests to Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, or Conventional types.
Why it works: The most widely used career interest framework in the world. Used by the US Department of Labor's O*NET system to classify every occupation in the American economy.
📚 Holland, J.L. (1997). Making Vocational Choices. Psychological Assessment Resources.
Learn more →OCEAN Big Five Personality
10 questionsWhat it measures: Measures Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
Why it works: The most replicated and validated personality model in psychology research. Predicts job satisfaction, tenure, and performance across hundreds of peer-reviewed studies.
📚 Costa & McCrae (1992). NEO PI-R Professional Manual. Psychological Assessment Resources.
Learn more →Work Values Inventory
10 questionsWhat it measures: Identifies which work rewards matter most to you: achievement, independence, recognition, relationships, support, or working conditions.
Why it works: Based on the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire — 40+ years of research showing that value-job fit predicts long-term job satisfaction better than skills or salary alone.
📚 Rounds, J.B. et al. (1981). Manual for the Minnesota Importance Questionnaire. University of Minnesota.
Learn more →Gardner's Multiple Intelligences
8 questionsWhat it measures: Identifies your strongest intelligence type across 8 domains: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic.
Why it works: Careers that match your strongest intelligence type produce higher engagement, faster skill development, and lower burnout risk.
📚 Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Basic Books.
Learn more →Florida Life Factors
8 questionsWhat it measures: Accounts for your location within Florida, commute tolerance, schedule flexibility, and financial starting point.
Why it works: The best career match on paper is worthless if the training program is 3 hours away or the starting salary doesn't cover your rent. Life factors ground the recommendations in your actual situation.
📚 Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Regional Labor Market Data + BLS OES Florida estimates.
Learn more →Data Sources
All salary figures, job projections, and school data come from official government and accreditation sources. We do not accept payment from schools in exchange for rankings or recommendations.
Salary data, employment levels, growth projections
Florida-specific job projections by region
School accreditation, program offerings, tuition data
Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills, work values
Florida-specific nursing license requirements
License requirements for cosmetology, contractors, RE
📋 How We Make Money (Full Disclosure)
FloridaCareerFinder earns revenue through Google AdSense display advertising and lead generation forms. When you submit a form requesting information about a training program, we may share your contact information with accredited Florida schools who have requested to be contacted by prospective students. We do not charge schools for placement in our directory listings or quiz results — those are determined entirely by the assessment algorithm. Sponsored content, if any, is always clearly labeled.
Contact Us
Questions about the methodology, data, or your quiz results? We read every message.