Testing Vocational Interests and Personality as Predictors of Person-Vocation and Person-Job Fit

The fit between individuals and their work environments has received decades of theoretical and empirical attention. This study investigated two antecedents to individuals' perceptions of fit: vocational interests and personality. More specifically, the authors hypothesized that vocational interests assessed in terms of the Career Occupational Preference System Interest Inventory—Professional Level taxonomy predict perceived fit with occupations (person-vocation fit) and personality assessed in terms of the Five-Factor Model predicts perceived fit with job characteristics (person-job fit). Results indicated that vocational interests were better predictors of both perceived person-job and perceived person-vocation fit than personality. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for researchers and practitioners.

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