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14 - Using Vocational Assessment Tests

from Part II - Specific Clinical Assessment Methods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2019

By
Jane L. Swanson
Edited by
Martin Sellbom  and
Julie A. Suhr
Martin Sellbom
Affiliation:
University of Otago, New Zealand
Julie A. Suhr
Affiliation:
Ohio University
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Summary

Vocational assessment includes tests designed to measure work-related characteristics, such as interests, values, personality, skills, abilities, and self-efficacy. Vocational assessment is typically conducted to provide information for the client in the context of individual career counseling or other career intervention, but also may be used in other settings within professional psychology. The primary goals typically are to increase individuals’ self-exploration and self-understanding, and to improve outcomes such as career choice fit or job satisfaction. This chapter describes commonly used measures of interests (Strong Interest Inventory, Self-Directed Search, and O*NET Interest Profiler), work values (Minnesota Importance Questionnaire and O*NET Work Importance Profiler), self-efficacy (Skills Confidence Inventory), and career adaptability (Career Adapt-Abilities Scale), as well as using traditional measures of personality. Future directions include integrated assessment platforms, connection of results to databases of occupational information, and attention to intersecting gender and cultural identities.

Keywords

vocational assessmentcareer choicevocational interestswork valuesself-efficacycareer adaptability
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis , pp. 180 - 190
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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