1. Understanding Career Management Skills

The Nordic national delegations from Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark have agreed to set up a Nordic cluster within the European ELGPN. The document provides a general description of the perception of career competencies and examples of how the Nordic countries work with them.

Thesis, University of Coventry University in collaboration with the University of Worcester.

The thesis critically examines the use of competencies in career management, and introduces career competencies as an approach to sustainable career management. Discusses concepts such as career, career success, competencies and competencies frameworks, and development of career competences indicators.

The article discusses the importance of equipping citizens with career management skills and discusses the impact of their low level among the population on Canadian society, the economy and human resources.

It discusses the need for career counselors, counselors, educators and human resources specialists to help more citizens acquire career management skills, have programs and resources based on clear learning outcomes and performance in career management.

It is an excerpt from a longer paper which is available at www.lifework.ca under Papers)

The document is one of the results of cooperation at EU level within the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN) and addresses 11 issues that policies need to address when developing policies related to CMS development. The document is intended for policy makers who wish to (further) develop a comprehensive national advisory policy with a focus on obtaining a CMS. This need may arise in the light of the different (lifelong) guidance policies that exist in Europe, in closing existing gaps in national provision and in pursuing future approaches to (lifelong) guidance.

This report provides a conceptual framework for education-related lending activities reflecting the latest knowledge and successful practices of planning and implementing education for lifelong learning. It encourages countries to look beyond traditional approaches to education and training and to engage in a policy dialogue on the pedagogical and economic consequences of lifelong learning.

This is the text of the EU Council resolution that defines guidance as a continuous process that enables citizens at any age and at any point in their lives to identify their capacities, competences and interests, to make educational, training and occupational decisions and to manage their individual life paths in learning, work and other settings in which those capacities and competences are learned and/or used. 

This article shows that lifelong guidance is one of the ways which help to achieve harmony between individual, professional, social, economic aspects of life. The article presents the legal basis for the lifelong counseling. The author presented the concept and pointed to aspects of lifelong guidance. The last part of the article is dedicated to the European practices on the use of lifelong guidance.

This paper contains the perspective of Counseling and Guidance in Lifelong Learning (LLL). Lifelong Learning has been acknowledged as a need and a principle of education as well as a transnational strategy for the learning societies worldwide. There are considerable variation in the policies and practices of Lifelong Learning in different countries. The term Lifelong Learning has been used in a variety of context from adult learning and continuing professional development to organizational and societal changes. In the discourse of Adult Education and

Lifelong Learning, Counseling and Guidance plays an important role to motivate people or make
them aware about the importance of learning.

This publication gives policy makers clear, practical tools that can be used to address these problems. It encompasses the major policy domains involved in developing a comprehensive framework for lifelong guidance systems: meeting the career guidance needs of young people and of adults; widening access to career guidance; improving career information; staffing and funding career guidance services; andimproving strategic leadership.

The Guidelines have been developed by the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network. They build on the common aims and principles for lifelong guidance provision agreed by the Member States in 2005. 

Given that most EU citizens engage in learning and work across the lifespan, the Guidelines provide policy advice and information that cover the provision of lifelong guidance services in the education and training sectors, the labour market sector, and social inclusion. They also cover policy issues that are common to all sectors.

This article analyses aspects of the interaction between labour-market dynamics, education and lifelong-learning policies, by examining the principal changes in the economic system and in the strategic role of education in today’s knowledge society, in relation to critical global-scenario issues, like the labour market and the expansion of the jobless growth paradigm. In particular, some of the issues concerning the situation the labour market in European Mediterranean countries is obliged to face will be addressed and a number of possible solutions (designed to overcome the employment crisis and involving a relaunch of strategic industrial, innovation, education, training and jobs policies) proposed.

This report documents the progress of European countries in implementing the priorities identified by the May 2004 Education Council Resolution on guidance throughout life (Council of the European Union, 2004). Based on reviews carried out by two EU agencies (Cedefop and the European Training Foundation (ETF)), the OECD and World Bank, the ‘guidance resolution’ highlights five key areas for special attention. Member States were invited to develop strategic responses to realise the potential of career guidance to fulfil four public-policy goals - namely lifelong learning, social inclusion, labour market efficiency and economic development.

The LEADER Framework for Careers sets out five main areas that all citizens should attend to as they develop their careers: personal effectiveness; managing relationships; finding and accessing work; managing life and career; and understanding the world. Under each of these five areas the framework details a series of career management skills. These career management skills provide tools for educators to focus their curriculum, for counsellors to shape their interactions with clients and for policy makers in considering what programmes to fund or promote.

Lifelong guidance has received significant attention at the European Level. The Council of the European Union Resolutions passed in 2004 and 2008, highlight the need for strong guidance services throughout the life course to equip citizens with the skills to manage their learning, their careers and their transitions between and within education, training and work. The Resolutions position the acquisition of the skills that are needed to manage a career (career management skills) as an important priority of guidance services.

The knowledge economy is changing the way people work. New labour market entrants can expect to experience a succession of jobs in a number of industry sectors during their working lives. They may have concurrent part-time jobs at one time, and no paid work at other times. Work periods will be interspersed with periods of learning, either full- or part-time, perhaps while working at one or more jobs.  Workers will increasingly be expected to move from project to project doing whatever work needs to be done, and not merely to fulfill a written job description.” That future is here. 

This article discusses changes in working life and other aspects of life and their significance for counselling and guidance. It focuses on a shift in research, international debate and goal documents rather than in counselling practice. The paradigm shift refers to the change from a modern to a more post-modern view, which means that counselling should be oriented more towards the whole person and his or her life projects. The aim in this perspective is to make clients more proactive in constructing their own lives. Some clients, however, are still stuck in a passive and helpless role. This is a great challenge for counsellors who are striving to develop more holistic working methods. The transition from a modern to a more post-modern society requires a counsellor with a wide arsenal of interventions and many working tools, i.e. a multi-instrumentalist. The conclusion is that counsellors have to be more aware of the different situations, expectations and forms of behaviour faced by clients. Counsellors have to develop new methods centred round the clients’ self-activity.

This research paper sets out the evidence on the economic benefits of career guidance. It argues that although career guidance is primarily concerned with the individual it also offers major social and economic benefits. It is these benefits that justify public investment in the area. The paper uses the OECD’s definition of “career guidance”. This definition is broad and encompasses a wide range of activities that take place within the education system and beyond it. The evidence base provides insights into the effective delivery of career guidance and highlights the three main policy areas that it can support: (1) the effective functioning of the labour market and through this the economy, (2) the effective functioning of the education system; and (3) social equity. This paper focuses on the first of these in the context of current UK (with a focus on England) policy aims around fiscal restraint and deficit reduction. Career guidance contributes to a range of individual outcomes which influence a number of primary and secondary outcomes which in turn lead to macro-economic benefits.

This article analyses aspects of the interaction between labour-market dynamics, education and lifelong-learning policies, by examining the principal changes in the economic system and in the strategic role of education in today’s knowledge society, in relation to critical global-scenario issues, like the labour market and the expansion of the jobless growth paradigm. In particular, some of the issues concerning the situation the labour market in European Mediterranean countries is obliged to face will be addressed and a number of possible solutions (designed to overcome the employment crisis and involving a relaunch of strategic industrial, innovation, education, training and jobs policies) proposed. Finally, a feasible pathway towards the determination of a new, socially-inclusive policy will also be presented.

This paper contains the perspective of Counseling and Guidance in Lifelong Learning (LLL). Lifelong Learning has been acknowledged as a need and a principle of education as well as a transnational strategy for the learning societies worldwide. There are considerable variation in the policies and practices of Lifelong Learning in different countries. The term Lifelong Learning has been used in a variety of context from adult learning and continuing professional development to  organizational and societal changes. In the discourse of Adult Education and Lifelong Learning, Counseling and Guidance plays an important role to motivate people or make them aware about the importance of learning.

As education and employment policies seek to widen choices and to create systems that can respond to varying needs across the lifespan, career guidance becomes increasingly important for public policy. And public policy is important for career guidance: it sets the frameworks for it, and provides most of its funds. However there is a gap between the two. Few career guidance practitioners show a great engagement in policy questions. And few policy-makers have a detailed grasp of how career guidance is organised and delivered. This publication draws upon the experiences of 14 OECD countries to explore ways in which this gap can be bridged.

This article examines the Blueprint framework for career management skills as it has been revealed across sequential implementations in the USA, Canada and Australia. It is argued that despite its lack of an empirical basis, the framework forms a useful and innovative means through which career theory, practice and policy can be connected. The framework comprises both core elements (learning areas, learning model and levels) and contextual elements (resources, community of practice, service delivery approach and policy connection). Each of these elements is explored.

Managing one’s pathway through learning and work has become more demanding in a world characterised by a differentiated education landscape, by more frequent transitions due to temporary employment, by re- and up-skilling due to rapid technological change, by new  

Managing one’s pathway through learning and work has become more demanding in a world characterised by a differentiated education landscape, by more frequent transitions due to temporary employment, by re- and up-skilling due to rapid technological change, by new uncertainties due to the changing nature of employment contracts and employee status in platform economies as well as by later retirement in aging societies. When leaving school, young people are faced with multiple routes through further education, VET, and higher education. Before entering their first paid job, millions of young people in Europe, in particular graduates from university, complete internships. More often than adults, young people are hired on the basis of a fixed-term contract: In 2015, on average 40,5 % of youth employees (aged 15-24) were on temporary contracts reaching more than 60 % in several EU countries. For those at work, technological change requires regular up-skilling or job search in case of restructuring. Caring for children or elderly can pose challenges for career development and working longer requires adequate career planning including flexible forms of retirement.

The LEarning And Decision making Resources (LEADER) project has been established to support partner countries to develop and use career management skills (CMS) and CMS frameworks with practitioners. CMS is the term used to describe the skills, attributes, attitudes and knowledge that individuals require in order to manage their career. CMS define a set of learning outcomes that will support individuals to develop their careers throughout life. In a learning paradigm the development of CMS becomes one of the key objectives of lifelong guidance.

The literature on career calls for a transformation and redefinition of career. In this paper we take a step back and ask: ‘what is a career?’. Careers as works are presented; those entities that set up and formed the world in which humans live and have their being. In describing the characteristics of works and the way in which they set up and formed a world, we explicate the very nature of career guidance and counselling. In conclusion, we propose an approach by which practitioners can engage the world that is set up by a work.

This study builds a grounded model of how careers shape  entrepreneurs’ preferences for causal and effectual decision logics when starting new ventures. Using both verbal protocol analysis and interviews, we adopt a qualitative research approach to induct career management practices germane to entrepreneurial decision making. Based on our empirical findings, we develop a model conceptualizing how configurations of career management practices, reflecting different emphases on career planning and career  investment, are linked to entrepreneurial decision making through the imprint that they leave on one’s view of the future, generating a tendency toward predictive and/or creative control. These findings extend effectuation theorizing by reformulating one of its most pervasive assumptions and showing how careers produce distinct pathways to entrepreneurial thinking, even prior to entrepreneurial entry.

This paper reports on the learning that took place within the context of activities organised by the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN). A key focus for the ELGPN throughout its existence between 2007 and 2015 concerned the development of Career Management Skills (CMS) programmes, with a view to facilitating transitions from education and training to work, as well as from one employment or self-employment activity to another. Network members gave special consideration to the specific needs of target groups, with the understanding that while CMS are likely to be important and useful to all citizens, some groups have different needs due to their particular life circumstances. This paper considers some of the main insights generated by the peer learning community, as well as by the relevant international literature, in order to contribute further reflection concerning the identification of target groups requiring specific policy attention, the positioning of CMS in the overall policy field, and the way diversity has implications for the way CMS is conceived and delivered.

This paper draws on some of the research and reflection that is taking place within the context of the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN), a European commission-funded network made up of policy-maker representatives from the 27 European Union (EU) member states and two European Economic Area countries (Iceland and Norway). Network participants belong to the education and the labour market sectors, with a few representing the social partners and guidance associations. A small group of resource persons – of which the present author is one – provide expertise and resources to the network, helping to bridge policy, research and practice issues.

Well planned and well organised career guidance services are increasingly important. Countries in the OECD and the European Union are implementing lifelong learning strategies, as well as policies to encourage the development of their citizens’ employability. To be successfully implemented, such strategies and policies require citizens to have the skills to manage their own education and employment. They require all citizens to have access to high quality information and advice about education, training and work. Yet often the gap between how career guidance services are delivered and the goals of public policy is wide. The aim of this handbook is to help policy makers within OECD countries and the European Union to develop effective policies for career guidance: in education, training and employment. It has been developed by the European Commission and the OECD in response to on-going changes in education, training and employment policies. In Europe these changes are expressed in the Lisbon (2000) goals of making Europe the most competitive knowledge-based economy and society in the world by 2010, marked by social cohesion. The handbook is based on international reviews of policies for career guidance undertaken by the OECD, by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, by the European Training Foundation, and by the World Bank.

This concept note outlines a number of issues related to the process of Career Management Skills (CMS) policy implementation in six sectoral areas – schools, vocational education and training (VET), higher education, adult education, employment and social inclusion. Specifically, it aims to identify those elements that support policy development and implementation, as well as those that can prove to be an obstacle to policy implementation in relation to CMS. The issues highlighted are supported by theory and experiences observed in ELGPN member countries, collected through the dissemination of a questionnaire on ‘Success and disabling factors in CMS policy implementation’ with responses from eleven countries (AT, CZ, DE, DK, HU, LT, MT, PT, SE, SI, SK). The responses varied in terms of quality and level of detail. It needs to be noted that other countries might also have interesting practices of CMS policy implementation which are not incorporated in this concept note.

This paper reports on the learning that took place within the context of activities organised by the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN). A key focus for the ELGPN throughout its existence between 2007 and 2015 concerned the development of Career Management Skills (CMS) programmes, with a view to facilitating transitions from education and training to work, as well as from one employment or self-employment activity to another. Network members gave special consideration to the specific needs of target groups, with the understanding that while CMS are likely to be important and useful to all citizens, some groups have different needs due to their particular life circumstances. This paper considers some of the main insights  generated by the peer learning community, as well as by the relevant international literature, in order to contribute further reflection concerning the identification of target groups requiring specific policy attention, the positioning of CMS in the overall policy field, and the way diversity has implications for the way CMS is conceived and delivered.

European Union (EU) member states have acknowledged the professionalization of career guidance services in different sectors as a priority within the guidance practice and policy development from 2000 to 2016. During the Irish EU presidency in 2004, the Council of Education Ministers adopted a first EU level resolution on lifelong guidance. The resolution defined lifelong guidance as “a range of activities that enables citizens of any age and at any point in their lives (lifelong) to identify their capacities, competencies and interests, to make meaningful educational, training and occupational decisions and to manage their individual life paths in learning, work and other settings in which these capacities and competencies are learned and/or used (life wide)” (European Council, 2004, 2008). The resolution also invited member states to improve the initial and continuing training of career practitioners as well as “seek to ensure effective co-operation and co-ordination between providers of guidance at national, regional and local levels in the provision of guidance services and to build on and adapt existing structures and activities (networks, work groups, programs) related to the implementation of the resolution priorities” (European Commission, 2004, 2008).

This legal proposal, an incentive measure pursuant of Article 149 TFEU, aims to strengthen cooperation between the Public Employment Services (PES) of the Member States. PES are responsible for implementing active labour market policies and providing employment services in the public interest. They are part of relevant ministries, public bodies or (non for profit) corporations falling under public law. The services offered by PES to workers and employers include labour market information, support for job search, counselling, vocational guidance, placement and support of occupational and geographic mobility. PES are also frequently in charge of unemployment and other social benefit systems. The efficiency of PES is an essential factor for successful employment policies. Strengthening cooperation between PES in the EU has been recognised as a crucial element to achieve the employment targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

http://www.elgpn.eu/publications/elgpn-concept-note-cms

http://www.elgpn.eu/publications/elgpn-tools-no1-resource-kit

https://youtu.be/8GtikhNBjUs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GYxUMkbRCk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jUMo-VvVB4&feature=emb_imp_woyt