Career pathways can follow a straight path—graduate from high school, go to post-econdary, get a job, retire and travel. More often than not however, the ideal straight line is only an illusion. In reality, the majority of people experience a career as a messy bowel of spaghetti. Most people experience a moment when everything changes. Sometimes people may experience job loss, or have the simple realization that the work or schooling they are pursuing doesn’t work for them. In this case people two choices, one, panic and spend months in a tailspin, or two, kick into career development mode and begin figuring out what to do next.
As educators our goal is to empower students to meet career changes and challenges with intent and purpose. Teaching students how to manage their own work and learning is an invaluable tool. Career development education is about helping students prepare for change which is constant, to follow their hearts so they find meaning from work, to focus on the journey so they continually connect the present with the future, to learn continuously so they are prepared for their next career move and to access their allies to help them both personally and professionally through change.
Career Development is defined in the Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners as the lifelong process of managing learning, work, leisure and transitions in order to move toward a personally determined and evolving preferred future. There are several noteworthy elements in this definition that educators can infuse into their teaching practice:
- Lifelong – career development is not summed up in a single decision. A simplistic view of career development would have a young person decide what to “be” and what education to pursue in order to achieve that – end of story. The real story, however, generally involves multiple chapters, with distinct goals, tasks, outcomes and transitions across the lifespan. In early childhood, career development is largely about exploration, developing a sense of self in the future and expanding horizons with respect to what that future self could encompass. Later in adolescence, career development is about exposure, experience, reflection and the development of personal/career management and employability skills. Throughout adulthood, those skills are refined, expanded and deployed to navigate an ever changing labour market.
- Managing – career development will happen whether it is managed or not. The question is the extent to which you want to influence your career direction versus leaving it to chance. Current levels of youth unemployment and underemployment, job dissatisfaction and mental health claims in the workplace would suggest that leaving it to chance, more often than not, does not pan out.
- Learning, work and transitions – career development is the mechanism by which learning (formal and informal), work (paid and unpaid) and the transitions between are navigated.
- Personally determined – career development is about intentionality. Done well, it ensures that the decisions we make about learning and work are grounded in knowledge of self (personal interests, attributes, values and skills), and knowledge of educational/labour market realities (conditions, finances, prospects, entry requirements, progression and pathways). Done well, it ensures you are prepared for the realities of your choices, have the skills and supports to manage and, importantly, are clear about why the choice is right for you, fueling your motivation, focus and success.
- Evolving preferred future – career development recognizes that both we and our labour market change over time. What we want and what is possible are not static. Whether we are employed with one company long term, pursue entrepreneurial ventures or piece together our living through multiple contract, project-based and portfolio work, we will need to adjust and adapt, re-conceive and re-create our careers. This demands vigilance and career management and employability skills.
As educators, we can plan career development learning activities so students learn about and practice career development competencies so they can apply and repeat the approach over the course of their career journey. Three foundational approaches include: gaining awareness about the world of work; exploring options and opportunities to develop skills, knowledge and abilities and trying out occupations to solidify occupational choice.
Lucky for our students, career development is one of the three goals of education in the Kindergarten to Grade 12 British Columbia education system. Career Development Education Programs are educational programs that meet the goal and combine career awareness, exploration and engagement activities and/or programming and reflect the regional and provincial employment opportunities. Educators keen to support positive transitions for students now and into their future can build programming around the three key organizers below. Practice makes perfect, and continuous learning is essential and in the end, students will thank you when they hit the moment when everything changes. https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/
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