Interpreting low scores on Interest Assessment

This article provides insights and help in helping students who might score very low on all or most of the interest attributes.

At times individuals can score very low across all interest dimensions. When this occurs, it could cause some concerns about what this means and how it should be interpreted. If you have a student who has extremely low scores across all interest attributes, they may not have any Very Strong or Strong matches in their Career Matches. They may express concern and/or frustration about these scores. See the example profile below:

First, the profile may reflect a particular response style or mood that the individual was experiencing when endorsing the items. The scales are generally valid even despite mood fluctuations, but nevertheless, one option is to encourage the student to retake the interest assessment with an open mind, thinking only about their interests and not about skills, accessibility, pay, training required, etc. It is possible that with an adjustment in mindset, they may find a wider array of items interesting, resulting in higher scores, which would, in turn, generate some career matches.

Second, low and flat profiles sometimes reflect an individual with a narrow range of interests. This could be because the student clearly knows their likes and is very clear about their dislikes. Some individuals might be deeply interested in video game development (for example), and then provide low ratings for anything that doesn't link to that narrow interest. If this is the case, inviting the individual to name that interest is important and to explore adjacent interests that can help evoke an increasing openness to a broader array of potential pathways. Additionally, it could be because the student is still exploring what their main interests might be. All of this is okay, but we suggest talking with them about things they enjoy and digging deeper into the best matches. Also, make sure to help them look for themes and have them do some of the worksheet exercises in the Tools section. You might also want to have them look at the Workbook, also located in the Tools section.

Third, occasionally students score very low on interests because they are grappling with feelings of depression. To be clear, low scores do not always reflect depressed feelings, but this is a possibility. You might note this with the student and encourage them to seek support from the university counseling center if they have been experiencing symptoms of depression.