AN EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SATB NORMS IN MDTA SELECTION

An investigation of the use of SATB norms for MDTA training courses disclosed that approximately half the applicants admitted to training did not pass the appropriate norms. Research was undertaken to determine whether these norms, developed mainly on samples of employed workers or regular technical-vocational students, were capable of differentiating between successful and unsuccessful MDTA trainees. An analysis was also made to determine the appropriateness of a new method of SATB interpretation based on the standard error of measurement for each of the GATB's nine aptitudes. The results indicated that the SATB's had good selective efficiency for MDTA trainees, and the new method of SATB interpretation was strongly supported by the data.     

AN INNOVATION IN THE PREPARATION OF COUNSELOR SUPERVISORS

Employment Service counselor supervisors were prepared at Indiana University under a contract with the Indiana State Bureau of Employment Security. Our campus program was a combination of didactic and practicum courses. The off campus program consisted of visitation by faculty members to the local offices of the enrollees and involved consulting with the office staff as well as the enrollee. Reaction to the program by total office staffs was favorable.     

Employment Counselor Training and Professional Issues in the United States

Employment counseling as practiced during the past 30 years in the United States Employment Service (now Job Service) is discussed, including (a) the historical forces that affected employment counseling, (b) their consequences over this period of time, and (c) employment counseling training initiatives. The Competency-Based Employment Counselor Training Model is described, and more recent training initiatives are identified. The counselor credentialing process (particularly certification and licensure) is examined.     

Use of Tests in the Canadian Employment Services

This article provides an overview of the use of tests within the Canadian Employment Service. Some of the topics covered include the place of tests in the counseling service (the general context), the level of testing services provided to clients, the training provided for employment counselors, and the involvement of the employment service in test development.     

U.S. Employment Service: First 50 Years, 1933–1983

This article reviews some of the landmarks and trends during the first 50 years of the U.S. Employment Service. It was originally written as the introductory chapter of a longer paper, “The Occupational Information Needs and Functions of the Employment Security-Job Service,” which was submitted at the request of the Occupational Coordinating Council, Washington, D.C., March 1980. The purpose of the chapter was to describe the role and functions of the Employment Service and to show how the service could become more relevant during an age of computerized employment service operations involving highspeed electronic communications and retrieval systems. Under the Reagan administration, much of the federal-state employment service has been systematically dismantled. The Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) has been repealed and with it, large parts of the research, development, and counseling capacities have been wiped out. Only the great “supply side” depression of 1980–1983 saved the entire system from being demolished.     

A Paraprofessional Training Model Based on the Employment Service Training Unit Concept

A paraprofessional inservice training model is presented which is based on the Employment Service Training Unit (ESTU) concept. The model encourages the use of professional staff in the local work setting as a viable source for training paraprofessional staff members. The advantages and disadvantages of current training programs are described, with the ESTU model presented as an alternative for a more effective paraprofessional training program.     

Factors Associated With Early Employment Among Refugees From the Former Soviet Union

The relationship among select demographics, vocational service, and job placement among refugees from the former Soviet Union was investigated. Vocational service and employment history were tracked for 12 months for 379 Soviet refugees who were employable adults under age 55, whose first visit to Jewish Vocational Service Chicago occurred between October 1 and December 31, 1991. Employment was related to gender, marital status, and age as well as to proficiency level in English as a Second Language and vocational service. Results of a logistic regression analysis suggest that the frequency of contact with a job developer, age, and gender were indicators of early employment. Implications for employment counselors working with refugees are noted.     

An inter-battery method of factor analysis

The inter-battery method of factor analysis was devised to provide information relevant to the stability of factors over different selections of tests. Two batteries of tests, postulated to depend on the same common factors, but not parallel tests, are given to one sample of individuals. Factors are determined from the correlation of the tests in one battery with the tests in the other battery. These factors are only those that are common to the two batteries. No communality estimates are required. A statistical test is provided for judging the minimum number of factors involved. Rotation of axes is carried out independently for the two batteries. A final step provides the correlation between factors determined by scores on the tests in the two batteries. The correlations between corresponding factors are taken as factor reliability coefficients.This research was jointly supported by Princeton University and the Office of Naval Research under contract N6onr-270-20 and the National Science Foundation under grant NSF G-642; Harold Gulliksen, principal investigator. The preparation of this paper and the accompanying material has been aided by the Educational Testing Service. The author is grateful to Professors Harold Gulliksen and Samuel S. Wilks for their many most helpful comments and suggestions.     

PROFILE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE COUNSELORS

As a guide to program planning, the United States Employment Service makes periodic surveys of the numbers and characteristics of counseling staff employed by the various State Employment Services. The information obtained from these studies helps to provide answers to many administrative questions regarding recruitment, staffing, training, and utilization of counselors as well as their physical facilities. The most recent survey indicates that overall substantial progress has been made in staffing to meet increasing responsibilities and in upgrading the professional qualifications of counselors, although there are still some problem areas.     

COUNSELING IN THE STATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

The place and importance of counseling in State Employment Services has, in many instances, not been recognized as a necessary function of the United States Training and Employment Service (USTES) by some local office managers as well as administrators. After discussing this matter with the counselors in the Halsted office, the following article was written not to justify the existence of counseling but hopefully to show its importance.     

The U.S. Employment Service Occupational Test-Development Program

The U. S. Employment Service conducts a test-research program for developing testing tools useful in vocational counseling. This article outlines the organization, underlying concepts, accomplishments, and current efforts of the test-research program.     

Article Characteristics,Content, and Authorship in the Journal of Employment Counseling

This article is an analysis of general journal and article characteristics, content, and authorship for volumes 1 through 15 of the Journal of Employment Counseling, covering the years 1964 through 1978. It attempts to determine to what extent and in what ways the membership of the National Employment Counselors Association (NECA) is served by the Journal. The average length of the journal and its articles are noted as well as the number of authors and references per article. Each article is reviewed for content classification, authorship, and the author's institutional affiliation. The basic facts and overall publication trends are identified and discussed. It is noted that only a small proportion of published articles concerned Employment Service counseling techniques. The data in this article was originally prepared for the graduate course entitled “Psychology 411: Professional Problems in Psychology” at the University of Missouri-Columbia.     

Career guidance in Northern Ireland: retrospect and prospect

The history of careers guidance in Northern Ireland has many similarities but also many differences from experiences in other parts of the UK. The Careers Service has remained within central government for the duration, and this has provided a degree of consistency in service provision over time. In line with the Department for Employment and Learning's Corporate Plan for 2005-2008, the new Careers Service for Northern Ireland will aspire to be an all-age guidance service. The development of careers education provision in the education sector is examined, as is the emergence of adult guidance as a province-wide provision. Issues considered include staffing, training, evaluation, targeting need, the merits and demerits of locating the Careers Service within the Civil Service, and potentially conflicting responsibilities to clients and to the employing department.     

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL AND DROPOUT MDTA TRAINEES1

A study was designed to compare several variables of Manpower Development Training Act (MDTA) clients who dropped out of the program with those of clients who completed the program. A random sample of application cards was drawn for individuals enrolled in MDTA adult classes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Trainees who completed the program were more likely to be married, older, characterized by a more stable employment history prior to entering the program, and slightly more educated than were program dropouts. Clients who completed the program versus those who did not were not significantly different on the following variables: (1) sex; (2) counseling versus no counseling; (3) race; and (4) client reported physical disability.     

EMPLOYMENT SERVICES FOR YOUTH

Youth unemployment has remained a social and economic problem for over a quarter of a century. Experience in the U.S. Employment Service and in schools and other agencies in the community indicates that special advocates, i.e., youth employment specialists, are needed to work with youth and employers if young people are to get their full share of the job opportunities and are to achieve maximum utilization of their talents as new entrants into the labor market.     

The Value of the U.S. Employment Service Automated Reporting System to Employment Counselors

This article discusses the value of the Employment Service Automated Reporting System, which assists labor market planners in employment and training agencies in developing necessary programs for reducing unemployment at the local level. It is postulated that more states should use the data from the system but be careful to avoid misleading approaches.     

SCHOOL COUNSELORS HELP OUT THE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

For several years the Employment Service has been hiring school counselors to augment counseling staff in local offices during the summer months when school was not in session. The program has grown each year, and the results have more than exceeded expectations.     

GROUP GUIDANCE IN AN EMPLOYMENT SERVICE SETTING

Since socialization is a learned process, it has been hypothesized that through a group experience individuals might be assisted to develop improved interpersonal relationships, improved self-confidence, and more relevant work attitudes and, thus, might be assisted to improve their employability. A questionnaire was devised in order to study the utilization and practice of group guidance in an Employment Service setting.     

The method of minimum variation for the combination of criteria

The problem of weighting separate criterion variates is solved by minimizing the differences among the standard scores of the individual upon the various measures. The method is compared with Horst's procedure of maximizing the inter-individual differences. An application is made to personnel data.This technique was developed in connection with a study of the prediction of success of salespersons, which is being carried on by the Occupational Research Program of the United States Employment Service.     

application of the social marketing model to unemployment counseling: a theoretical perspective

A. R. Andreasen's (1995) social marketing model (SMM) is applied to structure feedback counseling for individuals who are unemployed. The authors discuss techniques used in commercial marketing and how they are equally applicable to solving societal problems; SMM and its application to social interventions; and structured feedback that moves a person from contemplating change to sustained behavioral modification, which can facilitate attitudinal and behavioral change. The relationship of SMM to motivational theories that support the potential of SMM for unemployment counseling is also discussed. The article concludes with a review of the integration of SMM by the New Zealand Employment Service.