Strong in numbers
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Next up on the big list of self-assessments: the Strong Interest Inventory. I remember helping to administer these tests at the university career center during my undergraduate years. The current version of the assessment hasn't changed since then. It's a series of questions of different categories relating to occupations and the kinds of activities one might do in the context of those jobs. The test is beginning to show some rust in a few areas with respect to what kinds of jobs still exist (i.e., it asks for your feelings about the job of Word Processor).
Anyway, no results yet. Will post them when I get them.
UPDATE: Results!
The Strong inventory assigns scores in six categories: Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E), and Conventional (C). My highest-scoring areas were I, A, and C, though R was a very close runner-up. I took this assessment a few times during the time I was administering it and always seemed to fluctuate between IAC and IAR.
So, according to the assessment, these would be my ideal jobs, plus the categories they fulfull:
1. Librarian (A)
2. Musician (A)
3. Technical Writer (AI)
4. Translator (AI)
5. Sociologist (AI)
6. Biologist (IA)
7. Computer Systems Analyst (RCI)
8. Photographer (ARE)
9. Physicist (IRA)
10. Geographer (IA)
I'm glad that Biologist is on there. Several of these jobs seem rather dull, however: I don't think I'd like the repetition inherent to being a librarian or a technical writer. Several of these occupations would be fun to do on an amateur basis (especially music, photography, or even translation) but I don't think I'd want to do them as a job. That might just take all the fun out of it.
A POSTSCRIPT-TYPE UPDATE: Talked to someone in class today (Feb 3) who essentially scored highly in every single category of the assessment. The results suggested that she'd make a good chiropractor or maybe an urban planner, but she didn't find those occupations appropriate. She mentioned that, having taken the Strong before with similar results, career advisors had informed her that her broad range of occupational interests may become a hindrance as she would be unlikely to find one job which sustained all six categories.
UPDATE: Results!
The Strong inventory assigns scores in six categories: Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Social (S), Enterprising (E), and Conventional (C). My highest-scoring areas were I, A, and C, though R was a very close runner-up. I took this assessment a few times during the time I was administering it and always seemed to fluctuate between IAC and IAR.
So, according to the assessment, these would be my ideal jobs, plus the categories they fulfull:
1. Librarian (A)
2. Musician (A)
3. Technical Writer (AI)
4. Translator (AI)
5. Sociologist (AI)
6. Biologist (IA)
7. Computer Systems Analyst (RCI)
8. Photographer (ARE)
9. Physicist (IRA)
10. Geographer (IA)
I'm glad that Biologist is on there. Several of these jobs seem rather dull, however: I don't think I'd like the repetition inherent to being a librarian or a technical writer. Several of these occupations would be fun to do on an amateur basis (especially music, photography, or even translation) but I don't think I'd want to do them as a job. That might just take all the fun out of it.
A POSTSCRIPT-TYPE UPDATE: Talked to someone in class today (Feb 3) who essentially scored highly in every single category of the assessment. The results suggested that she'd make a good chiropractor or maybe an urban planner, but she didn't find those occupations appropriate. She mentioned that, having taken the Strong before with similar results, career advisors had informed her that her broad range of occupational interests may become a hindrance as she would be unlikely to find one job which sustained all six categories.