PANCANADIAN MAPPING STUDY OF THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT SECTOR

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PAN-CANADIAN MAPPING STUDY OF THE CAREER
DEVELOPMENT SECTOR

• Gail Langlais Lynne Bezanson

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Survey Focus

• Vision Enhance the quality and
  effectiveness of career development delivery

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Questions

• What are the service delivery structures in each
  jurisdiction?
• What hiring practices are being used?
• What competency profiles are being used and for
  what purpose?
• Are there educational programs available to
  develop the required competencies?

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Questions

• What is the profile of career development
  practitioners delivering direct services do they
  engage in their own personal career development?
• What is the scope of services being provided?

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Outcomes

• Start of a comprehensive pan-Canadian data base
• Increased understanding of some of the issues
  faced by the sector
• Identification of competencies needed for
  effective practice based on job duties/tasks
• Suggested recommendations to enhance the quality
  and effectiveness of service delivery

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Purpose of Presentation

• To present highlights of the survey findings and
  policy and practice implications
• To review next step priorities for making use of
  the data to contribute to quality career
  development service delivery

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Development of Surveys

• 1st phase Where are career development services
  provided?
• what are the major service delivery structures in
  all provinces and territories?
•  2nd phase Tell us more broadly
• what is the profile of each major structure (i.e.
  how many staff how many offices how many
  clients job descriptions job titles use of
  competency profiles for hiring, staff training,
  other...) (21 respondents in total)
•  3rd phase Tell us more comprehensively
• online mapping surveys for practitioners and
  agencies (English French)

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The Career Development Sector

• Practitioners who spend most of their work time
  giving direct services to the public in the areas
  of
• Career education
• Career counselling
• Employment counselling
• Human resource development
• Career coaching
• Training in employment skills
• Training in work-related areas
• Vocational rehabilitation
• and Managers/Directors of agencies, organizations
  or institutions providing these direct services

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Who Responded? Close to a Pan-Canadian perspective

• 853 respondents completed all or parts of the
  English Practitioner online survey
• 50 respondents completed all or parts of the
  French Practitioner online survey  
• 252 respondents completed all or parts of the
  English Agency online survey
• 17 respondents completed all or parts of the
  French Agency online survey
• Limitations
• Most French surveys originated in New Brunswick
  Manitoba had a very high response rate...however
• Percentage of respondents approximate the
  percentage of the Canadian population in all
  other provinces/territories

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Agency Profile

• French Agencies
• 17 respondents completed all or parts of the
  French Agency online survey
• Insufficient data to report on many detail
  questions
• 64.7 are agencies in communities of less than
  49,999
• None had more than 15 staff delivering career
  development services
• The majority of French responses came from New
  Brunswick (10)  

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Agency Profile

• English Agencies
• 252 respondents completed all or parts of the
  English Agency online survey
• The majority of agencies (46.8) served
  communities of over 100,000 with good
  representation from small and medium-sized
  communities as well
• There was representation from all provinces and
  territories except one
• 44.3 reported 5 or fewer of their staff
  providing direct career development services
• 19.9 had 6 to more than 50 staff delivering
  services directly to the public
• Agency respondents were quite representative of
  their relative populations

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Results

• Some Highlights on Clients Served

and
Points to Ponder
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Who receives service

• Points to Ponder
• of Older Workers and traditional vs. recession
  or bad times responsive services
• Service delivery and training and professional
  development implications

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Who has access?

• On request and free of charge
• 24 (E) 18 (Fr)
• Private fee for service
• Less than 5
• Some criteria apply
• Close to 70

• Points to Ponder
• What criteria???
• Adequacy of this model in
• recession or bad times
• Global tendency to models of all-age, no
  criteria service

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What are the presenting needs?

• Six of the top ten needs selected were identical
  in the Francophone and Anglophone surveys
• Self-awareness of occupational interests,
  relevant attitudes, personal values, job-related
  skills (ranked 1 in both surveys)
• Preparing a resumé and cover letter
• Learning job interview skills
• How to find and use labour market information
• Building self-efficacy
• Flexibility in considering a wider range of
  options.

• Similarly there was agreement on eight of the 10
  least frequent needs
• Improving overall work habits
• Crisis and problem-solving counselling
• Personal counselling
• Learning to negotiate employment contracts
• Acquiring study skills
• Acquiring information about job entitlements
• Psychological assessment
• Addiction counselling

• Points to Ponder
• Scope of practice is well defined. The career
  development sector has a
• clear employment, career and labour market
  mandate

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Top 10 Tasks of Practitioners

• Eight of the top 10 tasks selected were
  consistent in the English and French responses.
• Assisting with career related decisions
• Assisting with finding and using labour market
  information
• Assistance with work search
• Helping build self-confidence and motivation for
  work search
• Developing individual career development plans
• Case management
• Assisting with educational program selection

• Points to Ponder
• Client needs and practitioner tasks match well
• Suggests that services are client need based and
  not program driven

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Results

• Some Highlights on Practitioners

and
Points to Ponder
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Demographics

• Points to Ponder
• Majority enter at later ages with range of work
  experience
• Wide diversity of educational and work experience
  backgrounds within sector

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Background and Preparation
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(No Transcript)
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Competency Use and Importance Ratings

• Selected as being important by 90 or more of the
  respondents
• Follow a code of ethics
• Demonstrate a commitment to your own professional
  development
• Use analytical skills (collect, analyze, and use
  information)
• Recognize and respect diversity
• Communicate effectively (verbal and written
  communication, listening skills)

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Competency Use and Importance Ratings (cont)

• Foster self-reliance and self-management with the
  public you serve
• Apply career development knowledge (major career
  development theories, career planning processes,
  labour market information)
• Make appropriate referrals
• Update information and resources for the public
  you serve
• Assist the public you serve with accessing and
  understanding information

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• New competencies needed
• Cross-cultural counselling
• Advanced technology
• Credential evaluation

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Job Titles
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Matching Titles and Duties

• The Employment Counsellor as well as the
  Information and Resources Officer job titles list
  as the top two services
• Finding and using labour market information and
• Assistance with worksearch as the top two
  services provided.
• The Career Counsellor job title lists as the top
  two services
• Assisting with career related awareness and
• Developing individual career development plans as
  the top two services provided.
• The Assessment Counsellor job title top two are
• Assisting with career related awareness and
• Assisting with educational program selection.

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Matching Titles and Duties (cont)

• Points to Ponder
• These suggest quite different service emphases
  according to job title and could suggest the
  future possibility of some standardization and
  differentiation of job titles and job duties
  across the sector.
• With over 40 different job titles (far fewer in
  the French sample), how does the public figure
  out who is who and who is qualified to do what?
• Common language matters

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• Points to Ponder
• Diversity of backgrounds may provide both depth
  and breadth of knowledge and experience
• Majority of managers do not require
  specialization specifically in career development
  for hiring purposes field may therefore attract
  wide variety of generalists
• A common set of professional core competencies is
  implicitly recognized within the field these
  set the field apart as distinct
• The reasons for the high rating of professional
  preparation while having low specialization in
  career development are not apparent from the data

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Results

• Some Highlights on Professional Identity and
  Development

and
Points to Ponder
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Quality of Worklife Indicators

• Levels of Work Satisfaction
• Mostly or Very Satisfied 92.2 (Eng) 84.0 (Fr)
• Life-Work Balance
• Mostly or fully 88.4 (Eng) 97.9 (Fr)
• Extent to which own career development is
  supported
• Mostly or fully 78 (Eng) 80 (Fr)
• Would you recommend this field to others?
• Probably or definitely 94.8 (eng) 100 (Fr)

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Professional Identity and Development

• Job descriptions are important most have them
  (close to 80)
• Belonging to a professional association is
  important (76 Eng 64 French)....yet
• Only 33 of English and French practitioners
  actually belong
• Professional development needs are reported to be
  met (45) or partially met (53)....yet
• Fewer than 30 report frequent participation in
  formal PD 60 report occasional participation
  (Eng)

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Professional Identity and Development

• Having a professional certification/license is
  important (70 Eng 82 French)
• Over 500 narrative responses received
• Positive Responses (in favour of professional
  certification) could typically be classified as
• Ensure professional (competent and ethical)
  practice (e.g., Important to have qualified and
  competent CDP's that adhere to ethics way of
  protecting the public and ensuring quality
  control)
• Set national standards to ensure quality of
  service regardless of where it is provided (e.g.,
  Creates a professional standard of practice)
• Credibility for the profession

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Professional Identity and Development (cont)

• Themes and examples of negative responses
  (against certification) include
• Many competent practitioners do not have formal
  training (e.g., There are many people in our
  field who are highly qualified but do not have
  specific education -- why keep them out by
  creating a certification?)
• Logistical difficulties (e.g., I think it's
  important but complicated to introduce /
  implement / enforce)
• Education does not guarantee caring
  caring/empathy is more important than credentials
  

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• Points to Ponder
• The CDP population is in a sense, self-made, very
  well educated, but weakly specialized formally in
  career development
• There are high levels of job satisfaction in the
  field
• The highest priorities are training and
  professional recognition
• There are apparent contradictions in the data
  which would be rich to explore further
• Why so few belong to professional associations
• Why they state their PD needs are largely met but
  the majority do not participate often
• (Why they rate their professional preparation
  highly, but their specialization in career
  development is reported as low)

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Use of Competency Frameworks

• 51 of managers stated their use was important
• Only 40 use the SGs Only 23 use the Blueprint
  for LifeWork Designs

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• Points to Ponder
• These are internationally recognized tools for
  management of career development services
• Their value appears to be recognized but they
  remain underused

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Results

• Priority Issues

and
Voices to Ponder
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Priority Issues for Career Development as seen by
the Sector

• Agreement on four of the five on both surveys.
• Improving access to ongoing non-credit
  professional career development training for
  existing practitioners (1 In both surveys)
• Accrediting/certifying practitioners who meet
  these standards (2 in both surveys)
• Developing a stronger identity as a profession
• Improving access to professional career
  development training in universities
  (undergraduate and graduate degrees).

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Overview of Findings

• The career development sector is diverse,
  vibrant, committed and is a largely very
  satisfied professional workforce
• There is a lack of consistency in job titles,
  entry requirements, access to professional
  development
• There appear to be significant gaps in service
  provision and/or access to services

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Suggested Priorities for Action

• Promote and enhance a Training and Development
  Culture within the sector
• Why is membership in associations so low?
• Why is informal training accessed so
  infrequently?
• Why is overall access to formal training
  relatively infrequent?
• What is behind some of the apparent
  contradictions?
• Promote increased understanding and use of
  competency frameworks such as the Standards and
  Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
  (SGs) and the Blueprint for Life/Work Designs or
  their equivalencies as tools to increase
  coherence in the sector
• Why are rates of adoption so low?
• How can these be used to promote more consistency
  in job titles and access training?

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Suggested Priorities for Action

• Support provincial and territorial initiatives to
  introduce certification programs for Career
  Development Practitioners and a mechanism to
  support their compatibility and ensure
  cross-border mobility
• There is strong support for programs which lead
  to professional credential and recognition
• There are risks that requirements could precede
  access to training
• Consider the potential of the Canadian Council of
  Career Development Associations
•  

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Suggested Priorities for Action

• Conduct a policy review of criterion-based career
  development and employment services
• It is not clear if and/or how many clients are
  excluded from services and why
• We can learn from other countries and from
  investigating ourselves
• Conduct a survey of the public need for, access
  to and satisfaction with current career and
  employment service provision
• Are our services too traditional?
• We can learn from the public we serve
•  

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Voices to ponder....

• I have been very lucky to find a job which I love
  and makes a real difference in people's lives for
  the better. Creating new outlooks and
  opportunities for those who just need a little
  help. I think it is important that everyone live
  up to their full potential, and life is way too
  short to just let it pass you by. I enjoy
  encouraging people to be creative, think outside
  the box, and really find out what it is they love
  to do, and then how they can incorporate that
  into their work lives, to make a happy, healthy
  life for them and their families
•  

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Voices to ponder....

• CDPs deal with complex situations everyday
  assisting clients in their path to improvement,
  yet recognition of just what CDPs do in the
  course of their day seems to be unrecognized. I
  look forward to the time when CDPs really are
  acknowledged for their contribution.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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• Variety of experience is essential in serving a
  diverse public. I would not want to see a
  homogenization of career practitioners who
  studied it at university. teachers, trades
  people, social workers, engineers, nurses etc.
  all have the capacity to deliver effective
  services and would bring first hand knowledge
  from all sectors.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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Voices to ponder....

• The Career Specialist field seems still
  misunderstood and/or not given the credit it
  deserves within the hierarchy of the 'Helping
  Professions. Is licensing the only method to
  convince the greater world of the worth of what
  'we' do?
• This was a very long survey!

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Voices to ponder....

• I hope that this is not just another survey with
  no outcomes...

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• Thank You for your
  attention and your responses

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• QUESTIONS

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Question 1

• Two recommendations focus on the Career
  Development Practitioner. Assuming only one
  priority will be acted upon, which one would you
  choose to strengthen professional identity
• Support a training and development culture by
  taking concrete steps such as providing
  incentives to join professional associations
  and/or making certain that third party
  contractual agreements include a compulsory
  training budget line

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Question 1 (cont.)

• Support the movement towards licensing and
  certification for career development
  practitioners by taking concrete steps such as
  providing funding so associations can work
  together to build more consistent approaches to
  certification and/or working closely with
  training institutions to make sure their programs
  will lead to certification.

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Question 2

• Two recommendations focus on policy and research.
  Assuming only one priority will be acted upon,
  which one would you choose to strengthen career
  development services for Canadians
• Conduct a policy review of criterion based
  services to investigate pros, cons, options and
  to arrive at recommendations
• Conduct a survey of Canadians on what they want
  and need from career and employment services and
  use the findings to help shape future services

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Question 3

• Will this report help to support or forward
  career development in your jurisdiction?
• YES / NO

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Question 4

• What are the preferred roles for the FLMM to take
  the recommendations from this report forward?
  Select 2 only.
• Promote the findings widely and support
  consultations by groups wanting to take specific
  actions to advance the field
• Play a leadership role in coordinating curriculum
  development.

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Question 4

• Support the career development community in its
  efforts to work together to build common
  procedures and practices for certification and
  other issues affecting the sector as a whole
• Champion the policy review of criterion-based
  services and the survey of Canadian needs.