Career Path Practitioner Foundation Training

Most career assessments ask one question: what are you interested in? Career Path asks two. By scoring both Preference and Avoidance independently across 11 Occupational Activity Groupings, Career Path produces data that interest-only tools do not generate. But that second dimension changes what interpretation looks like. A client with moderate preference and moderate avoidance in the same occupational area is not giving you a contradiction. They are giving you the most useful pattern in their profile, if you know how to read it.

The Career Path Practitioner Foundation Training gives you the interpretation skills to work with both dimensions. Led by Mark Majors, PhD, the program covers the independent scoring methodology, OAG and GIA interpretation, ipsative scoring, response style recognition, and how to structure career conversations that connect both Preference and Avoidance data to real decisions.

Upon completion, you become an authorized user and Career Path is activated in your Pro Account.

What You Learn

Preference and Avoidance Interpretation How to read the independently scored Preference and Avoidance results across all 11 OAGs. How to identify patterns where preference and avoidance coexist in the same occupational area. How to use avoidance data as the filter that separates interesting career options from sustainable ones.

Response Pattern Analysis How to recognize response styles and their impact on interpretation accuracy. How to work with low scores that may reflect unfamiliarity rather than avoidance. How to interpret mid-zone results that require practitioner-guided conversation to clarify what the client is telling you.

OAG and GIA Integration How to connect the 11 OAG patterns to the six Global Interest Areas and the three-letter occupational code. How to use the GIA code with the O*NET database and the Career Explorer module in the Participant Hub. How to move from broad interest patterns to specific activity-level career guidance.

Client Engagement and Feedback How to structure career conversations that involve clients as active participants in interpreting their own results. How to connect assessment data to the client’s actual work history using the Preference and Avoidance profile. How to apply results across career counseling, executive coaching, talent development, and internal mobility conversations.

Course Modules

Part 1: Introduction to Career Path An introduction to the structure and purpose of the assessment. Understanding Occupational Activity Groupings (OAG) and the role of preference and avoidance patterns. Covers interpreting client results, identifying meaningful data trends, and recognizing response styles and their impact on interpretation.

Part 2: Advanced Interpretation Techniques Practical examples of interpreting client data using OAG and GIA insights. Application of the ipsative approach to identify highs and lows within an individual’s profile. Covers differentiating between interest, disinterest, and active avoidance, with case studies covering real-world application.

Part 3: Client Engagement and Feedback Strategies for delivering feedback and involving clients in interpreting their results. Connecting assessment data with actionable career options using the three-letter GIA code. Covers structuring discussions to explore client preferences and avoidances, integrating client insights to refine career direction, and applying results across career counseling, team development, and organizational contexts.

Who Should Take This Course

You are a career coach or counselor and you want to add the avoidance dimension to your practice. Your current tools measure what attracts clients. Career Path measures what will drain them. This training teaches you how to read both sides and use them together in career conversations.

You are an executive coach whose engagements include career fit and direction. Career Path adds a dimension that type and EQ tools do not provide. This training gives you the interpretation skills to integrate career fit data into coaching conversations with precision.

You work in talent development and need to support career conversations at scale. This training prepares you to administer Career Path across cohorts and programs, with the skills to guide meaningful conversations from the data rather than handing over a report.

You have used the Strong Interest Inventory, Self-Directed Search, or other interest-only tools for years. This training does not ask you to start over. It builds on the Holland framework you already know and adds the avoidance dimension your current tools do not measure.

What Changes When You Complete This Training

Without this training, Career Path data is a report with two sets of scores. With it, the Preference and Avoidance patterns become the most complete picture of career fit you can put in front of a client. You stop helping clients find work that matches their interests and start helping them find work they can sustain. The training includes in-depth video lessons led by Mark Majors, PhD, the Career Path assessment manual, and a competency assessment. Upon completion, you become an authorized Career Path user and the assessment is activated in your Pro Account.