Assessments are used for gathering information about the client which counselor needs for the process of counseling. Assessments are used as a basis to evaluate and identify the problems or issues. They are also used for planning interventions and diagnosing clients.
Why Assessments?
Assessments play a vital role throughout the counseling process, right from the start of the first introductory session to the end , that is the debriefing session. The more information we have about the client , the better we are able to help the client in achieving the desired outcome in the process. Generally assessments serve the four major purposes; (a) Screening, (b) Diagnosis, (c) treatment / therapy planning and goal identification and (d) progress evaluation.
In Vocational Counseling , Assessments are used in the second stage after the introductory session, where the Individual needs to be assessed on the four factors. The four factors are Interest , Aptitude, Intelligence and Personality.
- Intelligence(IQ): IQ test provides a measurement of children’s learning abilities and intelligence level. It measures a range of cognitive abilities. Based on IQ scores, One can plan to achieve the most possible outcome of their potential intelligence. You can measure mental skills in five different areas. These fields are attention, memory, visual, verbal & logical-mathematical fields.
- Vocational Aptitude: Aptitude can be defined as an individual’s Inclination, Tendency or a Natural Ability; or a capacity for learning and general suitability. At least 1 out of 3 students end up taking wrong subjects or streamers for various reasons. Aptitude tests assume that based on their innate characteristics individuals have inherent strengths and weaknesses and have a natural inclination toward success or failure in specific areas.
- Interest: An interest inventory is a testing instrument designed for the purpose of measuring and evaluating the level of an individual’s interest in, or preference for, a variety of activities; also known as interest test. Individuals tend to show different interests based on their Personalities. Interest assessments give a clear picture of one’s interest fields and help to make a right decision.
- Personality: Personality assessment or testing refers to techniques designed to measure the characteristic patterns of traits that people inherit and exhibit across various situations. Different people have different personality traits, these traits need to be assessed in order to understand Oneself better and to know where one needs to work more to develop.
Vocational counseling helps you clarify your career goals and gives better understanding of Career Options. It also helps you determine your strengths and weaknesses, learning Key Skills and improving them. It broadens your perspective developing the right strategies required to achieve a certain goal.
