Careering

Meeting change and uncertainty with positive thinking and eagerness to learn has helped this professional navigate a career with many pivots

Christina Fung

While living in Hong Kong for the first 16 years of my life, I never imagined my career would be in a foreign country. Career counselling was not a popular topic, and I was left unaware of options and how to relate my strengths and interests to my career choices.

However, going with the flow and keeping my mind open turned out to be one of the best assets I have. My ability to be adaptive has helped me come a long way, including during COVID.

In the Client Side feature, workers and students reflect on successes and struggles in their career development

The journey

I finished my last two years of high school in Toronto, after my family moved to Canada in hopes of providing me with a better education and career options. This was a daunting experience and the initial hurdles to overcome were not small, but this served as a training ground to help me build stronger resilience and flexibility.

One of my early challenges was to select a discipline to study in university. I did not think too far ahead about my career goals, but instead focused more on the path of least resistance (i.e. embracing my natural strengths) and choosing a discipline that would help me develop transferable skills and knowledge. I studied engineering – but as it turned out, my career would take me in many different directions.

“I began to notice that the best way to deal with complexity is simplicity, and the best way to prepare for career challenges is to un-prepare.”

My first job was as an assistant investment advisor in a small firm. I then moved to a sales-marketing compliance officer role for one of the top mutual funds companies in the world, before shifting to an IT position at a large Canadian bank. I have tried different leadership roles including program management, delivery execution, sales and now leading a global team in building software.

The challenges

When I look back on my career, there have been unexpected hiccups and disruptions. I have faced challenges around culture differences, language barrier and gender disparity. These affected my ability to communicate effectively, to build a strong rapport and to network. I experimented and tried different ways to adapt (such as attending communications training, broadening my knowledge of Canadian culture and joining industry associations). Some worked and some did not, but regular reflections helped me to “fail fast” and find new ways to improve my skills while staying true to who I am.

More Careering Client Side articles:

I’ve become the career strategist I wish I had when launching my career

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I had my career mapped out – until a new experience opened my eyes

I am fortunate to coach many different talented individuals, and I noticed there is a common set of challenges among us, regardless of our career directions. We often experience doubts and hesitation along the journey, because we are afraid to make decisions that we will regret. These doubts are typically around whether we are taking the right path and if we will be wasting our precious time. When we don’t have guidance to navigate these decisions, it creates challenges. Threats, such as new technology or other changes, also compound the complexity that may affect our sense of security and our confidence. The most recent disruption and threat is certainly the COVID pandemic.

These different elements create a complex “spiderweb” that can make career decision-making confusing. I began to notice that the best way to deal with complexity is simplicity, and the best way to prepare for career challenges is to un-prepare.

The necessary vitamins

While I am unable to prepare for all the surprises the future may hold, there are certain things I have tried that strengthen my ability to work through difficult times. Similar to the agility I used to adapt when I first came to Canada, my “resilience vitamins” come from positive thinking, can-do mentality, eagerness to learn and maintaining a network of support.

Where others may see career gaps in my journey, I see development opportunities to get to a better self. For instance, when pivoting into roles in the mutual funds and IT industries, I had knowledge gaps, so I completed new certifications to help me move forward. I have used time away from work to help set new goals and boost my energy level. This in turn creates the momentum to keep me having the right mindset and believing in myself.

Another “vitamin” is comfort with learning new changes. There are always new people, new work and new areas that are intimidating. I have tried different areas of work every few years in my career. I find it to be an excellent way to learn about myself, including my strengths and gaps, what I like and dislike. I found areas that I could do well but had little personal interest in, as well as areas that I am performing well with great passion. For every role I try, it helps me move one step further along my journey.

My last “vitamin” is a solid network of support. Meeting new people and expanding my network helps me broaden my horizons. Some of these people have become my best friends with whom I share passions and mutual respect. They are my sounding board and provide me valuable feedback when I am in need.

Bird’s-eye view as an employer

Translating my career reflections to the perspective of an employer, I think an individual’s qualities are a very important element when we evaluate talents. We understand the workplace is a complex environment with many variables. What helps people to sail smoothly in this long journey is their ability to adapt, learn, collaborate and persevere.

Relevant work experiences and tangible skillsets are always important. But what ultimately differentiates one person from another and the trajectory their career will take depends on more than just tangible skills.

We have seen during the pandemic that people with a positive viewpoint, who are adaptive and open minded, have been able to find new ways to shine and contribute differently. They are the ones embracing their uniqueness, continuing to develop their personal strengths without over-analyzing each circumstance that may hold them back. They embrace changes and view them as opportunities to grow.

Perhaps it is more important than ever before that we, as employers, focus on transferable skills, soft skills and resilience. We cannot predict what the next disruption will be, but we can prepare ourselves by focusing on core values instead of trying to get ahead of every possible challenge. Preparing to unprepared will give us the adaptability we need to thrive.

Christina Fung is currently the Head of Global Wealth & Capital Markets Products in CGI, with more than 20 years of financial services and IT experiences. She has held various executive positions throughout her career. She is a board member of Skills for Change, the Oakville Symphony Youth Orchestra and a member in the Industry Council of NPower.

These exercises can help individuals derive meaning from their observations and experiences, which can then inform future actions

Helena Prins

Recently, during our team’s monthly “Show & Share,” my director delivered a presentation on all the jobs she has had, starting with her first babysitting gig to now being the director of learning and teaching at an organization that serves the province. It was fascinating to hear her reflect on the positive, negative and sometimes funny lessons she learned from each role, despite the perceived importance or insignificance of her job title. I loved hearing about her journey, and it reminded me about the power of reflection. It can heal, it can ground us, it can provide insight and it can inspire us as we consider the next steps in our career.

Reflection gives the brain an opportunity to pause amidst the chaos, untangle and sort through observations and experiences, consider multiple possible interpretations and create meaning. This meaning becomes learning, which can then inform future mindsets and actions. Engaging in reflection activities when at a crossroads in your career or when supporting clients who need to reimagine their future will lead to more effective action. People who make the space to reflect are more articulate about their goals and “value add” in resumes, interviews and during meetings in existing roles.

I see career development as a continuous and lifelong process through which people come to understand themselves as they relate to the world of work and explore and discover their role, or ideally, their purpose in this world.  Whether career practitioners are guiding clients toward occupational achievement by establishing congruence between type and occupation (Holland), or whether their client’s development task is Exploration, Establishment or Maintenance (Super), or promoting opportunities that will impact self-efficacy (Bandura), I believe reflection should be build into every coaching session. Whether choosing a quantitative or qualitative assessment tool, providing opportunity for the client to reflect on the results is what leads to meaning making, helping them to stay true to themselves, and therefore, better govern their own lives.

More from Careering:

Client Side: Agility is the ‘resilience vitamin’ in a career with many twists and turns

Case Study: Carleton careers course aims to help students manage change and complexity

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Putting reflection into practice

A first step in providing opportunity for reflection is to make clients aware of the purpose of reflection and to prioritize it by scheduling 10 to 15 minutes for meaningful reflection daily. Fraser-Thill refers to this intention as “targeted reflection,” which has a set goal and system for carrying out the contemplation.

Here are three exercises practitioners can use with clients to help them engage in career reflection.

1. Likes and dislikes reflection

One of the easier questions to start reflecting upon is: What works and doesn’t work for your client in their current position? Consider a template like this:

When discussing the list with a peer or career coach, a clearer picture of wants and needs emerges for the jobseeker. Career professionals can encourage clients or students to consider how the job description and company culture for prospective employers align with the preferences they identified in this activity.

2. Self-reflection: Who do I want to be?

For some, it might be intimidating to look within themselves and share personal insights with a career coach. Brené Brown’s research on shame and vulnerability comes to mind. One way of easing into self-reflection could be to ask the client to name role models and to identify what the admirable qualities of these figures are.

The next step is to consider which of these qualities or behaviours the client wants to apply more consciously in their life or which they would like to develop further in the pursuit of their next goal. As Swords reminds us, self-reflection takes time, trust and honesty. Support jobseekers in starting from a position of strength and focus on helping them develop their self-belief.

3. Reflected Best Self Exercise

The Reflected Best Self Exercise is based on research by Quinn, Dutton, Spreitzer and Roberts. This eye-opening activity involves having the individual reach out to their network to ask for examples of when the jobseeker was their “best self.” Grant (2013) outlines the four steps:

1. Choose sources and seek feedback. Have the client identify 10 to 20 people they know well from different walks of life (e.g. friends, current or former colleagues) and ask them to write a story about a time when the client was at their best.
2. Spot patterns. Once the feedback arrives, help the client look for the common themes that appear in multiple stories. Have the client make a list of the themes, the key examples that support each of them and what they suggest about their strengths.
3. Create a self-portrait. Using this information, have the client write out a brief profile of who they are when they are at their best.
4. Put strengths into action. Support the client to create an action plan for how and when they will use their strengths.
5. Self-reflection prompts. The following is a short list of questions that provides insight into what is important and inspiring to you or your client. These could serve as a weekly prompt, a conversation-starter activity or a five-minute daily journal reflection.

• Name the top three peak experiences in your life – times when you were in states of highest happiness. What do they have in common? What does this tell you about yourself?
• If money weren’t a consideration, what would you spend your every day doing?
• One thing I still really want to learn is …
• In five years, I see myself …
• Success is … and I feel successful when …

Next steps

While self-reflection is important, the work doesn’t stop here. It is only the beginning. The value of reflection lies in effective action. It may take time to make use of all the insights gained through self-reflection activities. However, these reflections will provide a sense of purpose toward a reimagined future.

Helena Prins is a Certified Career Strategist with Career Professionals of Canada. She is a full-time advisor in Learning and Teaching with BCcampus and an associate faculty member at Royal Roads University, where she is teaching a career development course to students in the School of Tourism and Hospitality.

Governments have opportunity to use career development as a tool to advance social justice, sustainability and social change

 Pete Robertson

In the early years of the 21^st century, public policy for career development began to be taken seriously by researchers, policy-makers and service leaders. Around that time, there were some international comparison studies led by key figures including Tony Watts, Ronald Sultana, Richard Sweet and Helmut Zelloth. From this work there emerged an international consensus about what governments were seeking to achieve when they created policies for career development. It seemed that governments were a) trying to make the labour market operate more efficiently, b) trying to make the education system and its interface with work operate more efficiently, and c) trying to promote social equity.

One of the great achievements of this work has been to secure recognition from international bodies that career development can contribute toward these governmental aims. A good indication of this is the joint statement by CEDEFOP, ETF, European Commission, ILO, OECD and UNESCO, which highlights the value of Investing in Career Guidance.

I have argued that this work is excellent for highlighting what governments do and say they do, but it does not capture everything they could do. The full potential contribution that career development services could make to society has not yet been recognized by policy-makers. By using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as inspiration, we can systematically consider all the policy goals of responsible governments. From this, we can identify additional potential contributions we can make to:

• Health and well-being goals, through supportive guidance and access to good-quality (health-promoting) meaningful work and learning
• Environmental goals, through guidance to support the transition to a green economy
• Peace and justice goals, through reducing crime and social tensions by providing fair access to work and learning

It is for the career development profession to make the case that it can have an impact on multiple socially desirable outcomes. While it can be useful to identify separate categories of policy goals, there are some concerns that cut across all of these categories. These include the three s’s: social justice, sustainability and social change.

Read more on CareerWise:

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Social justice

Most people are in favour of social justice, but we do not all agree on what it is. Arguing about justice and fairness has kept philosophers and politicians in work for centuries. There are a variety of different ways we could think about it. When applied to career development, for some, social justice means providing the same standard of service to all; for some, it means proactively targeting key groups; and for others it means a more radical stance of supporting people to challenge the system.

Nonetheless, it is relevant to all aspects of practice. It is also relevant to the big-picture policy objectives for career guidance. Disadvantaged groups find it harder to access and benefit from good educational opportunities and good quality jobs. They are more likely to have poor mental and physical health. They are likely to find it harder to avoid environmental degradation. And they are more likely to be on the wrong side of the criminal justice system.

Issues of social justice are central to career development work and should infuse all aspects of policy with and awareness of the needs of disadvantaged groups.

Sustainability

Sustainability is another slippery concept, with many people seeing it as broadly a good thing. It has been used cynically in some corporate marketing to “greenwash” carbon-producing corporate interests. Nonetheless it is a useful and multi-faceted idea. Of course, the UN goals give great prominence to sustainability. The term has become familiar from its ecological sense, and the need to promote environmentally sustainable careers is increasingly as unavoidable as the impacts of climate change. But sustainability is a usefully ambiguous term: it means the potential to endure over time. This does not imply a static position; renewal and adaptation are necessary to survive.

The notion of the “sustainable career” has been explored by management scholar Ans De Vos and her colleagues. De Vos, Dujardin, Gielens and Meyers (2016) suggested that the sustainable career needs to be on policy-makers’ agendas. With longer life spans come longer careers, and the need to find pathways through education and work that can be sustained and renewed over several decades. Work needs to be health-promoting rather than harmful in order to be sustainable, and this may require some re-adjustment as we age.

Societal change

In considering career development policy, there is a distinction to make between a reactive and proactive role for career services. In some conceptions, career services are seen as part of the education and employment systems, perhaps even as a lubricant to help the machinery work more smoothly. This positions services as more or less supporting the status quo. It is very different from seeing career services as proactive agents or levers for social change. This latter position could be described as “radical.”

This does not mean distorting individual career counselling to push the political agenda of the practitioner. But it might mean re-envisaging career education and career learning in group settings to raise awareness of social issues and change. Career development does not have simply react to socio-economic change; it can help to drive the transformation.

Conclusion

Career development services will continue to focus on supporting the operation of the labour market and education system, and in promoting social equity. In addition to their traditional role, career services may also be able to make a contribution to public health policy, to environmental policy and to criminal justice policy objectives. Infusing all of these areas must be a concern to promote fairness in society, to help individuals find long-term sustainable solutions and to reflect a willingness for services to take a pro-active role in the social changes that we face.

A former career adviser, Pete Robertson is Professor in the School of Applied Sciences at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland where he teaches policy and theory to trainee career development practitioners. He is a Fellow of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling (NICEC) and promotes the work of the Career Development Institute (CDI) in Scotland.

Despite the importance of labour market information for job search, few career practitioners receive training in this area

Liz Betsis and Anthony Mantione

Some of the most important choices a person will make revolve around career and education. We spend our entire lives equipping ourselves for these choices – from a young age when we imagine ourselves in various careers, to adolescence, when we’re asked what we want to be when we grow up. And it doesn’t stop there. Mid-life career changes are increasingly common and even expected. Throw in a global pandemic, and the importance of making these decisions based on research and careful consideration of facts becomes evident.

In this context, facts refer to labour market information (LMI). Simply put, LMI is any information that supports the decisions Canadians make in the world of work. It includes education, wages and salaries, skills requirements, job outlooks and other information about the labour market. When a career development professional (CDP) helps clients identify available career opportunities, in-demand jobs and how to build sustainable careers, they need to access and use LMI. In other words, without some understanding of how to find and use LMI, it is unlikely that CDPs will be able to fully support their clients in realizing their career goals.

Research conducted by the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC) showed that four out of 10 CDPs surveyed in Canada found LMI difficult to understand and only 35% reported receiving any LMI-specific training. LMI is crucial to Canadian jobseekers’ informed decision-making, which has been reinforced by the escalating uncertainty and urgency of clients’ needs in the wake of COVID-19.

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To address this concern, LMIC initially proposed creating a series of LMI user guides to provide CDPs with training on how to leverage existing LMI tools and resources in a client-facing capacity. Fifteen CDPs from differing specializations across Canada were invited to participate in a workshop aimed at better understanding how they serve clients, to identify how LMI could be leveraged to support their work and to learn what an ideal LMI guide should look like.

Two profound insights emerged from this workshop. First, most sources of LMI contain too much jargon and require specialized knowledge and/or investment to find, access and understand. This leads CDPs to rely more often on informal sources of LMI such as social media or their own perceptions. Second, CDPs want to improve their LMI literacy, but there are few –if any – low-cost, flexible and self-directed options that enable CDPs to get practical support to integrate LMI effectively into their practices.

CDPs, especially those who work in client-facing roles, are incredibly busy. They serve clients across the country who have varied and unique support needs. While most clients require help finding work, there are often pre-employability issues that must first be addressed. For example, CDPs are often engaged in helping clients find transportation, childcare and mental health services before they can address the issues of employment. This means they do not have the time to read lengthy or comprehensive reports on LMI. While some use informal sources, others may turn to a colleague who has been informally designated as their organization’s LMI person.

The role of LMI and its importance in helping clients develop realistic and achievable career goals is acknowledged. The Canadian Career Development Foundation (CCDF), with the support of Employment and Social Development Canada and sector stakeholders, has developed a renewed Competency Framework for CDPs. The Framework highlights the maintenance of current labour market knowledge as one of several CDP characteristic competencies that are core to their practice. LMI literacy is also being evaluated as part of the new pan-Canadian professional certification.

As a result, LMIC has proposed creating a new micro-credential to help CDPs expand their LMI literacy. Consisting of several independent learning modules, the micro-credential will align with the LMI competency outlined in the new CDP Competency Framework. This will ensure CDPs have the necessary skills and knowledge of the Canadian labour market needed for the new pan-Canadian professional certification. Each module – which can be taken individually –will be approximately one hour and will consist of a variety of activities and embedded assessments to maintain engagement and check for learning. Individuals who choose to complete all modules in the series will be eligible for a micro-credential endorsed by both LMIC and CCDF. We hope to have the first module completed and ready by early 2022, with the full micro-credential to follow later next year.

CDPs serve diverse clients and often face barriers to finding, accessing and using LMI to support their clients’ unique needs. LMI literacy for CDPs – knowledge of the labour market and skills required to help clients find and use information supporting their decision making – is an important competency for practice but one for which training is often unavailable. CDPs need access to free and easily accessible tools and resources; the creation of a free LMI micro-credential will help ensure they have the knowledge and skills needed when leveraging these tools. This will further career professionals’ success in supporting their clients’ diverse needs while they navigate a rapidly changing and emergent labour market.

Liz Betsis is an economist with the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC), where she contributes to ongoing and forward-looking research projects, primarily focused on the future of work, innovation and human capital formation. Coming from a visual arts background, she still loves creating and consuming art.

Anthony Mantione is a senior economist with the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC), where he conducts research and analysis primarily related to the skills needs of the Canadian labour market. This includes identifying and measuring labour and skills shortages, exploring new technologies for skill classification and building resources for making LMI accessible, among other work.

The 70:20:10 model can help employees focus their learning and feel a sense of accomplishment

Katie Williams and Jessi Haley

It’s difficult for employees to find time for development. With increasing workloads, tight deadlines and the added complication of home distractions, employees are being challenged with finding new ways to work, improving their skills in current roles, and keeping up with technology and customer needs. Even with organizational support, employees often felt guilty about taking time to develop. Additionally, the vast number of learning venues and resources can overwhelm employees to the point of frustration, leaving them feeling lost, confused and ultimately losing motivation to develop.

To combat these challenges, employers should adopt the 70:20:10 model (developed by Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger), which asserts that 70% of learning should come from experience, 20% from interactions with others and 10% from instruction. This framework for learning and development can be applied to any business and can help employees focus their learning and feel a sense of accomplishment in their development.

We have applied the 70:20:10 framework by first looking at existing learning and development resources and aligning them to the model. As we identify gaps, we create and implement additional methods of development to ensure a robust learning culture. Use these three tips to help employees make time for learning and gain the motivation to develop.

1. Encourage on-the-job learning

Lombardo and Eichinger posit that most learning comes from experience. This experiential learning can take place in a variety of forms. We have found it is important to acknowledge the fact that development takes place at work every day. Work changes directions, technology changes and team members come and go, so employees are constantly adjusting and moving forward to meet demands.

Additionally, we have developed programs for both short and long-term development experiences for IT employees via gig and rotation opportunities. A gig-opportunities program allows employees with niche skills to share their knowledge with less-skilled individuals or teams on a short-term basis. This can be a one-time or minimal time commitment, depending on needs. For example, a software development team may need assistance with a written communication. Posting this as a gig opportunity allows that team to get the assistance they need while using the communication skills of another employee.

“We have found it is important to acknowledge the fact that development takes place at work every day.”

A job rotation program provides employees with a three to 12-month rotation to another team to gain hands-on experience and build skills, which they can later share with their team. This also helps employees to be more competitive for future positions as they navigate their career journey.

Leaders can also give employees more challenging assignments, cross-train them to create a multi-skilled team and encourage innovation to enhance their skills. Innovation is a form of ongoing development as it challenges employees to think of new ways to do things. Innovation days can be used as dedicated blocks of time to focus on improving a product or service. This can be inspiring and is part of creating a growth mindset in your organization.

As an employer, it is important that you acknowledge learning from experience and make employees feel comfortable with this style of learning.

2. Create structured opportunities to learn from others

Twenty percent of learning should come from others. Social interactions and development relationships are critical for both individual and business success. So, it’s crucial to foster an environment where employees can learn from others through mentoring, engaging in group conversations and leveraging feedback.

Creating a formal mentoring program can strategically develop an employee’s skills and contributions to the organization’s priorities. Additionally, employees can leverage the connections they make through mentorships to learn and share best practices for working virtually, increasing productivity and effectiveness.

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Establishing book clubs and study groups is a great way for employees to commit to development through structured group learning and accountability. We have found that by forming these different types of group development opportunities, employees are able to leverage the perspectives of diverse groups of individuals across an organization, allowing them to build their network, learn from others and engage in valuable conversations.

Nurturing a culture of giving and receiving feedback is another technique to encourage employees to learn from others. Employers should create a structured feedback program where leaders are trained to provide clear and honest feedback. Formal processes and activities can be put in place for employees to obtain anonymous input from peers and business partners.

3. Provide supplemental learning that meets employee needs

Surprisingly, the 70:20:10 model asserts that only 10% of learning should be from instruction. Historically, learning has been focused on classroom training, self-study and virtual sessions. Now the focus is shifting to targeted skill development – via short sessions, articles and videos.

Employers should identify the top skills needed to move their company forward and provide a simple learning platform with a variety of media so employees know where to go and what to tackle. For example, if a top skill is for employees to enhance their communication skills, the employer could pull together valuable materials such as articles and videos into one location, such as a learning plan. Make sure the employees are aware that this is a priority skill and provide them with the learning plan options. To be most effective, encourage employees to reflect on how and when they learn best, ensuring they are selecting a method from the learning plan that works best for them.

We encourage employees to create a development plan and focus on “chunks” of development that advance their goals. This creates structure, transparency and a partnership between leaders and employees as they prioritize learning, eliminate distractions and work toward a common goal.

Employers can incorporate learning into the work day by scheduling team learning sessions, dedicating time during innovation days and encouraging individuals to block time. Finally, acknowledge that learning may take place outside of office hours. Be clear about expectations, available development resources and priorities.

The 70:20:10 model helps illustrate that learning happens in a variety of ways for both new and tenured employees. Employees are your most valuable assets. Providing them with opportunities to grow and learn on the job, from others and through instruction, increases employee morale, job satisfaction, engagement and company success. We have seen excitement for adoption of the model and acknowledgement of the variety of ways learning and development are occurring. Do not let your employees overlook the value they provide. The 70:20:10 model is impactful and will help you develop a culture of continuous learning in your organization. To effectively use the model, we encourage you to think about your company goals, identify the key skills that will get you there and use those to provide a developmental focus to employees.

Katie Williams and Jessi Haley have been developing employees for over 15 years and are passionate about helping others meet their goals. They are currently Career Development Advisors, specializing in IT professional development. Having created career counselling models and programs to support employees in their career journeys, they are fulfilling their mission to inspire and empower employees!

With activities including skills assessment, LMI research and e-portfolio development, learnings guide students to understand how they can leverage their degree to achieve their career goals

Lorraine Godden

As an undergraduate student, I had the transformative experience of taking a career course. I was able to examine what I was learning, and my confidence in applying my knowledge increased tenfold.

Flash forward to 2019, and I found myself in the position of being able to create a career development and employability course for Carleton University undergraduate students. I was thrilled to have the opportunity, as I knew first-hand how significant this experience could be for their career development.

IPAF 3800: Managing and Developing Your Career

The overarching goal of my course, which is offered to third- and fourth-year Faculty of Public Affairs (FPA) students, is to provide students with a better sense of how they can leverage their undergraduate degree to achieve their career goals. Broken down, this translates to the following wish list:

• to help students connect their degree to what they want from their professional and personal lives;
• to facilitate students’ thinking and understanding of why we work, how we work and with whom we work; and
• to appeal to a range of students including those who think they know next their steps, those who have a sense of their next steps, and those who have limited understanding of next steps and what they want from their career.

Learning for career and career for learning

The course is part of a pilot project within FPA aimed at integrating employability skills into the academic curriculum, and is one of a range of courses offered to students registered in any undergraduate program across the twelve units within FPA. To enhance the interdisciplinary nature of the course, I liaise with Carleton’s Career Services for targeted resume and job searching support for students, and Teaching and Learning Services for experiential and immersive learning.

The course is designed as a half-credit optional course that runs over 12 weeks. Assessment components are structured so that students have the opportunity to develop and evaluate their employability skills, investigate and learn about labour market information, create a five-year career plan and compile an e-portfolio. All four areas of assessment are structured so that students can link them to their degree programs, deepening and enriching both their university experience and career development (McCash, 2008).

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Through the labour market information assignment, students further hone and apply their research skills, which helps them in their final-year capstones and thesis projects. Anticipating their own futures through the career planning assignment deepens critical reflection, promotes adaptability and helps students to see connections and pathways. The compiling of the e-portfolio is perhaps the most tangible aspect of the course and empowers students to confidently collate evidence of their learning, skills and experiences.

Rooted in worthwhile practices

As I developed the IPAF 3800 course, I strived to respond to Tony Watts’ (2006) call for career development within higher education to address the narrowness of the skills and employability discourse. For me, this meant that the course should stretch beyond supporting students with getting a job, to provide participants with the space to learn more about themselves, and try out exploration and decision-making techniques they can use to shape their careers. Subsequently, as I developed the course, I intentionally blending my teaching pedagogy with my career development research.

My students benefit from how the course is guided by CERIC’s Guiding Principles of Career Development, CMEC’s Reference Framework for Successful Student Transitions and Carleton University’s Career Competencies, and are deeply rooted in my career development scholarly practice. Ultimately, my goal is for a high-quality transdisciplinary approach that facilitates students’ academic, career and lifelong development.

My key learning

One important learning I have taken away from developing and teaching the course is how much skills matter, but, at the same time, how nuanced the conversation about skills must be. It is not enough to tell students that they need skills and that they must be able to articulate skills. Only when students are able to understand their levels of skills proficiency, how skills help them to execute tasks, apply their knowledge and expertise to solve problems, and relate all of this to different contexts and situations they might encounter, can they effectively use skills to support their life, learning and work. Correspondingly, approximately one-third of the course contact time is spent helping students learn about, further develop and evaluate their individual skills. This process provides a solid foundation for individualized learning that supports each student’s career.

Student responses 

I have now taught the course three times, as both in-class and online courses. As an instructor, the course has seemed to achieve its intended goals, but the best people to speak to benefits of my course are the students themselves.

“Through IPAF 3800, I learned I am more valuable than I had initially thought. It taught me to look at my unique habits and working style as an asset, not a flaw.”

“IPAF 3800 is the only class I have ever had that has actually helped prepare me for life after school. Learning and building career skills, how to build my career, how to work in a group, how to find career information, how to network, how to set goals, etc. These are all things I knew hardly anything about before taking this class.”

“Before the IPAF 3800 class, I never realized that various types of assignments of different courses would develop certain skills, so I was a bit lost and anxious as I am about to graduate and I was feeling that I did not have any special skills. I like how the class taught us that finding a job is not only related to the salary or the future development of the job, but our personal interests also matter. It’s not just employers choosing us based on our skills; we as well have the right the choose a career we like and want.”

In summary

Soon after I developed and began teaching the IPAF 3800 course, the world was faced with COVID-19. Numerous studies published over the past 18 months point to the impact this is likely to have on students for some time to come. Indeed, across Canada, numerous universities that provide essential support to students through their career services are rapidly responding to students’ increased anxiety about what their futures are likely to hold.

I would argue that it is important to continually examine whether we are appropriately supporting students with their careers, COVID-19 or not. Careers work in universities should not be about shaping our higher education systems as production lines for employment. Rather, it could be about helping students to manage change and complexity and learning to be the best with what they have got.

As I have learned from my students, IPAF 3800 is just that. The course makes students feel better prepared for career and life, and ready to become the workers, leaders, entrepreneurs and citizens of the future. What better aim for teaching a career development course could there possibly be?

Lorraine Godden is an Instructor II at Carleton University where she teaches career development, employability, and career management skills courses in the Faculty of Public Affairs. Her research is rooted in understanding how educators interpret policy and curriculum to make sense of career development and employability, work-integrated learning, adult education, school-to-work transition, and other educational multidisciplinary and public policies.

Lindsay Purchase

In your wildest dreams, what would you want career development to look like in Canada? What is your vision of an ideal system, mindset, approach or resource to support people as they navigate all stages of their careers?

As we move through our day-to-day work, this kind of big-picture imagining tends to fall by the wayside. Visualizing what could be doesn’t always feel practical when we have to work within the confines of what is. But with this issue of Careering magazine, on the theme of “Career Development Reimagined,” we hope to spark questions and dialogue about the changes people want to see in the sector. You can’t do it if you can’t dream it.

Eighteen months into a disruptive and often devastating pandemic, we are in a moment that feels ripe for reflection. This issue of Careering both examines where we have been – the changes the field has made, by choice or by necessity – and where career development needs to go in Canada. The strategies, case studies and ideas this issue’s authors present reflect an inherent belief that we can do better than just going back to “normal.”

There’s something for everyone in this issue – available exclusively online at ceric.ca/careering – with articles on career education in K-12 and post-secondary; re-envisioning approaches to workforce development; hybrid career services; inclusive workplaces; measuring and communicating the value of career development; and much more.

You also won’t want to miss our multimedia feature sharing reader responses to the question, “What is your ideal vision of career development in Canada?” Your ideas for the future of the field fill us with excitement and hope about the many possibilities that lie ahead!

As you navigate busy schedules and new challenges this fall, we hope you’ll also take time to reflect and have conversations about how we can all reimagine career development.

Happy reading – and dream big!

Ahead of the release of the Fall 2021 issue of CERIC’s Careering magazine, which explores the theme of “Career Development Reimagined,” we asked readers to send us their answers to the question: What is your ideal vision of career development in Canada?

Through text and video responses, readers representing seven different provinces sent us their ideas for what career development could look like in this country. They shared their desire for greater awareness of the life-changing potential of career development; the importance of beginning career education in the early years; the need for individualized supports that shift to reflect and anticipate changing labour market realities; and more.

We’ve shared excerpts from your responses in the following video. They are also available at full length in the transcript below.

As we watch, we encourage you to think about what career development means to you – and how you want to see the field evolve.

“I’d like to see career development recognized as a sustainable and renewable public good. When Canadians need career guidance throughout their lives – and they will – they will have the awareness to seek help from trusted professionals. When that vision becomes a reality, our future generations will thrive – including Spider Boy here.” – Candy Ho, University of the Fraser Valley

“Career development should promote the idea that as individuals we are the CEOs of our own careers. Knowledge, visibility and connections are the three pillars that guide career success. Therefore we must increase knowledge, create visibility and build connections in order to achieve career success. Utilizing this model will align with Canada’s move to be more inclusive and diverse.” – Nordia Bogle, www.nordiabogle.com (NB)

“It would be nice to have a recognition of the profession and of the workers in the field. That in Quebec, there would be more tools for the English-speaking clients. Also in Quebec, if the organizations and Emploi-Quebec could have a real partnership, as if they would with the private sector, for example.” – Roxane Stonely, Centre de recherche d’emploi Côte-des-Neiges

“I imagine a day when all Canadians understand that they have a career, and that it consists of life, learning and work. Also understood is that during career, there are times of anxiety and change, and that during those moments, career development is the go-to response.” – Lorraine Godden, Carleton University

“My vision of career development in Canada is broad. I would like to see everybody in the country recognize the importance of understanding and addressing their own career development processes and to recognize the impact that this understanding has on their identity, relationships, mental health, and social and economic standing in the world. We need to steer our ships.” – Jeff Landine, University of New Brunswick

“Career development cannot be a one-fit-all model. With increasing awareness of discrimination and racism in hiring and advancement practices, career development needs to recognize the issues of exclusion and tailor a model that shifts the thinking towards success in marginalized populations. The model should include advocacy with outcomes reflecting diversity in positions of higher levels of responsibility and pay.” – Ann Clarke, career development professional (ON)

“I would like to see a trauma-informed approach to career development that will empower all refugees, immigrants, racialized and marginalized groups – in fact, all Canadians – to find their purpose and passion and to turn that into a productive and rewarding career.” – Helena Prins, BCcampus

“While societies embrace diversity and inclusion, this is a vision for career development to guide neurodiverse Canadians in the workplace.” – Soon-Lan L. Switzer, Douglas College

“Career development is a lifelong pursuit that begins in K-12 schools. As youth explore who they are, which skills they possess/hope to acquire, and those workplaces and organizations that connect with their values and interests, they build their capacity to make purposeful and relevant career decisions. When people engage career dev, they build a life that matters and resonates.” – Adriano Magnifico, Louis Riel School Division (MB)

“I believe Careers Education is (or should be) one of the most important subjects taught in our schools K-12 along with Literacy and Numeracy. Done correctly, Careers Education can open students to a world of possibilities effecting their future. Currently many students must rely on the limited information they receive from employers, parents and friends.” – Derek Beeston, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools

“Many individuals have limited exposure to career development concepts until they reach post-secondary or even after they graduate. Ideally, people would have a foundation of career development skills to make informed career decisions, such as choosing educational paths. This foundation can start in high school, or with more robust advising services for prospective students.” – Amy Smith, BCIT Student Association

“My ideal vision for career development in Canada is that of experiential learning. We are asking our young people and those transitioning between careers to pick an education before understanding what the actual career looks like. We need more opportunities for young people to get workplace-integrated learning opportunities, whether that is through my personal favourite, gap years, or co-ops or internships, we need to find more ways for people to get some hands-on experience to confirm that they are on a path that will resonate with them. With all the training and reskilling that is going on, having that clarity that is a personal fit with your personal interests, desires and skills is going to be key to helping our labour force enter into educational programs that are going to put them on a track that will be personally fulfilling and that they will enjoy and be able to be successful in.” – Michelle Ditmer, CanGap

“We will have ‘arrived’ at an education system reimagined through a career development lens when essential elements of traditional academic curriculum have been absorbed into collaborative learning projects and school is nothing but engaging, challenging, meaningful, supportive, collaborative learning projects.” – Phillip S. Jarvis, ReimaginED (NB)

“A school staff that shares a common vocabulary about talents and strengths and that are on the lookout to notice and communicate them to their students; Students who realize that their value and self-concept don’t rely only on their learning capacities and school performances; This is my career development practice reimagined!” – Catherine Carbonneau-Bergeron, École secondaire Massey-Vanier (QC)

“Ideal visions for career development in Canada include a renewed focus on equipping the next generation of young talent with future-proof skills they can leverage amid market transformations. As economies turn towards post-pandemic recovery, we must commit to investing in skills development training, meaningful work-integrated-learning opportunities, and improved policy responses to adequately facilitate sustained youth workforce development.” – Theresa Jones, Intern, World Education Services (ON) 

“Metamorphosis is the word I keep coming back to lately. Metamorphosis because the pandemic has changed how we look at things and allows us to continuously reimagine what’s possible, whether on an organizational scale or individually. Transforming, adapting, innovating, and pivoting our career journey will enhance our responsiveness to an ever-changing labour market.” – Shelly Drefs, Career Services, Medicine Hat College 

“My ideal vision of career development in Canada focuses on the equal alignment of ambitions, goals and skills of the workforce with current labour market demands. Due to the pandemic, there has been a massive shift in the skills in demand and we will need to focus on training for and obtaining these skills to achieve balance in the workforce.” – Edwyna Laughton, Sheridan College

“Career development needs to be nimble and adaptive, recognizing how the concept of a career is evolving in the face of technology, societal expectations, and the growing impact of climate change on migration and living standards. Career developers need to be able to advise based on what they see coming, not on past experiences that don’t reflect changing realities.” – Paul Brinkhurst, Futureworx

“I think that career development, educational institutions and the workforce would have to work together or have a method of communication to enhance the process of career development. I think the process would need an organizational structure to efficiently get what the needs are out there and how to get the skills out there without so much red tape.” – Sandra Costanzo, English Montreal School Board

“Career development in Canada is a process that changes and adapts to the individual’s needs. It’s about helping a client along their path to their ideal future, it’s about support, and reminding the client that they are worth every small step they take. It’s celebrating the small victories and advocating for your client. It’s about watching someone find their way.” – Ashley Christopher, YMCA of Western Newfoundland