Personal attributes and job competencies needed by EFNEP paraprofessionals as perceived by EFNEP professionals

To determine the personal attributes and job competencies that are necessary for the job success of Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) paraprofessionals as perceived by EFNEP professionals.

A qualitative descriptive design and a 3-round modified Delphi methodology was used.

A convenience sample of 14 state and 20 county EFNEP professionals participated in all 3 Delphi rounds. The response rates for state and county professionals for all 3 Delphi rounds were 70% and 91%, respectively.

Personal attributes and job competencies were generated and the level of importance was determined.

An independent t test was employed to determine differences between importance scores by professional position.

Thirty-seven personal attributes, 18 job competencies prior to hire, and 43 job competencies after training were generated and the majority were very important to important. County EFNEP professionals tended to score personal attributes and job competencies as more important than state EFNEP professionals.

These personal attributes and job competencies prior to hire can guide hiring decisions and initial training content. The job competencies after training can shape content for inservice training.