Adolescent vocational interests predict early career success: Two 12‐year longitudinal studies

Abstract

Vocational interests are relatively stable individual differences that can change across the lifespan. However, little is known about the importance of interest changes, relative to stable interest levels, for predicting career outcomes.This study assessed the long-term predictive power of adolescent interest levels and interest growth for five career outcomes: degree attainment, occupational prestige, income, and career-and job-satisfaction. The study used two 12-year longitudinal samples (N 1 = 485; N 2 = 1290) with vocational interests measured across multiple waves from late adolescence to young adulthood. Results from both samples converged on three key findings. First, adolescents who showed better interest fit with their eventual vocation were more satisfied with their jobs over a decade later.Second, adolescent interests predicted objective career outcomes (i.e. degree attainment, occupational prestige, and income), revealing that early interests shaped educational and career choices. Third, interest changes were typically not associated with career outcomes, indicating that adolescent interest levels played a larger role. Together, these findings highlight the critical importance of childhood and adolescent interest development for guiding career trajectories and outcomes. We discuss implications for interest development theories, educational policies, and applied interventions.

Influence of Person-Vocation Fit on Satisfaction and Persistence in Vocational Training Programs

“…With increasing age, other factors become decisive explaining job satisfaction (“adjustment, skill utilization, burnout, experience, advancement opportunities, compensation, status, social acceptance;” Tsabari et al, 2005 , p. 220). In addition, Hoff et al (2022) show that interest congruence in the early career stage has long term effects as it increases job and career satisfaction as well as occupational prestige in later employment. Furthermore, a meta-analysis by van Iddekinge et al (2011) shows that interests (measured based on the RIASEC model) predict training performance.…”

Dream Jobs and Employment Realities: How Adolescents’ Career Aspirations Compare to Labor Demands and Automation Risks

“…High-point codes capture the primary interest area of jobs and are commonly used to measure interest fit. A large body of research supports their predictive validity for work outcomes (e.g., Hoff et al, 2021;Nye et al, 2019) and career choice (Hanna & Rounds, 2020).…”

Dream jobs and employment realities: How adolescents’ career aspirations relate to labor demands and automation risks

“…High-point codes capture the primary interest area of jobs and are commonly used to measure interest fit. A large body of research supports their predictive validity for work outcomes (e.g., Hoff et al, 2021;Nye et al, 2019) and career choice (Hanna & Rounds, 2020).…”