Using Interest Inventories in Elementary and Middle School Years
(Modified from Careers for Me Plus and the teacher’s guide)
Introduction
Interest inventories, or assessments, are no longer just for the high school set. More districts are encouraging career awareness and education be taught in the younger grades. Interest inventories are an important tool when teaching career awareness.
We can tell you from our observations when we go into a classroom to administer one of our inventories, that the students can’t seem to get enough of it. They are anxious to get their hands on one of the reference books. Notes are compared with friends. After all, these inventories are all about them! (Note: Try to have as many reference sources as possible!) An interest inventory is an excellent tool to introduce careers and get the process started about some of the options available as students start moving into the working world.
What are some of the objectives when younger students take an interest inventory?
• Students will learn more about themselves, including an awareness of personal interests, skills, and educational goals
• Gain an awareness of various new job titles
• Enforce the concept of school-to-work
• Have an understanding of job clusters
• Be encouraged to research careers which fit their interests (and perhaps skills)
• Continue to learn how they may fit in with the world of work
• Receive the career awareness and exploration process in a non-stressful manner
When starting a career unit, here are some of the points to be sure to discuss with the class:
Taking a Career Interest Inventory
Please understand that this assessment is not a test. While there are no right or wrong answers, it is important to be honest with yourself. This assessment focuses on one’s interests and skills to help learn more about different careers that may be of interest. People’s interests usually change as they grow older. Remember, some people change careers when they are in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. Others try a new career after they retire from the job they’ve held their entire life.
School to Work
Why are you in school? If you said it’s to learn about the world around you, you’re right. If you said it’s to prepare you for a job when you graduate, you are also right. As you grow older, you will learn more about yourself and what kind of work will fit your interests. You will make decisions about how much education fits your personal needs and the requirements for the kind of job you want.
School is Your Job
Do you ever wonder why you need to learn certain things, such as history or algebra? Most people do at some point. But you’d be surprised how things you are learning today (yes, even algebra) in school will help you tomorrow with your career. As for now, your career is being a student. Your job is to do the best you can in school and keep an open mind to the world of work around you. In the future, you will thank yourself!
Getting to Know Yourself
Understanding oneself is important for everyone. What activities do you enjoy? Think about what subjects in school you like and in what subjects do you do well? Who are the people with whom you enjoy spending time? Where are the places you’d like to visit on a vacation? The more you think about your likes, pleasures, dislikes and the more things you’ve accomplished in life, the more easily you can see what kind of career you might enjoy.
Clusters
Jobs are often grouped into “clusters”. Cluster groups are based on something that the jobs have in common. You can group jobs in many different ways. For instance, all jobs having to do with health can be grouped together. This would range anywhere from x-ray technicians to doctors. Another example is jobs that are clustered around animals. There are limitless ways to cluster jobs.
Career Kids publishes interest inventories for grades K-3 (Careers for Me Junior), grades 3-7 (Careers for Me II), grades 6-9 (Careers for Me Plus) and a special needs inventory (Careers for Me SN). If you would like a sample of any of these publications, please email us with your address and which version you would like.