Meaning & use
interest inventory
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountabletechnical
A questionnaire that asks people what activities they like, used to suggest suitable subjects, jobs or careers.
Grammar: A regular countable noun: take an interest inventory, two interest inventories.
Patterns
- take an interest inventory
- interest inventory results
Our counselor asked us to complete an interest inventory before choosing classes.
The interest inventory suggested that Maya would enjoy working with animals.
He retook the interest inventory after two years of college to see what had changed.
Word forms
| plural | interest inventories |
|---|
Common combinations
- complete an interest inventory
- Students complete an interest inventory in their first week.
- career interest inventory
- A career interest inventory pointed her toward teaching.
- interest inventory results
- The interest inventory results were discussed with a counselor.
- administer an interest inventory
- Counselors administer an interest inventory to every ninth grader.
Synonyms and how they differ
- career quiz
- Career quiz is the casual term for a short, often online version, while interest inventory is the formal tool used by professionals.
- aptitude test
- An aptitude test measures what you can do well, while an interest inventory only measures what you like doing.
- personality test
- A personality test describes your traits and habits, which is broader than the preferences an interest inventory records.
Word family
- interest noun
- something you enjoy or want to learn about
- inventory noun
- a detailed list of items or qualities
- interested adjective
- wanting to know or do something
- interesting adjective
- holding your attention
Commonly confused: interest inventory or aptitude test?
interest inventory vs aptitude test
An aptitude test checks your ability or potential, but an interest inventory has no right or wrong answers because it records likes and dislikes.
Practice
What does an interest inventory measure?
Choose one answer.
An interest inventory records likes and preferences. Knowledge and speed are measured by tests, which is the tempting but wrong idea.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “interest inventory”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.