Competency Category:
Competency Series:

11.2 – Conduct Employability Assessment

Purpose & Context

Career Development Professionals (CDPs) meet with clients for a collaborative assessment of the reasons for seeking career services and their employability strengths and needs. Building on the responses, CDPs and clients work collaboratively to identify initial goals and actions to address identified needs.Employability assessments are usually semi-structured. Career Development Professionals (CDPs) generally use an interview guide to ensure essential and standardized information is collected, while seeking to probe and expand on the client’s responses.

Effective Performance

Competent career development professionals must be able to:

  • P1. Prepare for interview, e.g. review client file
  • P2. Create a comfortable interview setting:
    • Welcome client by name
    • Introduce self by name
    • Reduce noise and eliminate distractions
  • P3. Build rapport:
    • Convey helpful, friendly tone
    • Put client at ease, e.g. provide reassurance
    • Define roles of self and client
    • Explain client rights
    • Outline services available to the client
    • Remain open and adaptable
  • P4. Obtain informed consent for collection, use and disclosure of information
  • P5. Initiate interview:
    • Explain purpose of the interview
    • Explain format of the interview
    • Ask client if they have questions before commencing
  • P6. Probe reason(s) for client to seek services as identified in intake interview, for example:
    • Goal clarification
    • Explore education or employment options, e.g. post-secondary application, trade school certification
    • Seek referral to training or education program
  • P7. Identify client strengths, for example:
    • Educational background
    • Work experience
    • Motivation
    • Demonstrated skills, e.g. perseverance, negotiation, emotional intelligence
    • Access to transportation
  • P8. Identify urgent pre-employability challenges, e.g. inadequate housing, mental health concerns
  • P9. Discuss barriers faced by client:
    • Intra-personal, e.g. learning disabilities, mental health concerns
    • Inter-personal, e.g. family issues
    • External, e.g. systemic discrimination
  • P10. Guide conversation using varied approaches, for example:
    • Encourage responses, e.g. nod, use of verbal cues such as “uh huh”, “yes”
    • Restate phrases to ensure information or meaning is understood
    • Ask questions to seek clarity
  • P11. Use active listening, e.g. provide undivided attention
  • P12. Monitor client’s level of discomfort or anxiety, e.g. face colour, body language, dryness of mouth, excessive perspiration, misguided eye contact, lack of engagement
  • P13. Adjust approach to help client feel more comfortable, for example:
    • Slow pace and ask questions on how they feel
    • Reframe conversation by asking more or different questions
    • Refocus the discussion by talking about the client’s goals and expectations
  • P14. Summarize understanding of discussion
    • Identify additional information needs, as required
  • P15. Determine eligibility for existing programs, services or referrals
  • P16. Develop goals and action plans with client:
    • Schedule meeting, as required
  • P17 Prepare post-interview records, i.e. document interaction
    • Review and expand on notes, e.g. clarify details
    • Write down observations made during the interview, e.g. client behaviour, items for follow up
    • Record lessons, conclusions
    • Store information in client file

Knowledge & Understanding

Competent career development professionals must know and understand:

  • K1. Career development theories/models
  • K2. Types of interview questions and purpose:
  • K3. Open-ended, e.g. “How do you see the future?”, “What did you think about that?”
  • K4. Closed/fixed response e.g. “Have you tried online learning?”, “What day did that happen?”
  • K5. Follow-up/probing: e.g. “Can you tell me more about… ?”, “Can you describe how you handled that problem?”
  • K6. Well-considered use of questions, for example:
  • K7. Avoiding use of leading questions
  • K8. Use wording free of bias or implied judgment
  • K9. Follow logical order or sequence, e.g. broad and general questions before asking more detailed questions, seeking
    information on facts before probing for questions about feelings or conclusions
  • K10. Reasons for client anxiety or discomfort, for example:
    • Reluctance to seek service
    • Client’s mental health condition
    • Previous bad experience with career services
    • Discomfort with CDP
    • History of trauma
    • Trust issues
    • Fear of judgment
    • Discomfort with environment
    • Cultural or religious norms, i.e. person may not feel they can talk about their feelings or challenges
  • K11. Significant issues commonly faced by clients, e.g. poverty, systemic racism, post-traumatic stress, learning
    disabilities, unstable/unsafe housing, food insecurity, mental health challenges, addiction, limited
    education/training
  • K12. Communication strategies
  • K13. Legislation and procedures regarding confidentiality and privacy, e.g. Personal Information Protection and
    Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

Contextual Variables

Competent career development professionals must be able to perform this competency in the following range of contexts:

None

Glossary & Key References

Terms

Industry-specific terms contained in the standard defined here, where applicable.

None

Information Sources and Resources for Consideration

None

Context Rating Scales

Criticality

Q: What is the consequence of a professional being unable to perform this skill according to the standard?

Moderate risk: CRITICAL

Frequency

Q: How frequent and under what conditions is this skill performed?

Routinely, regular course of procedure

Level of Difficulty

Q: Under routine circumstances, how would you rate the level of difficulty in performing this skill?

Very hard or challenging

Time Required to Gain Proficiency

Q: What is the average length of time or number of repeated events that are minimally necessary for an individual to become proficient in performing the skill to the standard?

To become proficient in administering intake interviews, a career development professional requires a minimum experience of working with 20 clients.

Autonomy

Practitioners typically perform this competency without supervision, and alone.

Automation

It is unlikely that this competency will automate.

Requisite Work Aids, Tools, Equipment or Materials

None