Building a Comprehensive Career Assessment System

© 2005 All Rights Reserved—The Widing Group

Comprehensive Assessment

Building a Career Assessment System

Presented by Michele Martin

© 2005 All Rights Reserved. The Widing Group

Overview

• What is Comprehensive Assessment?

• Using the Employment Readiness Framework

• The “Rules” of Assessment

• Assessment Tools, Services and Strategies from Core through Employment Follow-up


A Comprehensive Assessment System. . .

• Helps customers determine their marketability.

• Identifies specific factors that influence a customer’s readiness for employment in a timely, structured fashion.

• Uses formal and informal tools that engage customers in the process of gathering self-knowledge.

• Occurs at critical points in the service process to allow customers to make informed choices about services.


Purposes of Comprehensive Assessment

For job seeker customers:

• Gather knowledge for career and employment plan

• Identify One-Stop services to access

For business customers:

• Refer qualified candidates

For staff:

• Identify need for Intensive & Training services

• Determine “ability to benefit”

• Facilitate career/service plan

• High quality job matching/ referrals


The Career Planning Process

• Assessment

• Exploration– Occupational– Industry– Education– Supportive Services

• Structured decision-making & planning


A Career Plan

Assessment Explore Options Make Decision

CAREER PLAN

•Goals

•Strategies

•Timelines

Job Search Education/ Training

User-friendly document that is meaningful to customer

Is Customer Career Ready?


Employment Readiness

• Pre-Activity Ready--barriers sufficient to preclude active preparation for employment.

• Activity/Training Ready--able to participate in training or other activities to prepare for employment.

• Employment Ready--able to obtain some kind of employment, but not career path employment.

• Career Ready—able to obtain career path employment.


“Pre-Activity” Ready

• Substance abuse with no active treatment plan

• Mental health with no active treatment plan

• Homelessness (involuntary)• Multiple barriers (i.e.,

childcare, transportation, etc.)


“Activity/Training Ready”

• Barriers have been addressed to allow participation in activities/training

• Customer needs:– Literacy skill development– Occupational skill development– Workplace literacy skills– Work experience (AWEP/CWEP)


“Employment Ready”

• Has addressed barriers• Has skills sufficient to obtain

low skill/entry-level employment

• May work PT• Customer needs:

– Job search preparation– Additional skill development– Active job development


“Career Ready”

• Has addressed all barriers

• Has skills sufficient to obtain career path employment in the local labor market.

• Customer needs:

– Job search preparation/support

– Job development


Areas of Assessment

• Literacy—Basic Skills (Reading, Math & Computer literacy)

• Interests & Aptitudes

• Work Values

• Transferable skills

• Occupational skills

• Career Management Skills

• Job Readiness/ Retention Skills

• Barriers to Employment Success


“Rules of Assessment”

• Use a combination of tools and strategies to obtain a holistic picture of the customer.

• Assessment is done WITH the customer, not TO or FOR.

• “Collect all the information you can use and use all the information you collect.”

• Assessment results drive service delivery.

• Assessment must be linked to exploration of options.


Assessment in Core Services


Core is for Customers Who:

• Have marketable skills in a demand occupation

• Can use self-directed and workshop services to job search


Purpose of Assessment

• Triage:

– Can the customer use Core Services to obtain career path employment?

– What Core Services should the customer utilize to develop and implement his/her career & job search plan?


Can the Customer Use Core?Identify:

• Literacy issues that interfere with career path employment

• Occupational skill deficits in demand occupations

• Ability to obtain career path employment using self-directed & workshop job search activities.


What Core Services?

Identify:

• What assessment information the customer needs

• What work the customer will pursue

• Job search tools and techniques to develop


Tools

• Am I Ready to Job Search?

• Internet-based assessments

• Checklists, inventories, etc.

• Service Indicator Tools

• TABE Indicator

• Resume, other work documentation


Using the Tools

• Self-Directed

– Guides

– Signs

– Charts

– “Job Aids”

• Staff-facilitated

– Help Desk

– Orientation

– Staff Q&A

– Workshops

– Staff and peer facilitated support groups


InitialComprehensive

Assessment


Purpose of Assessment

Determine:

• “Ability to benefit”

• Are WIA Intensive Services suitable for the customer?

• What Intensive and supportive services should the customer access?


WIA Intensive Services

• Intensive Job Search Support & Job Development

– For customers with the occupational/transferable skills to be competitive in the job market.

• Training

– For customers who need further skill development to be competitive in the job market--followed by job search support.


Ability to Benefit

• Who is most likely to benefit from WIA services to obtain WIA goals?

– Are the customer’s goals consistent with WIA goals?

– Does the customer demonstrate the ability to comply with WIA expectations?

– Do WIA services provide the most appropriate supports for the customer?

• What WIA services are most appropriate for the customer to obtain goals?


Suitability of WIA for Customer

• Does the customer have a career plan with goals that are consistent with WIA goals?

• Has the customer been facilitated to making an “informed choice” about services?

• Will the customer be accessing the WIA services most appropriate for his/her goals?


Information to Obtain

• Any assessment information gathered during Core

• More detailed information on:– Career Goals

– Literacy needs

– Occupational Skill needs

– Work Readiness/Retention

– Job Search Preparation

– Customer commitment


Assessment Tools

• CareerScope

• Self-Directed Search (SDS)

• Barriers to Employment Success (BESI)

• Employment Inventory (EI)

• TABE, CASAS

• Job Search Attitude Inventory (JSAI)

• SkillCheck, Essential Skills Database

• Card sorts, checklists

• Structured Interviews


Using the Tools

• Self-Directed– Guides– “Homework

assignments”

• Group– Workshops (in

Core or as an Intensive service)

– “Group case management”

• One-on-One– Individually

scheduled testing

– Individual interpretation


Outcomes of Initial Comprehensive Assessment

• Comprehensive Career & Service Plan

• Determination of ability to benefit from WIA services

• Identification of most appropriate Intensive services


Ongoing Assessment


Purposes of Ongoing Assessment

• Track developing proficiency levels in skills training programs

• Identify and address changing circumstances


Areas to Assess

• Skill development– Literacy– Occupational Skills– Employability Skills

• Potential barriers to success

• Job Search needs


Timing of Ongoing Assessments

• For literacy—every 50 hours of instruction

• Ongoing testing, competency assessment throughout skills training programs

• Two weeks prior to transition from one activity to the next.


Assessment Tools

• Tools from Initial Comprehensive Assessment (as appropriate)

• Rubrics, observation checklists

• Structured Interview Forms


Transitioning to EmploymentWHEN IS IT TIME TO JOB

SEARCH?

Customer has the occupational and

employability skills to obtain and retain

employment


Transitional Assessments

• Job Search Assessment

• Exit Interview

• Follow-up Assessment for Retention & Advancement


Job Search Assessment

• Assessment to ensure that customer is “Employment” or “Career Ready”

• Identify job search preparation needs:

– Tools

– Search techniques

– Interview & follow-up skills


Assessment at “Exit”

Exit Interview:• Review/revise career & service

plan• Provide resource information• Review follow-up

procedures/expectations• Establish e-mail account• Review incentive plan (where

applicable)• Customer satisfaction survey


Follow-Up Assessment

• Offer ongoing skill assessments

• Work with employer to coordinate assessment activities, offer assessment as a service

• Pro-active identification of potential barriers to success

• Utilization of Core Services for ongoing career planning


Presented by:

Michele Roy MartinThe Widing Group936 N. 5th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19123(215) 923-4059