Whole-Person Career Assessment: Integrating Fit Using Interests, Personality, Values, Knowledge, and Skills
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Abstract
Career assessments can help people make more successful career and educational decisions. However, most career assessments only measure fit using single individual difference domains that link into a restricted set of occupational variables. This research describes the development and validation of an integrative career assessment, with over 90 links to O*NET occupational variables, that incorporates five individual difference domains: vocational interests, personality, work values, knowledge, and skills. Based on a cross-sectional study and two time-lagged studies, our research indicated that individuals tended to fit best with their current occupations in terms of interests, values, and knowledge, but all five fit domains showed positive relations with career choice. Dominance analyses further found that the five fit domains made unique contributions to predicting subjective career outcomes (career choice satisfaction, job satisfaction, perceived needs-supplies fit, and perceived demands-abilities fit). Interests were generally the strongest predictor of subjective career outcomes, except for perceived demands-abilities fit, which was strongly related to knowledge and skills. Overall, our research suggests that integrative career assessments have improved predictive power for career choice and career outcomes. We discuss how our assessments can be used for different purposes, with different populations, in the current and future labor market.