By Russell Booth

The Career Practitioners Association of New Zealand (CPANZ)

It gives me great pleasure to write a snapshot for the Contact Point Bulletin!

CPANZ currently has over 550 members, the majority of whom undertake some form of professional practice in the fledgling careers industry in New Zealand. The purpose of CPANZ is to act as a national voice to promote professional standards and best practice in career development in New Zealand. It’s aim is also to promote the recognition and professionalism of career practitioners by providing to it’s members relevant and accessible professional development opportunities.

CPANZ was formed in 1997 mainly in response to a perceived need for a professional association representing the interests of career practitioners. It was also due to Government initiatives at the time and the restructuring taking place in both the public and private sectors. The original formation of CPANZ was based on a strong belief that the essential power of the Association lay in the strength of the branches and this still holds true today. Since it’s inception, the Association has worked hard to develop relevant and robust policies and procedures for the benefit of members and their clients. The CPANZ National Executive is voluntary and it’s role is essentially to set both the direction and strategy and to manage the central administration of CPANZ. We find that we are still refining our policies and procedures to remain effective and efficient as we continue to grow and develop relatively quickly.

We have recently started a number of major initiatives to ensure that current and prospective members ‘want‘ to belong to CPANZ. We have recently established a platform of resources to support members through the development and enhancement of the CPANZ website. Members can now access useful CPANZ documents such as the newsletter, information on the latest tools and career-information and also relevant international journals, including the Canadian Journal of Career Development! We have also developed initiatives so branches can access funding to support workshops and speakers and we recently launched the first national professional development road-show, utilising the expertise of CPANZ members and again funded by the Association. In 2006 we hope to focus on the provision of support for research activities undertaken by members.

We are also attempting to address issues common to other National Associations as highlighted in the recent OECD report “Career Guidance and Public Policy: Bridging the Gap.” We are currently reviewing and discussing issues around our status as a profession, what is meant by ‘career practice’ and how we ensure a high level of professionalism amongst CPANZ members. As you can see, they are probably no different to issues you face. I think it is important to realise, that in many ways we do not need to reinvent the wheel and collaborations such as these can only enhance the work all our members strive to achieve.

We welcome comments and questions from you in the hope that it will develop relationships at an organisational and possibly individual level. Please contact us at info@cpanz.org.nz.

Russell Booth is the President of The Career Practitioners Association of New Zealand (CPANZ)