Vocopher A Web-Library of Free Career Inventories

1. Vocopher A Web-Library of Free Career Inventories American Counseling AssociationApril 7th, 2005 Kevin Glavin Kent State University, Kent, OH kglavin@kent.edu Dr. Mark Rehfuss Regent University, VAmrehfuss@regent.edu

2. Agenda • Introduction to Vocopher: The Online Career Collaboratory. http://www.vocopher.com. • Instruments available on Vocopher • Who is using Vocopher? • How do I get Access to Vocopher?. • Types of Vocopher Accounts • Introduction to the Career Development Inventory (CDI). • Overview of Super’s construct of Career Maturity • Live demonstration on how to administer and interpret the results of the CDI. • Interactive Case studies to practice interpretation of CDI results. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

3. What is Vocopher Vocopher is a collaboratory involving academic professionals, career counselors, and professional web developers. The purpose of Vocopher is to provide researchers and counselors with career resources with which to further their research and assist their clients respectively. These services are provided free of charge in the hope that others will join us in this collaborative effort. Register Admin User Login Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

4. Instruments currently available on Vocopher • Career Development Inventory (CDI). College Form and School Form • Adult Career Concerns Inventory (ACCI) • ACCI - Portuguese paper version Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

5. WhoisusingVocopher? • World wide • Within the United States Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

6. How do I get Access to Vocopher? • Accessing Vocopher Video (Users) • Accessing Vocopher Video (Admins) Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

7. Types of Vocopher Accounts • User: Students, Individual clients, Counselor trainees • Admin: Faculty, Researchers, Counselor Practitioners • Super Admin: Me (Kevin Glavin :) Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

8. Introduction to the Career Development Inventory • Interest inventories are commonly used to assist students with vocational choices. However, the results of such instruments offer little value if the individual lacks the requisite attitudes and competencies required to make sound vocational decisions. • The Career Development Inventory (CDI), created by Albert Thompson, Richard Lindeman, Donald Super, Jean Pierre Jordaan, and Roger Myers, can be used before administering an interest inventory to measure an individual’s readiness to make vocational choices, or with an interest inventory to determine how best to interpret the interest inventory results. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

9. Introduction to the Career Development Inventory • The CDI operationally defines Super’s structural model of career choice readiness among adolescents and emerging adults. • Inspired by the construct of reading readiness, Super, at mid-century, reasoned that the readiness to and resources for making fitting educational and vocational choices emerged during childhood and developed during adolescence. • He spent nearly 40 years identifying the critical attitudes and competencies that lead to sound educational and occupational decisions, constructed inventories to measure these attitudes and competencies, and then studied their development in students from middle school through college. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

10. The Concept of Career Choice Readiness • Super believed vocational choice to be an individual’s attempt to implement their self-concept in a work role. Through fitting work, individuals can manifest their self-concept in daily activities (e.g. counselors manifest their self concept of “helper”). • The choice of an occupation, or course of study, is a major decision that adolescents must make as they enter the adult world. A students’ level of satisfaction and success depends upon the realism and wisdom of their educational or occupational choice. To make a fitting choice, and to avoid educational or occupational failure, and frustration, individuals must possess the requisite readiness and resources. • Career choice attitudes denote an individual’s disposition with regard to the amount of thought, effort, and planning they give to future occupational or educational choices. • Career choice competencies denote an individual’s ability to apply their knowledge and understanding of careers and the world of work in making rational educational and career decisions. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

11. The Concept of Career Choice Readiness: Attitudes (CP & CE) The two most important attitudes are planfulness and exploration. • Attitude toward planning reflects a future orientation, an awareness of choices to be made, and a disposition to be involved in preparing to make imminent and distant choices. • Well-developed attitudes toward planning prompt behaviors such as discussing career plans with adults, getting part-time jobs, taking part in college or community activities, and finding out what people do in one’s field of interest. All of these can help one gain a clearer understanding of one’s vocational interests. • Attitude toward exploration means curiosity about the world of work and one’s place in it. • Well-developed attitudes toward exploration prompt behaviors such as information-seeking, role playing, and talking with career counselors, professors, and professionals in one’s field of interest. Adequate exploration involves one using the resources available oneself to gain information on careers and the world of work. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

12. The Concept of Career Choice Readiness: Competencies (DM & WW) The two critical competencies are skill at decision-making and knowledge about occupations. • Decision-making competence • means the ability to apply the principles of rational decision making to one’s educational and vocational choices. • Occupational or World of Work knowledge • in breadth, means knowing the requirements, routines, and rewards of a variety of occupations in which one may be interested. • in depth, means having detailed knowledge about the occupational group that one currently prefers. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

13. Supers Model of Readiness • These four variables, • two attitudinal (Planfulness and Exploration) and • two cognitive (World of Work knowledge & Decision-Making), • compose Super’s model of readiness for making vocational choices during adolescence. • Super and his colleagues operationally defined this structural model of vocational development during adolescence and emerging adulthood by creating the Career Development Inventory. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

14. Interpretation of the CDI Scales:CP, CE, DM, WW • There exist two versions of the CDI. • CDI School form designed for students in grades 8-12 • CDI College form designed for college students. • Both forms measure the same constructs, yet differ in content according to the educational level of the subjects being tested. • Scores are reported for four scales: • The Attitudinal Components: 1. Career Planning (CP) 2. Career Exploration (CE) • The Critical Competencies: 3. Decision Making (DM), 4. knowledge of the World of Work (WW) Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

15. Interpretation of the CDI Scales: PO • In addition to the four scales, there is a fifth scale: • 5. Knowledge of Preferred Occupation (PO). • PO measures the amount of in-depth knowledge one has with respect to their primary field of interest. • PO is measured separately from the other four scales, and should not be administered to students below the 11th grade. This is due to the fact that it is unlikely such students have acquired the knowledge and maturity to answer the questions in an informed manner. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

16. Interpretation of the CDI Scales: PO • When administered to the appropriate population, low scores on PO indicate one may need to gather more detailed information regarding their occupation of choice. Such information can be ascertained from professors, career counselors, and professionals already working in that field. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

17. Interpretation of the CDI Scales:CDA, CDK, COT • The CDI also reports on three composite scales: • Career Decision Attitudes (CDA) is the combination of CP and CE. • Career Decision Knowledge (CDK) is the combination of DM and WW. • Career Orientation Total (COT) is the combination of CDA and CDK. • These composite scores exist to help gain a more reliable measure of attitudes toward career, knowledge of careers and the world of work. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

18. Interpretation of Attitudinal Scales: CP & CE Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

19. Interpretation of Competency Scales: DM & WW Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

20. Interpretation of PO Score Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

21. Interpretation of CDI Scale Scores • When all scales are high, this indicates the individual has the requisite attitudes and competencies required to make sound educational and vocational decisions. • One is able to place more confidence in the results derived from interest inventories. • Most importantly, scores should be used to: • Raise a student’s awareness of imminent and future vocational decisions • Instill a sense of curiosity about the world of work and one’s place in it • Stimulate discussion about current and future vocational choices Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

22. Case Study 1: Interpret the CDI Scores for Sean Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

23. Case Study 2: Interpret the CDI Scores for Rod Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

24. Case Study 3: Interpret the CDI Scores for Elsie Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

25. CDI Case Study Interpretations: View Interpretations Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

26. The CDI on the Internet • With the permission and encouragement of the CDI authors, the CDI is now available at no charge on the internet. The CDI is one of a number of career instruments available through Vocopher: The Online Career Collaboratory http://www.vocopher.com Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

27. The CDI on the Internet • Scoring of the CDI is done on the internet, and the results are shown immediately to the user. It is important that practitioners take the time to interpret these results with their clients. • Practitioners can use the ideas presented herein to help raise their client’s level of awareness and curiosity with regard to vocational decisions they will be required to make. Suggestions for improving one’s decision making skills and knowledge about the world of work have also been outlined. Additional ideas are presented in the CDI manual, which is also available on Vocopher. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss

28. Suggested Additional Readings • Glavin, K. W. (2004). Retrieved Oct 17, 2004, from Vocopher: The Online Career Collaboratory web site: http://www.vocopher.com. • Super, D. E. (1974). Measuring vocational maturity for counseling and evaluation. Washington, D.C.: National Vocational Guidance Association. • Super, D. E. (1990). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. In D. Brown, L. Brooks, & Associates (Eds.), Career choice and development: Applying contemporary theories to practice (2nd ed., pp. 197-261). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. • Thompson, A. S., Lindeman, R. H., Super, D. E., Jordaan, J. P., & Myers, R. A. (1981). Career development inventory, Volume 1: User's Manual, Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. Kevin Glavin & Dr. Mark Rehfuss