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 tern-is 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.