The investigation of emotional intelligence and job preferences levels of vocational high school students in terms of some sociodemographic characteristics

In this research the socio-demographic characteristics and the job preferences and the emotional intelligence levels of adolescents are investigated. The job preference is one of the most important decisions of the individual since it will take quite a long time in the life of the individual. When the features(interest, ability etc.) are not taken into consideration, they prefer to choose their job rather than their preferred job. Choosing a career is a very important factor that directs the future of individuals. Research on intelligence revealed that the individual's private life and success in his work life were not only related to IQ, but also to other personal factors. One of the most important concepts when investigating personal factors affecting a successful life is "emotional intelligence (EQ)". Emotional intelligence involves two concepts (D. John Mayer ve Peter Salovey 1997). It is thougt to be a relation between subdimensions, interpersonal intelligence and general well-being of emotional intelligence and job preferences. This study was carried out with 1250 students in vocational high schools in İzmir, Menemen during the 2016-2017 academic year. The data was obtained by applying the scale of emotional intelligence for adolescents, scale of professional interest and application of individual status form in the form of paper pencil test. One-way analysis of variance, frequency and percentage regression analysis are used to analyze the data. As a result of one-way analysis of variance and regression, there was no statistically significant difference between the average of emotional intelligence levels of vocational high school students and the average of occupational preferences and age factor. Keywords: Intelligence, Emotion, Emotional Intelligence, Job Preference