Job, Skill, and Competency Analysis

AIR’s industrial-organizational psychologists routinely work with our clients to define the knowledge, skill, ability and competency requirements of jobs and occupations. We use this core information to develop performance management systems, identify content for training programs, inform recruitment and selection processes, and support other human resource management applications. AIR has analyzed a broad range of jobs, including high-risk professions such as air traffic controller, deputy U.S. marshals, electricians and intelligence officers.

Latest Work

26 Aug 2020 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Event

PIAAC Skills Map: Implications for Research, Policy and Practice

On Wednesday, August 26, 2020, AIR hosted a demonstration of the U.S. PIAAC Skills Map: State and County Indicators of Adult Literacy and Numeracy, a new interactive data tool recently released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The discussion covered the potential uses of the data from a policy and research perspective, which relates to the workforce, adult basic education and training.
2 May 2018 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Event

Financial Literacy Skills for the 21st Century: Evidence from PISA

Please join American Institutes for Research for a presentation and discussion focusing on the latest international results in financial literacy from the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). World-renowned researcher Dr. Annamaria Lusardi will present findings relevant to PISA and financial literacy more broadly.
Image of confused older man at computer
1 May 2018
Brief

A Description of U.S. Adults Who Are Not Digitally Literate

This brief highlights findings from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) in an effort to obtain a clear understanding of the ability of adults to undertake digital problem solving. This brief uses data gathered from a sample of 5,000 adults across different socio-demographic groups in the United States and compares it to international averages from 19 other countries to answer three specific study questions.
Project

Job Analysis for Electrical Training ALLIANCE

The electrical training ALLIANCE (ETA) was created over 70 years ago as a joint training program between the National Electrical Contractors Association and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers aimed at training the best electrical workers the industry has to offer. AIR has worked with ETA since the 1990s on several initiatives, including conducting job analyses, developing selection instruments and their accompanying supporting materials, validating the apprentice selection test battery, implementing a new selection system, conducting a norming study, and conducting a transportability study.
Project

Job Description Update for Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA)

Founded in 1970, the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) manages Nashville, Tennessee's airport systems. Because of its fast growing population, MNAA requested that AIR conduct a comprehensive review, analysis, and update of job descriptions be performed for its workforce of approximately 300 employees.
22 Feb 2017 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Event

PIAAC Prison Study: An Overview of the Skills of U.S. Incarcerated Adults

On February 22, 2017, AIR hosted a presentation and discussion on a recently released report using data from the Program for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) titled Highlights from the U.S. PIAAC Survey of Incarcerated Adults: Their Skills, Work Experience, Education, and Training. This report provided information on skills and competencies of the incarcerated adults, comparing to that of adults in U.S. households. The report also reported on the extent of inmates’ participation in formal education, empowerment classes (such as parenting or personal finance management), and job training programs.
Project

Local Transit Authority Job Analysis and Competency Architecture

AIR supported a local transit authority that has been in existence for over 50 years, providing nearly 300 million trips (rail and bus combined) per year and employing over 12,000 people. AIR conducted a comprehensive job analysis and generated competency models for jobs across the local transit authority. Overall, the focus was to move the organization from its current state related to job descriptions and competencies to a more ideal future state.
15 Nov 2013
Infographic

Tapping the Potential: Infographics Illustrate Need for Further Skills Training Among American Adults

“Tapping the Potential,” a series of infographics developed by AIR, illustrate the need for further literacy, numeracy and skills training among adults in America. The infographics, which highlight findings for each state and the U.S. overall, were created on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education and use data from the American Community Survey.
1 Apr 2011
Report

Test Assesses the Knowledge of College Graduates Seeking Careers in Human Resources

AIR and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) have created a new examination for assessing the human resource (HR) knowledge of graduating college students seeking HR careers.

15 Sep 2009
Brochure

Information Technology Careers for Military Spouses: Career Advancement Accounts

Brochure describing information technology careers for military spouses.

10 Sep 2009
Brief

Technical Assistance Brief: Teaching Soft Skills Through Workplace Simulations in Classroom Settings

Soft skills, the employability skills that speak to a worker’s interpersonal skills and character, rose to prominence in the early 1990s as a critical component of worker productivity with the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). Today, the need to coach new hires about soft skills is an accepted fact among employers and those who prepare individuals for the workforce.

18 Jul 1994
Report

Measuring the Importance of Teamwork: The Reliability and Validity of Job/Task Analysis Indices for Training Design

Because the development of skill-based coordination training is dependent on the accurate identification of crucial behaviors to be trained, and because there is a need to develop more effective methods to identify these skills, the purpose of this investigation was to identify a psychometrically sound index of team task importance to guide the selection of behaviors for training.