The vocational interests of 'white collar' workers experiencing unemployment after compulsory redundancy

This study investigated the interests and factor structure of the Vocational Interest Survey for Australia (VISA) in a sample of 344 white collar workers who had been unemployed for more than six months after being made redundant. This study replicated earlier findings that while unemployed individuals appear to respond with different mean interest levels on the VISA compared with the instrument's normative sample of secondary students, respondents appear to confirm a consistent underlying factor structure. The factor analyses, particularly the higher order factor analysis, suggest that a two-factor solution of the VISA data may be the most appropriate solution for unemployed clients. The loss of the VISA's ability to discriminate six other factors in unemployed respondents is discussed.