Level is an important feature of occupations and occupational aspirati
ons. Level of occupational aspiration, expectation, or attainment has
long been central in sociological inquiry. Occupational or educational
level is also often incorporated in materials for assisting clients w
ith career exploration. Tracey and Rounds (this issue) have shown that
when a RIASEC circumplex is combined with a prestige hierarchy, a mea
ningful three-dimensional representation of interests results. This re
presentation has theoretical value. The communalities for interest sca
les tell their distance from the origin in the plane produced by pairs
of dimensions. These distances indicate a bumpy surface topography fo
r a three-dimensional structure. A more perfect sphere would be produc
ed by scales with equal proportions of their variance in the three-dim
ensional space (and in each plane passing through the origin of this s
pace). The pursuit of a perfect sphere could have aesthetic value, but
little additional practical value. Because every one cannot have pres
tigious or highly complex occupations in the present economy, it is fo
rtunate that everyone does not want them. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc
.