EXAMINING THE PERSONAL MEANING OF INVENTORIED INTERESTS DURING CAREERCOUNSELING

The present article seeks to renovate the career counseling use of int erest inventories as personality indicators by making explicit the lin k between inventoried interests and their personal meaning to clients. Interest denotes a relationship between the individual and the enviro nment, one to the advantage of the individual. The chief advantage of an interest to the individual is that it cultivates a solution to a pe rsonal problem. Viewing interests as a developmental pathway encourage s the interpretation of interest inventory results from a psychology o f use. A focus on how the client uses an interest prompts counselors t o trace a measured interest both backward to its origin in private pre occupations and forward to its expression in public occupations. Using interest inventories as personality indicators helps clients to conce ptualize the impetus of their movement (needs), the direction of that movement (values), and the style of that movement (interests). Counsel ing that includes a coherent narration of the why, what, and how of an individual's movement in the world can clarify the client's occupatio nal choices and enhance that client's ability to make career decisions .