Adaptive Interests Questionnaire

The Adaptive Interests Questionnaire (AIQ) is an adaptive version of the ITS (Interest Questionnaire for Tasks and Sectors), a questionnaire that measures which factors in their work interest a candidate.

Advantages of adaptive testing

• The candidate will always receive the questions that are most relevant to them
• The questionnaire takes less time to complete (four times faster, on average, than the traditional ITS)
• Contrary to traditional questionnaires, the AIQ also provides accurate estimates of relatively high and low scale scores.

Sample question AIQ – I like to:

Application

The AIQ can be used in any situation where it is important to learn more about a candidate’s interests. Because this questionnaire can be completed in such a short timeframe, it is extremely versatile in its application, e.g. for coaching and career counselling. Furthermore, it can easily be combined with other questionnaires without requiring your candidate to spend hours on end answering questions.

Development

The questionnaire is based on the Holland Model of occupational interests, supplemented with IT (see below). It contains the same items as the thoroughly validated and COTAN-approved Interest Questionnaire for Tasks and Sectors (see also the ITS’s manual). Contrary to the traditional ITS, the AIQ is an adaptive questionnaire.

The Holland Model supplemented with IT
Research has shown that the commonly used Holland Model of occupational interests can be supplemented with a new factor, i.e. an interest in IT. That should come as no surprise, since Holland originally formulated the model with six types of occupational interests back in 1958. At the time, the IT sector was not as prevalent as it is today. The research shows that IT is an independent factor and can be added to the model as a separate area of interest. The “Holland Plus Model” that we now use for the ITS consists of these seven scales: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional, IT.

Sectors
In addition to providing insight into a candidate’s interests, the ITS also reports on the forty sectors that these areas of interest relate to. The ITS therefore quickly provides insight into potentially suitable professions.

Tasks
Finally, the questionnaire provides insight into the types of tasks that tie into a candidate’s interests. After all, a choice of profession or study can also be based on the specific tasks associated with a certain career. The ITS distinguishes between the following tasks:

Social tasks: Assisting, Resolving conflicts, Convincing others, Motivating, Maintaining Contacts, Guiding people, Helping customers, Negotiating, Conferring with colleagues, Influencing people, Advising people, Instructing, Leading, Teaching courses or training programmes.

Mental tasks: Being creative, Reading, Writing, Strategic thinking, Analysing, Calculating, Planning, Organising, Gathering information.

Supportive tasks: Planning activities, Managing assets and tools, Scheduling, Administrative tasks, Setting up projects.

Motor tasks: Manual labour, Operating heavy machinery, Operating vehicles, Working with machines, Repairing machines, Working with electronic equipment, Working with computers, Physical exertion, Repairing electronic equipment.