Data Management, Computer Activities, and Office Services Basic Interest Scales

The Basic Interest Scales (BIS) on pages 1 and 2 of the Strong Profile show how your interests match those of people working in various careers. Your BISs show the things you like to do, as opposed to just interest you. This time we'll look at three BISs on the Strong and which careers they match. You'll notice these three BISs are all from the Conventional General Occupational Scale. We'll look at the jobs that match these BISs to give you a better idea of where you might enjoy working.

Let's start with the Data Management BIS. The six professions with the highest scores on this scale are Accountant, Bookkeeper, Business Education Teacher, Actuary, Mathematics Teacher, and Investments Manager. In contrast, the lowest six professions on this scale are Fine Artist, Art Teacher, Commercial Artist, Medical Illustrator, Occupational Therapist, and Social Worker.

For the Computer Activities scale, the highest scorers were Secretary, Business Education Teacher, Military Enlisted Personnel, Mathematics Teacher, Bookkeeper, and Food Service Manager. The lowest scores were found among Fine Artists, Commercial Artists, Art Teachers, Advertising Executives, Reporters, and Photographers.

On the Office Services BIS, the highest scoring professions are Business Education Teacher, Secretary, Bookkeeper, Dental Assistant, Food Service Manager, and Banker. The lowest are Fine Artist, Commercial Artist, Medical Illustrator, Advertising Executive, Psychologist, and Architect.

You'll notice that the same professions cluster in the highest and lowest scores. Business Education Teachers score high on all three scales, while Fine Artists score low on the same scales. This makes great sense, as the Conventional scales are most distant and dissimilar to the Artist scales. This makes it quite difficult for those who have high scores on both scales to find a job that combines both scales. One profession that does so might be graphic artist. Many graphic artists use computers for much of their work, while the artistic element comes from creating new things.

Note that the Computer Activities scale is not where you find programmers and systems analysts. Those are Investigative and Realistic jobs. This particular BIS has more to do with computer operations than with more intense computer work.

It's important to remember the matches on your BISs are frequently a better indication of where you might like to work than the General Occupational Themes. That's because your answers are compared to people who are working in these particular professions.