Online Career Assessment: Matching Profiles and Training Programs

1. Online Career Assessment: Matching Profiles and Training Programs Bryan Dik, Ph.D. Kurt Kraiger, Ph.D.

2. Overview • The problem • One solution: The Virtual Workforce Assessment Network • What is it? • How it works • Phase 1 pilot test of V-WAN effectiveness • Study overview • Results • Next steps • Future possibilities

3. The Problem • Retention • Nationally, only half finish or transfer within 6 years • In Colorado, fewer than 1 in 4 full-time community college students complete a degree within 3 years • Career development needs • Vocational psychology research points to a high percentage of adults showing a need for: -career direction -assistance with identifying and pursuing training needs • What might cause these problems? • Incomplete or inaccurate knowledge of the self, opportunities in the world of work, and of how to design and implement a career plan • Low self-efficacy, few resources for coping with career challenges

4. One Solution: The Virtual Workforce Assessment Network (V-WAN) What is it? • Empirically supported, free, user-friendly career planning tool • Provides a battery of career assessments online • Creates personalized psychological profiles that integrate interests, values, personality, and self-estimated abilities and skills • Recommends occupations predicted to be a good fit How does it work?

5. How does V-WAN work?

7. Using V-WAN in Community Colleges Purpose of the FIPSE grant: • Customize V-WAN for the community college context • Test its effectiveness Customization: • Links recommended occupations to Plans of Study at the community college in which the user is enrolled

9. Pilot Test of V-WAN Effectiveness (Phase 1) Study Design: Experiment using Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT) methodology Three conditions were compared: 1. V-WAN only 2. V-WAN plus brief workshop 3. Control group

10. V-WAN Workshop • Brief (90 minutes) • Facilitated by counselors using a manual (script) • Designed to address questions and promote deeper exploration in a supportive environment • Developed with attention to “critical ingredients” found in effective career development interventions • Personalized assessment information • Provision of accurate occupational information • Written goal-setting exercises • Strategies for building support • Effective modeling

11. Procedure Students at two Colorado community colleges were contacted via e-mail and flyers • Offered a modest financial incentive • Randomly assigned to conditions • Administered surveys before (pre) and after (post) the intervention period

12. Participants N = 120 for Phase 1 • Gender: 73.1% women • Age: Mean = 29.96 years (SD = 10.96), range of 18-55 • Race/ethnicity: 60.2% White/European American 12.9% Latina/o 5.4% Asian/Pacific Islander 5% Black/Afr. Amer., Amer. Indian, other • Year in School: 75% in first or second year

13. Pre- and Post- Instruments Wide range of career development attitudes were assessed: • Career optimism • Career adaptability • Career locus of control • Satisfaction with academic major • Career decision-making difficulties • Sense of career as a calling • Career decision self-efficacy

14. Post-intervention Results Career Decision Self-Efficacy (F=3.83, p<.05, partial η2=.064)

15. Post-intervention Results Career Adaptability (F=3.12, p<.05, partial η2=.053)

16. Post-intervention Results Sense of Calling (F=4.70, p<.05, partial η2=.099)

17. Results Summary At the post-intervention period, students in the V-WAN + workshop condition reported greater career decision self-efficacy, career adaptability, and sense of calling than students in the control condition. • Differences found for other outcomes were not significant

18. Take-home messages from initial pilot • The V-WAN + workshop intervention produced moderate to large effects on three key outcomes, compared to a control group. • All three outcomes have been shown in vocational psychology research to have robust associations with career development progress and success • The workshop appears to magnify and enhance the impact of V-WAN alone. • Consistent with other intervention research • May be due to deeper engagement with results, or working alliance with workshop facilitator

19. Limitations and Next Steps • Further research is needed with a larger sample and more sufficient statistical power • Would allow more sensitive tests of V-WAN impact on all outcomes • Would allow a test of demographic (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity) and other variables as potential moderators of V-WAN effectiveness • Longitudinal research will examine the duration and extent of V-WAN’s impact on career outcomes. • Further research is needed on ways to modify V-WAN to deliver benefits similar to V-WAN + workshop

20. Future of V-WAN • Enhance the quality and depth of feedback provided • Add new interactive features and exercises to encourage deeper engagement with assessment feedback • Test additional ways of augmenting V-WAN (e.g., distance counseling) • Further develop matching potential • from students with occupations to job seekers with employers • could streamline the recruitment and hiring process, providing a win-win for students on the job market and organizations looking to hire

21. Questions? V-WAN: www.csuvwan.org Bryan Dik: bryan.dik@colostate.edu Kurt Kraiger: kurt.kraiger@gmail.com