Interest Inventories
Interest inventories are also frequently used in career planning. When you complete an interest inventory you are asked to answer a series of questions regarding your (surprise) interests. E.K. Strong, Jr. pioneered the development of interest inventories. He found, through data he gathered about people's likes and dislikes of a variety of activities, objects, and types of persons, that people in the same career (and satisfied in that career) had similar interests. Dr. John Holland and others provided a system of matching interests with one or more of six types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. He then matched these types with occupations. The results of your interest inventory are compared against the results of this study to see where you fit in — are your interests similar to those of a police officer or to those of an accountant?
A popular interest inventory is the Strong Interest Inventory, formerly known as the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory. The SII is administered by a career development pro, who also scores it, and interprets the results.
If you want to try using an interest inventory on your own, a low cost option is the Self-Directed Search (SDS), by John Holland. You can take it online for a small fee ($10). After completing the assessment, you will receive a printable report containing a list of occupations that most closely match your interests.