AGRADES Core Measures of Employability
The “core measures” of AGRADES include a selection of subscales from the Dispositional Measure of Employability (DME; Fugate & Kinicki, 2008), Career Futures Inventory Revised (CFIR; Rottinghaus, Buelow, Matyja, & Schneider, 2011), and the Job Search Self-Efficacy Scale (JSSE; Saks, Zikic, & Koen, 2015).
Supplementary measures will be progressively added to AGRADES. As an ongoing service to AGRADES’ users, the national averages will be refreshed to ensure scores are properly contextualized.
AGRADES Report on Core Measures
A brief report is provided to the user when all the Core Measures are complete. The report provides commentary about the meaning of each measure, the user’s score, the national average score, and low and high estimate based on one standard deviation below and above the national average. Here is a sample of the report outputs for each Core Measures.
Individuals who are open to changes at work are receptive and willing to change, and/or feel that changes are generally positive once they occur.
Your score for Openness to Changes at Work is {TOTAL} out of 25. The average is 19.
A relatively low score would be 16 or less, and a relatively high score would be 22 or more.
Individuals with Work and Career Resilience possess some combination of the following attributes: are optimistic about their career opportunities and work, feel that they have control over the destiny of their careers, and/or they feel that they are able to make genuinely valuable contributions at work.
Your score for Work and Career Resilience is {TOTAL} out of 40. The average score is 30.
A relatively low score would be 25 or less, and a relatively high score would be 35 or more.
A proactive career orientation reflects people's tendencies and actions to gain information potentially affecting their jobs and career opportunities, both within and outside their current employer.
Your score for Work and Career Proactivity is {TOTAL} out of 15. The average is 11.
A relatively low score would be 9 or less, and a relatively high score would be 13 or more.
Individuals with career motivation tend to make specific career plans and strategies. People in this category are inclined to take control of their own career management and set work/career-related goals.
Your score for Career Motivation is {TOTAL} out of 15. The average is 12.
A relatively low score would be 9 or less, and a relatively high score would be 14 or more.
Work identity reflects the degree to which individuals define themselves in terms of a particular organization, job, profession, or industry. Work identity is characterized by a genuine interest in what one does, how well it is done, and the impressions of others.
Your score for Work Identity is {TOTAL} out of 30. The average is 24.
A relatively low score would be 20 or less, and a relatively high score would be 27 or more.
Higher scores on Career Agency suggest that you have a high perceived capacity for self-reflection and thoughtfulness about initiating, controlling, and managing career transitions.
Your score for Career Agency is {TOTAL} out of 50. The average is 40.
A relatively low score would be 34 or less, and a relatively high score would be 46 or more.
Higher scores for Occupational Awareness indicate how well you believe you understand the job market and employment trends.
Your score for Occupational Awareness is {TOTAL} out of 30. The average is 20.
A relatively low score would be 15 or less, and a relatively high score would be 25 or more.
High scores for Negative Career Outlook indicate negative thoughts about career decisions and beliefs that you will not achieve favourable career outcomes.
Your score for Negative Career Outlook is {TOTAL} out of 20. The average is 15.
A relatively low score would be 12 or less, and a relatively high score would be 18 or more.
Individuals with high levels of Job Search Self-Efficacy Outcomes believe that they have the confidence to obtain the outcomes needed to secure a job.
Your score for Job Search Self-Efficacy Outcomes is {TOTAL} out of 50. The average is 33.
A relatively low score would be 25 or less, and a relatively high score would be 41 or more.
The Core Measures are drawn from the following sources
Fugate, M., & Kinicki, A. J. (2008). A dispositional approach to employability: Development of a measure and test of implications for employee reactions to organizational change. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 81(3), 503-527. doi: 10.1348/096317907X241579
Rottinghaus, P. J., Buelow, K. L., Matyja, A., & Schneider, M. R. (2011). The Career Futures Inventory–Revised: Measuring dimensions of career adaptability. Journal of Career Assessment. doi: 10.1177/1069072711420849
Saks, A. M., Zikic, J., & Koen, J. (2015). Job search self-efficacy: Reconceptualizing the construct and its measurement. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 86, 104-114. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2014.11.007
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
Measures of educational and psychological constructs should be based on accepted psychometric theory and methods, and should be constructed and used in accordance to professional standards. AGRADES is based on theory, methods, and conventional practices stipulated in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 2014). Practitioners who use AGRADES with their students and clients should be familiar with the professional standards that relate to assessment and measurement of educational and psychological constructs, and that are specific to their professional domain of expertise, such as Professional Standards for Australian Career Development Practitioners (Career Industry Council of Australia, 2009).
American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education. (2014). Standards for educational and psychological testing: American Educational Research Association.
Career Industry Council of Australia. (2009, 25 January 2007). Professional standards for Australian career development practitioners. Retrieved from http://www.cica.org.au
