When looking for a career that genuinely suits you, interest inventories offer an excellent place to begin. These assessments evaluate what a person enjoys and dislikes, the activities they prefer, and their personality traits. The results are then compared against the interests of individuals currently employed in different occupations.

Your results might indicate that you have much in common with a doctor, a journalist, or an early childhood educator. Having this information can help you take the next step in exploring different careers. But keep in mind that an interest inventory is not the final step in your career exploration. Even the best inventories only make suggestions that you will need to research further.

Interest inventories can be filled with a pencil and paper, or online with the click of a mouse. In most inventories, you will answer a number of questions. When you finish, you will receive a report of possible career areas that may suit you based on how you answered.

There are many different interest inventories available. Among the widely used options are the Strong Interest Inventory, Campbell Interest and Skill Survey, and Self-Directed Search (SDS) etc..

The Main Advantage of Using an Interest Inventory

How do you know if an interest inventory is a good tool for you? Psychologists say that there are more advantages than disadvantages to taking an interest inventory.

The benefits of taking an interest inventory focus on assisting individuals with their educational and career planning. They are aimed to assist people to combine their interests with occupational, educational, and leisure pursuits. These evaluation methods might steer people toward fields of study or employment that they would find fulfilling and satisfying.

The sole drawback of interest inventories lies not in the tools themselves but in how results are interpreted. Sometimes people think that the assessment will decide for them on what occupation or job they should pursue. That is not the case. There are several occupations, including your top 10 most attractive job options that are included in your report. From this, it is important to narrow down your options during your consultation with a qualified professional. One can indeed decide for themselves what career to choose by deciphering the assessment themselves. However, it is crucial to meet with a career counsellor or licensed assessment interpreter so that you may gain the insight you require to make such a choice. Some online administrators charge upwards of $300 or more for an assessment interpretation session, while others, such as Career Assessment Site, include this 30-minute Zoom call as complimentary so that all clients may gain access to this important step of their journey.

Why Following Up with a Professional Matters

This explains why consulting with a trained professional afterward matters so much. A career counselor or certified assessment interpreter can review anything the inventory might contain that is complex, most importantly, the data-rich sections of the report, as well as review results that do not feel accurate to you, and give you a chance to ask any questions you might have.

Meeting with a qualified professional allows them to place your inventory results within a broader context. There are numerous pieces that must fit together, just like in a puzzle. An interest inventory is simply one element of a large jigsaw. Some individuals believe the inventory will solve the puzzle by selecting their career for them. But you have to finish the rest of the puzzle by tying together your own thoughts and feelings about which of your assessed best-fit careers will suit you best.

How Interest Inventories Help Students

Career services professionals use interest inventories with their students regularly. These inventories prove valuable because they genuinely help students see how their interests connect to their majors and future careers.

Inventories also contribute to career development because students now understand what their likes and dislikes are and the school major that is associated with that. Students often recognize the link between their current classes and their future career since the inventory outlined what training that career requires. It also inspires them to do better in their studies because they are taking classes they enjoy and are related to their interests.

What Students Think About Interest Inventories

How do students like taking interest inventories? It depends on the student. For the most part, students do not mind taking the interest inventory and are not nervous about it. Career professionals notice that students prefer inventories that are fast, simple, and convenient to complete. When inventories drag on too long, students often lose focus and sometimes fail to finish.

If you have been asked to do an interest inventory online by a teacher or a professional counselor, it is important to complete the assessment in a quiet, non-pressured, comfortable environment with minimal interruptions. It is also just as important to answer all of the questions truthfully about what your preferences are and not what others might like your preferences to be. Additionally, try to answer all questions, even when they may seem repetitive or mundane. Also, remember there are no right or wrong answers in an interest inventory. Your answers will show your true preferences and how they will lead you to your best-fit career, school curriculum, or college major. As long as the environment is adequate, as explained above, interest inventories can be completed in several types of surroundings, such as at home, in school, at a counsellor’s office, or in some contexts at work.

Choosing a Valid and Reliable Inventory

How can you tell if an interest inventory is a valid and good choice? Discussing the assessment’s validity with the administrator is always important. Asking your administrator for reliable research-based information confirming the assessment’s validity and reliability is good practice. If you are a parent whose child is completing an inventory, be sure to ask the administrator for information such as the minimum grade and reading level of the assessment.

Keeping Interest Inventories Updated

Updating interest inventories is an ongoing process. In addition to people from different backgrounds and races, the rise in gender-specific and gender-neutral non-identification has required more revisions to interest inventories. That is why the Strong Interest Inventory® 244 Career Satisfaction Report, a gender-neutral Strong Interest Inventory Assessment, was created.

Every day, more people enter various professions, and more and more of them are choosing to undertake work that may not be considered typical based on their gender…  like women becoming firefighters or men becoming nurses. These variations must be taken into account over time to ensure that interest inventories accurately reflect the number of workers performing a given task and not just the majority, or those who have been doing it for a longer period of time.

Final Thoughts: Taking the First Step

Congratulations are in order if you have always wanted to pursue a specific job path and are aware of your talents and what it takes to do so. If you are still contemplating your possibilities, or want to learn more about how your skills, interests, and abilities match up with different job sectors, think about doing an interest inventory.

Keep in mind that interest inventories are only one part of a much bigger picture. After you have one component in place, look for the others to complete your own career path.