National Challenge to promote career development: Winners announced

The winners of CERIC’s National Challenge to Promote Career Development were announced on January 6, 2014.

Natacha Courchesne, from the Université de Sherbrooke, was one of the winners. Her idea involved recruiting well-known individuals to star in video clips in which they talk about significant experiences where using a career development service made the difference for them.

Juliana Wiens, from Women’s Employment Outreach in Halifax, proposed a marketing campaign that uses various forms of media to dispel the myth that career development is only for young people, and spreads the message that all Canadians of working age can benefit from career development services.

John Horn, from ThePotentiality.com in Vancouver, presented an idea called Career Swap, which blends career development, experiential learning and reality television to engage youth aged 10-15 in meaningful career conversations and share their stories with the world.

The three winners will each receive $5,000 and be recognized at the Cannexus14 National Career Development Conference in Ottawa, Jan. 20-22, 2014.

CERIC’s National Challenge received 80 submissions and more than 4,500 votes were cast for the Top 10 Finalists. The online competition was funded with a grant from The Counselling Foundation of Canada, in celebration of CERIC’s 10^th anniversary. You can view all the ideas at ceric.ca/cerics-national-challenge.

What is a NEET, anyway?

Youth who are not in education, in employment or in training (NEETs) are a challenge for policymakers, career practitioners, society and – presumably – themselves. A report published in the fall by the Institute for Research in Public Policy in the United Kingdom blames this phenomenon on a broken school-to-work transition system, and sets out a solution for increasing the number of youth that are “learning or earning” by establishing a distinct work, training and benefits track for youths aged 18-24 years old.

Underpinning this approach is a conditional youth allowance that would keep them out of the welfare system, and ensure that they can complete their education before having to enter the workforce. Perhaps the most controversial part of this approach is the “youth guarantee,” which would offer young adults access to further education and intensive job search support. Youth who are not in employment or in training for more than six months would be provided with paid work experience and training – with no option to refuse.

The whole report can be found at bit.ly/18iGxzA.  

Updates from ContactPoint

Your work as a career development professional is in constant flux. And so is your online community! Since ContactPoint’s relaunch last year, the website has continued to evolve to meet your needs. We have created new categories of resources in our Directory:

• Apps that you can use in your work,
• Blogs aimed at career development professionals, and
• A new section listing resources by type of clientele.

We constantly add new resources to ContactPoint’s directory, and we share three of the most valuable every week in our free CareerWise newsletter. Interested in showcasing your expertise? You can now browse Calls for Presenters on ContactPoint’s events board. A guest blogging section was also added to the Blogger Central; you can get your post published by getting in touch with contactpoint@ceric.ca, or even apply to become a regular blogger. We are also relaunching an improved version of the career development wiki, one of the most visited sections of the website, and you can join us as a contributor. Finally, an open discussion forum called “News of the Sector” aggregates the latest news of the career development community in Canada. So share your organization’s news! Don’t forget that ContactPoint users can also contribute content to every section of the website. This is a community website by career practitioners for career practitioners!  

Know your impact!

A research project from the Canadian Research Working Group on Evidence-Based Practice in Career Development, Common Indicators: Transforming the Culture of Evaluation in Career and Employment Services, argues that career centres need to use a more consistent and sophisticated set of metrics to efficiently prove the “incalculable and considerable economic, health and social well-being benefits” of career development services.

Career and employment service centres tend to measure the level of satisfaction of their clients, whether they become employed or not, and the nature of their employment. However, little is measured regarding, for instance, the quality of employment obtained, the methods that worked, or the context in which the client found themselves when seeking career help. Furthermore, it is difficult to figure out how indicators influence each other if their measurement is not constant.

You can find out more by visiting crwg-gdrc.ca, under the “Research Projects” tab.

New study to show influence of parents, teachers on career development in children

A new CERIC-funded study by Memorial University researchers will examine the influence that parents and teachers have on the career development process of young children.

Understanding Young Children’s Career Development as a Developmental/Relational Process: Engaging Parents, Schools, and Community focuses on the roles that parents and teachers play in the career and educational development of young children, preschool to grade 3. Much of the existing research explores the career development of youth and young adults; more study is warranted on young children’s career development, which is what this project strives to accomplish.

A main goal of this study is to empower and engage parents and teachers to become more aware of young children’s career development and teach them how to employ dynamic and interactional career development strategies. Knowledge from this project will be disseminated among researchers, practitioners and parents and will include the development of a guidebook for parents and teachers.

The lead researchers on this project are Dr Mildred Cahill and Dr Edith Furey. Learn more at ceric.ca/projects.

The skills gap: myth or reality?

Much ink has been spilled lately about the skills mismatch in Canada and elsewhere, its nature and how to overcome it. Recently, however, a report from TD Economics put into question the fact that Canada is facing an imminent skills crisis, by arguing that the data available about the skills gap across occupations and provinces is insufficient to know whether or not we are worse off today than in past years.

For instance, the report points to the modest growth in wages – a key indicator, since a skills shortage would put upward pressure on wage gains. The authors also argue that the increase in the job vacancy rate might only be the sign of a recovering economy, especially since the vacancy rate for occupations widely said to experience skills shortages is only marginally higher than the average.

The report also reiterates the need for all actors in society – not only governments, but also educational institutions, employers and employees – to be involved in promoting the upskilling of the workforce.

The report, entitled Jobs in Canada: Where, What and For Whom?, is available online at bit.ly/1fi6FN9.