ONET Interest Profiler Manual - Executive Summary - Interest Assessment and the ONET Interest Profiler

Sep 18, 2026

The O*NET Interest Profiler (IP) is a vocational interest inventory created to support educational planning, career exploration, and career guidance. Grounded in John Holland’s RIASEC theory, it has been used by millions since its 1999 introduction as part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET Career Exploration Tools. The technical manual synthesizes over 20 years of research, describing IP forms, item development, administration, scoring, and reporting, and providing evidence for reliability, validity, and linkage to O*NET occupations, including international applications.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryTechnology

FormatPDF

Pages139

Reading Time5 h 50 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

List of Contributors

Chapter 1: Interest Assessment and the O*NET Interest Profiler

Chapter 2: Interest Profiler Forms, Versions, and Linkage to Occupations

Chapter 3: Test Administration, Scoring, and Reporting for the Interest Profiler

Chapter 4: Development of Items and Interest Profiler Forms

Chapter 5: Reliability Evidence for the Interest Profiler

Chapter 6: Validity Evidence for the Interest Profiler

Chapter 7: Interest Profiler Linkage to O*NET Occupations

Chapter 8: International Forms and Applications of the Interest Profiler

O*NET® Interest Profiler Manual Edited by: James Rounds University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Kevin Hoff University of Houston Phil Lewis National Center for O*NET Development Prepared for U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Office of Workforce Investment Division of National Programs, Tools, & Technical Assistance Washington, DC Submitted by The National Center for O*NET Development March, 2021 [www.onetcenter.org](www.onetcenter.org) National Center for O*NET Development, 313 Chapanoke Road, Suite 130 Raleigh, NC 27603 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................3 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS ...............................................................................................4 CHAPTER 1: Interest Assessment and the O*NET Interest Profiler ..................................5 CHAPTER 2: Interest Profiler Forms, Versions, and Linkage to Occupations ................. 14 CHAPTER 3: Test Administration, Scoring, and Reporting for the Interest Profiler .......30 CHAPTER 4: Development of Items and Interest Profiler Forms ....................................40 CHAPTER 5: Reliability Evidence for the Interest Profiler..............................................61 CHAPTER 6: Validity Evidence for the Interest Profiler .................................................77 CHAPTER 7: Interest Profiler Linkage to O*NET Occupations ....................................121 CHAPTER 8: International Forms and Applications of the Interest Profiler .................. 134 [O*NET Interest Profiler Manual] Executive Summary The O*NET Interest Profiler (IP) is a vocational interest inventory designed for use in educational planning, career exploration, and career guidance (Lewis & Rivkin, 1999) . The Interest Profiler was introduced in 1999 as one of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) O*NET Career Exploration Tools. John Holland’s (1997) RIASEC theoretical model (Realistic-Investigative-Artistic-Social-Enterprising-Conventional) is the basis of the Interest Profiler scales. Over the years, millions of people have taken the Interest Profiler. Its current web-based version included in the My Next Move and Mi Proximo Paso websites, versions incorporated by private and public application developers, and available paper-and-pencil version continue to make it a widely disseminated and extensively used career exploration tool. Use and integration of the Interest Profiler is offered free-of-charge via the O*NET Career Exploration Tools Content License ([https://www.onetcenter.org/license_tools.html](https://www.onetcenter.org/license_tools.html)). Since its introduction, the Interest Profiler has undergone several revisions, producing three forms of the Interest Profiler: IP Long-Form, IP Short-Form, and Mini-IP. During these revisions and selection of items and formats, O*NET has published a series of reports that documented the construction and validation of the Interest Profiler. This documentation published on the O*NET website ([https://www.onetcenter.org/research.html?c=IP_CIP](https://www.onetcenter.org/research.html?c=IP_CIP)) has met the spirit of Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (2014), providing information on scoring, reliability and validity of scores, and participants reactions to the experience of completing and receiving score interpretations. The present Interest Profiler Technical Manual integrates prior scale developmental reports and summarizes over 20 years of research on the Interest Profiler. The manual is written as chapters, authored by students and graduates of Industrial and Organizational PhD programs at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and the University of Houston. Topics covered include an overview of the Interest Profiler (chapter 1), forms and versions (chapter 2), scoring and reporting (chapter 3), item deve

FAQs

What is the purpose of the O*NET Interest Profiler (IP)?

It is a vocational interest inventory designed for educational planning, career exploration, and career guidance.

Which theory forms the basis of the Interest Profiler scales?

It is based on John Holland’s RIASEC theoretical model (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional).

What topics does the technical manual cover?

It covers the profiler’s overview, forms and versions, test administration and scoring, item development, reliability and validity evidence, linkage to O*NET occupations, and international applications.

Sep 18, 2026

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