The Self-Directed Search Questionnaire (SDS)

J. Gevers, R. du Toit & R. Harilall

The purpose of this questionnaire is to measure the occupational interests of all high school pupils and young adults of different cultural backgrounds.

The inventory consists of four sections, each of which is structured around Holland’s six personality types, namely: Realistic (R); Investigative (I); Artistic (A); Social (S); Enterprising (E) and Conventional (C).

The four sections are:

• Activities: This section consists of 66 items – 11 items for each of the six personality types. The testees must indicate whether or not they like a particular activity.

• Competencies: This section also comprises 66 items – 11 per personality type. The testees indicate whether or not they possess a particular competency.

• Occupations: This section consists of 84 items – each personality type being represented by 14 items. The testees indicate whether or not they find a specific occupation sufficiently appealing to consider making it a career.

• Rating of abilities/skills: This section comprises 12 items – each personality type being represented by two items. There are therefore two groups of six items. The testees rate themselves by placing the abilities/skills in each group in a rank-order from one to six.

The SDS – originally developed in the United States by J.L. Holland – links questionnaire information directly to the world-of work by means of a three-letter code obtained from the testee’s responses. The questionnaire can therefore be regarded as suitable for use in career guidance and occupational choices.