Figuring out what career suits you best can be a daunting process. Googling for hours often leaves one feeling more confused and with more questions than answers. Getting the best advice and guidance is key to making the right decisions-  because your future is important! Finding a competent, certified and caring career counselling professional is a good start in getting into the nitty-gritty of how to take the next step in deciding on a career path.

The Strong Interest Inventory has since undergone many various revisions, he most recent version being the Strong Interest Inventory 244, which is the first gender neutral SII assessment. The different assessment revisions have been constructed with the support of extensive research, underpinning validity and reliability. The Strong Interest Inventory Assessment® is backed by years of research, making it the most trusted interest inventory available to counsellors, career coaches, universities, career centers and other related professionals, educational and career institutions.

Determine your Purpose for taking the Strong Interest Inventory Assessment

 Designed to measure a person’s interests in a broad range of occupations, work activities, leisure activities, and school subjects, the Strong Interest Inventory® is based on the idea that individuals are more satisfied and productive when they work in jobs or at tasks that they find interesting. Understand why you want to take the SII. Whether it’s for career exploration, educational planning, or understanding your professional inclinations, having a clear objective will make the process more meaningful and effective. Remember, the SII is a tool to help guide your career decisions and educational pursuits, though it is also essential to consider other factors, such as your financial health, skills, values, geographical location, and life circumstances, when making career and educational choices.

Deciding which Strong Interest Inventory® Assessment is right for you

Taking the next step, one can easily get overwhelmed by the various options available and offered by online administrators. Keeping in mind that the point of taking a Strong Interest Inventory® is to align your interests with your professional aspirations. Effective career, college and high school assessments are available in the form of a standalone career profile, a career profile plus a college or high school profile, which includes not only career options but also college majors and curriculum as part of the college add-on. While the high school assessments includes curriculum for freshman and sophomores in high school (or junior and seniors who do not plan on attending college) as well as future career options. It is suggested that the career and college profile be completed by students who are juniors and seniors in high school who are planning to attend college and current college students or those planning to attend college.

The Strong Interest Inventory Profile plus Interpretive expanded report can also be purchased and administered. This assessment provides an additional nine pages of data and information. Additionally, combination reports are available that combine the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® with The Strong Interest Inventory®, allowing you to discover your best fit career according to not only your interest patterns but also according to your personality type. The combination of these two ways of analyzing an individual creates a powerful and robust career report.

 1. Find a Certified Administrator

 The Strong Interest Inventory should be administered by a licensed or certified professional, such as a certified online administrator, certified career counsellor, or psychologist, ensuring that the assessment is completed correctly, and that one’s results are interpreted accurately and with the utmost care.  When completing online versions of the SII, ensure the online provider is reputable and experienced, and provides interpretations of results at no extra cost.

Following completion of the online assessment, the interpretation of results should follow with several options to complete the session such as in-person, Zoom, telephone, or telephone conference call. All results should be 100% confidential and should only be seen by the interpreter and the individual participant. However, verbal or written permission may be given to reveal the results to others, as in on a conference call or zoom call whereas others are attending per the participants wishes. Participants are also of course free to share their results (PDF Report) they receive with anyone they wish.

During  interpretation sessions, results should be reviewed clearly in a manner understood by the participant. Imparting career and/or educational insights into understandable results, professionals should explain what the assessment results mean, and offer guidance on potential career paths or educational choices aligned with the test takers’ interests and interest patterns.

2. Take The Strong Interest Inventory® Assessment Online

 Completing the online version of the Strong Interest Inventory Assessment is a relatively straightforward process. After purchasing the Strong Interest Inventory®, you will receive an email with a link and instructions on how to complete the assessment. The link redirects you to a 291 item questionnaire in the form a series of multiple-choice questions. Taking 35 – 40 minutes, each question should be answered honestly. Answering what you think your parents or friends may want you to answer does a disservice to you and you will then forgo an opportunity to investigate career options with those closest to you based on your true interests.

Using your gut feelings to answer questions is usually the first answer that comes to mind, and in turn, this is the best way to approach completing the Strong Interest Inventory. Additionally, taking your time, without distractions, in quite surroundings at a time when you feel you are relaxed, will greatly help you complete the assessment the best way you can. It is best to answer each question within the assessment, no matter if it appears to be redundant or not, as this will affect your results.

Outliers and anomalies in your answers will also be explored both via your results as well as during your interpretation session with a certified and credentialed professional. After answered each question, the administrator is notified and the report you have purchased is generated. Once generated, you will be asked to participate in an interpretation session to best understand your results and receive your results/report(s) via email.

3. Waiting for Results

 Results of your assessment(s) are sent in the form of a pdf file/report which is sent to the email you have provided the administrator. The time it takes to receive your results greatly depends upon which and what type of administrator you use for your assessment(s)/report needs. Some take longer then others. You will find that many online administrators take several days if not longer to send you the PDF Report you have paid for, while there is only a handful or less online website administrators that will send you results within a few business hours and at times after business hours as well as on weekends such as Career Assessment Site.

Delivering results from completing assessment(s) on an online platform is efficient and has a much faster turnaround. Different administrators handle the interpretations differently. Some charge for this service, other’s perform this service as part of the process and do not charge a premium for this. Some online administrators will charge upwards of $300-$500 for an interpretation session while the online administrators that do not charge such enormous fees do indeed have the same if not more expertise having been trained and certified by the publisher of The Strong Interest Inventory. There are very few online administrators that include your interpretation session as part of the assessment(s) you purchase. With Career Assessment Site, this is done as a complimentary service, knowing the vital importance of a consultation to review your results.

Additionally, it is good practice to use an administrator that does not have a complicated way to book your interpretation session. As this process can take weeks at time with administrators, a link sent to clients to self-schedule the interpretation session is usually the most efficient way to book a time that fits your schedule. Additionally, when desired by the client, additional persons should be allowed to join the session when preferred. These additional individuals might be a counsellor, family member or friend of your choosing. It is vital that the person whom the assessment is for decides who shall be present during the Zoom Audio, conference call or telephone interpretation session.

 4. Interpret the RIASEC Codes

Measuring interests based on the RIASEC model: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional, scores indicate how interests align with these six areas and specific occupations that fit within these categories. Guided by a professional, the report  highlights suitable career fields, educational pursuits, development, and college majors that suit the client best, as well as the appropriate High School Curriculum for a student to give them the best chance to enjoy learning. Taking a deep and sincere interest in career paths with the idea of future employment in specific career fields is often the beginning of an exploration into the underlying meaning of their lives.

Establishing greater career satisfaction  needs some introspection- and a willingness to consider options that may not have been part of the initial plan, but will provide greater success and fulfilment. The Strong Interest Inventory® reveals your path to a best-suited career. Exploring your passions and interests, the SII assessment, unveils true intentions by answering key questions and giving access to superior career, collegiate and high school guidance.