National Needs Analysis Report – Spain (INFODEF)February 2016

IO1 – How to Get There?

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

This Report was developed by

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IO1 – How to Get There?

Table of Contents

The Get There project 3

Summative Results regarding the Questionnaires in your organization 4

“How to Get There?” Summative Results regarding the questionnaire for counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts 5

“How to Get There?” Summative Results regarding the questionnaire for the beneficiaries 12

Appendix I – “How to Get There?” Questionnaire for counselors/trainers/career guides/VET experts 18

Appendix II - “How to Get There?” Questionnaire for beneficiaries 20

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IO1 – How to Get There?

The Get There project

The Get There project seeks to promote the access to trainings that promote employability skills to a wide range of people, like employed people that want to strengthen their skills to perform better at their works, unemployed people that want to increase their chances of getting a job - including young at risk , who are expected to become engaged in this courses via a peer mentoring methodology that will make them feel empowered and, hopefully, less intimidated and more enthusiastic with the training that will give them better chances of entering the labor market.

Through the VET initiatives boosted by this project, VET relevance in the labor market will be enhanced. In fact, through VET, people will be better prepared to enter and stay in the labor market and their performance will be improved.

In this context, the first step in understanding and analyzing the different needs in the participating countries, the Consortium created a set of questionnaires to explore the needs that exist in each country in the promotion of employability skills targeting both groups of interest: the trainers and the beneficiaries. More specifically, to assess which of the employability skills are more relevant for the partnership countries and/or VET organisations' "clients", 2 very similar surveys were developed and all partner organisations delivered them to 2 target groups:

trainers, counsellors, carrier guides, VET experts. unemployed people or people that is going through training.

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IO1 – How to Get There?

Summative Results regarding the Questionnaires in your organization

-How many questionnaires addressing the trainers were collected? 10

-How many questionnaires addressing the beneficiaries were collected? 10

-What were the main differences between the two groups? There is a sort of consensus among the two groups in the first four employability skills rated, although they were selected in a different order of relevance. However, a significant difference can be observed between these groups:

- The two most relevant skills for beneficiaries are related with activities aimed at search and apply for a job, in order to enter the labour market: “Exploring job opportunities” and “Applying for a job”.

- On the other hand, the first and third more relevant skills for trainers are related with the most basic skill needed within a job (“Communication in the workplace”) and the basic information that employees need to know (“Rights and responsibilities at work”)

Furthermore, the fifth and sixth selected skills are different between the two groups of respondents.

- Beneficiaries: “IT in the workplace” and “Team working”- Trainers: “Customer Awareness” and “Working with numbers”

-Which were the six most important skills according to the trainers? 1. Communication in the workplace2. Exploring job opportunities3. Rights and responsibilities at work4. Applying for a job 5. Customer Awareness6. Working with numbers

-Which were the six most important skills according to the beneficiaries?1. Exploring job opportunities2. Applying for a job3. Rights and responsibilities at work4. Communication in the workplace5. IT in the workplace6. Team working

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IO1 – How to Get There?

“How to Get There?” Summative Results regarding the questionnaire for counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts

In the questionnaires that were given to counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts the summative results of the questions exploring the perception and understanding of employability skills were:

1. Are employability skills specified in your country?

9

1

YesNo

2. Are employability skills measured in your country?

8

2

YesNo

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IO1 – How to Get There?

The way that employability skills are measured in Spain according to the counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts are: Some skills are included among the basic skills to be taught to unemployed people, specifically those regarding job searching and applying. Personal interviews and questionnaires (e.g. self-assessment) are used to measure to what extent unemployed people have these skills.

Team working, problem solving, self-management are included as entrepreneurial skills for some respondents. Trainers assess these skills by direct observation during training activities and by means of questionnaires and/or tests.

Rights and responsibilities at work, and Health and safety in the workplace are measured through official test related with Labour Risk Prevention, after completion of compulsory short courses.

IT in the workplace is a common issue in training courses for most of the trainers. Attendants to these courses need to complete a final test.

3. Do you work on employability skills with your beneficiaries?

8

2

YesNo

4. Are beneficiaries aware of their employability skills?

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IO1 – How to Get There?

6

4

YesNo

5. Are beneficiaries keen on improving their employability skills?

7

3

YesNo

6. Are there differences in the awareness of employability skills between different age groups and/ or groups of beneficiaries?

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IO1 – How to Get There?

9

1

YesNo

The main differences in the awareness of employability skills between different age groups and/ or groups of beneficiaries are:The main mentioned factors are: the age group, the educational level and belonging to disadvantaged backgrounds.

Those who are less aware of their employability skills tends to be youngsters with low educational level, but also people from disadvantaged groups (e.g. migrants and long-term unemployed)

In general, respondents state that high educational level directly corresponds to more awareness of the own employability skills.

7. Do you see a need on improving employability skills on the beneficiaries that you have been working with according to your experience?

9

1

YesNo

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IO1 – How to Get There?

8. The three most important employability skills according to the opinions of the counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts are:The most mentioned skills were:

- Timekeeping- How to search for a job (Exploring job opportunities)- Verbal and written communication (Communication in the workplace)- Rights and responsibilities at work- How to apply for a job (Applying for a job)- Customer awareness (Customer care)- Personal presentation- Vocational job-specific skills- Literacy and numeracy (Working with numbers)

9. The three most relevant employability skills that are required by employers according to the experience of the counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts are:The most mentioned skills were:

- Verbal and written communication (Communication in the workplace)- Customer awareness (Customer care)- Timekeeping- Personal presentation- Vocational job-specific skills- Literacy and numeracy (Working with numbers)- Teamworking

10. The three most important employability skills asked by beneficiaries according to the experience of the counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts are:The most mentioned skills were:

- How to search for a job (Exploring job opportunities)- How to apply for a job (Applying for a job)- Vocational job-specific skills- IT basic skills (IT in the workplace)- Teamworking- Verbal and written communication (Communication in the workplace)

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IO1 – How to Get There?

11. This part explores the employability skills rate the following employability skills according to their importance in the professional opinion of the counselors/trainers/career guides/VET experts in Spain. It focuses on understanding how important this group finds the following employability skills with 1 the least important and 5 the most important.

Self-m

anag

emen

t

Team worki

ng

Problem

Solvin

g

Customer

Awareness

Communication in

the w

orkplac

e

Working w

ith numbers

IT in th

e workp

lace

Applying f

or a jo

b

Explorin

g job opportu

nities

Rights a

nd responsib

ilities

at work

Health an

d safet

y in th

e workp

lace

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1 1

34

3

2 2

5

1 1

3

43

4

4

2

5

4

5

4

4

4

23

2

4

8

3

1

4

65

3

5 - Most Important4321 - Least Important

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12. Are the employability skills required by employers the same as the ones that beneficiaries think are most relevant?

8

2

YesNo

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“How to Get There?” Summative Results regarding the questionnaire for the beneficiaries

In the questionnaires that were given to the beneficiaries in exploring the perception and understanding of employability skills, the summative results were:

1. Have you ever heard of the definition of employability skills?

55 YesNo

2. According to the beneficiaries understanding of the term employability skills, the most common and/ or important answers were:- Necessary knowledge and abilities to get a job- Know how to search for a job, prepare a curriculum and make a professional

interview- Basic things you have to know in order to properly work in a job- Those skills that make you more attractive for employers - Capacities needed in a job selection process and in your job

3. Are employability skills measured in your country?

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6

4

YesNo

The way that employability skills are measured in Spain according to the beneficiaries is: - In job interviews- Through aptitude testing- By means of exams and test

4. Do you work on employability skills with your counselor(s)/ trainer(s)/ career guide(s)/ VET provider(s)?

4

6

YesNo

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5. Do you consider important to improve your employability skills?

6

4

YesNo

6. The three most important employability skills according to the beneficiaries’ opinion are:The most mentioned skills were:

- How to search for a job (Exploring job opportunities)- How to apply for a job (Applying for a job)- Knowing job conditions (Rights and responsibilities at work)- Communication in the workplace- ICT skills (IT in the workplace)- Team working

7. The three most relevant employability skills that are required by employers according to the beneficiaries’ experiences are:The most mentioned skills were:

- Communication in the workplace- Team working- ICT skills (IT in the workplace)- Skills related with the specific job

8. The three most important employability skills that beneficiaries would like to improve are:The most mentioned skills were:

- How to search for a job (Exploring job opportunities)- How to apply for a job (Applying for a job)- Communication in the workplace- ICT skills (IT in the workplace)

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9. This part explores the employability skills rate according to their importance from the beneficiaries’ point of view aiming at the understanding of how important the beneficiaries in Spain find the following employability skills with 1 the least important and 5 the most important.

Self-m

anag

emen

t

Team worki

ng

Problem

Solvin

g

Customer

Awareness

Communication in

the w

orkplac

e

Working w

ith numbers

IT in th

e workp

lace

Applying f

or a jo

b

Explorin

g job opportu

nities

Rights a

nd responsib

ilities

at work

Health an

d safet

y in th

e workp

lace

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

4

1

4

2

4 4

2

4

5

4

4

4

5

21

3

4

45

1

4

6

2

5

89

7

2

5 - Most Important4321 - Least Important

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10. Are the employability skills required by employers the same as the ones that beneficiaries think are most relevant?

7

3

YesNo

Provide a short summary on the similarities and/ or differences in the reported perceptions between the two groups regarding the employability skills in your country.

The main difference between these groups is related with the perception of the utility of the employability skills. Trainers’ perception is more focused on the kind of skills that can be valued by employers in order to hire someone. Beneficiaries tend to focus on skills needed to get a job, from their own point of view, particularly search and apply for jobs.

Regarding the rating matrix, as mentioned before, the first and third more relevant skills for trainers are “Communication in the workplace” and “Rights and responsibilities at work”. Both related with the first necessary steps once you have a job: be able to communicate and knowing the basic information.

On the other hand, beneficiaries have selected “Exploring job opportunities” and “Applying for a job” as the most relevant skills. That is, activities aimed at search and get a job.

In the open questions about the three most important employability skills, the same difference can be observed. The answers from trainers and beneficiaries are very similar to those on the rating matrix. Furthermore, some trainers mentioned skills that aren’t included in this project, like “timekeeping”, “personal presentation” and “vocational job-specific skills”. These skills are also related with what employers’ expectations (from

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trainers’ point of view). On the other hand, beneficiaries give more importance to skills like “ICT skills” and “team working”.

Finally, regarding the most important employability skills asked by beneficiaries (those they would like to improve) there is a concordance on both groups on the following skills:

- Exploring job opportunities- Applying for a job- Communication in the workplace- IT in the workplace

Therefore, we can conclude that beneficiaries will be more open to be trained in these skills.

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Appendix I

“ How to Get There?” Questionnaire for counselors/trainers/career guides/VET experts

1. Are employability skills specified in your country?Yes No

2. Are employability skills measured in your country?Yes NoIf Yes, specify how

3. Do you work on employability skills with your beneficiaries?Yes No

4. Are beneficiaries aware of their employability skills?Yes No

5. Are beneficiaries keen on improving their employability skills?Yes No

6. Are there differences in the awareness of employability skills between different age groups and/ or groups of beneficiaries? If so, please specify

7. Do you see a need on improving employability skills on the beneficiaries that you have been working with according to your experience?

Yes No

8. What are the most important employability skills according to your opinion? List the three most important ones

9. What are the most relevant employability skills that are required by employers according to your experience? List the three most important ones

10. What are the employability skills asked by beneficiaries according to your experience? List the three most important ones

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11. Please rate the following employability skills according to their importance in your professional opinion. How important do you find the following with 1 the least important and 5 the most important?

Employability Skills

1 2 3 4 5

Self-managementTeam workingProblem SolvingCustomer AwarenessCommunication in the workplaceWorking with numbersIT in the workplaceApplying for a jobExploring job opportunitiesRights and responsibilities at workHealth and safety in the workplace

12. Are the employability skills required by employers the same as the ones that beneficiaries think are most relevant?

Yes No

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Appendix II

“How to Get There?” Questionnaire for beneficiaries

1. Have you ever heard of the definition of employability skills?Yes No

2. What do you understand by the term employability skills? Please specify

3. Are employability skills measured in your country?Yes NoIf Yes, specify how

4. Do you work on employability skills with your counselor(s)/ trainer(s)/ career guide(s)/ VET provider(s)?Yes No

5. Do you consider important to improve your employability skills?Yes No

6. What are the most important employability skills according to your opinion? List the three most important ones

7. What are the most relevant employability skills that are required by employers according to your experience? List the three most important ones

8. What are the employability skills that you would like to improve? List the three most important ones

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9. Please rate the following employability skills according to their importance in your opinion. How important do you find the following with 1 the least important and 5 the most important?

Employability Skills

1 2 3 4 5

Self-managementTeam workingProblem SolvingCustomer AwarenessCommunication in the workplaceWorking with numbersIT in the workplaceApplying for a jobExploring job opportunitiesRights and responsibilities at workHealth and safety in the workplace

10. Are the employability skills required by employers the same as the ones that you think are most relevant? Yes No

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