Career Assessment

This very practical and useful book presents a strategy for assessing and integrating the domains of interests, personality, and ability aimed at facilitating career counseling and the career choice process. In a meaningful and informative style, the author integrates theory, research, and practice across these three relevant domains. -- W. Bruce Walsh, PhD, Emeritus Professor, Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus; Fellow, American Psychological Association It is rare to find a book on career assessment or, for that matter, on individual differences that presents an integrative literature review and models of abilities, personality traits, and interests. Rodney Lowman has crafted such a book, one that advances assessment and interpretation for practitioners and researchers in vocational and organizational psychology. -- James Rounds, PhD, Professor, Educational Psychology and Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dr. Lowman had done it again! This is the best, most complete, and yet one of the most practical books for career assessment available. If you conduct career or work assessments, or plan to, this volume will be invaluable. The book covers the three main areas of career assessment, including interests, abilities, and personality, and includes an excellent summary of the theory and research of these domains. It is also a practical guide with numerous helpful case examples. Assessments are a critical part of career assessment and coaching, and Lowman provides an excellent review of the key assessments necessary to do this work. -- Jeffrey E. Auerbach, PhD, President, College of Executive Coaching; author of Personal and Executive Coaching: The Complete Guide for Mental Health Professionals What makes Lowmans book special is that he understands the essence and purpose of career assessment, as well as the research integrated from the many disciplines that regularly provide these data. Lowman lays out a process and examines the evidence, even identifying unresolved or still-emerging issues. This book is a comprehensive treatment of the core issues in career assessment that also addresses human diversity, technology, and ethics. -- Mark Pope, EdD, Curators Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of MissouriSt. Louis; Recipient, Eminent Career Award, National Career Development Association (2008); President, National Career Development Association (19981999); President, American Counseling Association (20032004

Rodney L. Lowman, PhD, ABAP, is president of Lowman & Richardson/Consulting Psychologists, and a distinguished professor emeritus of CSPP, Alliant International University, San Diego. Dr. Lowman is author/editor of 13 books and monographs and over 130 peer-reviewed articles and chapters and has made presentations worldwide. His research/practice areas include assessment, career/work issues, and professional ethics. He is a fellow of several American Psychological Association divisions (1, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17, and 52). His books include Counseling and Psychotherapy of Work Dysfunctions; An Introduction to Consulting Psychology: Working With Individuals, Groups, and Organizations; and Career Assessment: Integrating Interests, Abilities, and Personality.

Preface Introduction: The Interdomain Model of Career Assessment Chapter 1. Scope of Career Assessment Work I. Assessing Vocational Interests Chapter 2. Defining and Contextualizing Vocational Interests Chapter 3. The Big Six RIASEC Interest Types Chapter 4. Applications: Choosing Interest Measures, Interpreting Individual-Level Interest Results, and Case Illustrations II. Assessing Career-Related Abilities Chapter 5. Career-Related Abilities: Conceptual Issues and General Intelligence Chapter 6. Mechanical and Physical Abilities Chapter 7. Spatial Abilities Chapter 8. Artistic and Creative Abilities Chapter 9. Social Abilities: Social and Emotional Intelligence Chapter 10. Managerial and Leadership Abilities Chapter 11. Perceptual, Computational, and Other Abilities Chapter 12. Case Illustrations of Ability Profiles III. Assessing Career-Related Personality Characteristics Chapter 13. Conceptual and Measurement Issues of Career-Related Personality Chapter 14. The Five-Factor Model of Personality Chapter 15. Other Career-Relevant Personality Characteristic Chapter 16. Applications: Case Illustrations of Personality Profiles IV. Applying the Interdimensional Model Chapter 17. Relationships Across Interest, Ability, and Personality Domains Chapter 18. Applying the Interdomain Model: A Step-by-Step Process for Integrating Career Assessment Data Chapter 19. Client Feedback and Report Preparation Chapter 20. Ethical/Legal and Technological Issues References