This document provides information about career assessments and making educated career decisions. It discusses the importance of career assessments for improvement, accountability, and goal setting. It then describes different types of assessments, including verbal, written, interest inventories, and skills assessments. The document emphasizes using assessments to develop realistic and feasible career goals and job targets. It also discusses resources for career exploration like books, the internet, and information interviews. The overall message is that career assessments are an important part of making educated career decisions by understanding one's interests and skills.

1. HELPING CLAIMANTS MAKE
EDUCATED CAREER AND
JOB TARGET DECISIONS
PRESENTED BY:
MARSHALL J. KARP, MA NCC LPC
CAREER COUNSELOR

2. Career & Job Target Workshop
 Why do career assessment?
 What is a good assessment?
 How to do basic assessment?
 How to make educated career decisions

3. Why do assessment?
 Improvement
 Accountability
 Goals and Plans

4. Improvement
 Determine where they are at
 Set timeframes
 Achievement

5. Sun Tzu
 If you know the enemy and know yourself, you
need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
 If you know yourself but not the enemy, for
every victory gained you will also suffer a
defeat.
 If you know neither the enemy nor yourself,
you will succumb in every battle”

6. Accountability
 Meeting Expectations
 Clear and Understandable Guidelines

7. What is assessment?
Assessment is a systematic process of looking
at client achievement by gathering, interpreting
and using information for improvement.

8. Basic Vocational Assessment
 Verbal
 Written

9. Verbal Assessment
 What do you want to do?
 Describe your
background/experience/training?
 Why aren’t you doing this?
 Set objectives
 If a realistic and feasible job target, no
need for written assessment
 Set this as a goal

10. Written Assessments
 Identify potential client goals
 Collect, analyze and interpret data
 Develop a direction in writing
 People are enamored with assessments

11. The 3 Laws of Unemployotics
A term coined in late 2010 to describe the
study of the reasons for the long term
unemployed.
I coined it

12. The 3 Laws of Unemployotics
 Improper Job Search Technique
 Element of Choice
 Long, Nasty Job Hunt

13. Job Search Technique
 Traditional Versus Non-Traditional
 Waiting for Rescue
 Why Bother?

14. Element of Choice
 Voluntary
 Non-Voluntary

15. Long, Nasty Job Hunt
 Doing Everything Correctly
 Really Trying
 Encourage Along

16. Basic Vocational Assessments
 Interest Inventory
 Transferable Skills

17. Interest Inventory
 Holland Self-Directed Search
 Matches Interest Areas to Job Titles
 Generates Ideas
 Generates Discussion
 Taking a Step
 People are enamored with assessments

18. Transferable Skills
 Skills that Move from Environment to
Environment
 Often Referred to as “The Basics”

19. Transferable Skills Scale
 Breaks Skills Areas Into Categories
 Matches Categories with Job Titles
 Useful with Interview Skills
 Useful with Resume

20. O*Net Career Interest
Inventory
 U.S. Department of Labor Occupational
Information Network
 Matches interests to job titles

21. Assessment Goals
 Consistency
 Ideas
 Discussion
 Self-Direction
 Self-Motivation
 Realistic and Feasible Goals

22. Ultimate Goal
 Develop a Written Ideal Job Description
 Interests
 Transferable Skills
 Physician’s Restrictions
 What is it?

24.  Car
 Test
 Green
 Zero
 Paper
 Up
 Gross
 Search
 Down
 Great
 Single
 Jelly
 Season
 Tree
 Window
 Lion
 Share
 Purple

26.  Car
 Test
 Green
 Zero
 Paper
 Up
 Gross
 Search
 Down
 Great
 Single
 Jelly
 Season
 Tree
 Window
 Lion
 Share
 Purple

28.  Car
 Test
 Green
 Zero
 Paper
 Up
 Gross
 Search
 Down
 Great
 Single
 Jelly
 Season
 Tree
 Window
 Lion
 Share
 Purple

29. What If No Realistic Goal?
 Indicator of Possible Field
 Look for Patterns
 Need to Find Entry Level Position
 Ask for Ideas
 Post Job Description on Internet Forums
 Beyond the Basic Level of this Workshop
 Referral to Career/Vocational Specialist

30. Career Exploration
 Books
 Internet
 Information Interviews

31. Books
 Occupational Outlook Handbook
 Dictionary of Occupational Titles
 O*NET
 Career Books

32. Internet
 Google Searches
 www.bls.gov/oco
 Occupational Outlook Handbook
 LinkedIn
 U.S. Department of Labor
 http://lmi.state.oh.us
 ODJFS Labor Market Information

33. Caution
 Never base a career or training decision on
book or internet labor market information

34. Employment Projection Limitations
 The projections model also assumes an
unemployment rate of 5.1 percent in 2018.
http://http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco2006.htm

35. Employment Projection Limitations
 As with all forecasts and projections, Labor
Market Projections are subject to error,
especially if events negate underlying
assumptions.
http://lmi.state.oh.us/proj/projections.htm

36. Never Base Career Decision on
Trends
 1960s – Math, Science, Engineering
 1970’s – Solar, Wind, Gasohol
 1980s – Teaching
 1990s – Computers, Y2K
 2000s – Internet, Telecommute, Security
 20--s – Healthcare, Green Energy

37. Information Interviews
 Talking to people to research the job or
career
 Always have questions prepared in
advance
 Stress this will help make a career/training
decision
 Get names of two other people
 Always send a thank you note

38. Questions
 What skills are important?
 What personality traits are important?
 What training/school would you suggest?
 How many employees do you have?
 How often do you hire here?
 Is this industry expected to grow?
 Starting salary and after one year?
 What are the physical requirements?
 Names of two other people?

39. Look for Consensus
 People in the field are considered subject
matter experts
 Do five information interviews and look for
consistency
 Continue to do information interviews until a
trend develops
 Verify!

40. Making Educated Decisions
 Labor market information is crucial
 Need to know what to expect when done
 Get subject matter experts to lay out the
training/school

41. Effective Performance Documentation
 Relate to goals
 Focus on the vital few elements to measure
 Foster improvement
 Are well communicated and measurable
 Are reviewed as often as appropriate
 Provide information on level, trend and
comparative/competitive data
 Focus on the long-term well-being of the client

42. Achievement Blockers
 Fuzzy goals or action strategies
 Incorrect focus
 No agreement on priorities

43. Assessment
Reveals the Gap
Client Start Point
Bridgeing the Gap
Client Goal

44. Effective Career Planning
Closes the Gap
Client Start Point
Client Goal

45. Identify Strategies for Change
 What will you do to reach goal?
 Which program elements could assist?

46. Remember
 Be flexible, adaptive and prepared to
adjust to change
 There will always be problems
 Things always change (mandates,
circumstance, personal priorities)
 View assessment and goals as an
evolutionary process

48. Bibliography
 Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational
Outlook Handbook, 2009-10 Edition
 The O*Net Dictionary of Occupational Titles, Jist Works, Inc.
Indianapolis, IN. 1998
 U.S. Department of Labor, Dictionary of Occupational Titles, Jist
Works, Inc, Indianapolis, IN. 1991
 What Color Is Your Parachute?: A Practical Manual for Job Hunters
and Career Changers, Richard N. Bolles, 2010
 JIST Inc. – (800) 648-JIST
 Handouts are at www.marshalljkarp.com
 Handouts are at www.slideshare.net/marshallkarp

49. NEED MORE
INFORMATION?
Marshall J. Karp MA NCC LPC
Career Counselor
marshallkarp@hotmail.com