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What comes to mind when you think of “assessment”?
Perhaps you envision something tangible – an assortment of tests, tools and/or techniques. These may vary in focus (e.g. interests, skills, values, personal style, employment/educational experiences, cultural/contextual factors, barriers) or format (e.g. multi-dimensional assessment form, formal interview protocol, paper-and-pencil questionnaire, online psychometric test, checklist, card sort). When we mention “assessment” to clients, they often think of a specific test or set of tests that they’ve taken in the past, stating “I’ve already done that.”
However, effective assessment, as the title of this blog suggests, is not “one and done”! Rather, it’s an ongoing process that begins with the first information that you receive about a client and doesn’t end until you close your file (OCCOQ, 2011). Some information may come from notes from a referral source or an intake form; other information may come from observations and interactions. In some cases, information may also come from formal or informal assessment tools (e.g. psychometric “tests,” card sorts, reflective activities, responses to structured interview prompts).
Crafting a clearer picture
The “art” of assessment involves creatively piecing together disparate information that has come from multiple sources and integrating it into a meaningful whole that will be useful in guiding your client’s next steps. As you piece together information, it’s quite likely that you’ll notice some gaps. Assessment is iterative; the assessment process will continue as you work toward filling those gaps, helping your clients form a clearer picture of themselves and how they might fit into the ever-evolving labour market in their sector or region.
Most career development professionals (CDPs) are working with limited time and budgets. Although formal, published assessment tools typically come at a price, standardized assessment tools can offer efficiency to your information-gathering efforts by providing structure and linking results to potential career/educational paths to consider or recommending additional resources to explore. In some cases, you may have access to several assessment tools within your own organization; in other cases, you may have a budget to refer certain clients to an assessment specialist who will use specific assessment tools to help identify potential barriers to employment and/or recommend next steps.
A collaborative process
Regardless of whether your assessment process is formal, informal or a mix of both, “process” is the key word to keep in mind. That process needs to be thoughtful, reflective, client-centred and empowering. Assessment is not something you do to your client (i.e. it’s not “test and tell”). Rather, effective assessment involves engaging with your client to gather and explore relevant information, make sense of it together – taking your client’s culture and context into account – and integrate it with information about the current realities of the labour market and economy to inform relevant next steps (Arthur et al, 2024; 2025).
“Regardless of whether your assessment process is formal, informal or a mix of both, ‘process’ is the key word to keep in mind.”
Finding the right assessment ‘fit’
Assessment doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Even as you strive for a person-centred, culturally responsive and trauma-informed approach, the tools you reach for and the techniques you use to gather information are affected by several systemic layers, including your:
- Personal experiences, training and assumptions about “assessment”
- Specific work role and setting (e.g. scope of practice, boundary of competence)
- Relationship with the clients you support
- Service delivery models, mandates and funding (e.g. budgetary/time constraints).
Environmental and historical factors (e.g. trends, technology) also affect your assessment approach. Just consider how recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have affected the customization of career-related information that your clients can access independently.
Getting the “right fit” involves taking a step back to more critically reflect on the purpose of assessment and how to bring together these systemic influences in an ethical and theory-informed way (Arthur et al., 2024; 2025). CDPs can find guidance in both the Pan-Canadian Career Development Competency Framework and Code of Ethics.
For more assessment-related food for thought, check out these tip sheets:
- 10 Essential Questions to Structure Your Assessment Approach
- 10 Tips for Selecting Assessments
- 10 Tips for Administering Assessment Instruments
- 10 Tips for Identifying Themes and Patterns Across Assessment Results
- 10 Tips for Integrating Assessment Results Into Career Conversations
