After reading Chapter 11 in Drummond and Jones (2010) this week, I was taken back to my first year of graduate school when I took Career Development. In my first semester in the school counseling program, I was introduced to many assessment techniques that I may never have fully understood until taking Statistics again and now Appraisal. I appreciated being able to take a different perspective on some of the testing instruments that I had already learned about. In particular the interest inventories stuck out to me because I have so often taken similar tests. It provides such a simple test that any type of counselor can use as a starting point for class schedules, extracurricular activities, majors, and careers. They are easy to use and allow the individual to be provided with multiple options and areas to explore. Often times people have no clue where to start looking for a career field they may want to be in, but interests are the perfect place to start. As was pointed out in Drummond and Jones (2010) interest can be related to motivation which is such a powerful aspect of success in school, career, and life. When I have a lack of motivation, I find it difficult to accomplish anything even those things that are required of me. Having strong interest in what I am doing allows for greater motivation and success in my life. To me it seems clear that interest inventories can provide such a powerful foundation to build a person's career and life satisfaction on.
At the end of the chapter I found an interesting discussion question that I wanted to address. "What do you think is the best way to find out someone's interests: (a) using an interest inventory, or (b) asking the person, 'What are you interested in, or what would you like to do or be'" (Drummond and Jones, p. 244, 2010)? I think before graduate school I would have answered this question very differently but through the experiences I have gained over the past two years and my classes it has become more clear to me how beneficial things such as testing instruments can be to someone. My opinion is that interest inventories can be much more successful at helping an individual determine their interests than just asking someone what they like doing. Often times people believe they understand what they like and don't like but may not understand everything that can fall into their interests. For example, the students I work with have such a difficult time choosing a major or even classes that they want to take each semester. I ask them what it is that they are interested in and they can't easily describe anything. I get responses such as video games, watching TV, shopping or playing basketball. These are all interests for sure and great things to enjoy doing but they tell us very little about those individuals. An interest inventory can provide more detail and in depth questions to find out things like whether a student wants to work outside or inside, with people or alone, at a desk or moving around, with numbers or with words. Often times individuals do not even consider all of the areas that they have strengths in or enjoy doing because they are unsure of how to describe everything. Asking someone what they are interested in is such a broad question and a difficult one to answer quickly. Interest inventories can assess these types of questions without the individual even realizing and provide multiple categories and areas to look into further.
I believe I am starting to fully appreciate the help that assessment tools can provide to someone such as a school counselor. With such a busy job and career, it is difficult to get the full picture of a student without using more efficient and time saving methods such as testing instruments. Interest inventories are just one of the many ways that school counselors can successfully use assessment to better their effects.
Drummond, R. J. and Jones, K. (2010). Assessment procedures for counselors and helping professionals. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
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