The Practice of Vocational Assessment by Counseling Psychologists

Abstract

One thousand American Psychological Association members who identified counseling as their psychology specialty were surveyed about their vocational assessment practices; 637 or 64% returned usable questionnaires. Some of the primary findings were as follows: (a) 56% of the respondents were engaged in providing vocational assessment services and spent about 8% of their professional time doing so; (b) vocational assessment services were provided by a moderate to relatively frequent number of practitioners across most considered work settings; (c) respondents most frequently recommended that graduate students in counseling psychology be trained in the Strong Interest Inventory (SI!); and (d) regardless of work setting, respondents most frequently used the SII, Self-Directed Search, and Kuder Occupational Interest Survey in their vocational assessment practice. The implications of the findings are briefly discussed, with particular mention being made about (a) the continued relevance of vocational assessment for counseling psychology practice, and (b) the continuing preeminence of the SII in contemporary vocational assessment.