Instructions: You have been asked to help design a career assessment program for your students. What are one or two assessments [formal or informal] you would use with your students? Make one original post and then respond to one classmate’s post. You will make a total of two posts.
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I would want to use the career one stop which has the interest assessment, skills assessment, and work values matcher. This site would also give the students a chance to learn about careers, self employment, and military options. There is also a section that they can watch career videos giving them a chance to explore several types of jobs.
My second option i find interesting is the KNOWDELL cards. They offer Career Values Cards which let the student place them under five categories. Always valued, often valued ,sometimes valued, seldom valued, and never valued, Getting a better understanding of what is important to them. Motivated Skills Cards which also have five categories which are totally delight in using, enjoy using very much, like using prefer not to use and strongly dislike using then you place the three additional category cards across the top which are highly proficient, competent, and lack desired skill level giving the student things they would need to work, and occupational interests which list 110 occupation names and then the student decides if they are definitely interested, probably interested, indifferent, probably not interested, and definitely not interested. Each of these games taking about ten minutes to complete. The occupational interests cards also gives questions for the student to think about. I actually think that these would really give you a good idea of what the student would or wouldn’t like.
I agree with you that the Career One Stop site is a great resource. I feel that it can help not only with clients that have not only have no idea what they would like to do, but can also help those that have already been in the workforce and can take the skills that they may already have and guide them to another career opportunity that they may not have even thought of.
The KNOWDELL cards can be useful to help a client determine a career based on what is important in their life. It can help them determine not only what is important to them now, but also what their goals are in the future. It can be a great tool to help keep them on track and a way to guide them through their career options.
I feel that the Career One Stop site can be a huge resource. It can help a client at several stages of their career journey. It has tools that can help someone who really has no idea what it is that they are wanting to do research job opportunities based on their interests. It can also help those who have already been in the workforce determine what skills they have already acquired and how they may be able to use those in a field that they wouldn’t even thought about pursuing. There are helpful videos and other resources such as income and education needed to enter that field.
The other form off assessment that interests me is the Card Sorts. I feel that this is a great way for someone to determine what is important, somewhat important, and not that important when choosing a career. I like the idea of having them choose the level of importance and it makes them feel like they are more in control of the decision. It can put things in perceptive and give them immediate results based on what their views are.
I agree that Career One Stop can be a huge resource. Career One stop also has a list of career videos, career cluster videos, skills and ability videos, and tutorial videos and these videos are based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook handbook and o*net online. Career One Stop also has information on training and education such as schools and programs, scholarships, an Certifications. Job search planning gives a guide giving you samples and tips on writing a resume, information on how to get you ready for your interview, common interview questions as well as thank you notes for after the interview, and knowing if the job offer is right for you, networking tips, and job search tips. Many more resources are listed on their website.
Utilizing the Onet Interest Profiler has been very helpful with my participants. This tool matches your personality with various careers. Many participants have stated to me that some of these jobs that they were matched up to was not a job that they knew about. Which in turn would explore that occupation with the Onet Online Tool and learn more about it with the tasks, skills, education needed demand for that job, etc. that was needed. I also have them explore My Next Move, which provides videos of that particular occupation. They learn about occupations both ways. When my son enlisted in the Air Force he was given a job title which he knew nothing about. I had him go on the Onet webpage which linked him to My Next Move for Veterans and learned more about this job that he was given. He watched videos and was more knowledgeable about the job
Holland stated that “Career interests are the expression of the individual’s personality.” Many participants are grateful that these tools exist to explore careers, I know my son was.
It is interesting to hear that ONET Profiler works so well with your participants and even your son. I believe also that matching a person’s interest is the first step in the career exploration process. I have also found that the videos in My Next Move to be very informative and helpful to customers when they are exploring training and employment opportunities. It is a very good tool for visual and auditory learners.
I think it is awesome that Onet was beneficial for your son on his career path. The fact that there are actual videos that show the viewer what the job tasks might be, really is beneficial for everyone. Some job titles are so misleading or broad, that a person doesn’t really understand what they do until they do the actual job. Onet cuts out that barrier so there isn’t any miscommunication.
It’s really cool how your son was able to become more knowledgeable about the job he was given in the Air Force because of the resources you referred him to. I know some people who also would’ve benefitted from that back when they entered the service. It was kind of stressful for them to go into a new job they didn’t know much about and O*Net would’ve helped. Thanks for sharing!
So., I see that Career One Stop is being used by several staff. I do have many come in and are confused about a career choice or a career change. I have them complete the tools that I use, Onet and My Next Move, but now I need to explore Career One Stop. I see from other posts that it assists them with the help to not only with clients that have not only have no idea what they would like to do, but can also help those that have already been in the workforce and can take the skills that they may already have and guide them to another career opportunity that they may not have even thought of. I looked on their website and found how to guides which looks very interesting. How to find career ideas, How to find a job now and how to recover after a lay-off. I will be exploring this tool to use with my participants. Thank you guys…………
The O’Net Interest Profiler is key to understanding my clients. The three outcomes are discussed in length; especially the first interest in which it describes personality as well as potential jobs. Hopefully we will find the job that coincides with his/her interest and gives more choices of employment that they may or may not like. It explains the training that is involved with their choice. I liked the personality mosaic in conjunction with the profiler. And making up a mission statement when all discussion concludes helps in the future when they introduce themselves in an interviews And using “my skills, m;y future “. they can actually watch a video in the day in the life of their career choice. I suggest also to job shadow or talk to someone in person who actually works in their career choice.
I agree that O*NET helps to better understand the needs of my clients. Once I have the data, I am able to effectively discuss the outcomes with the client to assess if their interests and strengths align with their career goals. There are times when this assessment tool has allowed me to be effective in providing wise counsel, instead of providing a non-evidenced based discussion. I have found it to be somewhat comprehensive and user friendly.
My Next Move or Career One Stop (my skills my future) is used quite a bit with other case managers, I see, Also the Interest Profiler is used a lot. I agree that it is very useful. I like the idea of informal assessments like card sorts too. It puts activity in the interview.
This is an excellent answer. The ONET Interest Profiler is a great point to start from and can help someone who is looking to make a career change evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. I have never worked with the Work Value Inventory test, but I will definitely check it out.
If I was to design a career assessment for our customers I would start by using an interest inventory such as the ONET Interest Profiler. This type of inventory can be used to help all customers from any background and age group to help identify interest patterns and themes for them for not only employment but education as well. However, this inventory can not be used as a stand-alone assessment. I believe it should be used in conjunction with a Work Value Inventory to show more validity in the results. A work value inventory instrument will reveal to the customer the underlying values that influence their decision making and career satisfaction. An example of this instrument is the Work Importance Locator. Customers transitioning from military service or other employment will find this instrument very valuable. Furthermore, if an Abilities Test such as WorkKeys can be combined in the assessment it can enhance the results for the customer and give a broader picture for the assessor.
I agree that the O*Net should not be used as a stand alone assessment because there is further information that is needed to determine what the next steps should be for each individual client.
When designing an assessment, I would use O*NET with my students to aid in guiding them to explore detailed information about various careers, including job duties, required skills, work environments, and career paths. By having students search for occupations that align with their interests, they can gain a clearer understanding of the qualifications and competencies needed for specific roles. This can help them make informed decisions about their educational goals, identify areas for skill development, and align their career aspirations with real-world job expectations. Additionally, O*NET can assist my students in evaluating career options and how it aligns with the needs of current job markets. I have found that this assessment tool is instrumental in providing me with the data that I need to counsel my students.
The ONet can be a very useful tool for clients. I do enjoy when they look through the list of career suggestions and have a moment of excitement when they see something they had not considered.
If I was asked to design a career assessment program for students, I would use O’Net and Career One Stop. O’Net matches the participant with jobs that would best fit their personality and skill sets. I think this is very important, especially for young adults who aren’t sure what career path they want to take yet, or someone who is switching careers. Like a few others have said, some jobs might show up that the individual hasn’t even heard of. They might be matched with a career that they can research and find that it might be something that is very interesting to them. I also think the Career One Stop is a great tool to utilize. This tool has many benefits, including matching known skills with a job title that someone might not even think they have qualifications for. These tools take the information they are given by the individual and match them best with multiple career options based on personality, qualifications, skills, and interests. I lastly believe that if I was designing a career assessment program, I would want the individual to look at their current life situation and decide on careers based upon their current availability. I think things like school, children, and family life is very important to look at when looking for career guidance. It is necessary to find something that would in the long run benefit the individual and not do the opposite.
I agree and I feel that a lot of us here will be saying O*Net because we use it a lot within all of our offices and can see the benefits of using it for our clients. We use it and can directly see the participants using that information that they gained from the assessment to move toward or create their career goals. I agree that using both tools would give you more information to better assist those individuals!
For the clients I work with in EARN, I would develop an assessment tailored to identify their personal interests and specific challenges that are hindering their employment opportunities. This would be similar to the O*Net and household assessments currently used in EARN, but designed to identify both the careers they are most suited for and the barriers they face. The assessment would help pinpoint areas where they may need additional support and resources to overcome these obstacles.
That sounds like a very thoughtful and client-centered approach to assessment design. Tailoring an assessment specifically to identify personal interests alongside the unique challenges hindering employment opportunities can provide tremendous value for EARN clients!
O’Net is the most used assessment for our programs. It does help assessment interests but only if the client is taking it seriously. I would prefer to have something that is more detailed and possibly hands on. Maybe a virtual tour of worksites. We have the occulus and they are extremely helpful with letting our youth clients explore careers and the skills needed for them. If we could somehow incorporate that into the O’Net. I think that would be very beneficial.
I would choose both an informal and a formal assessment. My informal assessment choice would be checklists to figure out someone’s interests or abilities. They are easy to administer, cause less stress for the client, and they can offer options that are open to interpretation for a client instead of being overly definitive.
As for a formal assessment, I like the O*Net Interest Profiler which ranks how a client feels about certain activities ranging from really enjoy to really dislike. By taking this test, a client can see where his strengths and weaknesses are and then use that information to find career paths that he/she may like to check out further.
If I were to choose two assessments for our clients, I would choose the O*Net Interest Profiler as well as the Clifton Strengths Assessment. I feel that the O*Net assessment will be useful in having the client relatively easily take the assessment at our site and really give them options of various interests that they can then use to make decisions regarding employment. There are a various options to choose from when you have completed the assessment that can be explored by the client.
I also would use the Clifton Strengths Assessment with clients. This is also a relatively easy assessment to complete online. Having taken this myself, it really dives into your strengths as a person and how that can translate to your “work life”. It can be used to see how the client can use their strengths that fit within various different careers/industries and which roles within those industries the client would thrive in.
Aimee Trunzo! I was going to say the same thing as far as the O*Net Interest Profiler goes. I use it when people have no idea where to even start. Not to mention, it might mention a profession that the job seeker hadn’t even considered 🙂
I agree with you regarding this tool. If we do not keep the client’s expectations in line with their reality we are setting them up for failure. They may not want to hear the truth from us so having this assessment tool would help to keep them going down the right path for successful employment
One assessment that I haven’t had the chance to utilize but would like to would be the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale. Often job seekers come into our building with a lot of barriers, sometimes not even knowing the extent of them. As much as we would all like to get a job that lines up with our interest profiler, sometimes barriers, whether internal or external, can make certain jobs out of reach. For example, someone could come in and say that they would love to become a baker, but they have been fired from their past two jobs because they couldn’t get there at 5 am to start work on time or the bus line doesn’t start that early. I think this assessment could be key into self-awareness and if the job seeker has set unrealistic expectations on their career goals.
I agree with you Rachel in that a lot of our clients have issues that need to get resolved before doing a thorough job search for themselves. As you stated most of the time they might not even be aware of what could be holding them back from finding a job. Then that causes them to give up a lot of the time instead of finding out what the problem may be.
With my current clients I use a household assessment tool that helps both myself and my client to focus on the barriers to employment that they are currently facing and we are able to use this to come up with a plan together on what may work best to assist them in returning to the workforce. It also opens up the discussion to what they have done in the past that did not work and what their actual interests are so we can focus on moving forward in a field they may actually enjoy. Which may lead to job retention.
The other assessment tool that I use with all of my clients is ONet. I know that most people in this chat are using ONet since we are all in similar fields. This tool is helpful with EARN clients because most of them do not have a lot of work history and have never really thought about what they actually want to do in the workforce. This gives them an idea of what field they may enjoy. ONet also allows them to search out fields of interest to see exactly what the qualifications are and what the work environment may be like.
By taking what we learn with both of these tools we are able to apply it to their current situation and see what path is best for them whether it be an educational path or a path that leads directly to employment. The goal is to gain and retain employment in their field of interest.
When working with clients who are unsure of what they would like to do, I suggest they consider taking both the Skills and Interest Assessments found on the O’Net website.
I feel the Skills Assessment will give them the opportunity to re-identify their existing skills and also discover skills they may not be aware they possess.
The Interest Inventory provides a better understanding of what area or industry would be a good fit for them, based upon their identified capabilities.
The results of these two Assessment tools when used together, is a great way to share with the clients their value to ensure success with prospective employers.
By being more confident, the clients will eliminate their fears and apprehensions when making their final career choice.
I use something called a household assessment when working with clients as a case manager. I use it to help identify and address their barriers to employment. This tool enables both my clients and me to collaboratively develop a plan personalized to their needs, supporting them in their job search journey. I also use the Myers-Briggs test when working with clients as a job readiness instructor. This is incorporated in the lesson plans and a recommendation I make to participants who are unsure of their career path and other things even like hobbies, passions, and interests. This assessment allows participants to further explore and understand their own personalities including their likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, possible career preferences, and compatibility with other people.
I love this and agree with you. I definitely want to try to incorporate this. I like the Myers-Briggs test and how you incorporate it into hobbies, passions, and interests.
When working with my clients whether that be students or adults I have them use ONet. For the adults I work with we use a career plan that highlights the career they chose on ONet. They are responsible to look up their chosen career on ONet career search to see how much money that career makes in the state, the training needed, and the skills. Those are just some of the things listed. This gives the individual an outlook of the career and lets them explore things they may not know.
For my high school kids we use the ONet Interest Profiler a lot. I like this because it is a short quiz asking them what they enjoy and what they do not like. It puts in perspective the way they are wired as a person. It shows the things they might like as a career and helps them find out what they like to do.
I agree with you about it putting in perspective how they are wired as a person. I like using the ONet and career plan because it brings to there head more questions that they might not of thought of.
If I was asked to help design a career assessment program for my students, I would use the O*Net Interest Profiler and CareerOne Stop. I would use O*Net because they are given 60 questions, and you don’t think about the questions you are answering. The questions are just meant to briefly look at them and see if you would be interested in the following. We then go over the jobs they could get with their top 3 interests. It could give them a chance to explore a career they might not have thought of for themselves. I use CareerOne Stop because it gives them examples of everything such as job applications, interview skills, video of careers, etc. It is a more involved website and gives them a chance to explore more.
Those are the two that I also chose to work with our youth population. The ONET Interest Assessment has short questions regarding their interests and the CareerOneStop can be used for either job or career development.
I agree, I do like the O*Net assessment because the questions are kind of mindless. They do not require the client to put a lot of thought into it which I think in turn allows them to answer the questions more confidently giving more accurate results.
When helping to design a career assessment program I would incorporate tools from O*Net and MECA to create a system that best highlights a client’s full potential. Both programs focus on skills and interests but MECA also helps identify career goals based on the additional education level and self-perception of their abilities. Each can be used to help with short-term and long-term goals but by combining both O*Net’s comprehensive, data-driven occupational profiles and MECA’s intrinsic and educational pathways you can provide clients with not only career possibilities but also a pathway for self-development and career satisfaction and your clients best chance at job retention.
The career assessment programs that I use with students are CareerOneStop and ONET Profiler. The students enjoy using the CareerOneStop program because it is interactive. They can watch short clips of videos that help them explore careers and they can also take assessments. ONET is also a good tool for them to use because the data that is given provides them with real information regarding their field of interest.
Working as a youth case manager, I would like to see a very intricate, in-depth assessment for each student. I think this should be standard protocol for each school district and each student, similar to a state standardized test, that would involve the students’ teachers, guidance counselors and school psychologists, and outside agencies. The assessment would provide results for which direction the student would be a best fit for, whether that be a 4-year college, trade school, military, enter the workforce (perhaps they excelled in CTC); but also include an interest profiler to see what it is they actually would like to do. Who better to aid in the students’ future success than the individuals who have worked closely with them for the past few years and have studied their learning styles, strengths and weaknesses, and interests.