Why is Career Guidance Important Now More Than Ever?

By reading this article you will learn why it is so important to provide career guidance services for (head)teachers and students in schools to raise their career knowledge and develop their career skills and some ideas of how to do it.

Career guidance refers to a range of activities that enable citizens of any age, and at any point in their lives, to: identify their capacities, competences and interests; make meaningful educational, training and occupational decisions; and manage their individual life paths in learning, work and other settings in which these capacities and competences are learned and/or used. Lifelong guidance is provided in a range of settings: education, training, employment, community, and private. « (ELGPN 2012, 13)

Some facts about career in 21st century:

• We all are facing big challenges regarding neverending changes in the world of work, professions and job market. The way we live and work has been dramatically changed by globalisation, demographic shifts, rapid increases in information and communications technology. „Job for life” concept doesn’t exist anymore. Permanent work has been replaced by contract and project work. Single qualification sustainable throughout entire working life is not enough anymore. Job related skills are not enough.
• Career patterns are several: linear, expert, spiral, transitory, sequential, cyclic. A person cannot expect to climb the »ladder« of more and more responsibilities. Nowadays, careers are plural.  

​Schools and kindergartens are very important stakeholders in career guidance. If you are a teacher, a professor, a headteacher, a student counsellor, a psychologist or any other educational staff member working in an educational setting, you work on every day basis with children or students who have to answer questions like: Who am I? What do I want to do in the future? What professions or jobs am I interested in? There are different professionals that help students to answer these questions, e.g. career guidance counsellors provide information, hold counselling sessions, organise field trips and study visits for students and parents, teachers include knowledge about professions and (future) jobs in their subjects, trainers hold programmes and train (head)teachers in career management skills.

But, who provides career guidance services for (head)teachers?
We believe that career guidance must be included as a systematic approach in planning professional, personal and career development on all educational levels: national, school, staff, students. If (head) teachers don’t take responsibility for leading their own careers, they are not competent enough to support students in developing their career skills and are also not good role models for students demonstrating career competence, simply said they do not “walk the talk”. The fundamental premise shall be that (head)teachers competent in career management skills are be more capable of and motivated for supporting their students in developing their own career competence so important in the 21st century. The best practice is about fostering collective responsibility, leasdership and capacity for action among educational staff members as change makers and brokers of innovation in learning organisation. Moreover, it is believed and predicted that also (head)teachers shall start avoiding traditional career thinking in terms of hierarchical progression and shall be enabled different career pathways. Additonally, (head)teachers career schemes shall not be focused on public educational settings only as they are not onedimensional and linear anymore. (Head)teachers can combine their working positions, their workings posts shall not necessarily be limited to schools only, their jobs shall not be exactly the same in a few years as they are now. Mastering career management skills has therefore become one of the skills of the future​.

Are you interested to reflect on your career and learn some career management skills?
We invite you to answer the following questions:

• How often do you reflect on your career? What do your reflections refer to?
• When did you last time change your career? How did your career transitions look like?
• How satisfied are you with your job? What is your life-work balance?
• What are your talents? What are your strengths and weaknesses regarding your career?
• Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? What will your working environment look like? What does this mean for your career?
• What do you take into consideration when deciding about your further education, professional development or changes in your career?
• How proactive are you in planning your career? What exactly do you do?

​These questions are an example of self-reflection on your career. If you are willing to gain the latest career management skills, you are warmly welcome to join our course Career development survival kit: Enhance employability and improve career prospects of (head)teachers and students.
 
We strongly believe in developing and maintaining a developmental mindset and a practical approach which are based on reflection, enquiry and experiental learning. By attending our course you will get a lot of hands-on materials and working sheets and familiarise yourself with methods not only to be used for your career development but also to adjust and apply them to work with your students.
 
Here are some feedback information of the participants that have already attended the course:
 
We attended this course with school career counsellors and found it very very valuable. All the activities and materials we went through we are going to use in our schools as great tools for our work. And two the best trainers Tatjana and Mihaela did their best! Also the organisation of the week was perfect. The organisers sent us all the necessary information before the course and materials after the course. The lunches were organised thinking of all the tastes. I would advise everybody to attend this course, especially if you feel your career has stuck somewhere. This is the best way to evaluate yourself, your career and think about future. Thank you, Tatjana, we are all still on the high-wave you and Mihaela brought us. Thank you for the wonderful week. Inga

Thank you so much for all the positive feedback about the course. It keeps me and all the team going, when we hear that we did a good job. It's motivational and good to know that we're on the right track. Brina

Tatjana Ažman, PhD, Mihaela Zavašnik, PhD
Erasmus+ by Primera trainers of the course Career Development Survival Kit.