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* Happens in an episode of ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody]]'', where lazy, [[Book Dumb]] Zack scores as a successful businessman and straight-A student Cody's scores qualify him to be more of a garbageman. Later their mother finds that the man who scores the tests (which were nothing more than a random test Cody found online and not at all presented as official or valid) just chooses a career at random for each result. The lesson is somehow learned that tests can't tell you what you will or won't be.
* ''[[Nick Freno Licensed Teacher]]'': Freno avoids getting his license revoked for not administering an aptitude test (the principal had to do it himself) because one of the panel members judging him got this job on her test, and she wanted to be a ballerina. Meanwhile, one of the students has postman as his top choice.
* ''[[Dennis the Menace (TV series)|Dennis the Menace]]'' (B&W live-action series from the 1950s) had a variation on this trope. Dennis takes a standardized IQ test in school which reveals him to be a genius; but it turns out a wad of gum he left on the underside of the paper screwed up the scoring.
* ''[[The Facts of Life]]'', "I.Q.": The trope as used here was fairly weak, because as it was only the fourth episode of the series, we didn't know Sue Ann was supposed to be the smartest one until this episode told us so.
* The Scoobies of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' went through a career day that placed Xander as a prison guard. Played straight and subverted when neither Oz (whose [[Brilliant but Lazy]]) nor Willow (who's a straight-A student) ever got a result back because a very prestigious software firm was scouting them. Also subverted in that Buffy gets the surprisingly accurate result of law enforcement...and double-subverted when she is horrified by it, if only because of the bad fashion of the uniform.
* ''[[Malcolm in Thethe Middle]]'' saw Malcolm distressed because, while he was hoping the test would provide him some direction, he turned out to be equally qualified for any career he chose to pursue. The testing guy is not amused by Malcolm's disappointment in his own [[Jack of All Trades]]-esque perfection.
** Another episode had Dewey taking an IQ test because his teacher believed he was a genius. Malcolm doesn't want his little brother to go through school in the genius class like he did, because it made him miserable, so he convinces Reese to take the test for Dewey. Dewey is promptly placed in the special ed classroom, much to the teacher's consternation.
* In [[Radio Free Roscoe]] the group takes an aptitude test, and Travis spends the whole time making a donkey out of the bubbles. When he gets lawyer he complains about how that's not even donkey related. When they talk about it on the radio, other students call in to question the purpose and validity of aptitude tests in general.
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* On ''[[The Steve Harvey Show]]'' Romeo is told that he did quite well on the SAT's and he starts to act and dress like a genius, frustrating the overachieving Lydia and alienating Bullethead in the process. Steve and Regina realize that it's all a mixup and Romeo (who is actually quite smart but doesn't really try) goes back to being his regular, dumb self.
* In the season finale of [[The Middle]], Axl's score suggests that he's [[Brilliant but Lazy]], so Frankie and Mike try and push him harder. It turns out that some results were switched, but because of his hard work, Axl gets the best score he's ever gotten- a B minus.
* On ''[[3rd Rock Fromfrom the Sun]]'', Tommy tested as an astronaut. August, not knowing he was an alien, laughed at how absurd this was: "Imagine you flying around in space!"
* In an episode of ''[[Step Byby Step]],'' it is revealed that the people running the test (at least in this particular universe) determine the results by throwing darts at a dartboard covered with career choices.
* Chandler from ''[[Friends]]'' once, as an adult, quits his data processing job and takes a series of tests to determine what he should actually be doing with his life. The result he got back was [[You Can't Fight Fate|"You are ideally suited for a career in data processing at a large multinational corporation."]]
 
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== Video Games ==
* During the prologue of ''[[Fallout]] 3'', the player character takes a Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test (or [[Fun Withwith Acronyms|G.O.A.T.]]) to determine what sort of job they would be best suited to (and which tag skills they should chose). The suggested job and suggested Tag Skill usually match up (like Marriage Counselor and Speech, or Pip-Boy Programmer and Science), but not always (like Pedicurist and Energy Weapons).
** They use lasers to remove bunyans?
** One of the rare examples where the test is admitted to be useless. The teacher giving the test will openly change the results if you don't like them (or just skip the test altogether).
** Local bully and greaser Butch [[De Lorea]] gets the result "hairdresser". Hilariously, he actually resigns to this fate (though he calls himself a more manly-sounding "barber") and will later cut your hair on demand.
* ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' starts with a similar elaborate personality test (complete with word association, personality, and [[Inkblot Test]] questions) to help you get your bearings after being shot in the head - with about the same level of effectivness as the previous game. This is [[Lampshaded]] mercilessly as well.
{{quote| '''Vit-O-Matic Vigor Tester''': "Adjust your score, it ain't cheating!"<br />
'''Doc Mitchell''': "Well, that's all she wrote. I guess I'll let you look at the results - I ain't got nothin' to compare it to."<br />
'''Doc Mitchell''': "Before you go, I've got a form for you to fill out - so I can get a sense of your medical history. It's just a formality. Ain't like you've got a family history of 'getting shot in the head'." }}
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind (Video Game)|Morrowind]]'' had one of these as an option presented to you at the Census & Excise Office at the start of the game, ostensibly because he needs a character class for your release forms. Due to being fairly inaccurate due to unintuitive questions, and totally out-of-character (why does an immigration official need to know [[Running Gag|what you would do if someone stole your sweetroll]]?), most players choose to skip this and create a character directly.
 
== Western Animation ==
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* ''[[The Simpsons]]'': One episode had Bart, after getting "police officer" on his test, becoming [[Yellow Sash of Power|a hall monitor]] and ally of Principal Skinner. Lisa, on the other hand, got "homemaker" and was told she'd never be a musician due to stubby fingers, resulting in her becoming a delinquent. [[Status Quo Is God]] hits when Lisa performs an expulsion-worthy offense (stealing all the teachers' guides) and Bart [[Taking the Bullet|takes the bullet]] for her, with Skinner toning down the punishment in light of his recent service.
** Also the first-season episode "Bart The Genius", where Bart switches his IQ test answers with nerdy Martin's and gets transferred into a school for gifted children as a result.
* ''[[DextersDexter's Laboratory]]'', "Average Joe": Dexter is dejected after being rated "average" in an IQ test. During the rest of the episode, he tries (and fails) to be an "average" kid doing "average" stuff with "average" friends, with absurdly catastrophic results: he ends up running around in his old baby clothes because they're [[Limited Wardrobe|his only non-scientist outfit]], he starts hanging out with a shiftless slacker and trying to use a mish-mash of [[Totally Radical]] slang, and he ends up getting caught during a game of Ding-Dong Ditch when he forgets to run away after ringing the doorbell of a crotchety old man. At the end of the show, Dexter's dad gets a phone call saying Dexter is a big freaking genius after all.
* An episode of ''[[My Gym PartnersPartner's a Monkey]]'' had the main character -- the only human attending a school full of animals -- take a career aptitude test and become depressed when the results indicated his career would be "zoo animal"; the principal later reveals that the tests aren't graded and everyone is given the result of "zoo animal" as that's what they all want anyway.
* In "''[[Doug]]'''s Career Anxiety," a testing mix-up by the vapid guidance counselor's computer puts Doug as CEO for the class project, and everyone else lands in similarly mismatched roles, until Doug gets fed up and decides to let everyone choose their own jobs.
* [[Daria|Jane Lane]] is apparently perfectly suited to be an accountant. Of course, this is because she fills in "C" for every question in order to get it over and done with. Daria is supposed to become a mortician, which may or may not be fitting.
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