Edward Strong Vocational Counseling

Edward Strong (1884-1963) teamed up with a number of other researchers to develop what was to become the most well-known interest inventory inspired by Miner’s interest inventory (Cowdery, 1926; DuBois, 1970; Strong, 1926). Named as the Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB), the original inventory consisted of 420 items. Strong has been constantly devoting considerable years perfecting his vocational interest inventory. At present, interest inventories like the Strong are often used in conjunction with multiple aptitude tests as part of the career counseling process. Group testing became in-demand particularly in the vocational counseling field. With Frank Parsons (1909 – 1989) as its upholder, vocational counseling became increasingly essential

In the time when the Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY) was first established in 1939, it included 15 different interest measures (Datta, 1975). It was postulated that the early measures of interest were the Strong Vocational Interest Blank in 1927 and the Kuder Preference Survey in 1939. Currently, there are more than 80 interest inventories in use; however, the Strong prevails one of the most extensively used tests in research and practice. Furthermore, according to Cohen et al. (2013c) it was psychologist G. Stanley Hall who developed one of the earliest measures of interest. His questionnaire was comprised of items devise to appraise a young student’s enthusiasm in a number of leisure activities. Edward K. Strong Jr. initiated a blueprint of methodological examination in this field in the early 1920s, leading to the development of the Strong Vocational Interest Black (SVIB). The latest version was labeled the Strong Interest Inventory, Revised Edition (SII; Strong et al., 2004), added new items to represent present-day career interests such as those related to computer hardware, software, and programming. Since the Strong Vocational Interest Black is more inclined to measure interest in professional fields, another interest inventory was developed by Clark (1966) to deal with the non-professional field, the Minnesota Vocational Interest

The Investigative (I) type is described by individuals who prefer to be more introverted and interested on intellectual analysis, who is more adept in dealing with abstract ideas and words. The dominant traits of the Artistic (A) type are self-contemplation, an inclination to use feelings, emotions, intuition, and creativity to deal with everyday situations (Holland, 1996; 1997). The Social (S) type is represented by individuals whose most dominant traits are sociability, sensitivity, loyalty, cooperativeness, exhibits good verbal and interpersonal skills and an inclination to apply effective social interaction and engagement. More zealous, impulsive, and sociable individuals who are interested in activities in which they excel, persuade and manage others belong to the Enterprising (E) type. The Conventional (C) type, in turn, exemplifies characteristics such as participation and control, interested with more organized activities requiring obedience to orders and rules (Holland, 1996;