Career Central's BullsEye Tool

Those teachers who use Career Central and BullsEye might be interested to know some of the theoretical underpinnings of the instrument.

The BullsEye assessment tool was specifically created by Career Central for use in Aotearoa New Zealand because most career assessments are generally designed and developed in the US. While a few tools are developed for the UK, and a very few are now being developed in China and Korea, there is not much being created elsewhere. Yet in Aotearoa we have a different culture, sub-cultures and values which do not necessarily fit well with the values and culture of the USA, UK, China or Korea (Blustein & Ellis, 2000).

However, in saying that, the theoretical underpinnings specific to BullsEye is John Holland's Self-Directed Search, commonly known as RIASEC or the Holland Codes (Probst, 2021). This theory comes from the US: and while this doesn't necessarily undermine the BullsEye instrument, we need to be aware that the grounding, culture and values will not be the same as our own. From the illustration accompanying the post, we can see the RIASEC codes match to the six New Zealand clusters as follows (AlphaBeta, 2018, p. 8; CareerKey, 2023):

1. Operators = Realistic
2. Engagers = Investigative
3. Crafters = Artistic
4. Healers = Social
5. Inventors = Enterprising
6. Organisers = Conventional

It appears that examining the RIASEC codes led to exploring standard occupations here in Aotearoa, which in turn led to the identification of a number of pathways. The pathways - all 27 of them - come from the 2006 version of the Australian & New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006), which can be found here. The development of O*Net in the USA (Probst, 2021) may well have taken an earlier, similar path.

If you haven't heard of ANZSCO before, a little bit of history: the original New Zealand occupations were created in 1999, then merged with Australia in 2006, based on 2005 occupations, in the first iteration of the Australia/NZ joint standards. The trans-Tasman occupations were updated in 2013, and most lately in 2019 as the third full ANZSCO revision (see here; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). The standards are used a lot in rehabilitation, as each role has a sheet detailing the skills, qualifications and physical requirements for various professions and jobs.

Career Central created the BullsEye pathways based on populations employed in the ANZSCO clusters. They aim reflect the occupational families which are the most highly demanded and employable. This was a significant piece of work for Career Central, which is probably why there appears to be some reluctance to update BullsEye to the latest ANZSCO data set (i.e. the BullsEye base occupations are from 2005, and the world of work has changed in the past 17 years).

A further consideration when using BullsEye is that the tool has not yet been independently researched in or validated for participant groups in Aotearoa New Zealand. It has been considered thus far too expensive to do this mahi, with testing likely to significantly increase the purchase price per student. It has also been thought that, because this is not a "psychometric" tool requiring a licence, then there is no legal or ethical reason for independent testing to be done. Money and legal requirements seem to drive a lot of our choices, sadly. Until someone undertakes this piece of research, we have only anecdotal evidence for the tool's effectiveness.

Career Central feel that BullsEye is valid, and, while it may be, there is as yet no empirical evidence for it being so. Empirical evidence, or proof, is countable, verifiable and objective. Anecdotal evidence is subjective, unable to be validated, or tested. There is - as yet - no proof. Just feeling. Hearsay.

Like all tools, there are a variety of considerations - cultural alignment, reliability, test/retest, validity cost, utility - when making a decision for use. If we understand the limitations, we can then use the tool with an appropriate level of confidence.

Sam

References:

AlphaBeta. (2018). Hidden Links, New Opportunities: How big data and job clusters can improve the 1.2 million job matches in NZ each year [report]. Tertiary Education Commission. http://hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/521013

AlphaBeta. (2017). The New Work Mindset: 7 new job clusters to help young people navigate the new work order [report]. The Foundation for Young Australians. https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A74570<

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2005). ANZSCO – Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations [report 1221.0]. https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/1220.0First%20Edition,%20Revision%201

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2009). 1220.0 - ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, First Edition, Revision 1. https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/8B1F5DDDD46033ABCA2575DF002DA75E?opendocument#:~:text=ANZSCO%20is%20intended%20to%20provide,vacancies%20and%20providing%20career%20information

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2019). ANZSCO Version 1.3. https://www.anzscosearch.com/anzsco-version-1-3/

Blustein, D. L., & Ellis, M. V. (2000). The Cultural Context of Career Assessment. Journal of Career Assessment, 8(4), 379–390. https://doi.org/10.1177/106907270000800407

CareerKey. (2023). Holland code assessment and RIASEC. https://www.careerkey.org/fit/personality/holland-code-assessment-riasec

Probst, R. W. (2021). Improving job fit and productivity in New Zealand - A critical assessment of John Holland’s RIASEC Model. [Master Thesis: Massey University]. https://mro.massey.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10179/16915/ProbstMBSThesis.pdf?sequence=1