Implementing a Computerized Job-Matching Program with a Hierarchical Occupational Structure

Implementing a Computerized Job-Matching Program with a Hierarchical Occupational Structure In vocational rehabilitation, the technology of job-matching for persons with disabilities based on "transfer of skills" is fairly well developed (Fine, 1957; Saxon & Deutsch, 1976; Saxon & Roberts, 1983; Watters, 1985). Recently, with the advent of microelectronic and computer technology, there is a proliferation of computerized job-matching programs developed specifically for the purposes of helping rehabilitation professional with this tedious, difficult, and time consuming job-matching task (Botterbusch, 1983). The majority of these Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) based computer programs tend to have a strong emphasis on matching a person with a job on the basis of person-job requirements (P-JR) fit (i.e., physical capacities, skills, abilities, and aptitudes). However, as noted by Holland (1985), person-work environment (P-WE) fit is also an important factor to consider in the job-matching process. This is because the dominant features of a work environment are believed to reflect the typical characteristics of its group members. Work environment can be analyzed in terms of: (a) consistency (providing similar rewards and demands); (b) differentiation (encourage a narrow vs. broad range of behavior); and (c) expected influence (vocational behavior, personal effectiveness, educational behavior, social behavior, and sensitization) (Holland, 1985). Research in vocational psychology has supported the premise that P-WE fit is critical to a person's long term vocational adjustment (Dawis, 1973; Holland, 1985). It can be inferred that in the computerized job-matching process, it is not sufficient to consider just how well a person meets the specific job requirements. It is equally important to consider systematically whether the person fits in with his or her work environment (Lam, Lustig, Chan, & Leahy, 1987). For instance, a disabled truck driver with a high school diploma may have the "transferrable job skills" to work as a clerk; however, his or her personality and work style are such that he or she may not fit in the white collar work culture. It is therefore essential to consider more than just transferability of skills. A major reason the P-WE fit concept has been excluded in computerized job-matching software may be due to the difficulties of representing P-WE similarities among occupations systematically and efficiently in a software program. However, a hierarchical (tree) model proposed recently by Gati and his associates (Benyamini & Gati, 1987; Gati, 1979) for representing the structure of occupational interest fields appears to be quite appropriate for this kind of computer application. Reportedly, the similarity of relations among occupations can be represented by a hierarchical vocational structure better than Holland and Roe's circular models (Benyamini & Gati, 1987; Gati, 1979). Because many fast and efficient computer algorithms for building and searching tree-like data structure have already been developed (Horowitz & Sahni, 1976; Knuth, 1973), Gati's proposed hierarchical vocational model may be appropriate for implementing a computerized job-matching program that will consider both the P-WE fit and P-JR fit needs of the rehabilitation clients. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to illustrate the concept of representing occupations with a tree-like data structure; and (2) to demonstrate how this hierarchical data structure can be used to conceptualize the development of a computer program that will systematically take into account both the concepts of P-JR and P-WE fit in job-matching. Hierarchical Occupational Structure Data Source Because the majority of vocational rehabilitation clients tend to find employment in the semi-skilled to skilled occupational fields (Dunn, 1974), as a demonstration, the set of 91 skilled occupations described in the Career Assessment Inventory (CAI) (Johannson, 1982) were used to represent the world of work for persons with disabilities in this study. …