Transferable Skills Analysis

A transferable skills analysis (TSA) is an assessment of the skills and knowledge a person acquires from the actual performance of a job and from learned situations, community, work and school enviroments.

TSA is most beneficial when assessing people who have a wide range of experiences, skills and employment history and who generally do not require retraining to re-enter the open labour market.  A TSA can define a person's skills and experience for new job placements or a change in role with their current employer.

This tool is used to guide employers, rehabilitation service providers, Rehabilitation Coordinators and clients to define a person's skills and experience for new placements or positional changes.

Recognition of Prior Learning

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is a process that involves assessment of an individual’s relevant prior learning, including formal, informal and non-formal learning, and the extent to which this prior learning can provide credit towards a destination qualification. Credit through the RPL process may allow for entry into and/or provide credit towards a qualification. Credit given may reduce the time required for a student to achieve a qualification.

For veterans undertaking vocational rehabilitation through DVA, an RPL assessment should be considered where the destination qualification is consistent with the veteran’s vocational rehabilitation and future employment goals.

For more information about retraining and further education, please visit section 9.8 of this chapter [8]. For more information about the Veterans’ Vocational Rehabilitation Scheme for VEA clients, please visit chapter 12.5.4 of this Library. [9]

Designed by psychologists, psychometric assessments are used to assess a person's abilities, personality, motivations, values and interests under standardised conditions in line with a particular role. There are many different types of assessment all with the aim of helping the assessor build an overall profile of the client and, importantly, how that client might fit within a specific workplace.

Psychometric assessments typically fall into two categories: aptitude tests and personality inventories.

Psychological assessment (psychometric testing) can add value to the whole-of-person assessment approach by:

• developing a picture of an individual's aptitudes and attributes; and
• predicting how these will affect their performance in a particular situation.

There are a large number of psychometric testing tools available and the test required will depend on the type of rehabilitation setting (medical, psychosocial and or vocational). They must be selected and administered in ways that are unbiased and don't lead the client.

Psychometric assessments typically fall into two categories: aptitude tests and personality tests.

There are aptitude tests for:

• general problem solving;
• numerical reasoning
• verbal reasoning;
• critical thinking;
• mechanical, clerical, linguistic, musical or artistic abilities;
• manual dexterity;
• reaction time and
• hand/eye coordination.

There are personality tests for:

• interpersonal style;
• work/team style;
• leadership style; and
• motivational style.

Psychometric tests should not be the sole instrument used for the assessment and placement of clients.  They should be used in conjunction with other assessment tools, as one element of the assessment process. Most commonly, they are used to assess the person's preferred strengths for a position or job type.

These tests define the critical characteristics needed for success in a position, to determine the match between the person's profiles and the "ideal" profile for a specific workplace.

Psychometric Tests may be used in conjunction with general assessment tools.  Some of these are discussed in the following topics.

The Congruence Occupational Reading Test (CORT) is one type of aptitude test used to assess the reading ability of individuals in relation to work reading demands at different levels.

The specific skills assessed by CORT include:

• identifying material through basic sign and word recognition;
• determining the main information presented in graphs, diagrams, tables and text;
• finding specific information in work and general documents;
• interpreting graphs, tables, diagrams and text to deduce conclusions not specifically given; and
• comprehending and critically evaluating information.

The content of the tests are based on materials used in a variety of occupations. The sorts of material include work environment signs, words from labels, invoices or tickets, written job instructions, memoranda, factory signs, traffic signs, diagrams, plans and street directories, tables, reports, work-related legal documents, and policy statements.

The Congruence Arithmetic Test (CAT) is another aptitude designed to assess the basic arithmetic skills used in sales, clerical and technical occupations.

The ACER Short Clerical Test is designed to measure two aspects, speed and accuracy, of aptitude for routine clerical work. This test is used as an aid in vocational counselling to assess aptitude for clerical work.

The Congruence Personality Scale Form 1 (CPS-1) is an example of a personality test used to facilitate career decision-making. 

The CPS-1 assesses how a person prefers to relate to others, how people react to pressure, how dependable they are in performing tasks, how they approach problem solving and how they behave in a group.

It is designed to assess the following personality traits:

• Social Orientation - assesses individual differences in people's preferences for social activity and social interaction;
• Cognitive Orientation - assesses individual differences in people's preferences for thinking about and solving problems;
• Interpersonal Orientation - assesses individual differences in people's preferences for relating to other individuals and how they handle conflict with others;
• Task Orientation - assesses individual differences in people's preferences for how they approach tasks; and
• Emotional Orientation - assesses individual differences in people's reaction to stress and pressure.