Work Activities Matcher

According to a 2005 Harris Interactive, Inc. survey, only 20 percent of workers feel passionate about their work. A similar poll by the Conference Board shows that nearly half of all Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs. In short, a lot of people in the workforce don't like what they do for a living.

The Work Activities Matcher gives students and job seekers a new approach to career exploration. Based on the practical notion that you will be more satisfied with your job if you actually like what you do, the WAM outlines general work activities—representing the actual tasks you are likely to perform on the job—and asks how much you would enjoy doing them. It then helps you explore O*NET job titles based on your preferred work activities. In-depth suggestions for further research help you explore those careers. The inventory is self-scoring and self-interpreting, takes less than 20 minutes to complete, and is based on decades of research and data provided by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Key Features and Benefits

• Based on research compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor and its O*NET database.
• Scores into six work activity categories: learning and analyzing; identifying and monitoring; communicating and influencing; handling, moving, and operating; managing, supervising, and teaching; and repairing and maintaining.
• Complete in 15-20 minutes.
• Color coding makes it easy to use and easy to score.
• Self-administered and self-interpreting.
• Ideal career exploration tool matches preferred work activities directly to careers; the only assessment focused specifically on connecting work activities directly to the occupations in which they are performed.
• Complements interest, values, and skills inventories, such as the O*NET Career Interests Inventory and the O*NET Career Values Inventory.
• Includes sample job titles from the latest O*NET database.
• Includes suggested resources for career exploration.
• Can be given to groups or individuals.
• Features four easy steps: Rate Each Work Activity, Score Your Responses, Interpret Your Scores, and Match Preferred Work Activities to Jobs.

Laurence Shatkin, Ph.D., is one of the nation’s leading occupational experts and appears regularly on national news programs and in major print publications to share his expertise about trends in the world of work. He is a senior product developer at JIST Publishing, has 30 years of experience in the career information field, and is an award-winning career information systems developer.

He has been a researcher and developer at Educational Testing Service, where he helped develop the SIGI Plus computer-based career information system. He oversaw the updating and enhancement of the SIGI PLUS database for more than 15 years. He has served as a board member and as president of the Association of Computer-based Systems for Career Information. Shatkin also is a member of the National Career Development Association and a frequent presenter at its conferences.

Shatkin is the media’s go-to source for up-to-the-minute occupational information and has appeared on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, ABC News Now, the FOX Business Channel’s Money for Breakfast, CNN’s American Morning, NPR’s Talk of the Nation, and many more television and radio shows across the nation. He has been quoted in major print publications including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Fortune, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Health, and Publishers Weekly—just to name a few.

For interview requests or questions about Shatkin, contact Selena Dehne at sdehne@jist.com or (651) 215-7548.