U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

Career Patterns Guide

• Introduction
• Dimensions
• Scenarios
• Analytic Tool
  • Define the Job Requirement
  • Categorize Requirements into Career Pattern Scenarios
  • Identify Environment Features
  • Interactive Tutorials
  • Download Analytic Tool
• Building Work Environments
• Resources and Tools
• References

• Download Career Patterns PDF [745 KB]

Watch Interactive Flash Tutorial - Step 2 [1.35 MB]
Watch Interactive Flash Tutorial - Developing your own scenario [1.66 MB]

Purpose: To categorize your job requirements into one or more Career Pattern Scenarios.

The second step in the analytic process involves examining job requirements individually using a systematic method for assessing relevant work characteristics using the Career Patterns Analysis Questionnaire. By completing a questionnaire for each job requirement, you will identify Career Pattern Scenarios (i.e., groupings of workers) suited to and attracted by your job requirement. The relevant scenarios you identify will be recorded in the Career Patterns Analysis Worksheet.

This step relies heavily on the Career Patterns Analysis Questionnaire. The questionnaire lists a comprehensive set of characteristics that can be used to describe and distinguish job requirements. These characteristics range among features such as the nature of the work to be performed, possibilities for using innovative work arrangements, various opportunities a job could offer for development, innovative work, applying new technologies, etc. No one job requirement will match all these characteristics.

The Career Patterns Analysis Questionnaire is designed to help you assess these characteristics for your particular job requirements to determine the Career Pattern Scenarios that may be most appropriate for your situation.

If none of the Career Pattern Scenarios adequately matches your requirements, you may want to define and build a new Career Pattern Scenario. To build a new scenario, refer to the information provided about the ten scenarios in Section I of this guide. Create this same kind of information for the tailored scenario you need.

STEP 2 TIPS: In assessing the characteristics in the Career Patterns Analysis Questionnaire for a particular job requirement, don't be constrained by what is or has been; think creatively about what could be possible in order to appeal to a broad range of potential applicants and employees. When defining your requirements at Step 1, it may help to think first about the types of people you would want to hire to meet the requirement or who may already have the competencies you need. Then at Step 2 you can think about the Career Pattern Scenarios that best match the characteristics of those workers.

Directions:

1. Complete a separate Career Patterns Analysis Questionnaire for each of your job requirements. Enter a job requirement at the top of the first column to help keep track of the separate questionnaires.
   
   
2. For each requirement, review each characteristic in the first column of the questionnaire. If it applies to your job requirement, enter a check () for that row in the second column.
   
   
3. After reviewing all the characteristics, highlight the rows you checked ().
   
   
4. At the bottom of each Career Pattern Scenario column, total the number of bullets in highlighted rows and compare that number with the total possible bullets for that scenario (shown in the row above).
   
   
5. Review those Career Pattern Scenarios where the job requirement's totals are closest to the columns' total possible bullets or where a substantial number of bullets were relevant. These are the Career Patterns Scenarios you will want to consider. You may also select other scenarios you believe would be appropriate for your job requirement irrespective of particular bullet totals. A rough rule of thumb is to select 2 to 5 scenarios at this stage.
   
   
6. Enter the names of all the selected scenarios from the Career Patterns Analysis Questionnaire onto the Career Patterns Analysis Worksheet under "Career Pattern Scenarios (Step 2)" in the worksheet row where you entered that job requirement in Step 1.
   
   
7. Think about whether the Career Pattern Scenarios you selected using the questionnaire and your judgment are likely to include workers who meet your needs from the perspective of your strategic human capital plan and your workforce plan. If a selected scenario would not fit your plans, strike that Career Pattern Scenario from those selected for that particular job requirement.

QUESTIONAIRE TIPS: The bullets in the cells of the questionnaire are predetermined, so they are already included in the questionnaire. The presence of a bullet in a cell indicates the Career Pattern Scenario named at the top of the column may be a logical target for meeting job requirements that have the characteristic for that row. You can create your own scenario! Adapt the template to add another column that fits the needs of your agency. You can insert bullets in the cells that correspond to characteristics that are relevant and make sense for your tailored scenario.

Case Study Step 2: AHCA Completes the Questionnaire for Customer Service Requirement

NOTE: The blue areas identify the characteristics that apply to this job requirement (i.e., where row is checked ()). The yellow areas identify the Career Pattern Scenarios that may be closely associated with this job requirement.

Case Study Step 2: AHCA Completes the Questionnaire for Information Technology Requirement

NOTE: The blue areas identify the characteristics that apply to this job requirement (i.e., where row is checked ()). The yellow areas identify the Career Pattern Scenarios that may be closely associated with this job requirement.

Case Study Step 2: AHCA Fills in Worksheet Column 2 with Selected Scenarios

* Note: After filling in the Career Pattern Scenarios suggested by the Career Patterns Analysis Questionnaire, AHCA decided it does not have the budget for outreach programs to students. Thus, the Student scenario will not be a focus of current planning.