The Mccroskey Vocational Quotient System (MVQS)

McCroskey Vocational Quotient System (MVQS) 2003 6th Edition Primers

By William E. Wattenbarger, Ph.D. and Billy J. McCroskey, Ph.D.

Primer 1: The MVQS 2003 6th Edition Programs for Matching Persons with Jobs The three MVQS 6th Edition Programs (McCroskey, 2003) collectively represent a unique, unparalleled approach to matching people with their best job choices. They are based upon the objective performance demands that jobs require of a worker and upon the objective performance abilities of the worker. It's a simple, intuitive idea: a good job for a person is one where the person has all of the abilities the job requires.

The first challenge is to measure job demands and worker abilities in comparable terms. MVQS does this by using the concepts and adapted measurement scales of Job Analysis to define the 24 most vocationally significant categories referred to as traits. Then, these same categories, or traits, are applied to worker abilities, in exactly the same measurement terms. In this way they become compare-able. A worker can do any job, where his or her ability meets or exceeds the job's requirement on every vocationally significant trait.

MVQS helps the user to develop the profile of abilities for the worker and compare it to the job demand profiles of vocationally significant worker trait requirements for each reasonably frequently-hired-for-job in a specific labor market.

MVQS output result is a list of reasonable jobs, reasonably available in that market, which are within the worker's abilities profile. Obviously, the worker may have more transferable skills for some job matches, more occupational values and needs in common with those reinforced by some of the job matches, more vocational interest and personality needs in common with those reinforced by some of the job matches, and greater training potential for some job matches than others on the output list. That’s why other sorted report outputs are included.

MVQS-Primer 2: Job-Person Profiling and Matching Based the Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment1, essential to this process is knowledge of:

1) The typical Worker Trait Requirements/Demands Profile, Occupational Values and Needs Reinforcers available, and the Vocational Interest & Personality Reinforcer Type for each frequently-hired-for-job in a specific labor market, and

2) The Worker Trait Abilities/Capacities Profile, Occupational Values and Needs, and the Vocational Interest & Personality Reinforcer Type of a potential worker in a specific labor market

To meet the first condition, MVQS utilizes a comprehensive and contemporary database of job-demand profiles based upon the US Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), 4th Edition Revised, updated and extended to a 5th Edition in 2001, and updated, upgraded and revised to a 6th Edition in 2003, by the MVQS Developer, Primary Programmers and Researcher Associates2. The entire job bank database of 12,975 jobs is available for job-person matching comparisons. This database has been filtered and re- grouped for comparison in many other combinations: by nation, states, counties, boroughs and parishes,

1 Dawis, Lofquist & England, (1964) The Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota. Dawis, Lofquist & Weiss (1968). The Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment – Revised with formal hypotheses for scientific research testing. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota. 2 McCroskey, B.J., Wilcox, K., Wattenbarger, W. E., Dennis, K. L, Hahn, S. J., Bohlke, D. & Lowe, J. K., to name a few.

McCroskey Vocational Quotient System (MVQS) 6th Edition Primers and even cities (in selected cases), to represent different labor market areas. Specifically, MVQS provides databases for all US State, County and Territorial Labor markets (including Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands) based primarily upon job-orders placed with the U.S. Department of Labor Job Service offices across the nation and its territories. Similar sources were used to develop the Canada and Canadian Province Job Banks, to complete the set of 3,292 Labor Market Area Job Banks of reasonably frequently- hired-for-jobs developed thus far.

To meet the second condition, MVQS helps the user develop an abilities, values and needs, and vocational interest and personality type profiles based upon objective information about the worker's demonstrated and potential performance on 24 vocationally significant worker traits, their Values & Needs and their VIPR Types. MVQS utilizes the worker's work experiences, medical conditions, educational achievements and even their demonstrated activities of daily living, hobbies or avocation. Virtually any test or demonstration of human ability (behavior samples) can help us understand a worker's demonstrated, and maximum potential worker trait profiles.

MVQS-Primer 3: Comparison, Job-Matching Once the worker profile is ready and the job market is chosen, MVQS does the comparison. It takes a computer to do it but the idea is still pretty simple.

This is what happens. Taking one job at a time from the database, the measurements on each of the 24 vocationally significant traits is compared. If the worker's first measure is greater than or equal to the job demand measure, MVQS goes to the next measure and compares again. This process is repeated until the worker's ability measure in one of the traits falls below the demand. If that happens, the job is excluded from the results. If the worker profile meets or exceeds the job demand in every one of the 24 traits, the job is retained. MVQS then goes to the next job and starts all over again.

Say there are 1000 jobs in the job market's database. In this example the process involves 24 comparisons for each of 1000 jobs. That is 24,000 comparisons! When finished, the final list contains only jobs the worker can do in every category. That is a pretty strict rule, on purpose; there can be little doubt that the jobs on the resulting list are good matches for the worker.

MVQS-Primer 4: Results, Application The result of the comparison is a list of jobs for which the worker has the abilities to meet the job demands. But this is just the beginning.

From this basic result flows many interesting and useful applications. One can compute labor market access, assess training and skill development needs, give counsel regarding vocational choice, estimate transferable skills, predict starting wages and future earnings, quantify disability and lost wages and more.

To do this, MVQS uses its most remarkable feature: the vocational quotient or VQ. No other system has a VQ or its equivalent. Consequently, no other system can do what MVQS can in these areas of application. Understanding how MVQS uses the VQ to achieve these applications is too involved for a primer, but understanding the VQ is essential.

MVQS-Primer 5: Vocational Quotient (VQ) The VQ is an index of overall job difficulty. It too starts as a simple idea: the sum of all job demands. It does not remain quite so simple but this is the fundamental meaning of VQ.

The VQ in the MVQS is the result of some sophisticated statistical manipulations performed on the sum of the measurements on the 24 vocationally significant traits and a few other measures. Every job has a VQ. The larger the VQ, the larger is the total demand made upon a worker doing that job. Doctors have very high VQs and material handlers have low VQs.

McCroskey Vocational Quotient System (MVQS) 6th Edition Primers

Thanks to the wonders of mathematics, it is possible to compute a VQ for any profile of the 24 vocationally significant traits, including those of jobs and of workers, but worker VQs tend to be higher than Job VQs.

MVQS-Primer 6: Significance of the VQ The VQ is significant in most everything MVQS does with the results of the job-person matching process. One thing is especially important to remember: for all of its uses, the VQ is NOT involved in the comparison process.

The VQ IS used after the results are in. Here's the key: job difficulty (VQ) correlates with job performance, satisfaction and earnings. Job difficulty correlates with job performance; persons with high VQs can do more difficult jobs. Job difficulty also correlates with job satisfaction; the more of one's ability (VQ) used in their work, the more their satisfaction in the job. Job difficulty also correlates with earnings; jobs with higher VQs tend to pay more.

Ordering jobs in the results list by VQ tends to place the most difficult jobs above the less difficult jobs. And since all jobs on the list are within the worker's ability, the jobs high in the list tend to afford the worker opportunity for greater responsibility, satisfaction and earnings.

But VQ is not the only variable used by MVQS to order jobs in the results list. There are several others.

MVQS-Primer 7: Sorting the Results MVQS sorts the results list on several dimensions other than VQ. These include: Work History, Transferable Skills, Occupational Values & Needs Agreement, Specific Vocational Preparation and Vocational Interests & Personality Reinforcer (VIPR-Type).

These are important dimensions and add greatly to the power and usefulness of the MVQS results. This is not the place to attempt a thorough understanding of these. What is important here is to understand that these dimensions provide additional ways to look at the results and that each ordering provides a different insight into the results.

But remember, regardless of the sequencing variable used to order the results list, the VQ continues to be the pointer to optimum job performance, satisfaction and earnings.

MVQS-Primer 8: Reporting MVQS provides three different types of reports for each sort. The same jobs are represented in each, in the chosen order, but the content of the display is different.

In one view, the report presents the vocational traits for each job. This is useful to compare specific job demands between jobs.

In another view, the report presents a series of crosswalks for each job match. Crosswalks are just different ways to organize jobs into groups. Each crosswalk will have its own numeric coding scheme for the groups within it. Each is based on some parameter such as industry, occupation, transferable skills, methods, processes, subject matter or services, machines, tools, equipment or work aids used. These include the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Standard Occupational Classification (SOC), Census Occupation Classification (CENOCC), North American Industry Classification Survey (NAICS), Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC), Occupational Employment Statistics SOC (OESSOC), Occupational Information Network SOC (O*NETSOC), etc. These classification codes are helpful in linking specific jobs with other jobs in the same or related groups.

The third view the report presents earnings capacity estimates associated with each job. These can be used to optimize earning potential or find jobs compatible with the worker's value system.

Regardless of the view, VQ is the single best pointer for maximizing job performance, job satisfaction and earning capacity.

McCroskey Vocational Quotient System (MVQS) 6th Edition Primers

MVQS-Primer 9: Who can benefit from the MVQS 2003 6th Edition Upgrade?

To list the obvious, anyone who is looking to find or fill jobs, or determine earning capacity or diminished earning capacity, based on MVQS 6th Edition Outputs, including, but not limited to:

Job-Seekers,

Vocationologists and Job Analysts,

CRV Certified Rehabilitation Vocationologists,

MVQS Rehabilitation Economist Program Users,

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors,

CRC Certified Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors,

Vocational Consultants,

Licensed Professional Counselors,

Career Counselors,

Licensed Psychologists,

Forensic Economists,

Certified Rehabilitation Economists,

Certified Earning Analysts,

Vocational Evaluators,

CVE Certified Vocational Evaluators,

SSA Certified Vocational Experts,

American Board of Vocational Experts (ABVE) Board Certified Vocational Experts,

Human Resource Departments,

Personnel Agencies,

High School and College Advisors and Counselors,

Social Workers,

Vocational Evaluators, Teachers and Instructors and Job Placement Specialists in Vocational Technical Institutes and Colleges

Sheltered Workshop Work Evaluators and Work Adjustment Specialists

Welfare-to-Work Evaluators, Counselors & Job Placement Specialists, and Related Professionals

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