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Exploring career options can be an enlightening experience—it’s an exercise in learning more about yourself and about the opportunities that best fit your personality. The Self-Directed Search (SDS) is a career assessment created by Dr. John Holland that has been used more than 36 million times.

The SDS is based on Holland’s theory, known as RIASEC theory, that both people and working environments can be classified according to six basic types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. One of the main ideas of this theory is that the closer your personality type aligns with your work environment type, the more likely you are to find fulfillment at work.

After completing the 20-minute online assessment, you’ll receive one of three reports based on your demographics and job history: The StandardSDS, the StudentSDS, or the VeteranSDS. Your interactive report includes lists of occupations and programs of study associated with your Summary Code that can be customized–you can save, sort, and filter results; learn more about salary data; link to related career clusters; and even search for jobs in your area!  Our site is now mobile friendly to make your search even easier, and SDS group accounts and partnerships are perfect for schools or organizations.

So if you are looking for a job, want a career change, or are searching for a program of study, knowing more about what types of potential careers fit your personality will greatly improve your search. Get started today!

 

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PARiConnect leads the online assessment industry. No waiting for pages to load, no-hassle service and support—all in one intuitive and easy-to-use platform. PARiConnect’s unmatched availability and quality will work as hard as you do.

Did you know PARiConnect was available 99.99% of the time in 2017?

Learn more about how you can access the industry’s most reliable online assessment platform.
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The new Test of Auditory Processing Skills–Fourth Edition (TAPS-4) provides you with increased flexibility in administration. Unlike the TAPS-3, where subtests reflected a developmental progression of tasks ranging from easiest to most difficult that had to be administered in a specific order, the TAPS-4 has restructured 11 subtests into three indexes: phonological processing, auditory memory, and listening comprehension. This allows for a new level of flexibility when administering subtests.

For a limited time, the TAPS-4 Complete Kit is available for $175! Learn more!

 

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This article refers to products that are no longer available or supported.

With spring sports season just around the corner, PAR has two apps that can help your athlete have a safe and successful season! The Concussion Assessment & Response™: Sport Version (CARE) is ideal for athletic trainers, team physicians, and other qualified health professionals. The Concussion Recognition & Response™ (CRR) app is geared toward coaches and parents.

Both products have numerous advantages that make assessment easy to perform, ultimately aiding in positive concussion outcomes. Accessed through a mobile application and administered in less than 5 minutes, these concussion assessments help recognize signs and symptoms of a concussion so that you can respond quickly and appropriately reducing the likelihood of serious injury. Whether performed by coach and parent (CRR) or athletic trainer (CARE), results can be saved in the apps and sent to a health care provider for further evaluation.

Even after a diagnosis of a concussion, these applications aid in the successful rehabilitation of the athlete. Both applications provide guidance in monitoring the postconcussion symptoms during recovery as well as information for care after successful rehabilitation. In addition, a return-to-play guide helps to protect the athlete from further injury by guiding them through a daily exercise routine. The CARE assessment also comes with a balance error scoring system and sideline assessment that evaluates  memory, recall, and concentration.

The CARE is available in the App Store and through Google Play for $4.99.

The CRR is available in the App Store and through Google Play for free!

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The new Test of Auditory Processing Skills—Fourth Edition (TAPS-4) provides clinicians a reliable way of measuring auditory processing skills. Phonological processing, auditory memory, and listening comprehension are the three major areas analyzed by this assessment.

A wide variety of subtests provide information on the language processing and comprehension skills of the client. Subtests include Word (Pair) Discrimination, Phonological Deletion, Phonological Blending, Syllabic Blending, Number Memory Forward, Word Memory, Sentence Memory, Number Memory Reversed, Processing Oral Directions, Auditory Comprehension, and Auditory Figure-Ground. The included audio CD features audio administration for the subtests for which proper pronunciation of speech sounds is critical, resulting in more consistent administration and more reliable results.

This edition also offers fully updated normative data as well as an expanded age range to accommodate a wider range of clients.

The TAPS-4 is now available. Visit the product page for more information!

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The new SPECTRA™: Indices of Psychopathology offers clinicians a new way to assess psychopathology. A brief, self-administered multiscale measure of psychopathology and functioning, the SPECTRA is based on quantitative model of psychopathology.

The SPECTRA measures 12 clinically important constructs (depression, anxiety, social anxiety, posttraumatic stress, alcohol problems, severe aggression, antisocial behavior, drug problems, psychosis, paranoid ideation, manic activation, and grandiose ideation). These constructs are organized into three higher-order spectra of Internalizing, Externalizing, and Reality-Impairing. The constructs map on to DSM-5 conditions and help link assessment findings to the quantitative model research literature. The three spectra combine to provide a General Psychopathology Index score, which measures the total burden of psychopathology. Three supplemental scales include Cognitive Concerns, Psychosocial Functioning, and Suicidal Ideations.

 The SPECTRA takes just 15-20 minutes to administer and can be administered and scored on paper or via the PARiConnect online assessment system. The SPECTRA is useful when evaluating individuals in a variety of clinical settings, such as inpatient and outpatient clinics, hospitals, schools, and forensic settings. It also can help track progress over time if administered repeatedly.

 To learn more about the SPECTRA, visit the product page, where you can view a sample PARiConnect report and other supplemental information.

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The beginning of a new year is a common time for people to evaluate jobs and careers. Are your clients seeking occupations to better align with their passions? With the new Self-Directed Search (SDS) it’s easier than ever to help your clients explore career options that best match their personality types!

The SDS is the gold standard in career personality assessment. Since its release in 1971, the SDS has been used more than 36 million times. The SDS is based on Dr. John Holland’s theory, known as the RIASEC theory, that both people and working environments can be classified according to six basic types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. One of the main ideas of this theory is that the closer your personality type aligns with your work environment type, the more likely you are to find fulfillment at work.

The SDS was recently rebranded, repackaged, and refreshed! A bold new look and a cleaner, more user-friendly interface means clients can easily learn more about their personality and find a career that fits.

The online SDS experience also features interactive and highly customizable digital reports.

So if your clients are exploring occupations or want a career change, the SDS will greatly improve their search.

Visit self-directed-search.com to learn more!

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If you haven’t added the Handbook for Using the Self-Directed Search®: Integrating RIASEC and CIP Theories in Practice by Robert C. Reardon, PhD, and Janet G. Lenz, PhD, to your career assessment library, there is no better time than now! A second edition to The Self-Directed Search® and Related Holland Career Materials: A Practitioner’s Guide, this book is designed for professional counselors, psychologists, career development facilitators, career guidance technicians, librarians, social workers, and graduate students learning to be career counselors. It incorporates John Holland’s RIASEC theory with cognitive information processing (CIP) theory and studies four aspects of the career choice process: self-knowledge, options, decision making, and executive processing.

But don’t take our word for it. Here is what others are saying about this important new edition. 


“Through explaining SDS administration and interpretation, Reardon and Lenz effectively link RIASEC and CIP theories to practice…As a result, the writing style is refreshingly personable and enriching.”

-Matthew McClanahan, East Carolina University. Book Review: Handbook for using the Self-Directed Search: Integrating RIASEC and CIP Theories in Practice. The Professional Counselor.

 

“There is little else to do but rave on about the virtues and resources offered in the Handbook. Janet Lenz and Bob Reardon are to be commended for doing such a fantastic job in producing and editing the Handbook. No career center, counselor’s, or practitioner’s shelf should be without one. John Holland would be proud, and rightly so.”

-Peter Manzi, EdD, School of Counseling, College of Social and Behavioral Science, Walden University. Handbook for using the Self-Directed Search: Integrating RIASEC and CIP Theories in Practice. NCDA Career Convergence Web Magazine.

 

“Suggesting the integration of two theories (RIASEC and CIP) is a major contribution for providing career practitioners with the means and the process when working with adults…In summary, the Handbook is a useful resource for career practitioners and others who use the SDS in their practices. For those who have studied RIASEC theory and the SDS, the Handbook is a comprehensive update and review.”

 -D. Furbish. Handbook for Using the Self-Directed Search: Integrating RIASEC and CIP Theories in Practice. Journal of Employment Counseling December, 53.

Learn more or get your copy today!

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PARiConnect, our online assessment platform, takes the work out of paperwork. You can easily administer, quickly score, and safely save and store assessment files online from any computer or device. Handling files and paperwork are no longer necessary.

There are even more advantages:

•When you purchase assessment products through PARiConnect, you pay no shipping and handling fees. That’s additional savings for you on top of no subscription or licensing fees.
•PARiConnect gives you immediate access to your assessment products. No more waiting for materials to arrive—you can start using your products right away!

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Now it’s even easier to measure basic reading, math, spelling, and reading comprehension skills quickly and reliably. The AAB is now available for scoring via PARiConnect, our online portal.

The new AAB is ideal for use in educational, research, or clinical settings to confidently evaluate achievement in just 15 to 30 minutes to get an accurate overview of an individual’s educational skills. After entering scores from a paper-and-pencil assessment, PARiConnect produces a Score Report that provides scale and composite scores, including percentiles, stanines, and confidence intervals. Score discrepancies between subtests and the Total Academic Achievement Battery are provided, along with significance levels. A qualitative analysis and a skills analysis summary are also provided in the report.

A Reliable Change Report can be generated if you have administered the AAB to the same individual more than one time.

Developed using academic standards set by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Council of Teachers of English, Common Core, and Reading First, the AAB is the newest member of this family of products. A Comprehensive Form, which offers a complete evaluation of academic skills, and a Screening Form, which offers a fundamental evaluation of reading, math, spelling, and writing skills, are also available.

For value and simplicity, you can’t beat the AAB on PARiConnect!

 

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