Work Importance Locator

The Work Importance Locator

ONET’s Work Importance Locator is a self-administered a card sorting device that uses a ranking and weighing process to analyze an individual’s needs from among six categories: Achievement, Independence, Recognition, Relationships, Support and Working Conditions. Further, the instrument facilitates the exploration of specific job that are organized in “zones” (categories), according to the level of preparation (experience, education and training) required.
My WIL results were consistent with my values, and also consistent with the Super Value Scale on some dimensions. In WIL, I received equal top scores (28 each) for “Independence” and “Relationships.” My next most important value was (at 22) Support.
In Super’s Value Scale, my top score was for Variety (91%) but independence, mental challenge and creativity were also high (86%). (In retrospect, those results suggest to me that I have high expectations for my job, and need to get a lot out of it.)
I administered the WIL to Chris, a college senior. He completed the sort without asking questions, after initial instructions were given. He scored high on Achievement (30) and Independence (28). Chris believes that he is an “outlier” in many facets of life, and that his WIL results are probably not typical. As a college senior, he initially felt that this test was too late in his education to be helpful, but I explained that he might make several job changes over his career life. Chris felt that the job choices were a broad sampling with a variety of skills represented, which gave a lot of data to consider. However, he thought some job titles were over-specified (i.e., “string musical instrument repair”), when a less broad description should also be relevant to the job zone.
Chris also argued that the value of “never being pressured to do something that things that go against my sense of right and wrong” (which he had rated a 4) was a measure of “Independence”, rather than “Relationships.” He also rated “being busy all the time” as low (1), explaining that he would not suffer if he didn’t have enough to do, because he has an active mind.
From this experience, I think the WIL is highly useful, and I attribute its effectiveness to the card sorting design. It encourages the client to make a complete map of what’s important to him, and to commit to the whole map in one conclusive step. Since the respondent can revisit the indicators as many times as he likes, I think the results should be more conclusive (compared with Super’s online Value Scale, where the client can not change answers or see ahead or behind into the (often repetitive) questions, which tend to be repetitive. The minor wording changes, without the benefit of being able to change answers, could cause a client to become unsettled and to reconsider previous answers). There is not chance of that in the WIL, which is why I prefer it to the Super Value Scale, although if we had tested both either on paper, or online, my conclusion might be different.
Based on my scores, I could see that the WIL does not capture “artistic” or “creative” job goals, and rather labels them “try out my own ideas”, which is not the same thing, in my opinion. I cannot explain why the Super Value Scale did not reflect my high priority for work relationships, like the WIL did. Thus, my only discomfort with the WIL is the limited number of variables, which are not verified through repetition, as with Super. However, my concern is somewhat offset by the tool’s “total picture” approach, giving the opportunity for complete consideration before scoring.