Use of a Kohonen Self-Organizing Map to Classify Career Clients on the Basis of Aptitudes

A Kohonen self-organizing map—a type of artificial neural network similar to κ-means cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling— was used to classify clients into eight categories on the basis of objectively measured aptitudes. The resulting categories bear strong resemblances to major vocational typologies of persons and jobs, especially models proposed by Holland, Gottfredson, Ackerman, and Prediger. Applications of self-organizing neural networks are suggested for psychological assessment in general and career assessment in particular.