An Investigation Into the Structural Form of the O*NET–Interest Profiler–Short Form

Abstract

Since their introduction, interests have been important to the field of vocational psychology. Within career counseling, they often serve as a starting point to career exploration. The changing nature of the world of work means that accurate assessment is even more imperative. There remain a number of inventories to help assess this construct. The Occupational Information Network–Interest Profiler–Short Form (O*NET-IP-SF) is a public domain assessment utilized to measure Holland’s six occupational profiles: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. Using confirmatory factor analysis, this study examined the structural integrity of the O*NET-IP-SF and interpretive potential using a regionally and racially diverse sample of American college students. Results suggest that O*NET-IP-SF possesses poor fit with a six-factor structure and that modifications are needed to reach acceptable levels of scale performance. Implications for researchers and career counselors are discussed.