Competency Portfolios Connecting Life, Learning and Work “CPCA”

Competency Portfolio Community Alliance (CPCA) Community representatives in Lindsay and Peterborough, Ontario meet to review how a competency portfolio can be used with individuals who are upgrading skills and/or seeking employment. Funding obtained in three phases: 1.Train staff in prior learning assessment fundamentals and Portfolio Development. Research and Develop a Resource Manual for Competency Portfolio Development. 2.Develop workshop materials for portfolio development and train staff on its use and implementation. 3.Deliver portfolio workshop materials to 3 at risk populations: older workers, youth and social assistance recipients. Develop 3 videos promoting competency portfolio development. Start an employer advisory group.

Competency Portfolio Community Alliance (CPCA) Opportunities: Job seeking clients often lack confidence and do not fully understand their skills so have difficulty in promoting themselves to employers. All clients regardless of skill and educational background can develop a portfolio. Employers are having difficulty finding the right people so will need to look at new ways of recruitment. The word “equivalency” has not been defined. Competency portfolio development has created an opportunity for service coordination between employment and literacy agencies.

Project Challenges o Negative connotation with the word “Portfolio” o Perceived funding and staffing challenges around running portfolio workshops and adding portfolio development into training/learning plans o Credential “guarding” o Attracting rural participants

Be the Change, Career Consulting

PLAR Workshop Create an Employment Portfolio Benefits for the job seeker: Reflection Understand knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) Reflect, story tell, prove it A targeted job specific portfolio Gain a competitive edge related to soft skills Build Confidence!

o Identify Learning: o Characteristics and Attributes; o Knowledge and Skills (existing, gaps); and o Sharing their experiences through story telling. o Gather Documents: o Prove Learning with documentation - Valid & Targeted Documentation (Direct and Indirect sources). o Implementing the Plan: o Goal Setting; Pathways to Employment & Training; and Linking with Community Partners. Activities provided can be changed/modified based on the needs of the client PLAR Workshop Create an Employment Portfolio

Agency Benefits: Employed! In Training! Service Coordination! Flexibility to incorporate into current programming and emerging solutions Know the clients your agency serves, build confidence in their KSA's Better serve at risk clients – youth at risk, older workers, clients accessing social services and literacy programs Gain insight into career goals and learn about retention factors Challenge “credential creeping” and "equivalency" experience

PLAR Workshop Create an Employment Portfolio Employed/In Training 77% Service Coordination 45%

Innovative Practices in Recruitment o Assess “equivalency” and "valuable" experience, validate KSA's o Competency based recruitment (is now prevalent in most organizations) o Note: This recruitment process is based on the ability of the job seeker to produce anecdotes about their professional experiences. o Enhance competency based recruitment through a visual story board (portfolio documentation) o Increase competitive intelligence as portfolio can be a form of benchmarking o Economize on duplicate training o Review/enhance screening tools

Linking Employment and Adult Literacy Programs o Activities and portfolio development link academic and employment goals o All activities are aligned to the Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework: o Fosters learner empowerment and self determination; o Provides a central process for learner growth, reflection and planning; o Creates a holistic learner centered approach; and o Develops learner self awareness, goal setting and decision making skills.

Portfolios as assessment tools in literacy training o The wide variety of instructional materials included in the portfolio: Checklists; Student self-reflection; and Written summaries. o Provides a wealth of information to base further instruction and evaluate learner progress. o Portfolios are an excellent way to bring assessment and instruction together seamlessly.

Lessons Learned o Changes to best practices in recruitment need to be employer focused and not employment agency focused o Identify the flexibility of the tools for greater awareness and ownership in utilizing them independently o Capturing the referrals that are happening to receive credit for the work taking place and reflecting on successes

Project Response o 80 learners have taken the portfolio workshop training to date. o 2 day train the trainer session delivered - 14 practitioners in attendance. o 9 workshops completed - 2 more workshops scheduled. o Key marketing tools have been established to represent the CPCA. o Case Study being completed with a local employer to review the use of competency portfolios in the recruitment process regarding equivalency challenging o Implementation of employment portfolios into post secondary delivery with CICE and Academic Upgrading

o Increased ability to better market clients with little work experience for entry level positions and apprenticeships o Adds confidence and value to past work experiences with TIOW clients o Building of e-portfolios with the Online Digital Skills Link Groups o Making connections with individuals representing the Aboriginal emphasis regarding PLAR o Provided support of Employment Services, Literacy and Basic Skills programming and Ontario Works in one seamless process Project Response

Amanda Middleton Competency Portfolio Project Coordinator (705) ext. 253 Carol TimlinJoan Connolly Executive Director VCCSExecutive Director LOCS (705) ext. 226(705) Creating Connections