By Analise Anderson-Ma

Encouraging post-secondary students to become peer advisors can increase their personal career clarity and assist them to make the link between post-secondary study and work

Two years ago, I began a Master of Arts in Higher Education, focusing on student development theory. As classes were beginning, I was offered a part-time role in the University of Toronto’s St George Career Centre. In this role, I assisted in co-ordinating the Peer Career Advisor Program, the first-stop for career advice at the University of Toronto Career Centre. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to synthesize my in-class learning with my real-world experience when I decided to focus my thesis on the peer career advisors’ (peers) development. I collected data from participants using a mixed methods approach, including pre-post tests of career clarity and bi-weekly journal entries. As part of my study, I looked at the impact of their role on their own career clarity development.

The peer career advisors involved in this study were hired as part-time students, working a total of 8-12 hours per week between late August and early February. Peer career advisors are often the first point of contact for students at the Career Centre, responsible for meeting with students one-on-one to understand the career-related needs and questions each student brings to the Career Centre, and providing recommendations to resources that would be particularly helpful to each student. Therefore, when hiring peer career advisors, we look for students who have excellent verbal communication and advising skills, genuine interest in helping fellow students, and an introductory understanding of tasks involved in career exploration.

In total, 14 peers participated, 10 of who were preparing to graduate in the next year and were in their fourth-year of study or greater (undergraduate or graduate studies). Since the program mostly employs upper-year students as peer career advisors, those hired are often in the role for just one year. At the start of the study, six participants reported they had decided on a career after graduation, while four answered they had “maybe” decided and another four hadn’t yet decided. All of those who had not yet decided were in their final year of study. This is worrying, considering how close to graduation (and the decisions that accompany this life change – like choosing a full-time role in the world of work, or choosing to continue on to graduate study) these students are.

Participants were motivated to be peers for several reasons including skill development, with 13 of 14 participants motivated by the opportunity for personal skill development and 10 motivated by the opportunity to develop skills applicable within their anticipated career. Half (50%) were also motivated by the opportunity to gain knowledge that would assist in developing career clarity.

So, were the participants successful in gaining that career clarity-related knowledge? It seems that they were! Four participants reported an increased awareness around the types of career opportunities their education and experiences were preparing them for, indicating that these participants had developed a greater understanding of how their knowledge and skills would be applicable at work. Additionally, three participants reported increased knowledge in each of the following areas: how to establish a job search and a professional network; day-to-day work; and trade-offs required to achieve the kind of lifestyle desired five years after graduating (although three participants also reported this had become less clear since the pre-test). This indicates that participants had developed greater knowledge of their work lives and how to find work. The knowledge that participants reported having gained with regard to career clarity aligns with the topics on which they advise students through their roles as peer career advisors. In addition to developing this knowledge through their roles, participants also reported that attendance at Career Centre workshops (including those specifically for peers), job fairs and meetings with career educators were also helpful in developing this knowledge.

Peers were also asked to describe behavioural changes since the pre-test (for example, joining a career-related co-curricular club or organization, speaking with professionals about their work or participating in job shadowing opportunities). While three participants had joined a career-related club or organization since the pre-test, participants did not report participation in any additional activities, indicating that although participants are developing career clarity-related knowledge, they weren’t putting it to use. When asked about barriers to development, the most frequent response was lack of free time and a need to balance multiple priorities. When asked what might be helpful in overcoming this barrier, one participant mentioned a “workshop for students balancing work (employment) and education [to] gain tips and techniques to more effectively balance job and education.”

Another reason the participants may not be taking action to increase career clarity might be that although they have gathered general career-related knowledge (narrowing their options down to a field of interest), they require further knowledge to understand its real-world applicability. For example, one of the participants who had decided to pursue graduate study stated, “the abundance of [program] options led to some confusion,” about which program would be the best fit. Another participant described lacking clarity about how knowledge and skills developed during undergraduate study were applicable to new graduate job opportunities available today. Some of the participants recognized that conducting informational interviews with university admissions staff and industry professionals might help to close this knowledge gap. The St George Career Centre offers several workshops and programs, including a database of contacts, intended to prepare students for participation in informational interviews.

We recognize that students will, throughout their time in school, be managing multiple priorities (e.g., academic work, part-time jobs, co-curricular involvement and personal commitments). Therefore, we must find ways to help students develop career clarity as part of those activities that are their top-of-mind commitments. For example, peer career advisors attend reflection-based meetings focused on identifying skills they are developing through their roles, and thinking through how these skills might be explained to employers. Another program offered by the Career Centre embeds career exploration curriculum in second-year classrooms, and offers students the opportunity to be matched with a job shadowing placement reflective of the kind of work students might complete several years after graduating. Initiatives like these can help students bridge the gap between recognizing a need to gather career-related knowledge and taking action toward career clarity.

Analise Anderson-Ma works as a Career Exploration Co-ordinator at the St George Career Centre in the University of Toronto. Anderson-Ma completed her thesis entitled Development of Peer Advisors’ Competencies and Career Clarity in the St George Career Centre at the University of Toronto under supervision of Dr Katharine Janzen (OISE/UT). She was a recipient of CERIC’s Graduate Student Engagement Program Award. If you’d like more information on this project, contact analise.anderson@utoronto.ca.