All about the new Strong 244 career and interest assessment
Kevin Wood
2 min. read
When people use the Strong Interest Inventory® assessment, they get guidance not just about the careers they’d like to do but also the careers that fit them best.
With Strong, people learn about themselves. They broaden their awareness of different career paths.
Most importantly, they get to find the subject areas, occupations, and work environments that correspond with their interests and preferences.
This leads to a greater chance of finding an occupation that satisfies on a deeper level, whether that’s at the start of a career, during a transition or career change, or even winding down and preparing for retirement.
“This idea of congruence [with interests] is really important,” says Michael Morris, Director of Vocational Interest Research & Data Science at The Myers-Briggs Company. “You want people to be able to find a good degree of fit with their job, their course of study, and their organization…when people are in an environment that’s congruent with their interests, we get a lot of positive benefits and outcomes. It’s a good predictor of satisfaction and performance at work and at school.”
If you’re a certified Strong practitioner, you’ll already know this. But did you know there’s a new Strong assessment?
It’s called the Strong 244 assessment.
With gender-neutral scoring, a larger reference sample, more occupational scores, new basic interest scales, and a new report, it’s the future of the Strong assessment.
Even better, certified Strong practitioners can start using it without recertification or training.
Welcome to the new Strong 244 assessment
Launched in May 2023, the new Strong 244 assessment updates the current assessment and brings these new benefits for users:
- Greater inclusivity—all the presented data (scoring, labels, report content, etc.) is 100% gender neutral.
- More career options—over 100 new occupation scores have been added (increased from 130 to 243).
- Faster assessment time—the number of question items is reduced from 291 to 244.
Other features include:
- New academic major scores for each of 243 occupations.
- Two new Basic Interest Scales.
- New general reference sample—it’s now 100,000 (was 2,250).
- Free online technical supplement for practitioners.
- New Career Satisfaction Report.
Remember, Strong 244 doesn’t replace the current version of the assessment.
Most things carry forward from the existing Strong assessment and both will continue to be available. The changes help to update the assessment and improve the quality of its support in people’s career exploration.
Watch this webinar to learn more
To get some answers to key questions about the Strong 244 assessment, watch this short webinar by Dr. Michael Morris.
As well as introducing the assessment and expanding on the features described above, it includes specific, practitioner-oriented points like:
- Changes to the way flat profiles on the General Interest Scales are coded.
- How the new Basic Interest Scales were created.
- Which Strong assessment (current or 244) makes most sense for practitioners.
Watch the Introducing the Strong Interest Inventory® 244 assessment webinar and read more about Strong 244.