Stressing the importance of assessing interests- defined as a preference for activities, expressed as likes and dislikes, industrial psychologists have focused on the way in which abilities and values and the way they interact with the environment can predict work outcomes such as satisfaction, length of employment, and performance.

The benefits of the Strong Interest Inventory assessment can vary based on your personal goals and interests. Discover what unique insights and advantages it can offer you by taking the assessment today. Don’t miss out—find out how it can help you achieve your goals!

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1. Interests and Vocations- when aligned, predict and support better outcomes.

Predicting satisfaction, performance, and tenure, empirical research finds that vocational tests focussing on interests offer meaningful benefits:

• Playing a role in the development of a child’s reputations in their families, neighborhoods, schools, and interests—as part of career construction theory, the SII relates to Holland’s classifications as an operational definition of vocational personality and endorses the RIASEC personality types as self-constructing strategies.

• Donald Super’s life-span, the life-space theory, includes interests as a growth life stage and recommends assessing interests to help clients explore their life roles. Developing the concept of vocational maturity, he confirms that people cycle through each stage when they go through career transitions, and interests evolve and transform. Reassessing interests at various life stages aligns interests with current vocations.

• Emphasizing the impact of external forces (e.g., home, schools, peers) on the development of interests, Social Cognitive Career Theory puts more emphasis on the mechanisms involved in shaping or molding interests. By trying out activities and getting feedback on performance, individuals develop both confidence and outcome expectations about the specific activities. Receiving feedback- or through self-evaluation, if they see themselves becoming competent and by expecting positive outcomes through their participation, the interest in the activity is likely to blossom and persist. Meta-analyses demonstrate empirical support for the relationship between confidence and interests, as well as between the outcome expectations and interests. Placing interests as central to development, the Strong Interest Inventory® assessment identifies interests that are harmonious to and thus support development.

2. Interests can be measured against cognitive abilities by combining the Strong Interest Inventory® Test with other assessments to gauge outcomes.

Suggesting that “the relationship among abilities, interests, and achievements may be likened to a boat with a motor and a rudder. The motor (abilities) determines how fast the boat can go, the rudder (interests) determines which way the boat goes”, EK Strong expanded from the measurement of abilities to include the
assessment of interests in 1943. Supported by later research, this dynamic between cognitive abilities and interests is the cornerstone of predicting educational and occupational choices and has other benefits such as gauging prospective career success.

Guiding counsellors, measured interests then steer career exploration by unveiling vital new information and a fresh perspective. Accessing SII profile scores promotes self-understanding, identifying previously unknown interests and thereby opening pathways to feasible career types for some, narrowing choices for others. At times, the assessment simply confirms career choices, validates the chosen path, or settles disputes between family members.

Developing career ideas and possibilities is especially important for those who may be undecided, as a Strong Interest Inventory® assessment can be a powerful stimulus, jump-starting the career exploration process. Although interest inventories do not measure abilities, research has shown that students with an
interest inventory interpretation tend to participate more fully in career discovery activities than those without an SII assessment and interpretation.
and had it interpreted. Developing potential in an ordered and structured way is one of the greatest strengths of the Strong Interest Inventory®.

3. Deployed to gauge prospective success in training, employers can use the SII assessment to support employees without resorting to trial-and-error.

Selecting job candidates who will be most likely to complete training, stay with the company, and be successful can be hit or miss but employers who use interest inventories for placement help employees to find the ideal position within the organization- especially when superstar employees become unhappy in their current roles, but still want to stay with the organization.

4. The use of interests in counseling takes into account the vital role of a person’s inherent interests in employment.

Using interests in career counseling, researchers use objective assessments to
examine the various factors that may be relevant to understanding the working world. Extending the testing and scoring process, interpretation is key to scrutinizing career options, leading to major life decisions such as choosing a college major, deciding on a career, or making changes mid-career. At these junctures, counseling and assessment services such as the Career Assessment Site are the most commonly used service providers, but employment agencies, vocational rehab facilities, social service agencies, corporations, consulting
firms, and community agencies also provide career counseling opportunities incorporating interest assessments.

In delivering services, vocational psychology research includes analyses of the structure of interest compared with the relationship of interests to other psychological variables such as personality, satisfaction, and success. Combining to define the role that interests play in career development, the data gleaned from a Strong Interest Inventory® assessment plays a key role.

Strong Interest Inventory® Cost

Limiting oneself to free or public domain assessments without expert interpretation by trained professionals and consideration of factors unique to the test taker is possible, but more often than not, the value obtained is commensurate with the price.

Comparing the vast benefits of an SII assessment and interpretive report- including a better understanding of self and the prospect of a fulfilling career, investing in one’s future is a personal- but important choice. Considering the cost of lost income by grinding through unfulfilled jobs with little promotional prospects, and the toll a discontented existence takes on health and relationships, finding an assessment package that works within a limited budget is reachable to most people and is surprisingly affordable, offering good value for money.

Advantages to Assessing Career Interests with The Strong Interest Inventory®

Viewing interest as a personal resource, it embodies the strength of the relationship between a person and an object (being the thing the person has an interest in). Being a fleeting or a long-standing individual interest it is intensely personal to the individual. Discovering interests that one is predisposed towards- and finding the opportunity to do it is the key to happiness.

Like the candle stick maker who has an overwhelming interest in all things medical, being in the wrong job is like spending years as a square peg in a round hole. Finding satisfaction takes effort in defining interests, and finding opportunities to utilize them in suitable careers.

Revealing preferences is the first important role in the Strong Interest Inventory®; matching these to career options is the second step towards expressing individuality and free will and taking up the right to forge one’s own way through life.
Envisaging interests as fundamental aspects of the human personality. John Holland determined that interest assessment is built on two fundamentally human pillars:

• For the most part, job satisfaction and interest are related.
• People tend to be good at things they like, but not so good at the things they don’t like, for which they also have less appreciation.

Being important for career development as a source of job satisfaction, the link between interest and achievement relates to freedom of choice and the self-actualization of a person. The Strong Interest Inventory® is a vocational interest inventory used to help people in identifying their interests and the fields that match them- an important element of self-actualization and a richer work life.

What is the Strong Interest Inventory?

Widely respected globally, the Strong Interest Inventory®- or SII assessment has guided millions of individuals in their quest for a fulfilling life with a rewarding balance between work and leisure. Developing talent, academic and business organizations have ushered high school and college students, mid-career workers seeking a change, and others at various life stages towards a fruitful career.

Developed in 1927 by psychologist Edward Kellog Strong, Jr.- to help people returning home from war to find appropriate jobs, the body of work was extensively expanded under American psychologist John L. Holland. Consisting of about 40,000 completed inventories by 1959, the original criterion data was transferred to Minnesota and prepared for computer input and analysis. Thereafter, several studies were completed regarding the revisions, and various decisions and actions resulting from those studies culminated in the 1966 Strong Vocational Interest Blank revision. By 2004, the revised test materialized in its modern form- through the work of Jo-Ida Hansen and David P. Campbell.

Reasons to Take the Strong Interest Inventory®

Flowing like a river, the confluence of life intersects with life-changing events at a few junctures, forcing us to take stock and redirect. Regaining momentum at those critical points- the end of high school, starting college, finding your way in the working world, reskilling, or changing to a new career lane takes focus and forethought. With much to think about, there are reasons why the Strong Interest Inventory® should be part of the thought process.

• As a formal assessment, it’s a great opportunity to take stock and rediscover the real interests that motivate.
• The SII analyses and assimilates your interests- the things that fulfill, to determine the career that aligns best with your passions.
• Narrowing down the playing field, the assessment reduces choices to those that really matter, preventing a wild goose chase into a dead-end job.
• Interpretation and speaking with a certified administrator allows for bouncing ideas off an independent, non-judgemental person.
• Assessing interests helps individuals to make informed occupational and educational choices.

Putting time aside for a Strong Interest Inventory® assessment gives pause for thought and time to map out a rich and rewarding future.