Sunday, September 23, 2007

Career Tests for Special Education High School Students

For special education high school students, we would recommend tests that use pictures to identify Holland Codes and careers.

Examples of Holland Code Picture Tests (http://www.hollandcodes.com/picture-interest-test.html) are -

Paint Careers With Colors
PICS Career Survey

Paint Careers With Colors

kid career test

The Paint Careers With Colors Kids Job Test uses self-by-step activities, career games for Kids, and kids activities for career choices to highlight Holland Codes or Colors to Careers Codes. On each page, you choose the careers that you like or are interested in.

kid career test

At the end of the job test for kids, you summarize your results. The Summary Sheet identifies your Holland Codes or Colors to Careers Codes.

kid career test

The Paint Careers With Colors Kids Career Test comes with a Colors to Careers Career Model and Colors to Careers Code or Holland Code Descriptions. The Paint Careers With Colors Child Career Test is an excellent tool to introduce you to career exploration, Holland Codes, and Colors to Careers Codes. The graphics hold your attention as you identify your career interests.

Colors to Careers Posters

kid career test

Over three hundred (300) Colors to Careers Posters feature graphics, Holland Codes, and Colors to Careers Codes. The Colors to Careers Posters are Easy Scoring. You sort the posters quickly according to likes and dislikes. At the end of the poster sorting exercise, you will have your Holland Code and Colors to Careers Code. The posters are an excellent way to explore careers. The poster shows you’re the relationship between Holland Codes, Colors to Careers Codes, and careers.

Colors to Careers Poster Color Key

kid career test

The Colors to Careers Color Chart shows all of the information listed on the posters –

Job Titles
Career Color Codes
3 letter Holland Codes
Colors to Careers Poster Numbers

The Paint Careers With Colors Career Assessment for Kids comes with –

Paint Careers With Colors Overview
Introduction to Teachers, Counselors, and Parents
Paint Careers With Colors Career Test
Colors to Careers Poster Instruction Sheets
Colors to Careers Color Chart
Colors to Careers Posters

Paint Careers With Colors Career Tests for Kids (Value $440): BEST DEAL OF THE YEAR

Cost: $99.95/ Back to School Price $50 (Savings of $390)

The Paint Careers With Colors Job Tests for Kids comes in CD-ROM and Download Versions. When you make a Paint Careers With Colors Job Tests for Kids purchase, we will call you to provide an overview of Paint Careers With Colors Job Tests for Kids.

Cost: $50 CD-ROM & Download Versions


Picture Interest Survey

PICS Career Survey

The PICS Career Survey is a Picture Interest Test and an easy-to-do Holland Code assessment that uses 36 sets of 3 pictures as a quick way to –

Explore their career interests
Find a job that fits

The PICS Career Survey is an excellent career test for ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS and for other people -

Who are In ESL/GED programs
Who have limited reading ability
Who have limited knowledge of English
Who are developmentally delayed
Who are learning disabled
Who have special needs
Who have limited access to education
Who are chronically unemployed

The PICS Interest Test -

Takes less than fifteen minutes to complete and score
Uses pictures of people at work
Is self-administered and self-scored

To finish the Career Survey (PICS), you -

Look at 36 sets of 3 pictures.
Choose which of the three portrayed occupations seems most interesting.
Total the number and kind of pictures selected.

As bonuses, with each purchase, you receive the Career Locator and Career Planning Worksheet.

The Career Locator matches Holland Code interest areas to 600 careers. Careers are placed in one of the following groups – Careers that require Short Term On-the-Job-Training, Moderate Term On-the-Job-Training, Long Term On-the-Job-Training, Associate Degree, Bachelor’s Degree, Professional Degree, and Postsecondary Vocational Training.

On the Career Planning Worksheet, you record information about education required, projected earning, job outlook, skills, and next step.

Cost: $8

Read about tests....

Differences between the SDS Form R, E, & E

We have received e-mails asking about the differences between the Self-Directed Search Form R, E, and Career Explorer.

The three versions of the Self-Directed Search are -

Self-Directed Search Career Explorer (Middle and Junior High Students) - These students are planning to attend college or even graduate school.
Self-Directed Search Form R (Adults, High School and College Students) - These students are planning to enter technical schools, apprenticeships, 2 year colleges, or full-time employment.
Self-Directed Search Form E ( Students and Adults with lower reading levels)

Self Directed Search Assessment & Finder Form R
Self Directed Search Form R






The Self Directed Search Assessment Form R is -

Easy to use - Complete the career assessment in 30 minutes.
Tested, proven, and dependable - Used by over 22 million people worldwide.
An excellent resource

The Self-Directed Search gives you a two or three-letter RIASEC or Holland code that tells the relationship between job personalities, key characteristics, college majors, hobbies, abilities, and careers.

The Form R Assessment Booklet consists of several sections: Ranking Activities, Competencies, Occupations, Self-Estimates, How To Organize Your Answers, What Your Summary Code Means, Some Next Steps, and Some Useful Books.

The 198-item Assessment Booklet is written at a 9th-grade reading level. The Self Directed Search Form R Occupations Finder has a list of 1,309 occupations matched to Holland Codes.

Price: $10.00/ Form R Assessment & Finder Printed Version

Self Directed Search Form R Internet Version

With each purchase, the user receives by e-mail an identification number and password to generate a confidential, eight-to-twelve page interpretive report including information about 1,309 occupations matched to Holland Codes. After an individual takes the test and enters the User ID number and assigned password, the customized report is sent directly to the test-taker’s computer, where it can be stored or printed for easy reference.

Price: $10.00/ Form R Internet Version

Self Directed Search Assessment & Finder Form E

Self directed Search Form E






The Self Directed Search Assessment Form E and Job Finder is for clients who have limited reading skills. The reading level is 4th to 6th grade levels.-Self Directed Search Assessment & Finder Form E

The Self Directed Search Assessment Form E and Job Finder is for clients who have limited reading skills. The reading level is 4th to 6th grade levels.

Price: $12.00/ Form E Assessment & Finder Printed Version

SDS Assessment and Career Booklet Form Career Explorer
Self Directed Search Career Explorer

The Self Directed Search Career Explorer (SDS CE) Assessments and Career Booklets are for clients, students, and children who have a reading level of 3rd grade.

Price: $15.00/ Form CE Assessment & Finder Printed Version

SDS Bulk Prices

We also have bulk price sheets -
With each bulk purchase, you receive a free Holland Code Toolkit.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

MBTI Tests and Books for Teens

Use Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) career assessments, tests, and books to -
  • Uncover your personality, interests, abilities, skills, and talents
  • Explore careers, college majors, and colleges

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Logo

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) assessment is the most widely used personality assessment in the world – more than 2 million assessments worldwide each year.

  • Reliable, valid, versatile, and dependable - Used for more than 50 years
  • Guide to understand individual differences
  • Source of understanding on how people think, communicate, and interact

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a career assessment test and a personality test. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) types are in four groups –

  • Extraversion / Introversion
  • Sensing / Intuition
  • Thinking / Feeling
  • Judging / Perceiving

The type indicates a preference.

  • The Extrovert prefers to focus on other people and things.
  • The Introvert prefers to focus on internal thoughts and ideas.
  • The Sensing person prefers to use the five senses to receive information.
  • The Intuitive person receives input from internal thinking processes.
  • The Thinking persons judges using logic.
  • The Feeling person uses affective measures to judge.
  • The Judging aspect of the type results in sequential step-by-step mental processing.
  • The Perceiving responds in a spontaneous and flexible way.

The results from the MBTI produces the 16 types –

  1. ISTJ
  2. ISFJ
  3. INFJ
  4. INTJ
  5. ISTP
  6. ISFP
  7. INFP
  8. INTP
  9. ESTP
  10. ESFP
  11. ENFP
  12. ENTP
  13. ESTJ
  14. ESFJ
  15. ENFJ
  16. ENTJ

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Career Report

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator MBTI Career Report is a career exploration tool that helps you –

  • Identify strengths and weakness that may influence the career exploration process
  • Identify job families
  • Choose a potential career
  • Select a college or other form of training
  • Provide information necessary to evaluate a possible career transition or job shift
  • Develop a career plan
MBTI Career Report

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator MBTI Career Report has information on –
  • MBTI Results – Reported Type and Clarity of Reported Preferences
  • MBTI Types and Career Choice – preferred work environments, and action steps
  • MBTI Types and Career Exploration – Strengths, challenges, strategies, and action steps
  • MBTI Types and Career Development – Strengths, challenges, strategies, and action steps
  • MBTI Types and Job Families – Job family ranking, Most attractive job families, Moderately attractive job families, Least attractive job families, Most popular occupations, Least popular occupations, and Tips for succeeding in atypical occupation.

MBTI Career Report

Delivery Information:

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Career Report is an ON-LINE, Holland Code career self assessment test. When you complete your transaction, you will receive two e-mails. The first e-mail confirms payment received. The second e-mail lists the following information -

  • Product Title
  • Transaction ID
  • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Career Report Web Site Link
  • Username
  • Password
  • Our contact e-mail explorecareers@qwest.net

Once you are transferred to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Career Report web site, you enter your User Name and Password, and access to the web site is immediate.

COST for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Career Report: $60/ Sale Price $50


What Type am I

What Type Am I?: The Myers-Brigg Type Indication Made Easy

What Type Am I?: The Myers-Brigg Type Indication Made Easy presents information about individual strengths and weaknesses along with suggestions for personal growth and awareness. Insightful, helpful, and encouraging, What Type Am I?: The Myers-Brigg Type Indication Made Easy is the only user-friendly guide to the MBTI--and an eminently useful step in helping individuals appreciate, and apply their strength, to work, love, and life.

Read about other teen assessments....

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Career Clusters, A Bridge...

Career Clusters, A Bridge Between Education and Career Planning

Since 1960s, career cluster resources have been used as career exploration and planning tools in schools, learning communities, and organizations across the nation. Career Clusters is a system that matches educational and career planning.

Step 1: Identifying Career Cluster Interest Areas

Career clusters are groups of similar occupations and industries. When teachers, counselors, and parents work with teens, college students, and adults, the first step is to complete career cluster assessment. The assessment identifies the highest career cluster areas. Career assessments show teens, college students, and adults rankings from one of the following 16 Interests Areas or Clusters:

1. Agriculture, Food, & Natural Resources
2. Architecture & Construction
3. Arts, A/V Technology & Communication
4. Business, Management & Administration
5. Education & Training
6. Finance
7. Government & Public Administration
8. Health Science
9. Hospitality & Tourism
10. Human Services
11. Information Technology
12. Law, Public Safety & Security
13. Manufacturing
14. Marketing, Sales & Service
15. Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
16. Transportation, Distribution & Logistics

Examples of career cluster assessments are -

  • Career Exploration Inventory
  • Guide for Occupational Exploration Interest Inventory
  • Kuder Career Planning System

Step 2: Exploring Career Clusters and Related Careers

After pinpointing the highest career clusters, teens, college students, and adults explore the different careers and create education plans. Career cluster tools used in career and educational planning include:

  • LISA: A comprehensive career cluster database
  • Models
  • Brochures
  • Pathways
  • High school plan of study
  • Interest and Skills Areas
  • Crosswalks

After completing a career cluster assessment, teens, college students, and adults look at web sites, career models, brochures, pathways, and high school plans. One of the most unique comprehensive career cluster resources is the Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA), an Internet program. LISA lets you explore career clusters, careers, abilities, training requirements, and more. There are 3 steps in the LISA program:

STEP 1: Click here to select a Career Cluster
STEP 2: Click here to select a Career Group
STEP 3: Explore Occupations within this Career Group

In Step 1, when you choose a career cluster, you will see a description of the cluster. When you select a career group in Step 2, you see different careers. Finally, in Step 3, you see a wealth of information:

  • Job descriptions
  • Educational and training requirements
  • Crosswalks, for example ONET, DOT, GOE, and other codes
  • Abilities
  • Knowledge
  • Skills
  • Tasks
  • Work Values
  • Labor Market Information

Even though LISA is an awesome program, in classroom or workshop settings, you need printed materials. When using printed materials, the career model is the best place to start. Models provide excellent overviews listing the cluster definitions, sample careers, pathways, knowledge, and skills. Visual models show career clusters, the cluster subgroups, and related careers. Models are an excellent way to introduce career clusters.

For presentations, workshops, and group discussions, the career cluster brochures provide additional information. Adults and teens read about the different careers that are available in each career cluster. Teachers, counselors, and parents use the brochures to solidify adults’ and teens’ potential career or educational decisions. The brochures cover topics such as:

  • Definition of career clusters
  • Careers
  • Career pathways
  • Employment outlooks
  • Skills
  • Credentials

Teachers, counselors, and parents use career pathways for more detailed information. The career pathways are subgroups or areas of concentration within career clusters. Each pathway contains career groups. The career groups have similar academic skills, technical skills, educational requirements, and training requirements. Career pathways are plans of study that outline required secondary courses, post secondary courses, and related careers. The career pathways are essential tools that teachers, counselors, parents, and other adults use to give educational planning advice.

Several web sites feature High School Plans of Study. These study plans show required, elective, and suggested courses for each grade level. The school plans also match the career clusters to related careers, career pathways, and post-secondary options. Teachers, counselors, and parents find that these school plans are guides for selecting the right high school courses to match potential careers. Beyond high school, the Utah System for Higher Education has created a College Major Guide. Parents, teachers, and counselors can use the guide to match college majors to Certificate and Degree Programs.

Additional Resources for Counselors and Teachers

For planning curriculum and educational programs, there are detailed Knowledge and Skills Charts and Cluster Crosswalks. The knowledge and Skills expand upon the information listed on the career cluster models. For each knowledge and skill area, there are performance elements and measurement criteria. Crosswalks show the relationships between career clusters and other career models:

Career clusters build a bridge between education and career planning. Different types of career cluster resources are available: videos, web sites, booklets, brochures, activity sheets, and workbooks. Teachers, counselors, and parents use career cluster resources to successfully complete career and educational planning.

Resources:

American Careers Career Paths, Career Communications, 6701 W. 64th St., Overland, KS 66202, 800-669-7795

Career Click, Illinois Department of Employment Security,33 South State Street, Chicago, IL 60603, (312) 793-5700

CIP Code Index by Career Cluster, Adult & Postsecondary CTE Division, Bureau of Career and Technical Education, 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17126, (717) 772-0814

Cluster and Career Videos, Career One Stop, U.S. Department of Labor, Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20210, 866-4-USA-DOL

College Major Guide Utah System for Higher Education, Board of Regents Building, The Gateway, 60 South 400 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1284, (801) 321-7100

Find Careers (Videos), iSeek Solutions, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, Wells Fargo Place, 30 7th St. E., Suite 350, St. Paul, MN 55101-7804

High School Plans of Study, New Hampshire Department of Education, 101 Pleasant Street Concord, NH 03301-3860, (603) 271-3494 Introduction to Career Clusters, Career Education, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, P.O. Box 543 Blacklick, OH 43004-0544,

Louisiana Integrated Skills Assessment (LISA), customized Internet version of OSCAR, a product of the Texas Workforce Commission/Career Development Resources, TWC/CDR, Austin, TX 78753

Maryland Career Clusters, Maryland State Department of Education 200 West Baltimore Street Baltimore, MD 21201,

Rhodes Island’s Career Clusters, Rhode Island’s Career Resource Network, 1511 Pontiac Avenue, Cranston, RI 02920, 401-462-8790

School to Career Clusters, State of Connecticut, Department of Labor, Job Bank, 645 South Main Street, Middletown, CT 06457, (860)754-5000

States’ Career Clusters Initiative (SCCI), 1500 W. Seventh Avenue, Stillwater, OK 74074 Career Pathway Plans, Career Cluster, Knowledge and Skills Charts

VTECS Cluster Frameworks, VTECS, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA, 30033,404-679-4501 ext 543

What are Career Clusters? Career Prospects System, New Mexico Career Resource Network, CAREER TECHNICAL AND WORKFORCE EDUCATION BUREAU (CTWEB), Education Building, 300 Don Gaspar, Santa Fe, NM 87501, (505) 827-6512

Adapted from article posted at EzineArticles.com.


Friday, September 07, 2007

Transferable Skills Article, Web Sites, and Tests

To be successful in the workplace, employees have to possess transferable skills. Knowing about these skills will help teens and adults prepare to be successful in the workplace. Transferable skills are a product of our talents, traits and knowledge. These skills determine how you respond to new activities, work situations or jobs.

Transferable skills are non-job specific skills that you have acquired during any activity or life experiences. Student activities and experiences include campus and community activities, class projects, and assignments, hobbies, athletic activities, internships and summer part-time jobs.

Transferable skills skills fall into three (3) groups: Working with people, working with things, and working with data/information. These terms are defined below:

  • Working with people skills happen when people sell, train, advise, and negotiate.
  • Working with things skills occur when people repair, operate machinery, sketch, survey, or troubleshoot.
  • Working with data/information skills involve budgeting, researching, and analyzing.

The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) is a model for transferable skills resources and web sites. In 1990, a commission of schools, government, unions, and corporations developed five SCAN competencies and three SCAN foundation skills. The five (5) Competencies are: Resources, information, interpersonal, systems, and technology.

The meanings of the competencies are:

  • Resources competencies describe the allocation of time, money, material resources, facility resources, and human resources.
  • Information competencies involve acquiring, evaluating, organizing, maintaining, interpreting, communicating and processing information.
  • Interpersonal competencies include team participation, teaching, customer services, leadership, negotiation, and cultural diversity.
  • Systems competencies work with understanding systems, performance monitoring, and systems designs.
  • Technology competencies involve the selection, application, maintenance, and troubleshooting of technology.

Besides competencies, there are three (3) Foundation Skills: Basic, thinking, and personal qualities. The terms are explained below.

  • Basic skills involve reading, writing, arithmetic, mathematics, listening, and speaking.
  • Thinking skills include creative thinking, decision making, problem solving, seeing things in the mind's eye, knowing how to learn, and reasoning.
  • Personal qualities are responsibility, self esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity/honesty.

Universities and professional organizations, such as California State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Quintessential Careers, and the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) agree these transferable skills are important. These organizations have created transferable skills surveys, exercises, and web sites.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) is a professional association connects more than 5,200 college career services professionals at nearly 2,000 college and universities nationwide, and more than 3,000 HR/staffing professionals focused on college relations and recruiting. NACE has compiled the twenty (20) top personal qualities/skills that employers requested the most:

  1. Analytical skills
  2. Communication Skills
  3. Computer skills
  4. Creativity
  5. Detail-oriented
  6. Entrepreneurial skills/risk-taker
  7. Flexibility/adaptability
  8. Friendly/outgoing personality
  9. Honesty/integrity
  10. Interpersonal skills (relates well to others)
  11. Leadership and management skills
  12. Motivation/initiative
  13. Organizational and time management skills
  14. Real Life Experiences
  15. Self-confidence
  16. Strong work ethic
  17. Tactfulness
  18. Teamwork skills (works well with others)
  19. Technical Skills
  20. Well-mannered/polite

Communication skills are the most popular skills listed on the web sites. Communication deals with speaking effectively, writing concisely, listening attentively, and other abilities that result in the expression, transmission and interpretation of knowledge and ideas. Communication skills help you communicate what you know. Examples of communication skills include:

  • Collaborating
  • Forecasting
  • Negotiating
  • Projecting
  • Publicized
  • Selling ideas, products or services
  • Speaking
  • Translating
  • Writing

Communication skills are involved in the other skills, such as organizational management, human relations, program administration, research & planning. Organization, management, leadership, and human relations skills are the ability to supervise, direct and guide individuals and groups in the completion of tasks and fulfillment of goals. Organization, management, leadership, and human relations skills consist of:

  • Making decisions
  • Assuming and delegating responsibility
  • Organizing people and tasks
  • Negotiating agreements

Management and administrative skills organize and coordinate people, projects and events. As a manager, you handle multiple tasks, set priorities, and adapt to changing conditions and work assignments. As leaders, you use skills to motivate individuals and groups to assess, perform, set goals, evaluate, and follow through situations effectively.

Managers and leaders use human relations skills. Human relations, interpersonal, or people skills develop rapport, negotiate, and help people overcome their differences.

In addition to human relations skills, managers and leaders need planning and reasoning skills. Program administration, research and planning skills are essential when you gather information, analyze data, present ideas, and generate solutions.

Analyzing, planning, and reasoning skills are used in the field of research. Research skills help you search for specific knowledge, determine future needs, investigate and record findings, find answers, and evaluate strategies.

Besides planning and reasoning skills, problem solving and creativity activities involve the ability to find solutions to problems using experiences, information, and available resources. Problem solving and goal setting involve assessing a situation, gathering information, identifying key issues, anticipating problems, and generating multiple solutions.

Transferable skills are also called Soft Skills. Simon Fraser University, a leader in management education, lists the ten (10) Soft Skills:

  1. Adaptability
  2. Communication
  3. Dedication
  4. Dependability
  5. Energy
  6. Flexibility
  7. Hard-working
  8. Honesty
  9. Integrity
  10. Leadership

There are surveys, activities, and exercises that help identify your transferable skills. Two Transferable Skills resources are -

  • Binghamton University, State University of New York, Career Development Center
  • Career Center California State University, Chico Chico, CA

An example of a transferable skills survey is the Transferable Skills Scale.

Transferable Skills Scale

Transferable Skills Scale

The Transferable Skills (TS) Scale is a researched and validated assessment. The TS Scale is a short assessment that identifies an individual’s strongest transferable skills. The eight (8) TS Skills are:

  • Analytical
  • Numerical
  • Interpersonal
  • Organizational
  • Physical
  • Informational
  • Communicative
  • Creative skills

The benefits of the TS Scale are -

  • Complete in 20-25 minutes
  • Is easy to use
  • Has color-coded design
  • Is Self-scoring and self-interpreting
  • Can be used as both a career exploration guide and a job search strategy tool
  • Includes suggested resources for career exploration as well as a worksheet for comparing possible careers
  • Includes job titles from the most recent O*NET database
  • Can be given to groups or individuals

The TS Scale has 5 sections -

  1. Mark Your Answers
  2. Add Your Scores
  3. Interpret Your Scores
  4. Identify Occupations that Match Your Skills
  5. Explore Occupations that Match Your Skills

Reference material for the The TS Scale lists the relationship between Transferable Skills and Holland Codes -

Holland Career Model Areas

Holland Codes

Holland Code Letters

Transferable Skills

Things

Realistic

R

5. Physical

Ideas and things

Investigative

I

1. Analytical

People and ideas

Artistic

A

8. Creative

People

Social

S

3. Interpersonal
7. Communicative

People and data

Enterprising

E

4. Organizational

Things and data

Conventional

C

2. Numerical
6. Informational

Read about more Transferable Skills tests, web sites, and resources.....