About the Catalogue Framework Assessment Tool

Career Skills Framework

Fundamental competences Descriptors	Levels of proficiency
Fundamental competences Descriptors	A Basic Prepares the individual for achieving competences to the highest level of which they are capable.	B Intermediate Continues to develop individual’s competences to find information and make plans and apply them in learning, life and work.	C Advanced Supports individual to stay employable and be able to adapt and manage independently transitions in work, training or further learning opportunities.
Self-awareness	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Understanding and developing oneself. Building realistic self-image and healthy self-esteem, mindfulness, reflectivity Changing and growing throughout life. Reflecting on needs, aspirations in the short, medium and long term. Describing one’s knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that have been developed through learning, life and work experiences, including cultural and community activities and contributions. Describing how these can be applied into life and transition plans.	I am able to manage my own feelings and behaviours, including body language	I am able to identify external influences on feelings, behaviour & attitudes.	I am able to assess how I am changing and to match my skills, interests and values to requirements and opportunities in learning and work.
	I am able to identify and describe my personal qualities, strengths, interests, attitudes and how they influence behaviour.	I am able to assess how personal qualities, behaviour, self-belief and expectations are influencing education, career goals & life choices.	I am able to change my behaviour & attitudes to enhance and maintain self-esteem & a positive self-concept.
	I am able to identify elements of a positive self-concept..	I am able to build a positive self-concept and understand its influence on life and work.	I am able to adopt behaviours & attitudes that will help set and accomplish personal and career goals.
Labour market awareness	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Finding and evaluating information that supports career development. Finding information about future job trends, future jobs and the skills they will require. Understanding the changing nature of life, career and work roles. Being aware of the importance of career-related information from reliable, up-to-date and accurate sources. Understanding the relationship between work, society and the economy.	I can able Identify how to access career related information.	I am able to identify how I am selecting and using career information my career decisions.	I am able to critically interpret and analyse the impact of current education, training and work trends on life, learning, transition and my career plans.
	I am able to describe different work roles and conditions.	I am able to explore differences between career areas & requirements for working in different fields and employment conditions i.e. part/full-time, volunteering, entrepreneurship.	I able to understand how changes in society, politics and the economy relate to my life, learning and work.
	I am able to explore the gendered life and work options.	I am able to understand the nature of gendered life and work roles.	I able judge on gender bias and stereotypes and seek to eliminate them in my career planning.
Employability	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Having Skills and experience that enable individuals to get jobs and sustain themselves in employment Exploring different career/occupational search tools & resources Understanding that skills and experiences are transferable to various work settings Demonstrating adaptability and flexibility in variety of situations Using of all the resources available to independently secure next steps in transitions Developing a coherent and robust marketable identity in order to maximise one’s potential.	I am able to recognise personal qualities & attitudes required for working life.	I am able to show that I am continuing to develop the qualities and skills I will need to improve my employability.	I am able to explain how I am developing my employability to meet my own expectations and the expectations of employers and co-workers
	I am able to relate my knowledge, skills and interests to different career areas.	I am able to identify transferable skills & identify career areas that these apply to.	I am able to demonstrate the employability skills necessary to secure & stay in work.
	I know how to prepare and present myself well when going through a selection process.	I know my rights and responsibilities in a selection process and can apply different strategies to improve my chances of being chosen.	I know how to prepare for, perform well and learn from participating in selection processes.
Career planning	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Developing and managing one’s career, decision making, goal setting, developing a career vision, organisation skills. Understanding the career decision-making process & the importance of making informed decisions. Describing how attitudes & motivation can affect career planning & decision- making. Setting long-, medium- and short-term goals. Defining priorities and action plans. Readiness to review opinions and course of action in the face of new evidence.	I am able to recognise the importance of learning for achieving educational and career goals.	I am able to recognise the link between subjects and extra-curricular activities & different career paths.	I am able to choose subjects and educational options in line with further training & chosen career paths.
	I am able to assess and describe my professional strengths and competences.	I am able to make a career plan that supports my goals.	I am able to implement my career plans and decisions.
	I am able to identify job opportunities, which could be suitable for me.	I am able to show how to make plans and take informed decisions including how to solve problems and deal appropriately with influences on.	I am able to reflect objectively on my career plans and decisions and to adapt them in accordance to my needs.
Resilience	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Nurturing optimism, hope, resilience, self-efficacy and a sense of purpose to support learning and action. Strength to cope with uncertainty and stress; flexibility and openness to change, career transition skills (change management), work-life integration. Balancing life, learning and work roles. Believing in one’s ability to influence the course of events, despite uncertainty, setbacks and temporary failures. Being aware how to cope with life changes and transitions, partly gained from reflecting on previous moves. Talking positively how to look after oneself and make things happen. Being able to learn when things do not go well or as expected. Optimism to maximise benefits from unplanned events.	I am positive, flexible and well prepared at transition points in my life.	I am able to review and reflect on previous transitions to help me improve my preparation for future moves in education, training and employment.	I am able to show how to develop and use strategies, which will help me to deal with the challenges of managing my career transitions.
	I remain positive when facing setbacks.	I am able to explain how I use positive versions of my own story to manage my wellbeing, progress and achievement.	I am able to explain how my positive traits, behaviours, and actions have contributed for my progress, achievements and wellbeing.
	I am able to tell positive stories about my wellbeing, progress and achievement.	I am able to develop abilities for maintaining a positive self-concept.	I am able to manage the changes I encounter in my studies, work or other aspects of my life.
Curiosity and inquisitiveness	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Understanding that learning is a lifelong process that requires openness, curiosity and determination. Being open and willing to learn and develop oneself further. Understanding that there is a variety of learning and work opportunities which are open for individuals Knowing how to apply effective continuing learning ability. Being able to identify and seize opportunities to create value by exploring the social, cultural and economic landscape. Identifying needs and challenges that need to be met.	I am aware of the importance of ongoing learning and development for one's meaningful life and career.	I am able to give examples of how being open and willing to learn supports career development.	I am able to identify the benefits and outcomes, which come from new knowledge, and ideas for my personal and career development and I take advantage of them.
	I am able to explore opportunities as they come to my way.	I am able to take advantage of opportunities as they come to my way.	I am able to identify and combine resources to create new valuable opportunities.
	I am able to identify opportunities for further learning, training & employment.	I am able to research training and employment options including information about the best progression pathways through to specific goals.	I am able to identify the most suitable and effective ways to achieve my learning and career goals.
Problem solving and critical thinking	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Analysis and assessment of information and arguments to support reasoned conclusions and develop innovative solutions. Continuously applying newly obtained knowledge and information to reflect on problems from different perspectives, so that effectively solve them. Recognising the potential an idea has for creating value and identify suitable ways of making the most out of it. Reflecting on how sustainable long-term social, cultural and economic goals are chosen. Awareness of potential biases in the data and one’s personal limitations, while collecting valid and reliable information and ideas from diverse and reputable sources. Comparing, analysing, assessing, and synthesising data, information, ideas, and media messages in view of drawing logical conclusions. Ability to develop creative ideas, synthesising and combining concepts and information from different sources in view of solving problems.	I am able to find support and assistance when problems occur in my career.	I am able to look for arguments and evidence to make my own conclusions about things.	I am able to solve most of the more frequent problems that arise in my career.
	I am aware what information and data can be useful to me in solving problems.	I am able to find relevant information and data and know how to use it in solving problems.	I am able to recognise whether the information and data I have searched for is trustworthy.
	I am able to understand how my arguments and thoughts are constructed.	I am able to review and reflect upon I have benefitted as a learner from careers, enterprise activities and experiences.	I am able to be proactive in taking part in careers, employability and enterprise activities and experiences and assessing the benefits for me as a learner.
Creativity	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Demonstrating innovation and inspiration in career Working towards one’s vision of the future Visualising future scenarios to help guide effort and action. Developing ideas and opportunities to create value, including better solutions to existing and new challenges. Exploring and experimenting with innovative approaches. Combining knowledge and resources to achieve valuable effects. Reflecting critically on ideas and outcomes.	I am able to generate ideas that help me to achieve my goals.	I am able to make connections, see relationships and imagine possibilities.	I am able to reflect my career decision-making skills & consequences of making decisions.
	I am able to turn my hobbies into job opportunities.	I am able to seek out new options through interests I have always wanted to explore.	I am able to realise potential opportunities of unplanned events.
	I am able to develop a vision to turn ideas into action.	I am able to think in creative and innovative ways to explore and solve problems in different contexts.	I am able to engage in career contingency planning and move beyond my existing plan.
Self-employment skills	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Sense of initiative and entrepreneurial spirit. Reflect on other people’s feedback as well as on successful and unsuccessful experiences to continue developing one’s potential. Being creative and enterprising in approaching one’s career development. Initiating processes that create value. Taking up challenges. Acting and working independently to achieve goals, stick to intentions and carry out planned task. Learning about risk, effort and making the most of opportunities. Assessing the consequences of ideas that bring value and the effect of entrepreneurial action on the target community, the market, society and the environment. Being able to present oneself and one’s service in an advantageous way, as well as organise your time and working space. Knowing how to search legal information and other support for self-employment and to be able to use this information for the self-employment process.	I am able to identify my top strengths.	I able to recognise when I am using the qualities and skills that entrepreneurs need.	I am able to review my skills in relation to what my clients are looking for.
	I am able to identify people I want to work with.	I able to understand personal financial documents and know how to access financial support for further study and training.	I am able to show how I have developed my personal financial capacity to improve the future decisions I need to take in everyday living, further study, training and work.
	I am able to show initiative and enterprise.	I am able to show that I can be enterprising in the way I learn, work and manage my career.	I am able to develop and apply enterprise qualities and skills in my approach to learning, work and career planning.
Collaboration	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Engaging in group activity and teamwork acknowledging and respecting others. Being able to work in team and demonstrate multicultural awareness, tolerance and to handle job-related conflicts. Understanding the importance of trust, respect for human dignity and equality, coping with conflicts and negotiating disagreements to build and sustain fair and respectful relationships. Using information and relations to secure, create and maintain work. Valuing equality, diversity and inclusion. Working together and cooperate with others to develop ideas and turn them into action. Solving conflicts and face up to competition positively when necessary.	I can identify abilities for building positive relationships in life and work.	I am able to build networks to enhance career development and learning.	I am able to improve my abilities for building and maintaining positive relationships in life and work.
	I can identify people I can co-operate and develop ideas for my future plans.	I am able to evaluate the role of significant others/community in my career development and job search.	I am able to build relationships with employers & learning providers.
	I am aware that we have the same rights, duties and responsibilities when it comes to treating people fairly.	I am able to recognise and challenge stereotyping, discrimination and other barriers to equality, diversity and inclusion and know my rights and responsibilities in relation to these issues.	I am able to reflect critically on the ethical, legal and business case for equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace and the implications for my behaviour and others.
	I can identify abilities for building positive relationships in life and work.	I am able to build networks to enhance career development and learning.	I am able to improve my abilities for building and maintaining positive relationships in life and work.

Communication and customer orientation	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Awareness of the need for a variety of communication strategies, language registers, and tools that are adapted to context and content. Use of relevant communication strategies, domain-specific codes and tools, depending on the context and content. Listening to others and engaging in conversations with confidence, assertiveness, clarity and reciprocity, both in personal and social contexts. Developing and maintaining relationships that are important for one’s career. Using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for communication and creating documentation for one’s career. Developing a range of self-presentation and marketing skills that are needed in career development throughout lives. Capability to receive constructive guidance, feedback or critique regarding oneself or one’s actions without becoming discouraged . Understanding and managing interactions and conversations in different socio-cultural contexts and domain-specific situations.	I can identify people around me whom I can rely on when I have questions in relation to my career.	I am able to interact confidently and well with others.	I am able to build and maintain professional relationships and networks.
	I am able to identify my competencies in job search situations.	I am able to bring forth my competencies in job search situations.	I am able to promote myself in a way that attracts the attention of selectors and recruiters.
	I am able to communicate with others using basic features of online tools.	I am able to use some features of online services and know the rules of online communication.	I am able to use advanced features of several online communication tools.
Leadership	A Basic	B Intermediate	C Advanced
Demonstrating organisation, assertiveness and negotiation skills. Looking beyond one’s immediate social networks and use this to support career building. Identifying how individuals, work, community and society interact. Fair sharing of tasks, resources and responsibility within a group taking into account its specific aim; eliciting the expression of different views and adopting a systemic approach. Understanding the importance of trust, respect for human dignity and equality, coping with conflicts and negotiating disagreements to build and sustain fair and respectful relationships	I am able to recognise when I need support for implementing tasks and I can find the people to assist me.	I am able to delegate tasks to other people and communicate how things should be done.	I am able to involve the right people to achieve valuable outcomes and manage the process effectively.
	I am able to consider and challenge my aspirations/goals.	I am able to see relationships and imagine possibilities.	I am able to inspire and enthuse relevant stakeholders.
	I am able to understand how businesses and organisations operate.	I am able to understand how society’s needs and functions affect the supply of goods and services.	I am able to understand how economic and social trends affect work and learning opportunities.