Competency Category:

Competency Series:

14.3 – Use Assessment Tools and Approaches

Purpose & Context

Career Development Professionals (CPDs) guide clients in the using a range of assessment methods (self-directed and CDP facilitated) to inform career decisions. This enables the client to have clarity on their traits such as strengths, interests, and values, explore learning and work options, and make informed decisions about career goals.Career Development Professionals will determine what assessment methods are appropriate based on the evaluation of client needs.

Effective Performance

Competent career development professionals must be able to:

P1. Formulate assessment options aligned with client’s objectives, considering:
- Socio-economic context
- Career choices and career determinants
- Current and future labour market conditions
P2. Explain the purpose of assessment methods, for example:
- Gain insights into own values, beliefs, and work preferences
- Identify strengths and areas of improvement
- Identify career options and possibilities not yet considered
P3. Present assessment approach options, such as:
- Self-assessments, e.g. workbook
- Standardized assessment tools and inventories, e.g. career interest, personality inventory
- Informal assessments, e.g. dependable strengths, pattern identification exercise, mapping
P4. Select proposed assessment strategy with the client:
- Describe the selected assessment(s)
- Inform client how results will be used
P5. Obtain informed consent, as required, e.g. standardized tests
P6. Implement assessment strategies, e.g. facilitate guiding circle, administer assessment method, provide
self-assessment tools and resources
P7. Review assessment findings with client
P8. Identify next steps with client, e.g. set a career goal
P9. Document interaction

Knowledge & Understanding

Competent career development professionals must know and understand:

K1. Career development theories and models underpinning assessment methods
K2. Categories of assessment methods, for example:
- Personality inventories
- Interest assessments
- Abilities and skills assessments
- Self-directed questionnaires and inventories
- Narrative story telling
- Structured activities, e.g. pattern identification exercises, creating mini self-portraits
K3. Standardized/formal assessment versus non-standardized/informal assessment
K4. Norms and sampling in standardized assessment
K5. Prediction and discrimination in standardized assessment
K6. Testing principles and ethical use of tests
K7. Cautions and limitations in the use of assessment
K8. Appropriate purpose/uses of assessment

Contextual Variables

Competent career development professionals must be able to perform this competency in the following range of contexts:

Clients who present with complex barriers or issues may require the support of a career development professional throughout the assessment process.

Glossary & Key References

Terms

Industry-specific terms contained in the standard defined here, where applicable.

None

Information Sources and Resources for Consideration

Standards of Educational and Psychological Testing. American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, 2014. ISBN 978-0-935302-35-6 Washington DC

Context Rating Scales

Criticality

Q: What is the consequence of a professional being unable to perform this skill according to the standard?

Moderate risk: CRITICAL

Frequency

Q: How frequent and under what conditions is this skill performed?

Routinely, regular course of procedure

Level of Difficulty

Q: Under routine circumstances, how would you rate the level of difficulty in performing this skill?

Moderate difficulty or complexity

Time Required to Gain Proficiency

Q: What is the average length of time or number of repeated events that are minimally necessary for an individual to become proficient in performing the skill to the standard?

A competent career development professional requires a minimum of one year of experience with at least 40 different clients, representing a broad range of individuals.

Autonomy

Practitioners typically perform this competency without supervision, and alone.

Automation

It is somewhat likely that this competency will automate.

Requisite Work Aids, Tools, Equipment or Materials

None

Our Purpose

Thank you for being a part of the Career Development Professional Centre. To ensure that all members have the best possible experience, we have a few ground rules that we ask everyone to adhere to. This code of conduct applies equally to every person in the community and is intended to foster an online space that is inclusive, safe, and welcoming to all.

Centre Rules

Be welcoming

We strive to be a place that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. We aim to be a place that promotes excellence and innovation in career and workforce development. Please extend respect to all members; we all come from different backgrounds and levels of knowledge and there is no such thing as a stupid question.

Be respectful

We won’t all agree all the time, but when we disagree don’t let those disagreements turn into personal attacks. A place where people feel uncomfortable or threatened will not be a productive one. When having discussions in the online community, commenting on a library article, or participating in other Centre activities, strive for productive conversations around the content being presented, not the person behind the content. Any comments determined to be “hate speech” towards any individual or group will be deleted, and the user account may be locked until an investigation regarding the comment has been concluded. The user may be given a written warning or removed from the CPDC platform depending on the findings of the investigation.

Hate Speech could include and is not limited to:

Violent threats or language directed against another person

Discriminatory jokes, language, or materials

Defamatory or abusive language or materials

Profane or illegal materials

Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior

A good rule of thumb is to never say anything that you wouldn’t be comfortable with the world seeing or that you wouldn’t want anyone knowing came from you. We ask that you keep in mind the focus of this place, which is building excellence and innovation in career and workforce development for all individuals.

Be considerate of the purpose of the Centre

The Centre focuses on building excellence and discussing innovation in the career and workforce development field. The goal of the social learning community is to communicate goals, challenges, constructive feedback, and questions in relation to career and workforce development. The Centre should be a place for continued learning and development as well as a place to discuss the future of our field (solicitation without written consent by the Project or Advisory team, is strictly prohibited). Any post or comment that is determined to be soliciting any individual or group will be deleted, and the user account may be locked until an investigation regarding the post has been concluded. The user may be given a written warning or removed from the CPDC platform depending on the findings of the investigation.

Post your discussions or documents in the most appropriate group or topic

Especially within the social learning community, make reasonable efforts to ensure that posts and materials are allocated to the appropriate group or topic. This will prevent cluttering the feed and make it easier for everyone to find the information that they are seeking. Individuals who do this repeatedly will be contacted by one of the group admins and asked to follow these guidelines.