This instrument is appropriate for high school through adult populations. In addition to measuring interests according to the broad Dictionary of Occupational Titles classifications, it provides Vocational Training Potentials in the areas of Numerical, Verbal, Abstractions, Spatial-Form, Mechanical/Electrical, and Clerical. The WOWI has several different forms: long and short forms, a Spanish-language form, as well as small font and normal font printing. The WOWI is not timed, but there are suggested time frames for its administration.
Interest Inventories
While the preceding assessment instruments help to measure your aptitude for
doing certain tasks, interest inventories help you to identify some of the things
you enjoy doing or ways in which your personality may play a role in your career
satisfaction.
Career Directions Inventory
This interest inventory is used most often with high school and postsecondary
students, although it is often used as a career-planning instrument for the general
adult population. It measures an individual's interest within 15 basic interest areas:
Administration, Art, Clerical, Food Service, Industrial Arts, Health Service,
Outdoors, Personal Service, Sales, Science and Technology, Teaching/Social Service,
Writing, Assertive, Persuasive, and Systematic.
Career Occupational Preference System Interest Inventory (COPS) The COPS is used primarily with secondary students and adults. The instrument provides scores for career clusters in the following areas: Science (Professional and Skilled), Technology (Professional and Skilled), Consumer Electronics, Outdoors, Business (Professional and Skilled), Clerical, Communication, Arts (Professional and Skilled), and Service (Professional and Skilled). The COPS provides separate scoring categories to show you how secondary students scored, as opposed to adults.
Harrington-O'Shea Career Decision-Making System-
Revised (CDM-R)
The Harrington-O'Shea is a popular instrument for use with college students and
adults; however, it is also used widely with secondary school students. The
instrument contains six sections. There are sections dedicated to Job Choices,
Favorite Subjects (Academic), Future Training, Values, Best Abilities, and an interest
inventory. The interest inventory is based upon the theory of John Holland (see
the next section, "The Self-Directed Search"). It reports scores for six basic
occupational categories: Crafts, Scientific, The Arts, Social, Business, and Office
Operations.
The Self-Directed Search
There are several versions of The Self-Directed Search: for middle and secondary
school students and adults with limited reading abilities, college students, and
adults. The Self-Directed Search, designed by John Holland, is one of the most
popular career interest inventories in use in the world. It is based on Holland's
theory that there are six basic personality types: Creative, Realistic, Investigative,
Artistic, Social, and Enterprising. The theory also assumes that there are six
corresponding work environments, and that individuals will find "personenvironment
fit" in work environments that most closely match their personality.
This instrument is available via the Internet at
www·self-directed-search·com
Strong Interest Inventory
The Strong Interest Inventory is useful in assessing the career interests of individuals
from middle school through adulthood. The instrument reports a score for the six
areas of interest described by John Holland in "The Self-Directed Search," as well as
23 basic interest scales and 207 occupational scales.
Instruments for People with Disabilities
There are several programs used in the rehabilitation counseling field to assist in
the placement of people with disabilities in vocational education, sheltered
workshops, or supervised work settings. You can get information on these
instruments by speaking with your state's office of vocational rehabilitation. The
following instrument is used in the vocational rehabilitation field but is appropriate
for high school and college graduates as well.
McCarron-Dial System (MDS)
The McCarron-Dial System is designed to assist rehabilitation counselors in
working with people of all ages with disabilities. It is used to assess verbal-spatialcognitive,
motor, emotional, sensory, and integration-coping skills. It helps to
identify specific needs that should be addressed prior to embarking on certain
careers.
Computer-Based Guidance Systems
In addition to the instruments listed earlier, there are some computer programs
that can help assess some of the same things. Many of these provide almost
immediate results and help deliver educational content based on those results.
Discover
Discover is a computer program that assists you in the area of self-assessment, as
well as providing information to help you make decisions about possible careers.
It also contains a component that assists you in choosing college or graduate
programs throughout the United States.
SIGIPlus
Like Discover, SIGIPlus is a computer-based guidance program that assists in
self-assessment and career exploration. However, SIGIPlus does not provide
information on postsecondary education.
Choices CT
Computer-aided guidance programs, like their paper-and-pencil counterparts,
should be used under the guidance of a vocational counselor. It is important to have a professional assist you in interpreting the results. These instruments are
not meant to be used like a crystal ball. They cannot tell you "what you should do."
Nor, for that matter, can a vocational counselor. What a counselor can do, with the
use of these instruments, is help you learn more about your abilities and interests,
and how they may relate to different careers.
Assessment Instruments on the Internet
The Internet is another good source of various assessment instruments.
The Career Key
www·careerkey·org/english/
This site offers a professional career test that measures your skills, abilities, values,
interests, and personality. It identifies promising jobs and gives you accurate
information about them.
The Career Interests Game
career·missouri·edu/article·php?sid=146
This is a game designed by the University of Missouri to help you match your
interests and skills with similar careers. It can help you begin thinking about how
your personality will fit in with specific work environments and careers. Based on
the Holland typology, this site is a great place to get an overview of your interests.
The Self-Directed Search
www·self-directed-search·com
See the description above.
The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey
www·usnews·com/usnews/work/articles/ccciss·htm
This site, provided by U.S. News and World Report, gives you an opportunity to
take a first step in sorting out particular skills and interests. Readers can download
a version of the complete Campbell Interest and Skill Survey and have it scored
for a fee.
Personality Inventory
www·keirsey·com
Like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, this instrument provides information about
your personality type, and will give you added perspective in your self-exploration.