Strong Interest Inventory®: Person - Environment Fit, Part II

One of the foundations underlying the Strong is the idea that both people and environments can be sorted into six primary areas. While it's true that most jobs and people are more complex than a single category, it's likely the case that one of the six environmental types is dominant in a workplace. The concept is that the more closely a person's personality matches his or her work environment, the more likely that person is to enjoy a career, stay in a job, or persist in developing a career.

This time we'll examine how this interaction works with Investigative environments and people.

Investigative people usually see themselves as analytical, intelligent, skeptical, and having academic talent, and probably lacking in interpersonal skills. Many value acquiring more knowledge or developing existing skills. Others might view Investigative people as anti-social and intellectual. Investigative types often want to avoid any type of sales job or where persuasion is a major component of the work. Instead, they might prefer activities where they can explore, understand, predict, or control natural or social phenomena.

As you might imagine, Investigative work environments are quite similar. They require analytical, technical, scientific, and verbal skills. Likewise, skepticism, persistence in problem solving, and acquiring new knowledge are expected. People in Investigative jobs often continue learning through scholarship or self-study. Many of these jobs require trouble-shooting skills or the creation and use of new knowledge. Some examples of jobs that fit this category are psychologist, microbiologist, statistician, social scientist, and electronics technician.