What is the SHAPE Career Assessment®
"Whether you're a coach guiding high-potential clients, an HR leader designing development programs, or a woman navigating your next step, SHAPE provides the structure, insights, and language to move forward with confidence.
It is designed to help professionals understand key drivers of their career self-efficacy—the belief in their ability to navigate challenges, pursue opportunities, and lead with clarity.
Developed through research and available only through SHAPE Career Assessment® Certified Coaches, this assessment offers a structured, actionable starting point for professional development and leadership advancement.
The SHAPE Career Assessment® is only available through certified coaches. If you’re considering your next move or want a more strategic approach to development, connect with a certified coach to explore how SHAPE can support your goals.
What SHAPE Measures
The SHAPE Career Assessment® evaluates five interconnected “SHAPE” factors, each, proven to support self-efficacy and sustained career progress:
- Save – How financial flexibility supports decision-making and future planning
- Hard Work – The alignment between effort, values, and outcomes
- Advocate – Your capacity to speak up, negotiate, and build strategic visibility
- Persevere – Your ability to manage setbacks, uncertainty, and resistance
- Educate – How you invest in learning, reflection, and self-awareness
Why SHAPE Matters
Even top talent can stall without clear direction. Whether someone is operating below their full potential, navigating a leadership transition, or uncertain about their next step, the SHAPE Career Assessment® provides targeted insight into what’s working—and where focused development can accelerate advancement and unlock leadership potential.
Whether you're planning your next leadership move or guiding others in their professional growth, the SHAPE Career Assessment® provides a proven, practical framework.
"It’s not just theory—it’s practical and clear. SHAPE gives me language and structure I didn’t have before."
— LaToya Haynes, Executive Coach
"SHAPE aligns with what I already do—but adds depth and direction.”
— Katina Robertson, Leadership Coach & Workshop Facilitator
“I have utilized the SHAPE Career Assessment in two consecutive leadership development cohorts. It has helped female leaders gain clarity and take decisive action to shape their careers with confidence.”
-- Jackie Kindall, PCC , Kindall Evolve Consulting, LLC
What You’ll Gain
- A clear picture of how your beliefs, habits, and choices are influencing your career
- A research-backed framework to guide coaching conversations and decisions
- A personalized strategy to help you move forward with intention, not just effort
- A holistic view that links leadership growth to real-world outcomes
- A direct connection between everyday behaviors and long-term advancement in leadership roles
Ways It Impacts an Organization
Organizations use the SHAPE Career Assessment® to support high-potential talent, strengthen leadership pipelines, and align individual development with enterprise goals. It complements existing coaching, mentoring, and talent development strategies—bringing structure, insight, and momentum to career pathing approaches.
How It’s Used
The SHAPE Career Assessment® can be used with individuals or scaled across cohorts, leadership levels, or high-potential talent programs to support broader organizational development goals.
The SHAPE Career Assessment® is administered at the start of coaching and revisited as part of a structured development process. Your coach will use your SHAPE profile to help you clarify goals, identify barriers, and create a tailored plan that supports meaningful progress.
Contact Us to Connect with a SHAPE Certified CoachWhat is the Scientific Validation and Credibility of the SHAPE Career Assessment®?
Robust Scientific Validation and Credibility
The SHAPE Career Assessment® is built on a rigorous foundation of applied research, developed over several years and tested with more than 2,000 professionals across industries, functions, and career stages. Grounded in the theory of career self-efficacy—an evidence-based concept linking belief in one’s capability to career performance, satisfaction, and advancement—SHAPE offers a structured, validated framework for professional growth. This research-based career assessment helps professionals gain clarity, boost self-advocacy, and take ownership of their career development.
Introduced in 2020 by Dr. Candace Steele Flippin, an engaged scholar at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, the SHAPE Career Assessment has been implemented in executive coaching, leadership development, and organizational talent initiatives. Its five core factors—Save, Hard Work, Advocate, Persevere, and Educate—reflect validated dimensions of career self-efficacy: financial readiness, work alignment, self-advocacy, resilience, and continuous learning.
Supported by both quantitative analysis and real-world application, the SHAPE Career Assessment® provides a credible, actionable framework for professionals and organizations. It translates complex career dynamics into measurable insights—bringing structure and clarity to an area of development often left to intuition.
Psychometric Validation
The SHAPE Career Assessment® has undergone confirmatory statistical analysis to ensure it meets professional standards of validity and reliability:
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Reliability: Internal consistency was high across all five factors (Cronbach’s alpha = .809–.910), with overall scale reliability at α = .925—exceeding the standard benchmark for psychometric assessments.
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Validity: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA & CFA) validated the five-factor model. Each SHAPE factor demonstrated statistically significant correlations with overall career self-efficacy, confirming the framework’s alignment with established career theory.
Proven Reliability and Real-World Impact
Backed by strong statistical reliability and consistent results, the SHAPE Career Assessment® delivers insights professionals can trust. The tool demonstrated high reliability scores across all five factors—meaning results are stable and consistent over time.
More than just a research tool, SHAPE has been used successfully in coaching engagements, leadership programs, and workforce development settings. Certified professionals report that the framework provides:
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Deeper insight into clients’ leadership and career development behaviors and beliefs
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A common language for discussing growth and advancement
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Measurable outcomes in self-advocacy, clarity, and leadership effectiveness
The SHAPE Career Assessment® helps professionals and coaches move beyond guesswork—offering a validated, actionable approach to building purposeful and empowered careers.
