Are you in the wrong job?

What did you dream of becoming when you were little? A famous cricketer? An astronaut? A pilot? I wanted to be a police officer. I’m sure like me, as you grew older, your interests and passions changed and you fell in love with other things too. However, as we got older and the pressure on us to decide what we were going to ‘be’, many of us struggled with how to translate these interests and passions into a real career. Combined with outside voices and social pressures on us on what we ‘should’ be like a doctor, lawyer, engineer and other higher status professions, it seems for the majority of us it just seemed easier to follow their advice and do whatever seemed to get you a job and secure your financial future.

But it didn’t have to be this way. A useful tool to help people make better career decisions was developed way back in 1927, also known as The Strong Interest Inventory. The Strong Interest Inventory uses the Holland Model which assumes there are six basic interest areas or occupational themes:

1. Realistic: people who like building things or working with hands as opposed to ideas or people. Prefer concrete problems over abstract problems (e.g. Carpenter, Mechanic)
2. Investigative: people who like to analyzing problems or working in labs. Prefer working with ideas as opposed to people. Do not like highly structured things (e.g. Psychologist, Computer Scientist)
3. Artistic: People who like being creative or developing new things. Prefer working with self-expressive ideas (e.g. Artist, Designer, Writer)
4. Social: People who like to work with people, helping or caring for others. Prefer solving problems through discussion. Do not prefer to work with things (e.g. Teacher, Nurse, Social Worker)
5. Enterprising: People who like to with people, managing things or working in a business. Enjoy influencing, persuading and leading for economic gain. Enjoy leadership positions and dislikes details (e.g. Sales, Accountant, Lawyer)
6. Conventional: People who like to work with data, carrying out things in detail, organizing things or doing administrative work (e.g. Administration, Bank Teller)   

The theory says that people have one or two dominant interests. By taking the Strong assessment, people tend to have a better sense of their interests and possible careers (because people in the same profession tend to share the same interests but not always) For example, a strong Social interest would map the top 10 suitable occupations, e.g., Social Worker, School Teacher, Public Relations Officer, or Counsellor. Also known as person-environment fit, is the degree of match between you and your work environment. The higher the alignment, the better the performance, attitude and lower work stress.  

Obviously a multi-level approach to career choices is better than relying only on a person’s interest, including exploring ones’ personality and values as well as practical issues surrounding employability and whether you will be able to make enough money to live etc., must be considered to ensure you don’t end up in the wrong job.