The researchers have brought this information together in what they call a ‘vocation compass’: using AI to map 1,000 different roles according to personality traits prevalent in each role. In testing the tool, they found that they could predict a Twitter user’s profession, based on the personality analysis of their Twitter language, with 70% accuracy.



This vocation compass, they say, could become a valuable tool to help people find the jobs they are most suited for. “If you think about a lot of our young people who are posting about their lives online all the time, we could say to them: 'let's use that information that you've shared to help you identify the sort of jobs that may be good for you, beyond what your parents might say or beyond a job that you have heard about,'” says Kern.

McCarthy is in conversations with the Australian government about rolling out a vocation-mapping tool to help students going to university or trade schools. It would work by enabling students to fill in an online questionnaire or allow access to their Twitter or Facebook feed, then running an analysis against the vocation map, resulting in the suggestion of careers compatible with their personality traits. McCarthy says this could be particularly useful for students in generalist degrees like arts or business. And it could also have wider applications.

“My hunch is that for a small number of people who are unemployed, this could be life-changing,” says McCarthy. “I suspect – and we've only just scratched the surface of it – that there’s a number of people who are misfits. They're probably in the wrong job. I think that could be as high as 5 or 6% of the working population. And some of these people will have problems with employment.”