Nevertheless, assessment instruments are still widely used in career counseling contexts. They have also become increasingly relied on for other purposes, such as licensure and certification. Assessment information has helped to document the success of these programs.
The task force of the American Association for counseling and development (1980,1989) identified four major use of testing for placement and selection purposes, predicting behaviour and performance in many different situation, describing individuals and providing a picture of growth.
In education, business and industry tests are used for placement and selection purposes. More emphasis is being placed on the use of tests to discribe the individual.
Criterion-reference tests allowed people to see
what skills and competencies they have mastered.
The diagonostic use of test result help learners in
improving their performance from knowing their
strenghts and weaknesses.
The accountability movement has influenced t
The use of experimental design, pre-and postesting
to investigate growth in career maturity,
Assertiveness, self-confidence, and the like.
Prediger (1974) identify three major purposes
assessment in counseling . The first is to help
stimulate, broaden, and provide focus in their career
exploration..
Zunker(1994) saw tests as providing diagnostic,
counseling. He felt that diagnostic information
can be use to increase individual’s self-awareness
and to help individual’s identify their strengths.
Herr and Cramer (1992) states that tests in
career counseling help clients understand their
interest, values and personality characteristics.
In career counseling many types of tests are used
the primary one are aptitude, achievement,
interest, vocational maturity, values and career
development. There are times when self-concept,
locus of control and personality tests are also given.
Aptitude tests measure an individual capacity or potential for giving skills or task and are used to predict and describe behaviour. Achievement testing is valuable to the career counselor to help in making educational and career decisions.
Interest Assessment is a wide variety of techniques and instruments used to measure interest. Some of the most widely used scales are the Self-Directed search (SDS), the Strong Interest Inventory (SII), the Kuder Occupational Interest.
Survey and the Career Occupational preference system.
Value Inventories are an important part of the assessment process in career counseling. Values show the relative importance people place on activities
Career Development Instruments are two tests which Super and his associates have developed to support his developmental theory they are Career Development Inventory and the Salience Inventory.
The CDI is a 120-item pencil-and-paper test assessing eight dimensions of occupational decision making ,career planning , career exploration, decision making, world of work information, knowledge of preferred occupational group ,career development knowledge and skills and career orientation.
The Salience Inventory is a test developed to measure the relative importance of the roles of study, work and career, home and family, community service, and leisure activities, on a person’s life and the values the individual seeks in each role.
The Career Maturity Inventory is authored by John O. Crites. The CMI has two parts, an attitude scale and a competency test. The attitude scale measure five areas: decisiveness in career decision-making, involvement in career decision making, independence in career decision making,
orientation to career decision making, and compromise in career decision making.
Tests and assessment instruments is just one tool to
Help client gain greater self-awareness and
knowledge of their interests, aptitudes, values
and achievement. Counselors need to be
knowledgeable about the instruments and be trained in test administration and interpretation.
Counselors need to make sure that the tests and
assessment instruments are valid and reliable for which purposes they intend to use them.
References : Fundamental of Guidance 3rd edition
By John O. Crites
Career Counseling A Developmental
Approach by Robert J. Drummond &
Charles W. Ryan
U.S.A. by Prentice Hall Inc.