What is the Strong Interest Inventory?
Strong Interest Inventory is a career coaching tool that aims to identify potential options and avenues for future career development, mapping a person’s declared interests against a large number of possible occupations. It also gives hints and tips about a person’s preferred working style, equipping them to assess how well they might fit with a particular organisational culture.
How does this tool improve my work?
For over 80 years, the Strong Interest Inventory has provided time-tested, research-validated insights to help individuals in their search for a rich, fulfilling career. The Strong can be a valuable tool for helping individuals to identify their interests, enabling them to:
- Achieve satisfaction in work
- Identify career options consistent with an individual’s interests
- Learn about preferences for leadership, risk-taking, and teamwork
- Decide on a focus for the future
- Support an individual’s career exploration at various stages in of life
How can I use the instrument?
This tool works best in:
- Development
- Career planning
- Career guidance
- Outplacement
The STRONG inventory report is based on many years of occupational research and provides an accurate map to what skills you have (visible and hidden).
You can order this product ONLINE by clicking here.
Research Literature
- Studies have found the GOTs to be predictive of work-related variables (Donnay & Borgen, 1996; Rottinghaus, Lindley, Green & Borgen, 2002).
- Research has shown the BISs can accurately distinguish occupations (Borgen & Lindley, 2003; Isaacs, Borgen, Donnay & Hansen, 1997; Larson & Borgen, 2002).
- Validity of the PSSs has been supported through research showing their relationships with the Skills Confidence Inventory (Tuel & Betz, 1998) and MBTI instruments (Hammer & Kummerow, 1996).
- Validity of the OSs has been demonstrated in research showing their ability to predict the occupations that people will eventually enter (Strong, 1935, 1955; Campbell, 1966; Harmon, 1969; Hansen & Swanson, 1983; Dirk & Hansen, 2004).
References
Borgen, F. H., & Lindley, L. D. (2003). Optimal functioning in interests, self-efficacy, and personality. In W. B. Walsh (Ed.), Counseling psychology and optimal human functioning (pp. 55-91). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Press.
Campbell, D. P. (1966). Occupations 10 years later of high school seniors with high scores on the SVIB life insurance salesman scale. Journal of Applied Psychology, 50, 369-372.
Dirk, B. J., & Hansen, J. C. (2004, February). Development and validation of discriminant functions for the Strong Interest Inventory®. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 64 (1), 182-197.
Donnay, D. A. C., & Borgen, F. H. (1996). Validity, structure, and content of the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory®. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 275-291.
Hammer, A. L., & Kummerow, J. K. (1996). Strong and MBTI® career development guide (rev. ed.). Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc.
Hansen, J. C., & Swanson, J. L. (1983). Stability of interests and the predictive and concurrent validity of the 1981 Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory for college majors. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 30, 194-201.
Harmon, L. W. (1969). The predictive power over 10 years of measured social service and scientific interests among college women. Journal of Applied Psychology, 53, 193-198.
Holland, J. L. (1959). A theory of vocational choice. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 6, 35-45.
Isaacs, J. Borgen, F. H., Donnay, D. A. C, & Hansen, T. A. (1997). Self-efficacy and interests: Relationships of Holland themes to college major. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Larson, L. M. & Borgen, F. H. (2002). Convergence of vocational interests and personality: Examples in an adolescent gifted sample. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 91-112.
Rottinghaus, P. J., Lindley, L. D., Green, M. A., & Borgen, F. H. (2002). Educational aspirations: The contribution of personality, self-efficacy, and interests. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 61, 1-19.
Strong, E. K., Jr. (1935). Predictive value of the Vocational Interest Test. Journal of Educational Psychology, 26, 332.
Strong, E. K., Jr. (1955). Vocational interests 18 years after college. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Tuel, B. D., & Betz, N. E. (1998). Relationships of career self-efficacy expectations to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® and the Personal Style Scales. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 31, 150-163.
