Measuring Interests

Hotjobs.com

By Donald Macnab

Interests are measured by asking people what kind of work they like to do, what kind of occupations they choose and what kind of work environment they thrive in. The information gathered from these interest inventories is helpful for making educational and occupational decisions. Many interest measures use John Holland ’s theory of vocational choice, which states that people can be categorized by a combination of the following six career types:

• Realistic – these people like doing jobs that produce tangible results, and enjoy fixing, building, and repairing things.
• Investigative – these people enjoy work that involves gathering information, developing theories, and analyzing data.
• Artistic – these people have a great need for self-expression, and enjoy creative work.
• Social – these individuals like to work with people. They enjoy teamwork and tend to be nurturing and caring.
• Enterprising – these people like selling, managing, and persuading others, and pursue organizational goals and economic success.
• Conventional – these people like activities that require attention to detail, organization and accuracy.

While some individuals are characterized by one type, most of us are characterized by some combination of the six types.

Why are interests important

How can a measure of interests help us make career decisions? You can make career decisions based on your interests because there have been many years of research into the interest patterns of jobs. Many jobs, if not most jobs, have been classified using the same 6 Holland categories. Thus, knowing your interests allows you to find jobs and occupations that match them. People whose interests match their occupations and activities find greater satisfaction, are more productive, and have higher levels of motivation. Knowing your interests is important because it allows you to make informed career decisions and indicates work that you will enjoy. Work that makes the most of your interests will be more rewarding and satisfying for you. Work that does not may leave you feeling unmotivated or unsatisfied.

Identifying your interests

Interest inventories such as the Career Interest Profiler, the Self-Directed Search and the Strong Interest Inventory have been designed to help you identify and understand your career interests, These professionally developed tests can give you a good start on the journey of matching your interests with occupations. If you wish to examine your interests you can take the Career Interest Profiler on this website. Your personalized report will examine your greatest interests, and then provide you with a wide variety of occupations that meet those interests in some way.

Not all jobs that match your interests will be attractive to you, which is to be expected. But they are a great place to start. While interests play a key role in identifying preferred occupations, other traits such as abilities, skills, values, personality and previous experience also influence what you find appealing.

Donald Macnab is a psychologist with Psychometrics Canada.