CVE Transferable Skills Assessment 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes the role of the 'temperament' category in the DOT when performing a transferable skills analysis?
- It measures the client's personality type using Myers-Briggs categories
- It identifies personal traits required for satisfactory job performance (Correct answer)
- It assesses the client's emotional readiness for retraining
- It rates the client's interpersonal communication style
Correct answer: It identifies personal traits required for satisfactory job performance
DOT temperaments describe the personal traits and adaptive behaviors required for satisfactory performance in specific occupations.
Question 2: A vocational evaluator is preparing a TSA report for a vocational expert testifying in federal court. Which of the following citation standards is most critical?
- Citing only O*NET because the DOT is outdated
- Citing the specific DOT code, edition, and page number for each identified occupation (Correct answer)
- Citing only labor market surveys from the current calendar year
- Citing the client's own wage history as the primary source
Correct answer: Citing the specific DOT code, edition, and page number for each identified occupation
In legal proceedings, precise DOT citations including code numbers are required to ensure occupational data can be verified and withstand cross-examination.
Question 3: When a client's transferable skills analysis reveals only sedentary occupations, but the client is under age 45 with a high school education, SSA adjudicators would likely:
- Automatically grant disability benefits
- Find that the client can perform sedentary work and deny benefits (Correct answer)
- Require additional vocational testing before making a determination
- Apply the Medical-Vocational Guidelines (Grid Rules) to grant benefits
Correct answer: Find that the client can perform sedentary work and deny benefits
Younger claimants with at least a high school education are generally expected to adjust to sedentary work, resulting in a denial under SSA Grid Rule 201.28.
Question 4: A transferable skills analysis identifies five potential occupations. Three of them have been substantially modified by technology since the DOT was last revised. What is the evaluator's ethical obligation?
- Use the DOT data as-is because it is the official source
- Note the limitation and supplement findings with current O*NET or labor market data (Correct answer)
- Remove the three occupations from the report entirely
- Defer the analysis until the DOT is updated
Correct answer: Note the limitation and supplement findings with current O*NET or labor market data
Evaluators must acknowledge the DOT's age-related limitations and supplement with current O*NET data or labor market surveys to ensure accuracy.
Question 5: Which of the following represents a 'vocational disadvantage' that can limit the practical transferability of identified skills?
- A client who is bilingual
- A client who lives in a rural area with limited local job market (Correct answer)
- A client who previously earned above-average wages
- A client who has completed a bachelor's degree
Correct answer: A client who lives in a rural area with limited local job market
Geographic isolation with a limited local labor market is a vocational disadvantage that can reduce the real-world applicability of otherwise valid transferable skills.
Question 6: In a transferable skills analysis, the evaluator identifies an occupation but the client states they 'have never done that type of work.' How should the evaluator respond?
- Remove the occupation from the report based on client preference
- Explain that TSA is based on skill overlap, not prior job titles held (Correct answer)
- Administer additional tests to assess the client's interest
- Defer to the client's self-assessment of their own skills
Correct answer: Explain that TSA is based on skill overlap, not prior job titles held
TSA identifies occupations where existing skills transfer regardless of whether the client has held that specific job title before.
Question 7: Which of the following is a key distinction between a 'transferable skills analysis' and a 'vocational evaluation'?
- TSA uses work samples while vocational evaluation does not
- TSA focuses on matching existing skills to occupations, while a full vocational evaluation includes broader assessment of abilities, interests, and barriers (Correct answer)
- Vocational evaluation is only used in Social Security cases
- TSA is conducted only by rehabilitation counselors, not vocational evaluators
Correct answer: TSA focuses on matching existing skills to occupations, while a full vocational evaluation includes broader assessment of abilities, interests, and barriers
TSA is a specific analytical process focused on skill matching, while a comprehensive vocational evaluation also assesses aptitudes, interests, work behaviors, and psychosocial barriers.
CVE Transferable Skills Assessment 5
Which of the following best describes the role of the 'temperament' category in the DOT when performing a transferable skills analysis?