Posted by In the previous post, we reminded you that you can examine your competencies with competency tests, which we called examining competencies with questions. If you are a scientist, work in a scientific project or are employed as a research and teaching or research employee at a university, you can do this very quickly and it will only take you 20 minutes.
There is a second way of testing competencies – using behavioral descriptions. Sometimes this way is called behavioral testing. In this form, you will find statements about many professional and social situations, arranged on a scale from no competence to full proficiency in a given area. Measuring competence involves selecting an adequate description of yourself in a given situation and then this description is compared to a model.
We created the behavioral descriptions with experts from the staff of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Staff Development and external experts. We tested them on a selected group of employees and verified them for content. In total, almost 300 academics from 10 research universities in Poland took part in this type of testing.
The behavioral descriptions, on the one hand, are questions so universal that you can answer them regardless of the scientific discipline you represent. On the other hand, the descriptions are about detailed scientific work situations in certain areas of activity in the role of a scientific worker.
To learn about the diagnosis of your competencies, click on the CHECK YOUR COMPETENCES button in the upper right corner. On this page you will find instructions on how the survey will be conducted. It will take 15-20 minutes and is completely anonymous! You will not provide any data, only you can enter seniority, academic discipline and job position held in the metric.
Next, click on TEST YOUR COMPETENCIES BY DESCRIPTIONS OF BEHAVIOUR. You will be presented with a choice of whether you are a new user or whether you have previously completed competency tests in our system. If you are a new user, click FOR NEW USER. If you have already used our tools, you have a code that you can enter in the box next to it and press CHECK YOUR ASSESSMENT to return to your results.
If you are a new user, you will see a metric on the next page. Enter here 3 parameters that will optimize a set of questions on competencies for you. Your job title is special, as this criterion makes a big difference in the competency questions. If you have already selected this, click RUN A DESCRIPTIONS OF BEHAVIOUR TEST.
This is the essential part of the test – see the 9 key competencies that have 4 to 7 indicators. Mark the correct statements that correspond to your behavior or your characteristics.
At the end you will see your results against the benchmark parameters we developed in the DIALOG project, which you can read about here:
If you have any questions, write to us at: icrk@us.edu.pl
But that’s not all!
In my next post I’ll explain how to invite your colleague, boss or co-worker to test your competencies. Then you’ll also get an assessment of your competence from an outsider.