September 2008

Assessing Assessment Tools

By

Jane M. Lommel, Ph.D.

President of Workforce Associates

We are well into the second half of 2008 and the economy is clearly headed into recession--if it's not already in one. It's a good time for you to reassess your skills and talents.

If you haven't ever taken a self-assessment test, you may be surprised to find out what your values are. If you haven't taken a test in quite awhile, you may also be surprised to note that your earlier interests and talents have melded into new combinations. The great thing about these tests is that there are no right or wrong answers. And because you can take them online, you'll get quick results to start your next career search with more confidence.

Most of the Fortune 100 best companies to work for are using one or more of assessment tests to determine whether a job seeker matches the corporate culture of their particular company. With the cost of a wrong hire equaling one's first year salary, it's easily understandable why companies are turning to these sophisticated tools.

The world of online assessment tools is broad. Practically every university career resource center has information for its students and alums to use in starting their careers or making transitions. I have reviewed many of the links that these centers offer and have come up with a "hit" list of free or inexpensive resources for you to consider. Since none of them takes a lot of time, have fun taking at least three of these tests to see what patterns in your values and interests emerge consistently.

The Birkman Method

This is short, simple forced-choice free test that asks respondents to choose between two categories, even if they don't particularly like either one. After you have answered the 24 questions, you will get a general description of your interests, skills, and preferred style (described in terms of the "Birkman Colors"), as well as a list of career areas that all of this points to.

Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS)

The CISS assessment uses targeted questions and analysis to help you understand how you will fit into the world of work after some post-secondary education. This test is provided by NCS Pearson, a leading publisher of career assessments for nearly 30 years, and author David Campbell, Ph.D., an internationally recognized expert in the field of career exploration. The fee for this test is nominal.

The Career Key

The Career Key, Lawrence Jones's interactive instrument, is a test that is also designed to determine your "Holland Code." It's relatively brief to take--though longer than the Career Interests Game--and does well at linking its list of occupations directly to the renowned Occupational Outlook Handbook in its current edition. By clicking on any occupation in Career Key's list, you will be taken to a detailed description of that occupation online. The inventory can be completed in ten to twenty minutes. Bookmark the results page so you can return and explore more career options!

The Career Interests Game

This is an exercise designed to help you match job seeker interests and skills with similar careers. It can help you begin thinking about how your personality will fit in with specific work environments and careers.

This educational game is based on Dr. John Holland's theory that people and work environments can be generally classified into six different groups. Different peoples' personalities may find different environments more to their liking. While you may have some interests in and similarities to several of the six groups, you may be attracted primarily to two or three of the areas. These two or three letters are your Holland Code.

For example, if you choose R then E and then S you would most resemble the Realistic type, somewhat less resemble the Enterprising type, and resemble the Social type even less. The types that are not in your code are the types you resemble least of all. Most people, and most jobs, are some combination of two or three of the Holland interest areas.

Realistic	Investigative	Artistic	Social	Enterprising	Conventional
People who have athletic or mechanical ability prefer to work with objects, machines, tools, plants or animals, or to be outdoors.	People who like to observe, learn, investigate, analyze, evaluate or solve problems.	People who have artistic, innovating or intuitional abilities and like to work in unstructured situations using their imagination and creativity.	People who like to work with people to enlighten, inform, help, train, or cure them, or are skilled with words.	People who like to work with people, influencing, persuading, performing, leading or managing for organizational goals or economic gain.	People who like to work with data, have clerical or numerical ability, carry out tasks in detail or follow through on others' instructions.