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Strong Interest Inventory

The Strong Interest Inventory, published by CPP, Inc., and commonly referred to as the Strong, is one of the most widely used and scientifically grounded tools available for assessing people's career and life interests.

The Strong measures an individual's work and personal interests and compares them to those of people employed in a wide range of occupations. It is used to help people match their interests with compatible occupational, educational, and leisure pursuits. The 2004 edition of the Strong is the product of many years of research that began in 1927 with the research of E. K Strong, a military psychologist and an academician at Stanford University. The original Strong was titled the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB), and it consisted of occupational scales that were constructed through comparing item responses from individuals working in particular occupations with item responses of a general reference sample. The SVIB became the first formal interest inventory to be published. At that time, only male samples were used, and in 1933 the first Women's Form of the SVIB was published. Eventually, in 1974, the Men's and Women's Forms were combined; Holland's six dimensions were integrated to provide an organizing structure; and the name was changed to the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory. Several revisions followed, resulting in additional scales and improved psychometrics. In the 1980s the name of the inventory was changed again, to the Strong Interest Inventory, which remains its current name. The Strong has been updated regularly to reflect changes in the culture of the U.S. workforce and to adapt to shifting career trends. It continues to be one of the leading inventories used by counselors in a variety of settings, including colleges, high schools, career development centers, and business organizations.

Administration and Interpretation

The Strong requires at least an eighth-grade reading level and fluency in English. It is not appropriate for individuals under the age of 13, and typically is not administered until an individual has reached the age of 16 or 17. The Strong assessment comprises six sections of items with a total of 291 items, each with a 5-point response option (strongly dislike, dislike, indifferent, like, and strongly like). Individuals' responses are compared to a large general sample of working men and women (2,250 people) who generally are representative of the racial and ethnic diversity of the U.S. workforce.

Administration typically takes between 30 and 45 minutes. Individuals can complete the Strong online through the publisher's SkillsOne Web site (http://www.skillsone.com) or manually using mail-in scoring forms. The resulting 9-page Strong Profile is sent to the counselor, not directly to the client. The publisher offers a number of tailored reports and Strong Profile options, such as the Strong College Profile, Strong High School Profile, and Interpretive Report, to tailor results to specific populations and needs. For example, the Strong College Profile provides a 4-page supplement to the profile to help both client and counselor connect the results to college majors, college courses, and campus activities that correspond to the client's top interests.

Counselors need to demonstrate coursework in psychometrics or test interpretation (or to complete a workshop endorsed by the publisher) to qualify for ordering the Strong. The publisher offers a wide array of support materials to assist with interpretation. Both the manual and the several user's guides offer detailed instruction for interpreting various types of profiles with individuals and groups.

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