Assessment and Career Planning

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Assessment and Career Planning

• Chapter 5

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Introduction

• Assessment is the use of any formal or informal
  technique to collect data about a client.
• It is a tool of the trait-and-factor approach,
  which had its beginning with the three-step
  career choice process introduced by Frank Parsons.

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Guidelines for Use of Trait-and-Factor Approach
in 21st Century

• Test data
• are only one piece of a much larger puzzle.
• should be used less for prediction and more for
  identifying new options.
• The client should be more involved in making the
  decision about whether to use assessment and for
  what purposes.

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Assessment and the Career Planning Process

• Step 1 - may use an instrument to measure career
  maturity, career beliefs or decision-making style
• Step 2 - may use inventories to measure
  interests, abilities, skills, work values, or
  personality type

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Assessment and the Career Planning Process

• Step 3 - Score report from inventories given in
  Step 2 will suggest occupations.
• Step 4 - Assessment not likely to be used.
• Step 5 - Inventories of work-related values may
  be used to reduce number of options.

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Assessment and the Career Planning Process

• Step 6 - Tests that predict success in college or
  measure achievement in specific subject matter
  may be used.
• Step 7 - Instruments that measure work skills or
  personality type may be used.

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Purposes of Assessment

• Counselors can learn more about the needs
  (decision-making skills, career maturity, removal
  of irrational beliefs) of clients.
• Counselors can learn more about the
  characteristics (interests, abilities, skills,
  values, personality) of clients.

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Purposes of Assessment

• Clients can learn more about themselves (such as
  their interests, skills, abilities, work values,
  personality type).
• Counselors can measure the progress (in acquiring
  career maturity,decision-making skills, career
  decidedness) of an individual or group of
  individuals.

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Counselor Responsibilities

• Follow ethical guidelines provided by
  professional associations
• Possess knowledge
• basic principles of assessment
• details of specific instruments to be used
• how to prepare clients/students
• how to administer properly
• how to interpret properly

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Characteristics of Informal Assessment

• Instruments not subjected to scientific study
• Results for one person cannot be compared with
  those of others
• No standard linkage between results and
  occupational choices
• No standard way to interpret results

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Types of Informal Assessment

• Checklists
• Games
• Career fantasies
• Forced-choice activities
• Card sorts
• Structured interviews

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Characteristics of Formal Assessment

• Known validity (instrument measures what it
  claims to measure)
• Known reliability (results of a later
  administration will be highly similar to those of
  first administration)

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Characteristics of Formal Assessment

• Fairness related to diversity (instrument
  adequately researched with kinds of individuals
  who will later take the instrument)
• Measures of comparison (compares the scores of
  one individual with those of others)

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Common Interest Inventories

• Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS)
• Career Assessment Inventory (CAI)
• Career Occupational Preference Survey (COPS)
• Career Quest
• Harrington-OShea Career Decision-Making System
  (CDMS)

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Common Interest Inventories, continued

• Interest Determination, Exploration, and
  Assessment System (IDEAS)
• Interest Explorer
• Jackson Vocational Interest Survey (JVIS)
• Kuder Career Search with Person Match
• ONet Interest Profiler

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Common Interest Inventories, continued

• Self-Directed Search (SDS)
• Strong Interest Inventory (SII)
• Unisex Edition of the ACT Interest Inventory
  (UNIACT)
• Vocational Interest Inventory

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Common Instruments to Measure Skills and Abilities

• SkillScan
• WorkKeys
• Passion Revealer
• Career Planning Survey
• ONet Ability Profiler

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Other Inventories

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - measures
  personality type
• ONet Work Importance Profiler - measures the
  importance of six work values
• Supers Work Values Inventory - measures the
  importance of 12 work values

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Steps of the Assessment Process

• Prepare students/clients for assessment
• Administer instrument(s) properly
• Interpret instrument(s) properly
• Follow through to assist students/clients to use
  results for action planning

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Ways to Administer and Interpret Assessment

• Print form - manual or optical scoring counselor
  interpretation
• Computer (standalone or networked) -
  administration and scoring counselor or computer
  interpretation
• Internet - administration, scoring, and
  interpretation

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Advantages of Internet Delivery

• Can be taken from anywhere 24/7
• Immediate scoring and feedback
• Standard interpretation, though customized
• Capability to share report with others
  electronically

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No-Fee Assessment Websites

• University of Waterloo Career Services -
  www.careerservices.uwaterloo.ca
• CareerKey - www.ncsu.edu/careerkey
• University of Missouri Career Center -
  http//career.missouri.edu (Select Career
  Interests Game)
• Motivational Assessment of Personal Potential -
  www.assessment.com

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For-Fee Assessment Websites

• Kuder Career Planning System - www.kuder.com
• Self-Directed Search - www.self-directed-search.co
  m

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Types of Reports

• Raw scores - provide a tally of responses in a
  specific category examinee cannot compare
  personal scores with those of others
• Percentile scores - compare the scores of one
  person with those of a selected norm group

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Steps in Selection of Instruments

• Determine purpose of assessment.
• Consider characteristics of those to be assessed.
• Determine if norm group for instrument includes
  characteristics of persons to be tested.
• Investigate the reliability and validity of the
  instrument.

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Steps in Selection of Instruments

• Read critical reviews and talk to other
  professionals.
• Acquire a sample copy, take it, and read
  publishers materials.
• Administer instrument to a few individuals and
  practice interpretation.
• Determine cost and options for administration and
  scoring.