Activity Interests was inspired by the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey (KOIS) with its ten specific occupational interests. Promana’s original creator, Michael Dakin, wanted to offer an occupational interests assessment that was not so specific that it would assert (as KOIS does) that a person is likely to prefer “computational”, “scientific” or “mechanical” occupations.
The KOIS approach was just too occupational for Mike. He wanted to create an assessment capable of indicating a respondent’s level of interest in a particular type or class of occupation, rather than slot people into a narrowly defined occupational field.
Dakin developed the Activity Interests assessment to report on a person’s interest in a more generalised range of activities. The resulting assessment’s paired choice approach allow or require each respondent to visualise these potential activities in a context that makes sense to them.
Validation checks confirmed the improvements. For example a respondent with a high score for the KOIS factor "Scientific" who didn't consider themselves scientifically inclined at all, was more attuned to the results from Activity Interests which by contrast assesses "Problem solving".
This more generalised definition is applicable across a range of occupations, as a respondent with a strong preference for Problem Solving may or may not also be interested in a specifically scientific occupation.
The validity of this approach is borne out in practice. A typical case study involves a respondent whose occupation – in-house recruiter – at first seems at odds with her extremely high preference for the Problem Solving factor. But, in subsequent consultation, and correlated with her strong preference for Social process activities, it became clear that this respondent was a “people person” whose occupation was well suited to her interests in solving “people problems”.
Our Activity Interests remains a popular and relevant source of vocational insights for young and old at every career stage.
