Optimizing Career Guidance in Secondary Education: Exploring Person-Environment Interest Fit With the SIMON-jr Interest Inventory

Vocational interests and person-environment (PE) interest fit are key predictors of academic and career outcomes, yet little is known about their role in early adolescence. The present study addresses this gap by exploring the role of PE interest fit in early adolescence. We introduce SIMON-jr, a freely accessible questionnaire for assessing vocational interests in early adolescents. Using SIMON-jr, we examined how students’ vocational interests in the first year of secondary education fit with their study program choices by the third year, and how this fit relates to academic achievement. Additionally, we explored potential differences in interest fit between boys and girls. Our results confirmed the reliability and validity of SIMON-jr, establishing the tool as a robust and equitable resource for guiding students in their educational choices. Furthermore, our findings indicated that secondary students tend to select education programs that fit their interests, with girls showing a stronger fit than boys. At the same time, interest fit did not relate to academic achievement at this young age. We address several reasons for this lack of association, and highlight the potential of career education tools that assess PE interest fit to support early adolescents in making informed academic decisions.