Review of Career Assessment Tools

This paper provides an overview of career assessment tools. Background on key career concepts is first introduced. A number of career assessment tools are then examined. These assessment tools included reviewing personal history, interest inventories, values assessments, personality assessments, and aptitude tests. The importance and limitations of these career assessment tools are then discussed.

Relationship Between Personality Measures and Perceived Mental Fatigability

Objective Examine the association between personality measures and perceived mental fatigability. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis in N=1670 men, age 84.3±4.1 years. Multivariable linear regression models were used to examine the covariate adjusted association between personality measures (conscientiousness, optimism, goal reengagement, and goal disengagement) and perceived mental fatigability (measured with the validated 10-item Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale, PFS). Results One standard deviation lower conscientiousness (β=−0.91, p<.0001) and optimism (β=−0.63, p<.0001), and higher goal reengagement (β=0.51, p=.01) scores were independently associated with higher PFS Mental scores adjusted for age, cognitive function, self-reported health status, depressive symptoms, sleep disturbance, physical activity, and goal disengagement. Discussion Lower conscientiousness, optimism, and higher goal reengagement were linked with more severe perceived mental fatigability in older men. Personality traits may potentially contribute to early risk assessment for fatigability in later life. Future work should be longitudinal in nature and include personality assessments to confirm the temporality of the relationships observed.

Judging What Others Enjoy: Desirability and Observability of Interests

Interests guide major life decisions such as choosing a career path, yet little is known about the subjective characteristics of individual differences in interests. Prior research on personality traits has demonstrated that subjective trait perceptions influence the validity and reliability of personality assessments. The current work expands the study of these subjective characteristics to individual differences in interests. Desirability and observability were assessed among 13 constructs: person orientation, thing orientation, RIASEC career interests, and Big Five traits. Judgments of interest dimensions varied considerably, with socially-related interests rated more desirable than thing-related interests. Some career-related interests were low in observability, and thus may be susceptible to being overlooked or categorized inaccurately. The patterns observed in interest characteristics were comparable to patterns in career choice hit rates, occupational prestige, and self-other convergence. The findings advance knowledge of differences between interest dimensions and suggest that subjective perceptions should be considered in interest assessment.

Potential applications of personality assessments to the management of non-human primates: a review of 10 years of study

Studies of primate personality have become increasingly common over the past three decades. Recently, studies have begun to focus on the health, welfare and conservation implications of personality, and the potential applications of incorporating quantitative personality assessments into animal management programmes. However, this literature is dispersed across a multitude of settings and scientific disciplines. We conducted a review of nonhuman primate personality studies relevant to these issues published since 2010, following on from an earlier review. The databases ScienceDirect, PubMed and Web of Science were used to identify relevant articles. After eliminating irrelevant or duplicate papers, 69 studies were selected. Our review reveals that, while primate personality research is carried out on a range of species, there is strong taxonomic bias. While 28 species appeared within the reviewed literature, 52% of studies were carried out on just five species. Further, the most common research focus (43%) was validating new assessment methods or describing personality in different species, rather than exploring the links between personality and animal welfare using existing validated methods. However, among the remaining studies that did explore the role of animal personality in husbandry, health, and welfare, we identified progression towards integrating personality data into various aspects of animal management. Evidence suggests the assessment of personality may benefit social group management, enrichment practices, training protocols, health and welfare monitoring, and conservation planning for endangered species. We argue that further research which develops our understanding of primate personality and its influence in these areas will provide a valuable tool to inform animal management practices.

The Soft Skills Veterans Bring to the Workforce

One of the benefits of hiring military veterans is the skill set they bring to the civilian workforce. Veterans are keenly aware, through leadership examples and training, of the importance of dealing with other people’s productively and of managing one’s own behavior. Working effectively with others and managing one’s own behavior are examples of nontechnical or “soft” social skills that can be measured by personality assessments. Examples of the types of attributes that personality assessments test for include the “big five factors” of personality (conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion) as well as political skill. Taken together, these soft social skills reflect one’s capacity to get along with others and one’s capacity to compete with others; both getting along and getting ahead are empirically related to work success. Veterans have an advantage in civilian organizations in terms of using their soft social skills for personal and team growth by finding meaning in work.

Automated Video Interview Personality Assessments: Reliability, Validity, and Generalizability Investigations

Organizations are increasingly adopting automated video interviews (AVIs) to screen job applicants despite a paucity of research on their reliability, validity, and generalizability. In this study, we address this gap by developing AVIs that use verbal, paraverbal, and nonverbal behaviors extracted from video interviews to assess Big Five personality traits. We developed and validated machine learning models within (using nested cross-validation) and across three separate samples of mock video interviews (total N = 1,073). Also, we examined their test–retest reliability in a fourth sample (N = 99). In general, we found that the AVI personality assessments exhibited stronger evidence of validity when they were trained on interviewer-reports rather than self-reports. When cross-validated in the other samples, AVI personality assessments trained on interviewer-reports had mixed evidence of reliability, exhibited consistent convergent and discriminant relations, used predictors that appear to be conceptually relevant to the focal traits, and predicted academic outcomes. On the other hand, there was little evidence of reliability or validity for the AVIs trained on self-reports. We discuss the implications for future work on AVIs and personality theory, and provide practical recommendations for the vendors marketing such approaches and organizations considering adopting them.