Individual/Group Assessment in Career Counseling: Nontest Techniques Prof. Dr. Fidan Korkut-Owen 1

Career Counseling Competencies Individual/Group Assessment Assessment? How? Formal Assesments Some formal assesements’ name Informal / qualitative assessment (nontest) Examples Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 2

3  Career Development Theory  Individual and Group Counseling Skills  Individual/Group Assessment  Information/Resources  Program Promotion, Management, and Implementation  Coaching, Consultation, and Performance Improvement  Diverse Populations  Supervision  Ethical/Legal Issues  Research/Evaluation  Technology Career Counseling Competencies

Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 4 Assessment —defined here as the use of any formal or informal technique or instrument to collect data about a client—should still be valued in the 21st century as a tool used by counselors or by clients themselves to gather data useful in the career planning process.

Old and New Approaches The old model of the trait-and-factor approach (often called the “ test-’em and tell-’em” approach) should be replaced with a view of assessment. Assessment is one of several tools that are used to assist the client with career choices; others may include interviewing, use of Web-based career planning systems and sites, group work, and completion of specific assignments (such as informational interviewing, job shadowing, internships, and coursework). Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 5

6 Assessment instruments and techniques are commonly divided into two broad categories: formal (tests) and informal (non-test)

Formal/quantitative assessments Assessments labeled formal may be timed standardized tests or non-timed standardized inventories. Some of the most important properties that counselors need to know when selecting instruments include the following: Validity Reliability Fairness related to diversity Comparison Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 7

Both of them are important Formal and informal assessments should use together Both of them have some advantages and limitations Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 8

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Advantages of formal assesments More concrete results In a short time it is easy to collect data from a big group Limitations of formal assesments Ignoring individial differences, personal meanings Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 10

11 Some Formal Assesments Career Attitudes and Strategies Inventory (Holland & Gottfredson,1994). Career Beliefs Inventory (Krumboltz, 1991) Career Factors Inventory (Chartrand, Robbins, & Morrill, 1997) Career Maturity Inventory (Crites and Savickas, 1995) Career Thoughts Inventory ( Sampson et al., 1996) Career Decision Scale (Osipow et al., 1997) Career Decision Profile (Jones, 1986) Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU

Some interest tests Interest Determination, Exploration, and Assessment System (Johansson,1996 and 2000). Interest Explorer, (Riverside Publishing, 1998) Kuder Career Search with Person Match™, (Zytowski and Kuder, 2003) Self-Directed Search (Holland, 1996) The Strong Interest Inventory, (Strong, 2004) Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 12

Some Skills tests SkillScan, (Beckhusen, 2010) WorkKeys, (ACT, 2010 ) Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 13 Combination of interests and skills Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (Campbell, 2000) The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery ( U.S. Department of Defense, 2005) The Career Planning Survey (ACT, 1997)

Abilities * O*Net Ability Profiler (United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration, 2001b) Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 14 Inventories of personality type * The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (Myers & Briggs, 1998) * The Personality Type Profiler, (Golden, 2004).

Work values O*Net Work Importance Profiler, (United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 2001c) Super’s Work Values Inventory — (revised, Super and Zytowski, 2006) Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 15

Some of the Turkish Scales Kendini De ğ erlendirme Envanteri (KDE) Akademik Benlik Kavramı Ölçe ğ i (ABKÖ) Mesleki Olgunluk Ölçe ğ i Akılcı Olmayan Mesleki İ nançlar Mesleki Uyum ve Mesleki İ yimserlik Ö. Kariyer Gelece ğ i Ölçe ğ i (KARGEL) Kariyer Kararı Ölçe ğ i Çalı ş ma Anlayı ş ı Ölçe ğ i Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 16

Informal / qualitative assessment (non test techniques) Informal assessments.. may need to be altered from client to client.. often consist of games or simulation exercises that are flexible, open-ended, holistic, and non-statistical... are developed according to constructivist ideas. Constructivists believe that there are multiple meanings and multiple realities. Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 17

Advantages of informal assesments They are low cost or free of charge, may not require the ordering of materials in advance, may not require as much time to administer as formal assessments, may be less anxiety-producing for the client. Limitations of informal assesments Interpretation process needs to be very careful. Hard to develop Better to use with formal assessments Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 18

Examples of informal assessments. 1. Card Sorts, 2. Genograms, 3. Time Line, 4. Early Recollections, 5. Life-space Map, 6. Career Fantasy (Guided Imagery), 7. Check Lists, 8. Forced-choice Activities, 9. Structured Interviews, etc Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 19

1.Card sorts Card sorts are possibly the most common form of qualitative assessment available to career counselors. Most card sorts focus on a particular topic, for example occupations, work values, or motivation. Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 20

2.Genograms A genogram, family tree, or occupational tree may uncover the patterns of family influence on a client. For example, information may be gathered on family values in relation to gender roles or education, the nature of family support, socioeconomic and ethnic background, and family patterns of decision making and coping with transition. Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 21

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3. Time/lifeline Constructing lifelines is useful for assisting clients to review their life histories. Through a well constructed timeline, the patterns and themes of the client’s life career may become more visible. Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 23

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4. Early recollections Family themes and patterns become entrenched from an early age In processing the activity, the goal is for clients to discern their life themes and discuss how they might extend into the future. Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 25

5. Life-space map A life-space map is a drawing or diagram by which the client and counselor work together to represent the client’s ideas and feelings in a visual form. The process should be flexible, and the person should be encouraged to draw, use symbols, images, metaphors, icons, or write words or short sentences. Mapping your career life Family career map Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 26

Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 27 mic-constructivist- counselling.com/maps _visualizations4.html

6. Career Fantasy A career fantasy is an activity in which a counselor asks one or more individuals to relax, close their eyes, and imagine an ideal day that includes time at a worksite. Guided imagery Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 28

7. A checklist A checklist is a series of items that may relate to an individual’s preferred work setting, job characteristics, work tasks, work values, interests, or skills Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 29

8. A forced-choice activity A forced-choice activity is one in which an individual is asked to make a choice between two options that are quite different from each other or to rank-order three or more activities. This kind of assessment may be applied to work values, job characteristics, and work settings. Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 30

9. Structured interview In a structured interview a counselor asks questions that are related to some theoretical base. For example, during an intake interview, a counselor might ask a student to provide information about coursework, past jobs, or extracurricular or volunteer activities etc. Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 31

Dr. Korkut-Owen, , METU 32 Thank you