Online Career Assessment:
Matching Profiles and Training
Programs
Bryan Dik, Ph.D.
Kurt Kraiger, Ph.D.
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
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
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?
How does V-WAN work?
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
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
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
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
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
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
Post-intervention Results
CAREER DECISION SELF-EFFICACY
Career Decision Self-Efficacy (F=3.83, p<.05, partial η2=.064)
3.95
3.9
3.85
3.8
3.75
3.7
3.65
3.6
VWAN+workshop VWAN-only (a,b)
(a)
Control (b)
Post-intervention Results
Career Adaptability (F=3.12, p<.05, partial η2=.053)
CAREER ADAPTABILITY
4.2
4.15
4.1
4.05
4
3.95
3.9
3.85
VWAN+workshop VWAN-only (a,b)
(a)
Control (b)
Post-intervention Results
Sense of Calling (F=4.70, p<.05, partial η2=.099)
4.1
SENSE OF CALLING
4
3.9
3.8
3.7
3.6
3.5
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
VWAN+workshop
(a)
VWAN-only (b)
Control (b)
Results Summary
At the post-intervention period, students in the V-WAN +
workshop condition reported greater career decision selfefficacy, career adaptability, and sense of calling than
students in the control condition.
• Differences found for other outcomes were not significant
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
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
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
Questions?
V-WAN: www.csuvwan.org
Bryan Dik: bryan.dik@colostate.edu
Kurt Kraiger: kurt.kraiger@gmail.com