Ashland Interest Assessment

The Ashland Interest Assessment is designed for individuals with barriers to employment due to educational, physical, emotional, cognitive, or psychiatric conditions.  Ideal for career planning/counselling for those with special needs or very low reading levels. 

The Ashland Interest Assessment (AIA) is a career interest assessment for individuals with barriers to employment due to educational, physical, emotional, cognitive, or psychiatric conditions. It can be used for career and educational planning for individuals with special needs at high schools, employment centers, youth services and learning centers. The AIA consists of 144 pairs of work-related activities requiring the respondent to decide which activity he or she would most like to do.

What’s It Best For?

• Career counseling and career planning for individuals with special needs
• Clients looking to enter the workforce or explore job opportunities who have developmental challenges or barriers to employment
• Individuals at or above a 3rd grade reading level
• Counselor-led interpretation

This tool is best utilized by guidance counselors, employment centers, youth services, and learning centers to guide clients with special needs or developmental challenges toward realistic, fulfilling job paths.

• Targeted 12-Scale Mapping: It measures an individual’s distinct vocational preferences across 12 baseline industry tracks, including Arts and Crafts, Food Service, Clerical, Mechanical, Personal Service, and Construction.
• Bypassing Response Bias: By employing a forced-choice format (forcing the user to select between two specific tasks rather than using a standard 1-to-5 rating scale), the test eliminates standard response biases and helps test-takers clearly differentiate their true interests.
• Empowering Counselor Debriefs: The test provides a clear, highly visual online report complete with graphics, numbers, and descriptive definitions that serve as an ideal baseline for counselor-led career discussions.
• Statistically Relevant Norming: Unlike general employment tests, this instrument’s data benchmarks are built from a verified norm group of 1,450 individuals who specifically experienced diverse vocational barriers.

Why Should I Use The AIA?

Convenient

The AIA can be administered on SIGMA’s online platform – SigmaTesting.com. Reports are generated immediately. Results are presented using graphs, numbers, scale descriptions, and job information that is insightful and easy to understand.

Forced-Choice Format

The AIA employs a forced-choice format asking respondents to indicate a preference between two options. This format offers an improvement over Likert rating scales as it minimizes susceptibility to response bias and helps the test taker discriminate between career interests. Using forced-choice format eliminates this source of response bias.

Designed With Special Needs In Mind

AIA items are clear and concise and designed to be easily interpreted and rated by those at or above a 3rd grade reading level. Respondents rate their preferences for a series of work-related activities such as ‘Set tables in a restaurant.’ Items are printed in larger than normal type. The results are presented in a clear and easy to understand format.

Reliable And Valid

The AIA is a reliable and valid career interest assessment. Norms were collected from individuals with employment barriers at agencies, schools, learning centers, mental health care facilities, and mental health associations. The AIA was normed on 725 females and 725 males.

Ashland Interest Assessment Measures 12 Basic Interest Scales

• Arts and Crafts
• Food Service
• Sales
• Protective Service
• Mechanical
• Plant or Animal Care
• Personal Service
• Clerical
• General Service
• Health Care
• Construction
• Transportation