Career Assessment Center

Our Career Assessment Center offers comprehensive, flexible, and quick career testing resulting in the development of a Career Plan for various populations:

• High school students who are in process of making career decisions.
• Young adults who are looking for meaningful work.
• Adults considering a mid-career change.
• Personnel decisions in regard to applicant screening and hiring, or transfers within a company that can increase employee retention and better employee placement.

Our Career Assessment Center was created to provide an accelerated means of gathering career information. The computerized testing center offers interactivity, flexibility and quick profile reports useful in discussing test results and creating a Career Plan. Career counseling provides an opportunity to thoughtfully consider career options that reflect a person’s confidence in his or her ability to perform various occupational activities. People seek career guidance for the following reasons:

Educational and Occupational Planning

• People need help in planning their careers by gathering information about how their likes, dislikes, and skills resemble those of people who are already employed.

Identify Areas of Academic Interest

• Individuals can explore new avenues of interest and pinpoint areas of academic study that can build skills and increase career options.

Understanding Occupational Dynamics

• Individuals need to understand the dynamics of careers and which interests and skills are associated with which occupations. This information can help them make more sophisticated choices.

Understanding Job Dissatisfaction

• Employees who are unhappy in their work may be helped by understanding the cause of their discomfort.

Team Building

• Career assessment can help people who work closely together to better understand and appreciate their individual differences and can help the group understand each other’s unique interests and skills.

Advise Displaced and Transitioning Workers

• People who are unemployed can gain insight into new career paths as they gain a more thorough understanding of suitable career options.

Career Tests Administered: Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS) and Career Assessment Inventory (CAI)

TEST: CAMPBELL INTEREST AND SKILL SURVEY (CISS)

“The Campbell Interest and Skill Survey (CISS) is a survey of self-reported interests and skills. Its major purpose is to help individuals understand how their interests and skills map into the occupational world, thereby helping them make better career choices.” (CISS Manual, Page 1, 1992)

“The CISS is a collection of surveys focusing on the psychological aspects of the work environment. On the interest scales, the individual’s scores indicate strength of attraction for each occupational area; on the skill scales, the individual’s scores provide an estimate of self-confidence in performing well in the specified area.” (CISS Manual, Page 1, 1992)

The Orientation Scales The seven Orientation scales are:

• Influencing—Leadership, Law/Politics, Public Speaking, Sales, Advertising/Marketing
• Organizing—Supervision, Financial Services, Office Practices
• Helping—Adult Development, Counseling, Child Development, Religious Activities, Medical Practice
• Creating—Art/Design, Performing Arts, Writing, International Activities, Fashion, Culinary Arts
• Analyzing –Mathematics, Science
• Producing—Mechanical Crafts, Woodworking, Farming/Forestry, Plants/Gardens, Animal Care
• Adventuring—Athletics/Physical Fitness, Military/Law Enforcement, Risks/Adventure

The Basic Interest and Skill Scales:

The Basic Scales, each of which has parallel interest and skill scales, provide more detailed information on the individual’s interests and skills.

The Occupational Scales:

High skill scores suggest self-confidence, indicating that the individual would probably be able to perform confidently in that occupational environment.

The Special Scales: *Academic Focus *Extraversion *Variety
Note: All information taken from CISS Manual, 1992.

TEST: CAREER ASSESSMENT INVENTORY

The Career Assessment Inventory focuses on the occupations and educational pursuits of a diverse sample of individuals. The inventory includes the following scales:

Non-occupational Scales:

• The non-occupational scales assess an individual’s orientation along some specific dimension such as educational orientation, introversion-extroversion, or diversity of interest.

Fine Arts-Mechanical Scale:

• This scale “was developed primarily to help counselors identify individuals who would benefit from discussions about careers that currently are considered atypical for their gender. “ (CAI Manual, Page 26, 2003)

Occupational Extroversion-Introversion Scale:

• This scale was developed to measure vocational preferences along an extroversion-introversion dimension.

Educational Orientation Scale:

• This scale taps those interests primarily associated with attendance at a liberal arts college, specifically scientific and aesthetic interests, and provides the counselor with an indication of how comfortable an individual will be in this kind of educational environment.

General Theme Scales:

• Realistic: Mechanical and skilled trades interests. Career involving work with tools, machines, objects, animals, plants, or working outdoors.
• Investigative: Scientific and analytical interests. Careers centered on work in academic, technical, and scientific environments.
• Artistic: Creative and self-expressive interests. Careers permitting the creation of something unique that is important to the individual.
• Social: Social service and helping interests. Careers allowing people to enlighten, train, develop, guide, or teach others.
• Enterprising: Business and selling interests. Careers involving people who are good at talking and using words to sell things, to manage others, or to convince others of their point of view.
• Conventional: Business detail and record-keeping interests. Careers attracting people who like to organize, maintain files, and provide business support functions.

The profile report presents all scores in a concise, graphic form, thereby simplifying test results.
Note: All information taken from CISS Manual, 1992.


CAREER TESTING PRICE OPTIONS:

PLAN 1: $100 One Test only with written report of results. CAMPBELL INTEREST AND SKILL SURVEY (CISS)

PLAN 2: $150 Two Tests only with written report of results. CAREER ASSESSMENT INVENTORY (CAI) and CISS

PLAN 3: $175 One Test with private follow-up session with Dr. Rambo. Includes written report of CISS results.

PLAN 4: $225 Two Tests with private follow-up session with Dr. Rambo. Includes written report of CISS and CAI results.

Call to schedule an appointment for Career Assessment at 615-445-7600.