ProfilPASS is an assessment tool, which helps to establish a systematic overview of personal strengths, skills and competences. It comprises professional experience as well as experiences gathered through family, leisure time or volunteering, thus combining formal, nonformal and informal learning. Developed by the German Institute for Adult Education (DIE), the German Institute for International Educational Research (DIPF) and the Institute for Development Planning and Structure Research and financed by the German Ministry for Education and Research as well as the European Social Fund, the tool was established in the context of the lifelong learning policy
with the aim to help:
- Personal and professional (re) orientation;
- (Re) integration into professional life;
- Planning of professional evolution;
- Planning of future learning aims.
According to the German Institute for Adult Education, most people are not very conscious about their skills and competences. They rarely experience a reflection and exploration of their competences. For this reason it is important to provide accompanying advice and support. In addition to the tool in form of a folder, the second important element of the ProfilPASS is therefore the provision with professional counselling. The ProfilPASS counsellors are trained in a course in which they get to know the philosophy and the underlying theoretical approaches in order to assist people in finding out what competences they have.
ProfilPASS is structured on several levels. A personal assessment tool is available online, eProfilPASS, or in the form of a printed publication. It can be used individually but guidance is available from a network of consultants. Training courses on the efficient use of the tool are organised on a regular basis. ProfilPASS can also be used by companies in the context of their human resource development. Professionals working in the field of education can take part in training sessions in order to become consultants or integrate the tool into their learning strategies. A second ProfilPASS for youth has been developed especially catering to the circumstances of young people. Available in German at the moment, efforts have been made to transfer the tool to other contexts.
