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Model offers framework to spot warning signs of disengagement and get back on track

Roberta Borgen (Neault) and Deirdre Pickerell

Pivoting – changing direction by turning in place – takes balance and resilience. Not all career transitions require pivots; sometimes career trajectories continue in the same direction after major or minor disruptions. Pivots are different. Even a tiny shift in direction can result in enormous changes over time. Career development professionals can play key roles in helping individuals contemplate pivots, prepare for them and navigate the resulting changes that often ripple far beyond work to encompass other significant life roles.

The Career Engagement model offers a theoretical framework and practical points of entry for supporting individuals as they contemplate pivoting, make small or large shifts, and regain their equilibrium as they establish a new trajectory (Pickerell & Neault, 2016).

Career Engagement model

Within the Career Engagement model, optimal engagement is achieved through the dynamic interaction of challenge and capacity. The interplay between these two components is important – as one shifts, so too must the other. When the demands of work and life stretch beyond individual and/or contextual capacity, individuals move out of the zone of engagement, feeling overwhelmed; without correction, burnout and disengagement result. Similarly, when challenge is reduced and individuals have excess capacity, they feel underutilized; unaddressed, boredom and disengagement result. In either scenario, disengagement looks the same and is an unpleasant state. Knowing the route to disengagement, whether through feeling overwhelmed or underutilized, is vital when charting a path back to engagement. It can be difficult to re-engage once disengagement has set in. Attending to the early warning signs and making continuous course corrections will help individuals sustain engagement across all life roles.

“Knowing the route to disengagement, whether through feeling overwhelmed or underutilized, is vital when charting a path back to engagement.”

Foundations for pivoting

Optimal engagement, shifting to overwhelmed. Candice was fully engaged in her career – and all her other life roles were functioning smoothly – when her youngest child was diagnosed with cancer. The family still relied on her income, but aspects of her job were incompatible with medical appointments and the uncertainty ahead in terms of surgery timelines, subsequent treatments and home-schooling responsibilities during her child’s illness. She began to feel overwhelmed – worried about her child’s health, of course, but also about money, her job and other responsibilities that now seemed too much to handle.

Applying the Career Engagement model, Candice described herself as “fully engaged” prior to the diagnosis. This positions her well for pivoting from a position of strength and moving forward even when times are tough. Unpacking the key components of engagement, challenge and capacity, Candice may want to look at pivoting to a less challenging position (within her organization, in another one or perhaps as a “gig” worker to gain more flexibility over her schedule).

Read more from the Career Pivots issue of Careering:

‘Hard to stay motivated’: Strategies to boost client momentum in job search

Developing a change-ready mindset during the pandemic and beyond

7 steps to help clients futureproof their careers

To bolster capacity, Candice may benefit from looking not only at work but her other life roles. For example, a conversation with her supervisor may surface a remote work option or project deadline extensions. Candice may also want to request help from family and friends with meals, carpooling, play dates for the other children and even sharing a nanny. If Candice is in a relationship, the couple may consider what responsibilities could be shared, shifted, delegated to someone or set aside. Once Candice recognizes possibilities for reducing challenge and building individual and external capacity, she can be more strategic about how small or large her pivoting needs to be.

Underutilized. Rahul was feeling disrespected at work and believed that the strengths he could offer to his employer were being ignored. In the Career Engagement model, he identified himself as very underutilized, close to becoming fully disengaged. In conversation with a career coach, he recognized that he had exhausted all reasonable possibilities of getting his career back on track with his current employer. He decided to pivot out of the organization, looking for an opportunity that would value what he could offer and allow him to fully contribute his expertise.

A significant challenge that Rahul recognized, though, is that he wasn’t pivoting from a position of strength. With his career coach, he developed a plan to volunteer for a community organization to gain a strong work sample for his career portfolio and a supportive professional reference. This strategy served multiple purposes: From a career engagement perspective, the new challenge revitalized his energy, moved him closer to optimal engagement and strengthened his capacity by giving him tangible evidence of what he could offer his next employer.

Dual states. Johannes has struggled with mental illness for many years. Diagnosed with major depressive disorder and social anxiety disorder, there were times he could barely get out of bed, let alone leave the house for work or school. Johannes often feels incredibly overwhelmed and on the verge of giving up. Yet, at the same time, he is bright, articulate and personable and knows he is capable of so much more. Within the Career Engagement model, Johannes is simultaneously overwhelmed and underutilized; a pivot in any direction may set him up for success or result in further setbacks. To help maximize his opportunity to get engaged, several micro-pivots may be the best strategy.

Working with his psychologist, Johannes began by noting everything that seemed overwhelming in as much detail as possible. From here, patterns started to emerge. Similarly, he began to look for opportunities to build capacity in small, incremental ways and paid attention to how each action resulted in a slight shift. Over time, although Johannes wasn’t hugely successful in reducing challenge, he was able to build capacity through regular counselling, mindfulness and meditation, and small amounts of exercise. Now, feeling less overwhelmed, he is contemplating a return to school, understanding that he’ll need to continue to build capacity to take on new challenges.

Optimizing career engagement through pivots

The vignettes shared are but three examples of how individuals can use the Career Engagement model to help them optimize engagement when life requires a pivot. As capacity ebbs and flows, challenge must be similarly adjusted, allowing individuals to achieve and sustain optimal engagement. How difficult, exciting or stimulating something is (i.e. challenge) is a very personal experience; so, too, are individuals and their unique contexts (i.e. capacity). Optimizing engagement is an ongoing process, integrating personal reflection with a pragmatic understanding of ever-changing contexts.

Dr. Roberta Borgen (Neault), CCC, CCDP, GCDFi, is President of Life Strategies Ltd., Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia and Project Director with the Canadian Career Development Foundation.

Dr. Deirdre Pickerell, CPHR, GCDFi, is Dean of Student Success at Yorkville University/Toronto Film School and Vice-President at Life Strategies.

Drs. Borgen and Pickerell co-developed the Career Engagement model, are writing a book to be published by Cognella this year and speak internationally on optimizing career engagement across work and life.

References

Pickerell, D. A., & Neault, R. A. (2016). Examining the career engagement of Canadian career development practitioners. Canadian Journal of Career Development, 15(1), 4-14. cjcd-rcdc.ceric.ca/index.php/cjcd/article/view/157

Entrepreneurs entering the traditional workforce may not know where to start

Michelle Schafer

When Stephanie Hault sold her Ottawa-based clothing stores during the pandemic and began looking for secure, stable work after 15 years as an entrepreneur, she thought she knew what the experience would be like. “I anticipated my search would mainly be focused online – reviewing job postings and preparing resumes and cover letters.”

Hault realizes now the reality is quite different. She was shocked to discover the growing role networking plays in tapping into positions of interest; I advise clients that relationship-building activities should comprise upwards of 80% of their time spent looking for work. And she is part of a growing number of people who are seeking employment during the pandemic with no prior experience looking for work, including small-business owners selling their retail stores and restaurants as a result of COVID-19. For some, they may be transitioning out of the unpredictable world of small-business ownership for a role with stability and security. Others, like Hault, are looking for a lifestyle change with more balance. Even though she was very familiar with taking risks as an entrepreneur, embarking on a job search after spending an entire career as a business owner is daunting.

Noah Firestone, former owner of popular Ottawa restaurant Luxe, agrees. Once COVID-19 made it clear that it would take a lot of time and energy to restore his restaurant’s revenue to pre-pandemic levels, Firestone decided to sell the restaurant to seek a position that would offer him more balance – including time on weekends to spend with his family. “I loved what I did. I loved going in to work every day, but I had to make decisions and changes now that would be much more difficult to make as the years pass.”

“Even though she was very familiar with taking risks as an entrepreneur, embarking on a job search after spending an entire career as a business owner is daunting.”

I worked with Firestone and Hault, and both credit engaging with a career coach as the motivation they needed to keep their job search moving forward. Working with clients in these cases involves a reset of expectations. When Hault first started her job search, she expected it would move quickly. She assumed she would use a chronological resume, attend networking events and distribute a lot of resumes. Hault now sees the benefit of using a skills resume to promote her transferrable skills. She also engaged in 1:1 virtual networking and has customized resumes only for those positions where she can do work that energizes her and for companies that share her values. And she’s come to accept that patience – a lot of it – is needed to keep moving forward.

Read more

Book review: Don’t Stay in Your Lane an essential read for career counsellors

Career development helps people and organizations thrive

7 steps to help clients futureproof their careers

“As a business owner, I was used to operating at a fast pace and making decisions quickly, so I was frustrated with the slower pace of my job search,” says Hault. “It was hard to stay motivated when progress in my search was slower than I hoped – like when I felt I made a good connection with someone and then I never heard back, or received no response when I reached out to arrange a networking chat.”

So, how can you work with clients in a similar situation and keep them engaged in their job search while helping them find the best fit for their next great job? Hault says she benefitted from the following coaching strategies to keep her focused and moving forward:

• Encourage clients to adopt a learning mindset: Hault realized she had a lot to learn, such as how to write a resume, create an impactful LinkedIn profile and generate job leads. Coaching helped her focus on the basics, such as how to write an email requesting a networking conversation.
• Pinpoint the transferrable skills and transform the resume: Both Hault and Firestone changed their chronological resumes to a skills format in order to market their transferrable skills (such as client service, partnership development, project leadership and budgeting) to new industries. Firestone learned that a resume “is not necessarily just a list of what you have done, but a list of what you are capable of doing, and how it may relate to things you have done in the past.” Although he had been working in hospitality and food services since he was a teenager, Firestone began to see how his skills were portable – and needed – in other industries.
• Help them ask for help: Clients who have never had to look for work may be resistant to this idea. Hault admits she does not like asking for help, as her entrepreneurial approach allowed her to do things independently. Yet asking for help – getting a connection to a company of interest, asking someone to get her resume into the right hands of decision makers – has propelled her job search forward. As coaches, we can help our clients see how networking is research through conversation. We can work with them to adopt an approach for these conversations that is authentic to them while keeping the leads funnel full. When Firestone started reaching out to his contacts to explore possibilities, his view of potential roles expanded and he started telling himself, “I could actually do that, and I just might be good at it.”
• Appreciate the baby steps: Every new connection gave Hault hope and revitalized her search. Encourage clients to see every step as progress – they are moving in the right direction.
• Develop a job search routine. Hault and Firestone carved out time each day for their job search and also time to do things for themselves; they needed time to decompress after leaving the hectic schedule of small-business ownership. Hault intentionally ensured her job search did not become a full-time job.

Firestone successfully transitioned to the construction industry, accepting a business development role that was a good match for his transferrable skills. Hault applied her new insights to her search on a daily basis, and recently joined the Shopify team – her dream job with her dream company. She had this guidance to offer career professionals who are working with clients who are new to the job search experience: “Encourage clients to pause – and step back to determine what their skills are and where they can apply them. Help clients transform their resume, and develop networking approaches so they can engage with their network to explore possibilities and generate leads. It’s important for clients to be curious and never say no to an opportunity for a conversation. You never know where that connection will lead.”

Michelle Schafer is an ICF-certified coach and facilitator, specializing in career transition and leadership. She is the owner of Michelle Schafer Coaching, empowering people to achieve career fulfillment, and was recognized as one of Ottawa’s Top 20 career coaches in 2020. Schafer works with clients at all levels within government, tech, not-for-profit, health care and financial services and offers coaching 1:1, in groups and with teams.

Cynthia Pong’s guide articulates impact of systemic racism on women at work, helps jobseekers reconnect to their strengths

Kimberley John-Morgan

As the effects of COVID-19 and a new awareness of systemic racism continue to affect women in the workforce, career development practitioners need new tools and resources to support displaced clients. And while there are dozens of books written about job search and career changes, there are very few guides that address the specific needs of Black, Indigenous and women of colour (BIWOC). It is for this reason that Don’t Stay in Your Lane: The Career Change Guide for Women of Color by Cynthia Pong is an essential addition to every career counsellor’s library. This thorough, 200+ page resource provides practical career change strategies and presents the author’s own career pivot experience. Written in an approachable, conversational style, Don’t Stay in Your Lane offers three key strengths.

Acknowledgement of how systemic racism affects the career paths of women of colour

Through her words and colourful images, Pong articulates the effect that intersecting identities have on one’s career prospects – specifically, how the glass ceiling imposed on women is exacerbated by sexual orientation, disability and racialization. The author’s validation of this systemic reality is refreshing and missing from mainstream career change material. For women of colour, changing careers because of workplace discrimination is a traumatizing experience. As such, career development practitioners who are committed to equity and inclusion need to create space for clients to articulate these impactful emotions as part of the career change process.

Pong’s validation of systemic exclusion points to the need for more books in this genre and demonstrates that the narrative of inequity need not be centred on trauma and oppression. Instead, Pong skillfully provides affirming messages and comprehensive tools, like temperature checks, skills summaries and thought challenges that allow BIWOC readers to proactively realign with their strengths, retain their agency and step boldly into the next chapter of their career.

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Analysis of the career change pathway

In Pong’s version of the career change cycle, which she calls the “career change meta pathway,” she provides four steps (plan, act, reflect and iterate). Readers are encouraged to autonomously engage in this cycle to explore their interests, reconnect to joy and proactively move forward. This easily applicable cycle grants readers permission to explore skills that have fallen dormant and seek new opportunities to engage in meaningful work.

Through sharing the evolution of her pivot from public defence lawyer to entrepreneur, Pong walks through the lifestyle changes required to forge a new career path. In doing so, she honestly shares the setbacks of self-doubt and how she worked past the mistakes she made along the way, such as accepting advice that should have been rejected and pushing to do work that did not align with her values. In sharing the highs and lows of her experience, Pong humanizes the career change process, making it relatable to readers.

The career change meta pathway is a powerful tool that will gently move clients from a place of feeling stuck to a state of active progress. Completing the four-step cycle will provide clients with tangible insight into why a new career option is (or is not) an appropriate next step. More importantly, this approach to the career exploration process will help heal readers’ career confidence and reignite their enthusiasm.

Holistic worksheets and hypothetical vignettes

Throughout Don’t Stay in Your Lane, the author provides dozens of templates and exercises that enable the reader to track their feelings, family responsibilities and finances. These resources are generously complemented with personal and professional life hacks provided in the appendices. Upon walking through the activities outlined, readers will be able to assess their available resources and identify additional avenues for personal development, such as therapy and volunteering.

To prompt self-reflection, Pong strategically uses vignettes that represent women of colour of diverse occupational backgrounds who are at a crossroads in their careers. These thoughtfully written sketches require readers to offer themselves compassionate advice as though they were speaking to a cherished friend. In effect, such reflection enables readers to objectively connect with their own lives and strategize entry into a new field of work or the world of entrepreneurship.

Part career development guide, part memoir and part self-help book, the sections of Don’t Stay in Your Lane can be read independently or in sequence, cover to cover. Either approach will provide racialized readers, and the career counsellors who support this demographic, with the tools to effectively embark on career pivots brought about by independent choice or systemically imposed circumstance. Independently published in 2020, Don’t Stay in Your Lane will be a relevant resource until such time that all forms of discrimination are eradicated and equity is sustainably achieved.

Kimberley John-Morgan is a DEI ghostwriter who works collaboratively with diverse workers and their allies to call out workplace discrimination. As a graduate of the Career and Work Counsellor program at George Brown College, John-Morgan has 20 years of experience as a career strategist and she currently supports clients through her private practice, Junxure Consulting (junxureconsulting.com).

Edmonton Public Schools’ Community Marketplace weaves career development into the curriculum

Heather McIntyre and Sean Jones

From learning about marine life to the many ways to work with aquatic creatures, Grade 2 students in Tomi Brooks’ class at Svend Hansen School dove into life under the sea through their computer screens thanks to the Community Marketplace.

Much more than a typical guest speaker, career fair or career day, the Community Marketplace is a collaboration between teachers and community organizations to provide authentic and meaningful career exploration for Edmonton Public Schools students. To avoid “stand-and-deliver” presentations, organization representatives address challenges they face in their work and engage students in a dialogue about potential solutions. These opportunities address curricular areas and competencies while helping students investigate the world and how they fit into it.

For Brooks, who taught online in 2020-21 due to COVID-19, the Community Marketplace was a way for her students to not only learn about ocean life, but also understand some of the different careers and industries related to it. Her students spent 25 minutes in a Google Meet with a representative from a local custom aquarium company. They saw how different marine creatures interact with one another, asked questions about aquatic life in aquariums and inspected a starfish up close.

“They were highly motivated to ask thoughtful and purposeful questions that, in turn, led them to collaborate with their classmates and dive deeper into our inquiry project with even more questions,” says Brooks. “This was such a powerful learning experience for my students.”

What is the Community Marketplace?

An initiative of Edmonton Public Schools, the Community Marketplace is a menu of interactions that helps students make connections between what they are learning in school and the broader world. For the 2020-21 school year, that menu of interactions was made up of more than 30 organizations offering nearly 40 virtual opportunities. The free sessions are made possible through relationships with community organizations, who volunteer to share their passions and expertise.

More on K-12 career development from Careering

Client Side: Grade 12 was tough enough. Then the pandemic hit

Making career development ‘stick’ in K-12

How career exploration affects admission and scholarship success

The Community Marketplace is an initiative supported by the Career Pathways team, which facilitates resources and innovative, experiential learning opportunities that encourage students from kindergarten to Grade 12 to think about, explore and plan what life might look like beyond school. The team also engages the community, and builds relationships with businesses, not-for-profits, trade unions and post-secondary institutions to enhance student learning.

The 2020-21 school year marked the fifth year of the Community Marketplace in Edmonton Public Schools, and the interest from both teachers and community organizations continues to increase.

For Lindsay Adrian, Supervisor of the Career Pathways team, the growth is not surprising: “In any conversation I have with community members or teachers, the reaction is always the same: ‘I wish this existed when I was in school. It would have helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I’d love to participate.’”

At the halfway mark of the 2020-21 school year, nearly 120 Community Marketplace sessions had been scheduled at more than 70 schools across the Division; during the entire previous school year, a total of 118 sessions took place. Of course, in a school year unlike any other, these in-person interactions turned into virtual sessions, but students have continued to enjoy hands-on exploration of specific career pathways that link to the curriculum.

Virtual opportunities have allowed some organizations to get involved when they didn’t have the time or staff to do so before, including some from outside of the Edmonton area. For example, students can learn about the relationship between agriculture and technology through the eyes of dairy farmers, simulate aviation scenarios alongside pilots and air traffic controllers, and discover what entomologists do by studying small crawling and flying animals. Students can also delve into various research methods alongside an expert in a particular field, turn a love of basketball into a curiosity about sports entertainment professions or even gain insights into a career in social media.

Regardless of the presentation topic, organization representatives involve students in a hands-on activity that is based on a part of their normal work week, but has been tailored to the grade level of the students.

“In any conversation I have with community members or teachers, the reaction is always the same: ‘I wish this existed when I was in school.'” – Lindsay Adrian, Supervisor of the Career Pathways team

There are many different ways for an organization to become involved with the Community Marketplace. The Career Pathways team directly recruits organizations to participate, and staff at Edmonton Public Schools may recommend an organization be included or an organization may reach out to learn more about how to become involved. The Career Pathways team works with the organization to develop an engaging session for students and identifies relevant curricular links so teachers can see a natural connection to what they are teaching.

“It creates a unique opportunity for businesses to leverage the creativity of youth, using their insights to help create innovative solutions to problems they are looking to solve,” says Adrian.

Teachers are invited to browse the available opportunities each fall, and then request the sessions that suit students’ needs, taking into consideration grade level, student interest and the Alberta Education curriculum.

Benefits beyond the school years

The success of the Community Marketplace is evident, especially with feedback from teachers about how much they appreciate new tools and experiences to draw from to address the curriculum, how engaged their students are in the subject matter, and how their students’ understanding of various careers and career pathways expands. Community organizations also benefit by building social capital through connection with community, educators and students.

While the essence of the Community Marketplace takes place inside the classroom during the school year, the impact of what is often a 60-minute interaction can be measured in the following days and weeks, as well as in the years to come. A student may apply a skill learned during another class, register for a high school course due to an interest sparked or enter a post-secondary program in a career they would have otherwise never considered.

The focus is the future

The Community Marketplace initiative fosters growth and success for students in Edmonton Public Schools by supporting their journey from early learning through high school completion and beyond.

“Through collaboration, we can provide opportunities for students by drawing on the expertise within our communities,” says Adrian. “Together we can offer authentic and meaningful learning opportunities that can change a student’s world.”

Heather McIntyre (Bachelor of Communication, Mount Royal University) has been a Communications Consultant at Edmonton Public Schools since 2019, focusing on internal projects and content management. She previously handled media and public relations for the Edmonton Public Library after starting her career in journalism.

Sean Jones (HBA, MACT) has been a Consultant with Career Pathways at Edmonton Public Schools since 2015, and shares with the team 20 years of experience as a generalist in the fields of technology, arts, conference management and social sciences.  

Edmonton Public Schools’ Career Pathways team helps students discover the world around them, and grow skills and competencies through rigorous and relevant projects, activities and experiences all connected to curricular outcomes. Learn more at epsb.ca.

Help clients reflect on their career break so they can address it with confidence during job search

Marie-Hélène Collin, Éric Damato and Mélanie Grégoire

Life brings us its share of unexpected events and surprises that affect our career path. Whether it’s a sick leave, accident, sabbatical year or extended maternity/paternity leave, career breaks evoke an array of emotions. Sometimes they are positive, other times they can cause a certain level of anxiety.

Some people voluntarily take a break between jobs to restore their psychological health before returning to work. In fact, when possible and desirable, it is not uncommon for a counsellor to suggest that a client take some time to reflect before beginning an active job search.

Regardless of the reasons for taking career breaks, they can be difficult to justify on a resume or in an interview. Some people worry about “gaps” in their career path. Others, seemingly more ingenious, cheat by extending job dates or changing job titles. This strategy is risky, as companies can verify the veracity of the information provided in a resume. It could even be seen as fraud that would justify dismissal. It is also unnecessary, because for candidates with equal skills, the majority of employers are more interested in their “soft skills” and personality. The know-how can be taught on the job.

Many jobseekers try to fill in the gaps in their resumes or explain the obstacles they have overcome to increase their chances of getting the job they want. So, how can they justify their decision to take a professional break after the fact? We suggest evaluating the issue based on multiple factors, since the answer depends on the nature of the break, the perceived losses and gains, and the attitude of the person who made the decision. Each situation has its advantages and disadvantages; while some see it as an opportunity, others describe it as an unavoidable barrier to overcome.

The role of the career development counsellor

Career development counsellors are trained to help separate facts from emotions, so that they can be translated into experiences, skills and abilities that will enhance their clients’ employability profile.

Their role is to make their clients aware of what they have learned from their experience and how to interpret it. When the clients are assessing the relevance of disclosing their professional break, the counsellor helps them make an informed decision about what information to reveal.

Read more from the Career Pivots issue of Careering:

Optimizing engagement to pivot effectively

Developing a change-ready mindset during the pandemic and beyond

‘Hard to stay motivated’: Strategies to boost client momentum in job search

It’s essential for the counsellors to be careful: they must find the best way to help their clients without dictating what to do and how to do it. It’s up to the clients to “make up their own mind” on the issue, in keeping with their own values and the explanation they wish to put forward to address (or not) this personal chapter of their life.

To help clients deepen their reflection, we suggest asking some questions that will allow them to put into words their life experiences in a professional context:

• What justified this temporary withdrawal from the labour market?
• What did they learn?
• What specific skill(s) did they have the opportunity to develop?
• What meaning do they attribute to this period?
• How can this enrichment be transposed into the desired professional context?
• How was this time away necessary professionally? (if applicable)

Transforming experiences into transferable strengths

Here are some concrete examples of life situations that have allowed people who have experienced career breaks to develop transferable strengths.

Throughout this exchange, it is entirely appropriate to use creativity to transform experiences into the development of competencies that continuously improve “soft skills.” Hence the relevance of being guided by a professional to objectify the circumstances and their impact on one’s professional life.

Once the client has identified what she or he would like to mention on the resume and in the selection interview, the counsellor can give an opinion on how to present the information.

For example, the counsellor may propose changing the chronology of the experiences to emphasize the client’s skills, suggest removing a few short, insignificant experiences to lighten the content, or advise grouping the experiences together to reduce the impression of instability caused by frequent job changes. It’s all in the attitude and the art of saying things.

Beyond the words, what is most important?

It’s said that finding meaning in a situation that seems to have deviated from the original path can change the entire perception. In this sense, being comfortable with the narrative presented gives it credibility.

Marie-Hélène Collin has been a career counsellor for more than 15 years and is a partner in Individual Services at Brisson Legris.

Éric Damato has been an organizational career counsellor for over 20 years and is a partner in Organizational Services at Brisson Legris.

Mélanie Grégoire is co-owner of the firm Brisson Legris, has a master’s degree in Sociology with a specialization in vocational rehabilitation, holds the Registered Vocational Professional designation, and has been an author and vocational rehabilitation counsellor for over 20 years.

Survey examines how Kwantlen Polytechnic University grads are navigating work, education and life disruptions

Candy Ho and John Grant

Many of us have experienced the exhilarating and scary process of transitioning from education into the so-called real world. Imagine this situation when an unprecedented, unanticipated event arrives – one that has a major (and sometimes devastating) impact on our life. Any semblance of excitement is displaced by uncertainty and confusion. Welcome to the world of the class of 2020.

Statistics Canada (2020) has reported on disruptions students faced as a result of the pandemic. For students who expected to graduate in 2020, 54% expressed major concerns that their credentials may not be deemed equivalent. There is also much discussion around students’ concerns about graduating into what many deem an economic depression.

As a career practitioner in a post-secondary environment (Candy Ho) and an expert in alumni relations (John Grant), we were keen to explore how the class of 2020 has been affected by these unprecedented circumstances. Are the crises as bad as news headlines lead us to believe? Are these young professionals demonstrating resilience and adaptability? How can our institutions best support these graduates? Ho initiated a study to explore these questions.

The study was conducted in November 2020 as an online anonymous survey with 2020 Faculty of Arts graduates at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia. It was distributed to 357 graduates, of which 59 (17%) responded in full.

The survey was designed using Nancy Schlossberg’s 4S Transition Theory model (1981; 2011) and thus touched upon four core areas of exploration: self, situation, support and strategies. Here’s what we discovered.

Read more from Careering

How career exploration affects admission and scholarship success

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Client Side: Grade 12 was tough enough. Then the pandemic hit

Self: How has the pandemic affected graduates’ level of confidence in their post-university lives?  

The pandemic has had a major impact on both the confidence that class of 2020 graduates have in themselves and in their future career or academic prospects.

Before COVID-19, 83% of respondents felt hopeful about their post-university transition. Many were looking forward to jobs, volunteer opportunities or further education, or were already gainfully employed. However, this number plummeted to only 38%, a 45-point drop, as graduates entered the seventh month of the pandemic.

Prior to the pandemic, 75% felt that they had control over their career success, whereas during the pandemic, this number fell to only 42% of respondents. Many new graduates felt lost, alone and stuck in their pursuits:

“I have been forced to take two jobs that I had planned to stop doing as I wanted to start pursuing my career in criminology but this pandemic has left me where I am. I feel like I am not growing, but rather stuck.”

Situation: How does the pandemic impact and influence students’ post-graduation goals and plans?

“I was laid off while in pursuit of full-time work, as well as let go from volunteering both due to the shutdown. [I] have struggled to find new work and had to return to a previous job (not in my field) in order to make ends meet.”

The majority (80%) of respondents expressed that they were required to make adjustments to their short- and long-term goals due to the pandemic: taking lower-paying jobs, the first job offer available or a job unrelated to their studies. Others mentioned remaining in a part-time job or with a current employer when they were initially planning to exit, or even becoming self-employed.

Several indicated that finding a job has become more competitive, as more experienced workers who have lost their jobs are now competing for similar roles. For those planning to pursue further studies, they cited a significant delay in their plans as they were no longer able to travel and/or not willing to complete their studies in an online capacity.

Students identified a lack of employment opportunities and financial instability as the biggest barriers they face in achieving their goals.

Support: What resources or supports do they have from their network? What is missing for them that they might need (e.g. professional mentorship) and how do they go about obtaining these resources?

Respondents most frequently cited social and emotional support such as family, friends or colleagues. Less than half did not feel supported in their career development and also do not know where to find such support.

We asked if there was one thing that post-secondary institutions could do to support their successful transition. Interestingly, students identified career services and programming that are generally considered standard offerings by most institutions, highlighting an opportunity for career services to better promote their programs:

• Promoting career and job opportunities – tailored content for alumni
• Seminars on job application writing and interviews
• Help with graduate school applications
• Online job fair and networking opportunities
• Lobbying to government for further support for recent graduates
• Financial and counselling support for graduates

Social capital also remains important (having friends and family), but what remains unclear is if recent graduates are leveraging these relationships for career support.

“My parents have been the biggest help for me financially, and my boyfriend emotionally. I never asked for any kind of help outside of my friends group, I just never did. I’m not used to asking for help I guess.”

Strategies: How can the pandemic experience be leveraged to adjust or strengthen their post-graduation goals and trajectory?

“I do see the upheaval of 2020 as an opportunity to innovate long-standing systems which have become stagnant for a very long time. Change is good.”

Despite challenges experienced, we were curious if our respondents could reflect upon the pandemic as an opportunity to adjust or perhaps even strengthen their professional trajectory and overall transition. What we discovered is that many found value in spending more time with their loved ones, or considered new paths that may not otherwise have transpired due to happenstance.

“I would not have applied for graduate school if the pandemic didn’t happen.”

Conclusion

With the completion of our first phase, we will conduct another survey to determine how these graduates have adjusted since fall 2020 and to explore more themes in detail through focus groups. We speculate that these transition issues are not new – every class of graduates discovers unexpected challenges; however, we suspect that these issues are more pronounced due to the pandemic.

This study emphasizes the need to help graduates develop a career mindset early on – not just when they are about to graduate. Shifting to a lifelong career management approach can distribute the access to and awareness of support throughout a student’s academic journey and beyond. We are keen to continue learning from our participants, and to generate recommendations for institutions to better help students and alumni conceptualize their career development process as a canoe: moving and shifting with the ebb and flow of life and transitions.

Dr. Candy Ho is honoured to serve as Vice-Chair of CERIC. She is the inaugural Assistant Professor, Integrative Career and Capstone Learning in the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada. She also holds teaching positions in Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Educational Studies department and in Douglas College’s Career Development Practitioner Program.

John Grant is a lecturer in Applied Communications, School of Business at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and a visiting lecturer with Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business. His background is in higher education administration, the majority of which was spent in alumni relations. Grant also holds an MEd in Post-Secondary Leadership from Simon Fraser University. 

References

Schlossberg, N. K. (1981). A model for analyzing human adaptation to transition. The Counseling Psychologist, 9(2), 2-18. doi: 10.1177/001100008100900202

Schlossberg, N. K. (2011). The challenge of change: The transition model and its applications. Journal of Employment Counseling, 48, 159-162. doi: 10.1002/j.2161-1920.2011.tb01102.x

Statistics Canada. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic: Academic impacts on postsecondary students in Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00015-eng.htm

These strategies can help leaders create a framework for meaningful work that aligns with employee goals

Shahrzad Arasteh

The pandemic has affected how we work, our priorities and the resources ­available to meet organizational and individual needs and goals. However, career development remains a priority for many people. Research and anecdotal evidence consistently show that opportunities for career development are a key factor in career decision-making and employee engagement (Mullen O’Keefe, 2020; Morris, 2018). It can affect hiring and retention, as well as organizational reputation and performance.

In my work with organizations and individual clients, the theme of meaningful career development and career management consistently shows up. It may be a manager who wonders how they can best support their team’s career development needs; an employee who is proactively thinking about the skills they need for their next step; or someone who is frustrated because they don’t feel supported in their efforts to move their career forward.

Here are a few strategies and tools that managers and organizations can use to build stronger career development frameworks.

1. Clarify what career development and career management mean in your organization

As a first step, organizations should outline how they define employee career development and what they offer in this area. This should be done in consultation with staff and career professionals. Individuals will also want to reflect on what career development means to them and what managing their career well would look like. This will enable them to express the kind of support they need to advance in their work to their employer or manager.

This process will help create a common understanding and language around career development/management between organizations and current or prospective employees. It will make clear that career development within an organization is a shared responsibility between the staff member and their manager.

2. Have one-on-one career conversations

Managers should offer regular opportunities for staff to share their interests and goals and get feedback and support. This is a chance for leaders to better understand:

• what interests employees and why;
• the diversity of skills their team members hold; and
• what type of work employees are interested in and how this aligns with organizational pathways.

The staff member may not be aware of the options for learning and progression available to them. Having a manager’s support and genuine interest in helping them achieve their goals can make a huge difference to their progress.

It is important to remember that this is the staff member’s career conversation and the focus should be  on their aspirations, interests and questions. This is a chance for them to guide the conversation, invite collaboration, get feedback and perspective, and end each conversation with a clear sense of the next steps each party commits to.

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3. Broaden ideas of progression

“Up is the only way” culture has been changing for a long time. In many organizations, there just aren’t that many opportunities to promote people because of flatter organizations, limited number of positions or budget constraints. One of the great things about this change is it creates space for employees to craft their own path rather than having to fit into someone else’s idea of success.

Not everyone is interested in moving “up the ladder,” but most people want a meaningful career, to do work that interests and energizes them, and to be appreciated and recognized for their work.

However, the idea that promotions are the primary way for an employer to reward performance and show people they are valued still seems to grip many managers and employees. It will take sustained effort to shift ideas of progression to what an enriching experience would look like for an individual. Start by asking, and inviting staff to ask, questions like:

• What experiences do I want to have and build?
• What skills do I want to master (or learn next)?
• What problems do I want to solve/whom do I want to serve?
• What would give me meaning in my work?

As a manager, understanding what meaningful work looks like for your staff will help you have more effective career conversations. It can also help organizations develop more effective career programs and build flexible pathways that meet the career needs of their team.

4. Offer formal and informal opportunities for career development

To branch outside of the ladder model of career development, organizations can offer other avenues for learning and growth, such as:

• Developmental assignments: These allow employees to join another department on a temporary basis to gain experience or learn new skills or work in an area of interest to them. This has an added benefit of helping employees expand their network and visibility.
• Cross support: Here, a percentage of the person’s time is allocated to working on another team (or department), with the idea that they’ll contribute by using their skills and expertise, while also gaining knowledge and experience related to the work of this unit.
• Stretch assignment: Employees take on new work in addition to some or all of their regular responsibilities, for a period of time, to learn/use a new skill or shift their area of focus.
• External assignment/service: The employee will work for another organization for a period of time, for example in an exchange or secondment. This exchange of talent, perspective and expertise benefits both organizations and enriches the individual’s career experience, potentially leading to future opportunities.

While I encourage managers and staff members to use formal and informal resources for career development, I also invite them to be creative and move beyond what’s available. This is especially important if there aren’t that many relevant options in place that meet the needs of the individual. Managers should consider: What can you do to support team members’ career development while also meeting the needs of the organization? Approach this question with curiosity and be open to inviting others in to generate ideas. You can partner with staff, career professionals, your HR business partners and other managers (and resources outside your organization) as you work on creating or enhancing career development options.

As you explore different career development frameworks, don’t focus on perfection. Concentrate on having open conversations and taking actions based on positive intent and trust, and approach different programs or actions more like experiments. Do your best work, engage in the process, then see what worked well and what didn’t; make adjustments and keep working toward more effective career development options for you and your organization.

Shahrzad Arasteh, author of Nourish Your Career, is a holistic career counsellor and trainer specializing in working with people and organizations with a social good focus. She is a Past President of Middle Atlantic Career Counseling Association (MACCA) and the 2017 recipient of MACCA’s Outstanding Contributions Award. Arasteh has an MA in clinical psychology and is a Certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® Practitioner and Global Career Development Facilitator. shahrzad@careerconsultmd.com  careerconsultmd.com

References

Morris, S. (2018, September 25). Lack of Career Development Drives Employee Attrition. Gartner gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/lack-of-career-development-drives-employee-attrition/

Mullen O’Keefe, S. (2020, April 24). Focus on Three Elements if Career Growth to Keep Your Best Employees. Gallup gallup.com/workplace/309239/focus-elements-career-growth-keep-best-employees.aspx

In this Careering feature, jobseekers and students reflect on successes and struggles in their career development

Ailie Crosbie

COVID-19 has affected all of us in ways that we never expected. Although the experience has come with some good things, like spending more time with family, the negatives outweigh the positives for most of us.

As a Grade 12 student doing online school from my bedroom, my level of stress associated with graduation and planning for post-secondary education has increased drastically. However, I have tried to put aside all of the negative emotions of social isolation and focus on school instead, which I think has saved me from spiralling into depression. Through these challenges, I have learned that I am a lot stronger and more capable that I ever gave myself credit for. I now have a better sense of what I want in life and have learned to value what I think and not what others think about me.

Senior-year decisions

Grade 12 is a tough year to begin with. I, for one, can attest that stress and anxiety are things that should not be taken lightly. From the overwhelming amount of school work to the underlying pressure of what to do next, it can be a challenging year. When you add a global pandemic to the mix, it’s no wonder that students can experience stress, anxiety and sometimes depression. There are a lot of factors to take into account during senior year, like what you want to do at college or university – or if you want to take a different path.

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As the youngest in my extended family, there has never been a question that I would attend university because it is just something everyone did. I don’t feel any pressure, though, because it is such an encouraged and exciting opportunity. Although many of my peers are choosing to take a fifth year, gap year or go straight to work, none of those options were on my radar. Focusing exclusively on school and university plans has helped me achieve good grades and maintain some kind of routine during this strange time.

Thinking of the future

Some students are choosing not to attend college or university next year for fear that it will still be online and they will miss out on the full experience, but I know I still want to move forward. The possibility of living in residence has helped me feel more motivated and excited, even if  school will still be online. I am ready to move on after a full year of isolation. The future is on my mind every day and is my main motivation to succeed at school.

My parents have helped me through my final year of high school at home, by making me feel comfortable and safe, and encouraging me to stay focused on my goals. They also supported me through the university application process, so I didn’t need help from my guidance counsellors and teachers.

Change of plans

As a student at an Ontario high school, I am a member of an Integrated Arts Program. I joined the program to follow my passion for singing and musical theatre but what I discovered instead was a passion for English, writing, critical thinking and research. Over the years I came to realize that these were interests I wanted to pursue.

At the beginning of high school, I thought I wanted a career in singing. However, with some time to self-reflect and learn, I realized that that is not my dream. My experience in the arts program was full of fun and great learning opportunities; however, with the help of my amazing English teachers, my love for writing grew. I started to visualize myself in a career that involved writing and critical thinking because those are two talents of mine. For those reasons, choosing an undergraduate program was not difficult for me.

In the fall of 2021, I will be attending Western University for Media, Information and Technoculture (MIT). This program offers a critical analysis of the impacts that social media and the internet have on society. Social media has been an outlet for people to make connections, especially in the midst of a pandemic, and I am excited to study its impact on society. Not only does this interest me, but the program will also involve a lot of writing, critical thinking and research – all things I enjoy. There are many possible career choices out of this program, from journalism to communications to law.

Pandemic lessons

The pandemic has taught all of us more about ourselves than ever before. My generation tends to focus on what other people think rather than what we really want for ourselves; this pandemic has taught me to put my needs first. With all this uncertainty, the transition from high school to university seems intimidating, but with the support of my parents, friends and teachers, the process has been much more manageable. The time spent alone has forced me to do a lot of self-reflection, which has helped me learn more about myself and what I want out of life.

Throughout the COVID-19 journey, the whole world has had to take a step back and learn to accept change, which is a hard but beneficial lesson for a Grade 12 student. I have tried to push myself every day to do my best at school because it is one thing I can fully control. The valuable lessons I have learned this year have helped me become aware of the kind of person I am and want to be and have kept me focused on my future at university and beyond.

Ailie Crosbie is a Grade 12 student in Ontario. When she isn’t in school, Crosbie spends time reading, writing and with family. She enjoys running and exercising and has a strong passion for healthy living. Crosbie is excited to start her future at university and can’t wait for the opportunities that lie ahead.