Start September off Strong! 2 minute read Written by John Russell, I/O Psychologist Ah, September. The days are getting noticeably shorter, the colours are starting to change, summer vacations have ended, and students are going back to school. It’s a time of transition for many people. We have also seen a number of employment trends recently emerge. The last two years were the Great Resignation, and currently there’s trending conversation around the concept of “quiet quitting”. The Quest for Career Fulfillment More people seem to be asking themselves: Am I spending my time doing work that I enjoy and am fulfilled by? Am I growing as a person, or learning, and is my career helping me to achieve my goals and dreams? E.K. Strong, the creator of the Strong Interest Inventory®, argued that what people do as a career is often a reflection of their interests. Sure, we may not find a career that is the perfect fit with all of our passions, but it helps us find engagement when we have an active interest in our work. The Role of Career Interest Assessments So where do we start to help people find meaning and fulfillment in their careers? With so many vocational options available, where you do you begin when working with a client? A practical approach is to use a career interest assessment, which is a questionnaire designed to help respondents identify and understand where their career interests may lie. The Strong Interest Inventory: Your Career Clarity Tool The Strong Interest Inventory, the world’s most trusted and widely used career planning instrument, helps career advisors work with clients to explore vocational interests. Whether you’re helping young people identify an educational direction, or helping professionals through times of transition, this awareness of interests is important for finding meaning at work, and is valuable information to have at all stages throughout a career. Interests can change throughout our lives, and what we are interested in when we’re 20 is not necessarily what we’re interested in at 30. And with such a rapidly changing work environment, where many of the jobs that exist today were not even around 20 years ago, having a solid grasp of where our interests lie is a critical step in knowing where to go next. Becoming a Strong Interest Inventory Practitioner In order to use the Strong Interest Inventory, practitioners must become certified. The Strong Interest Inventory certification program is a two-day, interactive learning session where practitioners are trained to interpret client reports in a coaching context, opening up the world of occupational choice and exploring not only career interests, but a client’s personal style such as preferred learning environment, leadership style, risk taking comfort, and teamwork orientation. Participants learn the theoretical models behind the instrument, and also get to practice these new skills in an applied setting with other participants. Learn more and register for the Strong Interest Inventory Certification: Strong Certification Program
