Working paper series

No 2 / November 2021

DIGITAL TRANSITIONS IN DIGITAL TRANSITIONS

6202 ΕΝ - TI-BA-21-005-EN-N - doi:10.2801/539512

LIFELONG GUIDANCE: RETHINKING
CAREERS PRACTITIONER IN LIFELONG GUIDANCE:
PROFESSIONALISM
A CareersNet expert collection
RETHINKING CAREERS
PRACTITIONER
PROFESSIONALISM
This collection is a step towards updating Cedefop's work on
professionalising career guidance since the publication of
Professionalising career guidance: practitioner competences and
qualification routes in Europe over 10 years ago. The current
papers consist of diverse authored contributions from A CareersNet
expert collection
independent CareersNet guidance experts and contributors to
Cedefop’s 2020 CareersNet meeting. Changing career guidance
delivery and career learning contexts, responding to widespread
labour market changes and digital transformation of services, lead
to new challenges, developments, and opportunities. Papers
focus on the broad theme of professionalising the career guidance
workforce and the particular competences fit for the digital and
wider societal context. Not all authors place direct focus on
technology-related themes. Attention is also paid to developments
prior to, surrounding, or triggered by, the pandemic crisis.
Theoretical/conceptual and overview papers are included, while
several present illustrations of standards in national/regional
guidance systems or particular training or service developments.

Europe 123, Thessaloniki (Pylea), GREECE

Postal: Cedefop service post, 570 01 Thermi, GREECE
Tel. +30 2310490111, Fax +30 2310490020
Email: info@cedefop.europa.eu
www.cedefop.europa.eu

ISBN 978-92-896-3276-8
The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop)
is the European Union’s reference centre for vocational education and training,
skills and qualifications. We provide information, research, analyses and
evidence on vocational education and training, skills and qualifications for policy-
making in the EU Member States.
Cedefop was originally established in 1975 by Council Regulation (EEC) No
337/75. This decision was repealed in 2019 by Regulation (EU) 2019/128
establishing Cedefop as a Union Agency with a renewed mandate.

Europe 123, Thessaloniki (Pylea), GREECE

Postal: Cedefop service post, 570 01 Thermi, GREECE
Tel. +30 2310490111, Fax +30 2310490020
Email: info@cedefop.europa.eu
www.cedefop.europa.eu

Jürgen Siebel, Executive Director

Nadine Nerguisian, Chair of the Management Board

Please cite this publication as:

Cedefop et al. (2021). Digital transitions in lifelong guidance: rethinking careers
practitioner professionalism: a CareersNet expert collection. Luxembourg:
Publications Office of the European Union. Cedefop working paper; No 2.
http://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2801/539512

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2021

© Cedefop, 2021.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

This working paper should not be reported as representing the views of the
European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop). The
views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of
Cedefop.

PDF ISBN 978-92-896-3276-8

ISSN 1831-2403
doi:10.2801/539512
TI-BA-21-005-EN-N
Foreword
Career guidance and counselling is uniquely positioned to smooth lifelong
journeys along individual career and learning pathways. Looking beyond the
pandemic health crisis, in 2020, the Cedefop-ETF paper Challenges and
opportunities for VET in the next decade pointed to a need for better-prepared
career guidance and counselling practitioners.
Although professionalising guidance staff through relevant initial education
and training and professional standards remains a priority, this is not enough.
Continuous professional development, in-service and workplace training, as well
as informal peer learning among colleagues, are equally important; practitioners
themselves must seek training, learning while working, and self-development.
Yet, the increasing calls to invest more to raise professionalism of practitioners,
including in the light of the training needs brought about by digital innovation in
their occupation, still contrast in many EU countries with scarce evidence on how
these invest in preparing, and keeping their guidance workforce up to date.
This collection of papers by CareersNet experts therefore arrives at an
opportune moment when questions about professionalising career services and
career education for the young and for adults alike re-emerge on the European
policy agenda, like they first did in 2008 with the Resolution and the creation of
the European policy guidelines in 2015.
Just before the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Cedefop’s CareersNet
decided to dedicate its annual meeting to rethinking professionalism of career
practitioners in a digital context. Shortly after, guidance services were abruptly
suspended in many countries across settings to protect staff and clients. It is in
this unique context that Cedefop and its network of experts developed the papers
presented in this collection. Authors have contributed with their independent and
diverse points of view, from the perspective of academic research, programme
management, from inside ministries or from the vantage point of public
employment services.
No one can say right now, with all the changes underway, what the career
guidance system will look like in the next decade. However, there will always be
a need to sharpen and renew the skills of career practitioners and service
processes, and for the evolution of authentic cooperation with stakeholders and
partners that directly benefits guidance users.

Jürgen Siebel Antonio Ranieri

Executive Director Head of Department for VET and skills

Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021 1

Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

Acknowledgements

This collection of papers was made possible through the support and efforts of
many individuals. In terms of content and expertise, the CareersNet experts and
others who presented at the virtual annual network meeting in October 2020
were pivotal to the initial inputs. Appreciation also goes to other network experts
who engaged in discussions, some of whom contributed additional chapters with
their colleagues in the field. We are grateful to our Head of the Department for
VET and skills, Antonio Ranieri, who supported this collection of papers, and to
Loukas Zahilas, Head of the Department for VET and qualifications, who
provided feedback in the review process.
Appreciation goes to Benedetta Trignani who, as a trainee during the latter
period, supported in formatting and other tasks, working fully online; Nikolas
Mouratoglou, who was a trainee at Cedefop , also provided early contributions on
practitioner standards for Chapter 2. Appreciation goes to Anastasia Pouliou and
Slava Pevec Grm (Department for VET and qualifications) for their expert
feedback related to the vast domain of national qualifications frameworks.
The Cedefop CareersNet team provided content editing for this collection:
Cynthia Harrison, who coordinated the work, and Ernesto Villalba, Department
for VET and skills.
Special gratitude goes to CareersNet guidance experts, Jaana Kettunen and
Raimo Vuorinen, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, for their wisdom,
and feedback on different aspects of the content.
Although not all member-experts of CareersNet during their mandate period
ending in July 2021, were able to contribute papers, their active input to the
October 2020 meeting is acknowledged and appreciated. The network,
comprising expert stakeholders in the field, has contributed to Cedefop’s
evidence-based support to policy development in lifelong guidance since its
establishment in 2017.

2 Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021

Contents
Foreword ................................................................................................................ 1
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 4
PART I ................................................................................................................. 14
2. Identifying standards for career professionalism ........................................... 15
3. Professionalising career guidance in Greece: current and future
challenges ..................................................................................................... 32
4. The relevance of the Estonian occupational qualification sub-
framework in the field of career guidance ..................................................... 49
5. Digital badges for career practitioner skills validation in Italy ........................ 63
6. Active support for the unemployed: implications of digitalisation for
professionalism in career guidance............................................................... 74
PART II ................................................................................................................ 90
7. Career chat: the art of AI and the human interface in career
development.................................................................................................. 91
8. Labour market management skills among career practitioners:
tackling increasing complexity ..................................................................... 103
9. A context-resonant quality framework for continuous career
guidance professionalisation: the case of Norway ...................................... 120
PART III ............................................................................................................. 130
10. Social and emotional skills in career guidance: a Romanian school
counsellor guide .......................................................................................... 131
References .................................................................................................. 144
11. An international dimension for improved capacity building of
guidance professionals ............................................................................... 149
12. Strategic competence and the transformative role of ICT in lifelong
guidance...................................................................................................... 166
PART IV ............................................................................................................. 176
13. Enhancing practitioners’ skills to work in the digital context ........................ 177
14. Career practice education and training in Portugal: challenges during
the pandemic............................................................................................... 188
15. Career guidance in the digital context: trends in Germany ......................... 201

Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021 3

CHAPTER 1.
Introduction
Cynthia M. Harrison, Cedefop (1).

1.1. EU policy and evidence supporting

professionalisation in career guidance
EU Member States aspire to develop more comprehensive lifelong guidance
systems but are often hampered by contextual and other issues in how to
approach professionalisation (Barnes et al., 2020). New dynamics in the
development of ICT-driven ecosystems, at European level and within countries,
play a greater role in shaping training policy and competence profiles.
Professionalising career guidance is seen as one of the key principles for
assuring quality in guidance services (Barnes et al., 2020; Cedefop, 2009, 2020;
Ertelt and Kraatz, 2011; ETF, 2020). A continuously professionalising workforce
can facilitate the functioning of education and training systems, including initial
and continuing vocational education and training (2) (Cedefop and ETF, 2020).
High-quality services can enable individuals to secure sustainable and relevant
employment according to their competences and strengths, as well their
aspirations, plans and potential. Support and incentives to careers and learning
can smooth career pathways.
The Council Resolution on lifelong guidance (Council of the European
Union, 2008) invited all countries to prioritise universal access to guidance
services and to develop a common culture by means of quality assurance,
among the various services responsible at local, regional, and national levels.
Current EU policy reminds governments of the need to ensure that all individuals
can access quality support services such as career guidance (European
Commission, 2020a). In order to carry out their work, however, guidance
professionals need to be adequately prepared to meet the evolving, high level of
demand from the public, to enable clients to maximise their individual skills
development appropriately (Osnabrück Declaration, 2020). National quality
assurance systems for career guidance should include policies that require

(1) Project manager, Lifelong guidance and CareersNet coordinator.

(2) Promoting CVET is a complex multidimensional process which needs synergic
approaches and integrated supporting measures: guidance, validation, financing,
outreach policies and other supporting measures, including professional
development of guidance practitioners.

4 Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021

 CHAPTER 1.
Introduction

practitioners to have the competences needed to perform any tasks that fall
within their dynamic role. Today, this will mean that, in addition to core field
competences acquired through initial or continuing education and training, not
only should they have access to accurate, real-time labour market information,
but it should include skills intelligence, the correct training to mediate these data
for clients, and capacity to work with digital guidance platforms. Practitioners
should have knowledge of the world of work, of occupations undergoing digital
transformation; of fields and jobs most affected by technological change, and
which skillsets clients need to build on in future. Updating traditional
competences and identifying additional ones, will be a constant task.
Practitioners also need to work strategically to navigate the multiple services and
sub-systems according to client needs and societal realities. The need to work
with a diverse group of beneficiaries of all ages, with increasingly complex needs,
requires sensitivity and understanding. Young people need school-based
counsellors with the right skills, the right information and capacity to deliver
career education and guidance fit for the present and beyond.
Although professionalisation of the guidance field through specialised
initial education and training pathways remains a priority, it is not enough.
Continuous professional development, in-service and workplace learning, non-
formal learning opportunities, peer learning and exchange are equally important.
In the public employment service sector, there is a need to invest more in staff to
provide better customised and data-informed career guidance services
(European Network of Public Employment Services, 2021). However, the
increasing calls to sharpen focus on professionalism (Barnes et al., 2020;
Cedefop, 2009; European Commission and Sienkiewicz, 2012; European
Network of Public Employment Services, 2021; OECD, 2010, 2021; McCarthy,
2001), stand in contrast to the lack of evidence of systematic continuous
professional development for career practitioners (Kettunen, 2021); but there are
signs of change. Kettunen’s study (3), for example, using pre-pandemic
international data from 2019, drew important policy-relevant conclusions on
career practitioner training, indicating an increase in national and local activity in
professionalising guidance. According to the evidence, some of this momentum
was driven top-down, inspiring bottom-up innovation at regional level, and focus
was on career practitioners’ training and qualifications. Professional

(3) Data were collected from a wide variety of guidance stakeholders who were
governmental and non-governmental delegates of the International Symposium for
Career Development and Public Policy (ICCDPP) 9th symposium in 33 countries
worldwide.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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competences and standards, according to the findings, were either under revision
or would be revised in many countries.
Papers in this collection draw attention to the need to rethink professionalism
in the field and add to the evidence base on innovative shifts in enhancing
professionalism with the use of blended, fully online, ad hoc training and planned
programmes for professional development. Evidence and views are also offered
on which competences and skills sets practitioners may need, to manage and
update their future services and delivery.
Similar to the fragmented landscape of adult continuing and vocational
learning (Cedefop and ETF, 2020), career learning and career guidance services
are spread across many settings. This can mean provisions are positioned to be
flexible, context-sensitive, and adaptable to target groups and communities; on
the other hand, this can be an obstacle to policy implementation and
development, particularly for integrated policy arrangements. Networked and
dispersed systems place additional demands on the skills of specialist career
guidance practitioners to support and resource them and require diverse training
opportunities to develop a diverse workforce (Cedefop, 2009, p. 92).
Fragmentation without coordination and corresponding professional networking
or strategic competences (Kettunen and Vuorinen, Chapter 12 in this collection)
among practitioners, can hinder professional cross-collaboration, seamless
services, execution and monitoring of integrated support policies. Lack of
coherence can be confusing to users who experience barriers in accessing public
services. Education, training, and employment policies need to take the
horizontal or transversal nature of lifelong guidance into account: that it can fill
specific sectoral or other needs where services are delivered, but also fall into
gaps if provisions are not coherent and coordinated. Competition for financial
resources for in-service training can also be a problem.

1.2. Building the European evidence base on quality

assurance and professionalism
Cedefop has been engaged in studies and monitoring of aspects of quality
assurance in career guidance systems for over two decades. This publication is
the first step in updating existing knowledge on the broad theme of
professionalising career guidance since Cedefop published its 2009 volume
Professionalising career guidance: practitioner competences and qualification
routes in Europe. The study contains an overview of the career guidance
landscape and an outline of key issues at the time, and Cedefop’s competence
framework for career practitioners.

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 CHAPTER 1.
Introduction

The recent launching of Cedefop’s Inventory of lifelong guidance systems

and practices, in February 2020, provides cross-country evidence on a number of
system inputs and practices related to policy and legislation around high-quality
service delivery, and quality assurance approaches. Information made available
through contributions of Cedefop’s CareersNet members (4) aims to monitor and
document relevant policy developments towards achieving the objectives laid
down by the Council Resolution on lifelong guidance (Council of the European
Union, 2008), and the European guidelines for policies and systems development
for lifelong guidance (ELGPN, 2015). Country records in the inventory provide
system-wide information about national/regional policy developments and
structures pertaining to career guidance, career education and career
development in countries of the EU, EEA, EFTA, and EU accession countries.
The inventory has a dedicated section on qualifications and training, and quality
assurance, as well as other policy-relevant sections concerning access,
cooperation and collaboration, ICT, guidance for specific groups and settings,
and a number of social inclusion indicators.
No current discussion of professionalism in a critical service sector like
career guidance and career learning could exclude the multifaceted theme of
technology’s impact on the field: digitalisation, the advance of new technologies
and digital innovation in connection with professionalism. Quality assurance is
also part of this. Big data offers the resources for real-time information for
understanding in-demand skills in relation to the needs of guidance clients, but
more evidence on the implications for career services and practitioners is
needed. Career guidance services and activities are set in a field that crosses
sectors and where evidence indicates that guidance work has been transformed,
given a push by the measures enforced at the onset of COVID-19. What are the
new tasks for providers, and which occupations in the labour market are affected
or not by technology? What new learning is needed for providers and for clients?
Are practitioners already adapting? What about self-help platforms and
partnering with new technology, with the need for human intervention? What
about privacy and impartiality, and the wider ethical dilemmas? Targeted
competence development for career practitioners is now discussed in parallel
with skills acquisition of the clients and learners they strive to empower. In the
public employment services, for example, staff will need to have their skills and
knowledge updated regularly, just like other workers (European PES Network,
2021, p.9). Though not a new discussion in career guidance policy, the issue of

(4) CareersNet is Cedefop’s network of independent experts in lifelong guidance and

career development.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

digital transformation of services, what are basic and what are advanced digital
skills – of both practitioners and clients – are clearly aligned with other broad
policy priorities.
An impressive number of new EU policies, priorities and initiatives mark the
2020ies as the ‘digital decade’, which is dedicated to making the European
labour force fit for the digital age: the Updated Digital Education Action Plan
(2020), the Digital Services Act (2020), the Digital Skills and Job Coalition (5), the
Digital Europe initiative and the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform, which offers
online self-help guidance tools and resources for those looking for digital career
opportunities. The new Europass multi-purpose platform also fits this emerging
landscape. Finally, the European Pact for Skills and the Charter embedded in it
invite public, private and civil society actors to collaborate and support all these
interrelated initiatives (European Commission, 2020b).
Finally, with these developments that may intend to reach more users, it is
equally important to keep sight of the European Pillar of Social Rights in respect
to social inclusion, articulating the right to access the labour market and
continuous learning, by identifying barriers to resources and opportunities that
should benefit all. System change includes an awareness that all users have
access to the appropriate channels of their choice. Along with career
practitioners, managers and decision-makers need to quickly deepen their
understanding of factors that may play an important role in further developments
and the successful implementation of existing and emerging technologies
(Kettunen and Sampson, 2019).

1.3. Collection of papers and CareersNet annual

meeting, October 2020
Against this background, and with the pandemic evolving, the theme of the
annual CareersNet meeting in October 2020, Rethinking career practitioners
professionalism in the digital context, offered the CareersNet experts and
meeting partner, the German Federal Employment Agency, and its University of
Applied Labour Studies, a chance to debate these issues. It was an opportunity
for reflection, peer learning and exchange on policy developments and practices
at a unique moment in history, not long after the pandemic was declared. The
current collection of working papers includes some of the presentation inputs,

(5) It tackles digital skills of four groups in the labour force, and includes actions on career
advice and guidance.

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 CHAPTER 1.
Introduction

enriched with additional contributions by attending CareersNet experts and

colleagues.
This collection is loosely structured into four parts, revolving around the
broad theme of professionalising the career guidance workforce on the one hand
and, on the other, the particular competences fit for the digital and wider societal
context. Not all papers place direct focus on technology-related themes. Attention
is also paid to other changes surrounding or triggered by the COVID-19
pandemic crisis. Theoretical/conceptual and overview papers are included, while
several papers present updated illustrations of national or regional systems or
particular service developments.
Part I begins with a joint paper, Identifying standards for career
professionalism (by Raimo Vuorinen, Jaana Kettunen, Ernesto Villalba-Garcia
and Cynthia Harrison), introducing five different interrelated elements that help
promote professionalism and ensure quality of guidance services. Evidence from
Cedefop's Inventory of lifelong guidance systems and practices for countries
included is used to illustrate how these aspects of the guidance systems have
developed over the past few years.
The next contribution, Professionalising career guidance in Greece: current
and future challenges, by Fotini Vlachaki, addresses cross-sectoral quality
assurance and policy provisions already in place, as well as new legislation on
qualifications and piloting of continuing training programmes initiated in 2020.
Widespread adoption of new digital tools and remote support processes is visible
in the career guidance and counselling services. The focus shifts slightly in The
relevance of the occupational qualification framework in the field of career
guidance in Estonia (by Margit Rammo), to the national system for awarding the
career specialist qualification. The author discusses cross-sectoral stakeholder
views on the advantages of the system and the qualification contents, and areas
for further reflection and development. Digital skills of practitioners, portability of
certificates, relevance of qualifications for capacity building and for the labour
market, and the role of technology in the award process are key questions
stakeholders discussed. Digital badges for career practitioner skills validation in
Italy (by Giulio Iannis), presents the open digital badge system for recognising
and validating competences of career practitioners in one region in Italy. The new
process can be carried out fully online and offers several badges. The design of
the system of validating their skills and competences is based on the national
standards for cross-sectoral guidance services in the country and competence
standards for career practice in Italy adapted in the regions.
The last paper in this group, Active support for the unemployed: implications
of digitalisation for professionalism in career guidance (by Susanne Kraatz)
discusses changing concepts of active labour market policies in the public

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

employment service context. It analyses to what extent the need to rethink public
employment service (PES) counsellor professionalism is covered by the existing
tools developed for the European Network of Public Employment Services (PES
Network). Documents from the PES Network and the European competence
framework for PES and EURES practitioners are briefly analysed and discussed.
Reflections are shared on making career guidance for the unemployed,
especially those who are most vulnerable or with complex needs, fit for the digital
future.
Part II discusses professionalism in relation to the swift expansion and rise
of technology and the integration of ICT in career guidance. A joint paper, Career
chat: the art of AI and the human interface in career development (by Füsun
Akkök and Deirdre Hughes), begins this set of papers positing that big data,
artificial intelligence and innovative tools (such as chatbots), are dynamic,
portable and flexible approaches for self-directed learning and personalised
careers support. Provision of holistic career guidance also needs skilful human
intervention, and an openness among practitioners to new technologies. Diving
deeper into technology’s reach in the guidance field, arguments for enhancing
career practitioner skills and competences in understanding and managing labour
market information are presented in Labour market management skills among
career practitioners: tackling increasing complexity (by Tibor Bors Borbély-
Pecze). New skills and knowledge include analysis and interpretation of labour
market statistics, big data, and databases, to incorporate this knowledge
continuously into practice. Without this capacity, practitioners risk losing control
of the special relationship career guidance has always had with the labour
market, as a central aspect of their services for all clients.
Quality frameworks are relevant to digital career guidance services, as
discussed in A context-resonant quality framework for continuous career
guidance professionalisation: the case of Norway (by Erik Hagaseth Haug). The
author demonstrates his points on how context is critical, using the recent
establishment of the all-age and cross-sectoral national digital career guidance
service in Norway. The importance of a shift toward ‘integrated guidance’, which
combines different modalities for delivery, is discussed, as well as the centrality
of career learning and ownership of the framework, stakeholder involvement, and
service development.
In Part III, the authors explore other areas for practitioner competence
development, potentially overshadowed by current interest in digital skills and
technology in guidance. Prompted by the pandemic, diverse aspects of
professionalism have resurfaced. SEL approaches in the paper Social and
emotional skills in career guidance: a Romanian school counsellor guide (by
Angela Andrei), are seen as increasingly instrumental in coping with changes

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 CHAPTER 1.
Introduction

during the crisis, and in building resilience in young people. Describing the rising
interest in competence-mapping studies, the paper illustrates how SEL concepts
were used in the creation of a comprehensive guide for school counsellors in
Romania. The guide should foster skills in students and train guidance
counsellors. Advocating for attention to another recognised competence area in
An international dimension for improved capacity building of guidance
professionals (by Nina Ahlroos, Graziana Boscato and Margit Rammo)
international mobility is given renewed emphasis in EU 2020+ policy and
programmes. The paper argues that global competences and intercultural
understanding are not yet given sufficient attention in career practitioner
education and training. As good practice examples, three online training
opportunities for guidance practitioners in Estonia, France and Sweden are
presented.
The last paper in this third part, Strategic competence and the transformative
role of ICT in lifelong guidance, by Jaana Kettunen and Raimo Vuorinen, calls for
more emphasis on strategic competences of practitioners to help define new
roles and tasks within multi-professional networks, within and between different
settings and service interfaces. These shifts may be transformed through ICT
and data-driven changes and innovations having an impact on the type of skills
practitioners need for strategic collaboration, to provide lifelong and seamless
service. The paper is particularly timely in light of renewed interest in
partnerships and intersecting ecosystems.
Part IV. presents papers on shaping training in the digital context. The first is
Enhancing practitioner skills for work in the digital context (by Jaana Kettunen),
which addresses the gaps in continuing training and professional development
for career practitioners. The paper describes the design and content of an
international, jointly developed ICT training programme for guidance and
counselling practitioners. The approach to analysing practitioners’ conceptions of
social media and competence for social media in career services is presented,
and how it offers ways of gaining a more complex understanding of specific
topics. The pandemic context provided an impetus for updating evidence on
training, as shown in the joint paper Career practice education and training in
Portugal: challenges during the pandemic (Maria do Céu Taveira, Helia Moura
and Sofia Ramalho). The authors’ enquiry explored whether initial training in
psychology prepared future and practising counsellors for the abrupt shift to
remote delivery. Several methods were used to understand the ICT-related
training available, and the respondents’ views. Despite the digital skills gap and
lack of initial preparation, career practitioners (counsellors) across sectors
adapted using multiple intervention methods but see a need for professional
development.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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The last paper provides a country illustration of emerging developments in

Germany, and some hurdles. Career guidance in the digital context: trends in
Germany (by Susanne Kraatz, Matthias Rübner, Peter Matthias) presents an
overview of trends in career guidance training pathways and changing job
profiles in the digital transformation. The Federal Employment Agency has put a
broad range of digital self-service tools in place, revamping its careers portal to
strengthen a process-oriented and problem-solving presentation, integrating
information in databases (Cedefop, 2020). In 2021, the focus is on piloting,
evaluation and rolling out of video counselling. Digital guidance competences are
considered as transversal competences in new training. Overcoming the
challenge of reluctant attitudes among practitioners towards digitalisation, who
see their tasks replaced by self-service tools (and increasingly, artificial
intelligence), will involve creating the conditions for forward-looking attitudes.

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Ertelt, B. and Kraatz, S. (eds) (2011). Professionalisation of career guidance in
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Tübingen, Germany: Dgvt Verlag.
https://www.fachportal-paedagogik.de/literatur/vollanzeige.html?FId=938535
ETF (2020). International trends and innovation in career guidance – Thematic
chapters, Vol. I. https://www.etf.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2020-
11/innovation_in_career_guidance_vol._1.pdf
European Commission (2020a). European skills agenda for sustainable
competitiveness, social fairness and resilience.
https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=22832&langId=en
European Commission (2020b). Pact for skills: Charter.
https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=23158&langId=en
European Commission and Sienkiewicz, Ł. (2012). Job profiles and training for
employment counsellors: analytical paper. PES to PS dialogue.
https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=14102&langId=en
European Network of Public Employment Services (2021). The power of PES
partnerships: PES network stakeholder conference, 20 to 22 April 2021,
synthesis paper. Luxembourg: Publications Office.
file:///C:/Users/SWE/Downloads/PES%20Network%20-
%20Conference%20synthesis%20paper%20-
%20The%20power%20of%20PES%20partnerships.pdf
Kettunen, J. (2021). Career experts’ conceptions of innovation in career
development. International Journal for Educational and Vocational
Guidance. Online first. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-021-09509-9
Kettunen, J. and Sampson, J. P. (2019). Challenges in implementing ICT in
career services: perspectives from career development experts. International
journal for educational and vocational guidance, Vol. 19, No 1, pp. 1-18.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-018-9365-6
Ministers in charge of vocational education and training of the Member States et
al. (2020). Osnabrück Declaration on vocational education and training as an
enabler of recovery and just transitions to digital and green economies.
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/files/osnabrueck_declaration_eu2020.pdf
OECD (2010). Learning for jobs. Paris: OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/20777736
OECD (2021). Career guidance for adults in a changing world of work: getting
skills right. Paris: OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/25206125

Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021 13

 PART I

14 Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021

CHAPTER 2.
Identifying standards for career
professionalism
Raimo Vuorinen, CareersNet, Finland (6); Jaana Kettunen, CareersNet,
Finland (7); Ernesto Villalba-Garcia, Cedefop; Cynthia Harrison, Cedefop

2.1. Introduction
Policy approaches supporting acquisition and professional development of career
practitioner (8) competences have made progress since 2009 when Cedefop’s
study on professional standards and its corresponding competence framework
was published. However, the landscape remains uneven. ‘Establishing a
coherent and holistic guidance system that is accessible over the whole human
lifespan has clear implications for the competences, qualifications and continuous
professional development of guidance practitioners’ (Cedefop, 2009).
International organisations, professional associations and networks have also
been moving the field forward with the development of comprehensive
frameworks, using similar principles but applied in different contexts (ELGPN,
2015b; IAEVG, 2018; Schiersmann et al., 2012).
A dynamic situation is unfolding within the context of digitalisation and its
impact on public services and career guidance policy and practice. This is having
an impact on the different elements of guidance systems, related to governance
and strategies for ensuring quality services, including the professionalism of
career practitioners. The Member States of the European Union are revisiting
their policies and governance on career guidance and aligning them according to
these broader trends. A sustainable multilevel structure for governance of lifelong
guidance services includes legislation, strategies, standards, monitoring,
technical support, and quality development. These key features of governance
are necessary for the Member States to provide better access and coherence of
services to the public, thus making progress in professionalising guidance and its
workforce across Europe. As countries are structured differently and have

(6) Raimo Vuorinen, Project Manager, Finnish Institute for Educational Research,
University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
(7) Jaana Kettunen, PhD, Associate Professor, Finnish Institute for Educational
Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
(8) Throughout this chapter, the term ‘career practitioner’ will be used to encompass
both guidance and counselling practitioners with various specialisations.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

diverse histories, the governance of lifelong guidance and job profiles of career
practitioners vary widely across countries and regions (Barnes et al., 2020).
According to Barnes et al. (2020) there is an emerging desire in some
countries to raise the status of the guidance profession, but there may be a lack
of effective action either through policy or through coordination of the services.
Within national guidance policies across the Member States, it is possible to
identify several tangible ways of promoting professionalism and identifying career
practitioner competences. These include: legislation, quality standards, licensing
arrangements, registers of practitioners, and accreditation (ELGPN, 2015a;
Vuorinen and Kettunen, 2017). Some features of these measures have common
elements and are partially overlapping, but they serve different purposes.
Legislation, licensing, and registers of career practitioners are normative in
nature and often connected to the funding of the career services. Quality
standards and accreditation can be a mandatory condition to receive public funds
but can also be voluntary (OECD, 2021). Quality standards can be useful for
quality development and can focus more on guidance practice, with detailed
descriptions of how career practitioners have acquired or further developed
required competences. Voluntary standards can be a way for private career
service providers to signal the quality of their services to potential user groups
(OECD, 2021).
The scope of this paper is mainly on identifying practitioner competences
relating to initial training but it acknowledges also the increasing importance of in-
service training and continuous professional development (CPD), including
mutual peer learning, as key measures to refresh and maintain professionalism
and to enhance the quality of service delivery (Cedefop, 2009). There are
variations among Member States in how CPD is organised. In many cases, in-
service training is offered ad hoc as a response to emerging needs. A more
concrete step towards professionalism is through regular short and refresher
courses on new information or methods, organised by local or national authorities
(e.g. NCGE in Ireland) or as part of accreditation programmes. Some countries
(e.g. Skills Development Scotland) provide sustained CPD programmes based
on identified training needs and national priorities for policy and practice
(Kettunen, 2021).
Drawing mainly on the country records in Cedefop’s inventory of lifelong
guidance systems and practices (Cedefop, 2020a), as well as other sources of
evidence (Barnes et al., 2020; OECD, 2021), this paper provides a brief review of
interrelated elements that help identify policy on career practitioner competences
across European countries. It also outlines important aspects of professionalising
guidance, discussed in more detail in some of the other papers in this collection.
The review of the elements of professionalism provided in this paper is, however,

16 Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021

 CHAPTER 2.
Identifying standards for career professionalism

not exhaustive, in the sense of authors having checked the latest reforms and
changes in each EU country. The paper contains many examples and
illustrations in order to demonstrate how standards aim to raise quality in career
guidance and can be described in terms of these selected elements. The
elements are useful to follow developments in changing standards. Other studies
have accounted for additional and overlapping elements on the path to
professionalisation (Sultana, 2018).

2.2. Legislation and guidelines

According to Ertelt and Kraatz (2011), legislation is the most powerful instrument
for achieving a high level of professionalisation. Barnes et al. (2020) reported that
17 European countries (AT, BG, CH, CZ, CY, DK, EE, FI, FR, IS, LV, MT, PL,
PT, RO, SE, and TR) have legally defined the qualifications of career
practitioners. However, the legislation on lifelong guidance is inconsistent and
does not cover service provision in sufficient detail (Hughes, 2012; Cedefop,
2011). According to the evidence reviewed here, only a few countries have
established regulations or legislation on required qualification levels and annual
professional development activities. This can be seen in Finland, Iceland, Ireland
and Serbia, where specific qualifications are a legal requirement to practice in
career guidance and counselling. Often the legally defined qualifications of career
practitioners are embedded or integrated in legislation only for specific career
services such as education or employment. For example, in Luxembourg
(Cedefop, 2020m) and Malta (Cedefop, 2020n), the minimum requirements for
the in-service training of career practitioners are included in legislation describing
the content of career services in school settings. In Poland (Cedefop, 2020p),
practitioners from the education sector should have a higher education diploma
and pedagogical qualifications.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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Box 1. Serbia's legislation on career practitioner (counsellors) in the National

Employment Service

Serbia: all career counsellors working in the National Employment Service

(Nacionalna služba za zapošljavanje) have qualifications in psychology and
counselling. This is in line with the regulation on special and technical conditions for
the work of employment agencies, conditions regarding professional competences of
employees, and programme and methods of obtaining a licence (Pravilnik o
prostornim i tehničkim uslovima za rad agencije za zapošljavanje, uslovima stručne
osposobljenosti zaposlenih, programu, sadržini i načinu polaganja ispita za rad u
zapošljavanju), Official Gazette RS, No 98/2009, which defines conditions regarding
professional competences of employees in employment agencies.

Source: Cedefop (2020s).

Box 2. Legally defined qualifications of guidance counsellors in

comprehensive and upper secondary level education in Finland

Finland: the qualifications of the guidance counsellors at comprehensive and

secondary level education, and also of the vocational psychologists, are defined in
legislation (628/1998, Asetus opetustoimen henkilöstön kelpoisuusvaatimuksista). In
addition to the required qualification for teachers (a master degree or a special
qualification for vocational-school teachers), all guidance counsellors must have a
certificate of completion of a specialist postgraduate diploma in guidance and
counselling (60 ECTS). Another option is to take a master degree programme in
guidance and counselling (300 ECTS, which includes the pedagogical training
equivalent with 60 ECTS).

Source: Cedefop (2020g).

Instead of specific legislation on career practitioner qualifications, countries

can strengthen the status of guidance services by embedding definitions of
required competences in other types of normative documents, such as strategies
or guidelines for regional or local service provision. According to the OECD
(2021), qualification requirements vary by context but a tertiary degree is usually
required. In Scotland, the new national strategy (Scottish Government, 2020)
explicitly states that professional development for practitioners will be shared
more widely across the careers system, led by Skills Development Scotland
(SDS): ‘A vibrant national continuous professional development (CPD)
programme will ensure that there is a clear focus on: e.g. multiple pathways for
career information, advice and guidance (CIAG) leadership, management and
practitioner learning and development both online and offline, from
apprenticeship to PhD study programmes’ (cited in Cedefop 2020x). In Austria,
the National strategy for lifelong guidance, developed in 2006, has among its
goals the professionalisation of counsellors and trainers through mandatory
standards for career practitioners. The providers of the country’s free adult

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 CHAPTER 2.
Identifying standards for career professionalism

education guidance programmes must be certified by the Beratung und

Orientierung für Bildung und Beruf (IBOBB, counselling, orientation and
information for education and careers) (Cedefop, 2020b; OECD, 2021). More
recently, in Finland the recently agreed national lifelong guidance strategy 2020-
23 (Valtioneuvosto, 2020) includes a proposal for evaluating the existing training
of career practitioners and defining a competence framework for them. The
quality of services will be improved by assessing the training needs of those
involved in guidance work to ensure they have the necessary skills for successful
performance in guidance services across the sectors (Valtioneuvosto, 2020).
In Belgium, guidance centres under the Cité des Métiers network, must
guarantee a professionalisation policy as well as an annual professional
development plan for every employee, including the code of ethics and
professional confidentiality (Cedefop, 2020c, OECD, 2021). Executive orders or
guidelines in Denmark (Bekendtgørelse) (Cedefop, 2020e), France (cahier des
charges) (Cedefop 2020j) and Greece define the training requirements and
qualifications of career practitioners working in schools, public employment
sector (PES) or regional guidance centres (Cedefop, 2020j). In Sweden, the
guidelines also address steering and leading guidance work (school owners and
school heads); assuring the quality of guidance personnel and the competence
needed; and teaching and cooperation among schools, in education and in
working life Cedefop, 2020t). Germany has defined binding rules for the
competences of staff working in education or public employment services that are
connected with the internal training of the Federal Employment Agency’s
University of Applied Sciences in Mannheim (Cedefop, 2020i).
A prominent example of normative measures for promoting professionalism
is the Programme recognition framework for guidance and counselling in Ireland
(Department of education and skills, 2016). This framework sets out criteria and
guidelines for an initial training programme targeting graduates who plan to work
in guidance services under the remit of national governmental authorities across
the education and labour market sectors (Cedefop, 2020l).

2.3. Quality standards related to career practitioner

competences
In countries lacking sufficient normative documents to mandate professionalism,
the competences are included in national quality standards for practice. These
quality standards might be mandatory or voluntary (Dodd et al., 2019a; OECD,
2021). The inventory (Cedefop, 2020s) shows that quality standards for career
practitioners in different settings can be found in Austria, France, Norway,

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

Montenegro, Portugal, Turkey and the United Kingdom. In Belgium, the national
authorities monitor quality regularly by checking whether the mandated centres
meet the requirements (OECD, 2021). In Hungary (Cedefop, 2020k), Germany
(Cedefop, 2020i) and Serbia (Cedefop, 2020s), professionalism is included within
wider national quality standards for guidance. In Germany, the national forum for
lifelong guidance has produced a voluntary Quality concept for guidance (BeQu,
Beratungsqualität) consisting of a competence profile and a framework for quality
development in public and private sector organisations (9). To use the BeQu
quality label, providers must formally apply to the National Guidance Forum,
commit to work in accordance to the label and have participated in a mandatory
workshop (OECD, 2021).
Serbia has extended the standards into guidelines for self-assessment of
career practitioners to guide their own planning and to monitor their professional
development; they also guide providers of education and training programmes for
career practitioners towards improved quality programmes (Cedefop, 2020s).
Romania exemplifies countries in which the ethical code for career practitioners
is included in the national quality standards (Cedefop, 2020r). In Estonia, the
professional competences of career practitioners are part of the national
occupational qualification standards. The occupational qualification standards for
lifelong guidance are available on two levels, including career specialist at
European qualifications framework EQF levels 6 and 7 (Cedefop, 2020f) (10).

2.4. Licensing and registries

In a few countries, career practitioner competences may be associated with
licensing arrangements, with career practitioners being required to join an
association or obtain a specific certification. Licences for career practitioners
were required for counsellors working in the public employment services in
Poland up to 2012, before different licences were abolished in a national reform
on deregulation of professions (Cedefop, 2020p). Employees in counselling and
placement services at the Public Employment Service Austria (AMS) are required
to have passed their school-leaving examination or to have completed vocational
training and must have several years of professional experience. There is also an
apprenticeship programme (personnel service) that prepares participants for the
counselling profession. Basic training lasts 40 weeks, alternating with work-based

(9) See Kraatz, Rübner and Weber (2021) in this collection.

(10) See Rammo (2021) in this collection.

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 CHAPTER 2.
Identifying standards for career professionalism

learning phases, and ends with a final examination (Cedefop, 2020b). In Estonia,
the Association of Estonian Career Counsellors is responsible for awarding and
re-certifying occupational qualifications of career specialists (Cedefop, 2020f).
In some countries, professional associations may play an important role in
enhancing professionalism and in guiding the qualifications and standards of the
profession. For example, Austrian career counsellors are organised in
professional associations, such as the Association of Austrian Education and
Career Guidance Counsellors (VÖBB), established in 2015; these associations
foster the professionalisation of career guidance practitioners by offering further
training programmes and encouraging exchange among them (Cedefop, 2020b).
In Malta, career guidance practitioners are encouraged to become members of
the Malta Career Guidance Association (MCGA); this organises training events
for its members and collaborates with other national entities to strengthen the
competences of the career guidance practitioners (Cedefop, 2020n). In Greece,
the National Organisation for the Certification of Qualifications and Vocational
Guidance (EOPPEP) prepares the institutional framework for the certification of
qualifications of career guidance counsellors and the establishment of an official
Registry of certified career guidance counsellors in Greece (Cedefop, 2020j) (11).
The national registers in Germany (Cedefop, 2020i), the Netherlands (Cedefop,
2020o), and the UK (Cedefop, 2020v; 2020w; 2020x) are examples of single
national points of reference for ensuring and promoting the professional status of
career practitioners across the whole sector. The registers provide information to
members of the profession, their clients and employers, policy-makers and other
stakeholders. In UK-England, the register is maintained by a professional
association, the Career Development Institute. Career practitioners have two
options to achieve the skills and qualifications to provide career guidance
services; either through postgraduate academic studies or through competence-
based workplace accreditation. Those interested in acquiring such a diploma or
certificate have access to specialised higher education equivalent training that
leads to a qualification in career guidance. In addition to demonstrating required
qualifications, practitioners are expected to undertake (and record) a minimum of
25 hours of continuing professional development each year (OECD, 2021).
Portugal´s national registry admission requirements include a master degree and
a one-year internship (Cedefop, 2020q).

(11) See Vlachaki (2021) in this collection.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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Box 3. UK Register of career development professionals

The UK Register of career development professionals is the single national point of

reference for ensuring and promoting the professional status of career practitioners
across sectors. By joining the register, professionals can demonstrate their
qualifications, call themselves registered professionals and use the RCDP logo. The
register is also available as an online resource for potential clients, employers,
schools, colleges and learning providers looking to find registered professionals in
their area.

Source: Career Development Institute (2021).

2.5. Accreditation and competence frameworks

Some countries promote professionalism using international accreditation
frameworks or professional certification, especially when there is no possibility for
legislation or other normative documents to guide it. The certification
demonstrates that career practitioners have the necessary qualifications,
experience, skills, and knowledge to provide quality services in an ethical
manner. In addition to minimum qualification, the practitioners demonstrate
participation in continuous development (OECD, 2021). The Global career
development facilitator (GCDF) framework of the European Board of Certified
Counsellors is used in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Portugal, and Germany
(Barnes et al., 2020). In Bulgaria, the GCDF licensing framework is the main
training programme (both initial and continuous) for career counselling and is
embedded in relevant master degree programmes (Cedefop, 2020d). In
Romania, 450 professionals have been trained and certified as GCDFs, working
in human resources departments in companies, school counselling offices,
university counselling centres and in private practice (Cedefop, 2020r).
Another common model of promoting professionalism is the use of
competence frameworks (or an equivalent), especially in countries in which
career practitioner competences are not explicitly included in detail in national or
regional guidance policies. Evidence from the inventory (Cedefop, 2020a) shows
that this operates on a national level as in Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Slovenia, and the UK, or regionally as in Belgium or Italy. In Greece, the existing
framework includes descriptions of the career guidance counsellor occupational
profile, the tasks and responsibilities of career practitioners in different career
services, the necessary knowledge, competences, and skills, as well as the
relevant education paths. This applies to all career practitioners in their particular
setting (Cedefop, 2020j).

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 CHAPTER 2.
Identifying standards for career professionalism

Across Europe, career practitioners work alongside many other

intermediaries, such as teachers, career coaches, mentors, careers advisers,
youth workers, enterprise advisers and employers/employees in public, private
and voluntary community sectors. The Netherlands has established detailed
frameworks for different categories of career counsellors. These frameworks
provide information on expected professional knowledge, skills and competences
at different school levels in four focus areas: vision and policy, orientation and
guidance, organisation and cooperation (Cedefop, 2020o). Malta (Cedefop,
2020n) and Austria distinguish professional profiles both for full time career
practitioners and for teachers who provide guidance as part of their professional
portfolio (Vuorinen and Kettunen, 2019).
The EU, through its support via programmes such as Erasmus+, has
allocated funding for several development projects focusing on career practitioner
competences. The European career guidance certificate (ECGC) in 2007-09, with
partners from seven EU Member States, compiled outcomes of two previous
similar projects into one standardised certification system to acknowledge the
formally or informally acquired knowledge, skills, and competences of career
counsellors. In 2012, the Network for innovation in career guidance and
counselling in Europe (NICE) published a handbook in which it identified common
points of reference that could support establishing degree programmes in the
field and inform curriculum design (Schiersmann et al., 2016). These reference
points were elaborated into a proposal for European competence standards as a
shared agreement and a voluntary framework on the minimum level of
competence needed to perform professional tasks by different types of
practitioner (career advisors, professionals, specialists) in career guidance and
counselling. NICE recommends as a solid basis the specialised programmes to
be included at level 6 or 7 of the EQF (ibid.) depending on the type of practice,
and ideally for career specialists, according to their definition, qualifications at
level 8 involving doctoral training. In Estonia, the national occupational
qualifications system includes the national occupational standard and
qualification for career specialist referenced to the Estonian national
qualifications framework (EstQF) (12) (Cedefop, 2020f). This inclusion in the
national qualification frameworks might be a way of providing more weight to the
qualifications associated with career guidance.
These frameworks developed with the support of European projects are built
on the main tasks that career practitioners carry out in each country. Member
States can pilot and validate the frameworks in cross-border or wider European

(12) See Rammo (2021) in this collection.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

networks and can enhance them through further cooperative projects (Vuorinen
and Kettunen, 2017).

2.6. National associations and professionalism

In countries with more structured and coordinated guidance services, promotion
of professionalism may be done in sustainable cooperation with national
professional associations (Dodd et al., 2019b). For example, Norway organised
wide consultation with stakeholders in establishing a master degree programme
for career practitioners to ensure that the new programme is in line with recent
development in the field and society (Cedefop, 2020y). Finland supported the
establishment of regional one-stop-guidance centres with targeted in-service
training in cooperation with associations. In Scotland, professionalisation is
supported with individualised learning programmes, delivered through the
national Skills Academy in partnership with higher education institutes (Barnes et
al., 2020; Vuorinen and Kettunen, 2019).
Codes of ethics also play a role in determining professional guidance
competences. When applying the membership of national associations, career
practitioners adhere to the ethical guidelines or standards endorsed by the
association. The inventory (Cedefop, 2020a) presents several examples across
Europe in which there are definitions of ethical standards: Belgium, Finland,
Germany, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, and the UK. In some cases, the ethical
standards are connected to international (e.g. IAEVG, 2019) or national
practitioner associations. In Portugal, the National Psychologists’ Association
(Ordem dos psicólogos portugueses) monitors compliance with the code of ethics
(Cedefop, 2020q). In Czechia, most members of the Association of University
Guidance Counsellors (Asociace vysokoškolských poradců, Avsp) follow an
ethical code (Barnes et al., 2020) and the Danish Association for Career
Guidance (Danmarks Vejlederforening) has among its eight objectives to assure
that career guidance rests on principles of ethics in guidance (Cedefop, 2020e).
The Romanian Counsellors Association (Asociația Consilierilor Români,
(ACROM) has produced an ethical code that cuts across different service
providers, irrespective of where the service is provided (Cedefop, 2020r). In other
countries, government agencies provide the ethical guidelines. In Greece, the
EOPPEP is in charge of developing the Greek code of ethics (Cedefop, 2020j),
and, in Italy, the ethical code is included in the document on quality standards
issued by the Ministry of Labour and the Regions (Ministro del lavoro e delle
politiche sociale, 2018).

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 CHAPTER 2.
Identifying standards for career professionalism

2.7. Conclusion
The recent increased policy attention on lifelong guidance results partly from the
changing nature of the world of work and subsequent career development
challenges for individuals navigating new and frequent transitions, non-linear
working patterns, and atypical working arrangements. In addition, recent
European-level policies and priorities in employment, education, and training,
have drawn attention to the pivotal importance of lifelong guidance for the young
in schooling and for adults in learning lifelong, and the training and
professionalism of practitioners across sectors. The values of networking,
collaboration, and cooperation, as well as quality assurance, have also re-
emerged as priorities that were established in the 2004 and 2008 Resolutions on
lifelong guidance.
Career practitioners must possess the requisite knowledge and skills to
address these emerging challenges effectively (Niles, Vuorinen and Siwiec,
2019). The different elements to promote professionalism need to be used to
assure this level of knowledge and skills. Across Europe, career practitioners are
also working alongside many other intermediaries in public, private and voluntary
community sectors. Professionalism demands that certain standards are
maintained and improved, including practice that is based on expert knowledge
and understanding (Barnes et al., 2020). Thus, training programmes and
competence frameworks must constantly be updated and adjusted accordingly.
Framework contents need to address the extent to which practitioner
competences are keeping up with digital advancements and labour market
intelligence and information relevant to clients’ needs (ELGPN, 2015a).
The great variety of existing frameworks and profiles may prevent policy-
makers from establishing appropriate policy measures to promote
professionalism in career guidance (ELGPN, 2015b). Barnes and colleagues
(Barnes et al., 2020) suggest that one way to maximise the improvements in the
delivery of high-quality lifelong guidance could be integration of professionalism
and professionalisation into structured mutual policy learning from LLG networks.
The Cedefop (2009) competence framework for career practitioners and the
European reference competence profile for PES and EURES counsellors
(Sienkiewicz, 2013) are examples of European level frameworks, in that they aim
to support policy implementation and competence development across Europe.
Both of them build on a deep analysis of existing national competence
frameworks, with theoretical references and case-study analyses, and are
validated by national policy and practice representatives. They address pre-
service, induction and continuing training, as well as the distinctive roles of
practitioners in diverse working contexts.

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The competence frameworks aim to reduce variability by offering a general

description that incorporates all the activities needed to deliver coherent
guidance services nationally or regionally. This can help ensure guidance
processes are consistent across services and align with national, regional, or
local objectives, increasing the likelihood of access to equitable support. With
attention to quality processes, outcomes for individuals and society may be
easier to monitor, and the results of guidance interventions easier to evaluate.
The frameworks can be used as a basis for minimum training as a prerequisite
not only for formal qualifications (for example, further education and training), but
also for different forms of learning-while-working that contribute to the acquisition
of defined practitioner competences. As countries design their own career
systems and policies, the frameworks need to reflect and be applied in
accordance with available resources, cultural and sectoral conditions and
applicable standards and codes (Vuorinen and Kettunen, 2017).

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rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

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Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021 31

CHAPTER 3.
Professionalising career guidance in
Greece: current and future challenges
Fotini Vlachaki (13), CareersNet, Greece

3.1. Introduction
In Greece, long-term economic recession, labour market instability, increased
migration flows, and the COVID-19 socioeconomic impact have intensified the
need for accessible career guidance and counselling (CGC) services. Despite the
progress made so far towards the institutionalisation of CGC services in Greece,
there is a chronic deficiency of a coherent framework in supporting lifelong career
guidance (Cedefop, 2020a; Kassotakis, 2017; Papadaki; Mirogiannis and Viky,
2012; Vlachaki, 2015). Meanwhile, widespread adoption of new digital tools and
remote support processes has already been visible in CGC services (Cedefop,
2020a, b). Practitioners are presented with daily challenges in meeting with the
increasingly demanding standards of professionalism and complex tasks,
featuring new knowledge, skills and competences (Barnes et al., 2020; Cedefop,
2009; Schiersmann et al., 2016).
This chapter offers a brief overview of the key aspects and interventions
promoting CGC professionalisation in Greece. Τhe current state of play regarding
practitioner training and qualifications is described. The analysis is focused on
the Career guidance counsellor occupational profile for improving practitioner
competence. Finally, areas for improvement are identified, highlighting the
changing context of CGC in terms of digital transformation and drawing useful
conclusions about future policy and practice challenges for well-equipped
professionals.

(13) Lifelong guidance expert, researcher, adult trainer MSc, PhDc at the National and
Kapodistrian University of Athens – Department of Psychology, Cedefop CareersNet
Member, Officer at the General Secretariat for Social Solidarity and Fight Against
Poverty, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Greece.

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Professionalising career guidance in Greece: current and future challenges

3.2. Training and qualifications of career guidance

practitioners in Greece
3.2.1. Background, state of play and gaps
CGC services in Greece have been provided by a wide network of public and
private entities in the fields of education, training, employment and social
inclusion (Cedefop, 2020a). Since the 1950s, practitioners have been a highly
heterogeneous group in terms of their formal qualifications, knowledge, skills,
and competences. While the licensing of the career-related entities has been
governed by specific legal provisions, there is no specific work permit for CGC
professionals. Consequently, many people with different scientific backgrounds
and professional capacities have been involved in CGC provision. Most are
university graduates from different disciplines (psychologists, sociologists,
educators, business consultants, economists, researchers) or have attended
relevant in-service training (EOPPEP, 2015; Kassotakis, 2017; Kettunen, 2017;
Schiersmann et al., 2016). Although no official data can be tracked, it is
estimated that the total number of professionals performing CGC-related
activities far exceeds 5,000 (EOPPEP, 2015). Among them, only a relatively
small percentage has completed university level education in CGC ( 14). Since the
early 1990s, several CGC university-level courses (programmes) (mainly master)
have been offered, ranging from two to four semesters (60-120 ECTS/ EQF 7, 8).
A few undergraduate courses/programmes (EQF 6) include CGC lessons and
specialisations in their curricula, while CVET courses are most frequent
(Cedefop, 2020a; Vlachaki; Tetradakou and Toumpas, 2007). In 2020, a
university-level qualification in CGC became a formal requirement for recruitment
in publicly funded career services and programmes (15).

(14) According to EOPPEP (2021), 184 persons have been registered so far as career
guidance counsellors level A (upper/ expert level).
(15) Formal provisions for a mandatory CGC qualification EQF 7,8 for practitioners
employed in public vocational training and (adult) lifelong learning structures have
been established by the new Law 4763/2020 (Government Gazette 254 A ').
According to Law 4547/2018 (Government Gazette 102 A’), secondary education
teachers specialised in CGC were appointed in the centres of educational and
counselling support (KESYs), providing career guidance and counselling services
until August 2021. A new law 4823 (Government Gazette 136Α' 3.8.2021) reshaped
KESYs to Centres for Interdisciplinary Assessment, Counselling and Support
(KEDASYs), which are no longer provide career guidance services to students
(Article 11). The new law foresees that secondary education teachers specialised in
CGC will be appointed at the Directorates of Secondary Education, which operate
under the respective Regional Directorates of Education, so as to support school
units in career guidance issues, as well as in Offices of Counselling and Guidance

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

3.2.2. Τhe Career guidance counsellor occupational profile and actions to

enhance practitioners’ competence in Greece
Practitioner competence and CGC professionalisation has been a central
element in the systemic interventions initiated by EOPPEP (National
Organisation for the Certification of Qualifications and Vocational Guidance),
including the development of quality and ethical standards (Cedefop, 2020a;
IEKEP, 2007; Vlachaki and Gaitanis, 2011, 2012a, 2012b, 2014). However, a
flagship intervention, linked to official accreditation, was the development of the
Career guidance counsellor occupational profile in 2014 (Vlachaki and Gaitanis,
2014).
The project was commissioned to a group of stakeholder experts,
representing the Centre for the Development of Educational Policy (KANEP) of
the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) and the Hellenic Federation
of Enterprises (SEV) (16). The process included desk research and the Delphi
method with in-depth semi-structured interviews with CGC professionals and
employers. CGC was defined as a horizontal activity (17), covering the whole
range of sectors and fields of service provision (Box 1).

(GRASYPs) per group of neighbouring schools (Articles 27, 48). Similarly, secondary
education teachers will act as Apprenticeship Liaison Officers in the special needs
vocational lower – upper secondary education schools (ΕΝΕΕGy-L) to facilitate
students’ labour market integration (Article 94). In addition, since 2017, relevant
qualification requirements have been included in the Greek PES (OAED) call for
recruitment (Government Gazette A.S.E.P. 34/15K 2017), as well as in various ESF-
funded vocational training voucher programmes, implemented by the Ministry of
Labour and Social Affairs.
(16) Law 3369/2005 (Government Gazette 171 A') and Joint Ministerial Decision No
110998/19.4.2006 (Government Gazette 566/8.5.06) foresees that the social
partners, representing the employees and employers of the CGC profession are
entitled to be involved in the development of occupational profiles.
(17) In accordance with the provisions of Joint Ministerial Decision 110998 (Government
Gazette B' 566/8.5.06) and Article 3 of Law 3369/2005 (Government Gazette 171 A'),
as amended by Article 30 of Law 3879/2010 (A' 163) and Article 19 of Law
4115/2013 (Government Gazette 24 A ').

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 CHAPTER 3.
Professionalising career guidance in Greece: current and future challenges

Box 1. Definition of CGC as a horizontal activity

‘The Career guidance counsellor functions in various levels, planning, organising,

preparing, and implementing CGC actions according to the relevant career
development theories, educational policies, the socioeconomic context as well as the
special characteristics and needs of the target population. It also captures, evaluates,
and redesigns his/her professional practice, while developing relevant career
education programmes, covering a wide range of supportive lifelong career
development actions. In this scope, the CGC profession is a horizontal activity as it
can be practised at different levels of hierarchy and in different sectors (education,
training, and employment), while it results from the combination of various roles and
learning outcomes, and requires very good knowledge of the general socioeconomic
context at local, national and European level’.
Source: EOPPEP (2015). Translated by author.

The functional analysis applied, had captured the main professional

functions, consisting of independent sets of individual activities, each analysed in
different tasks, divided into respective knowledge, skills and competences
(Dimoulas; Varvitsioti and Spilioti, 2007). The profile features two distinct levels of
hierarchy and subsequent functions and tasks, which may be performed in
parallel or complimentarily, depending on the organisational context of CGC
provision. Alternative educational paths, ways of evaluating learning outcomes
and the relevant certification preconditions for both levels of practice were also
described (Table 1).

Table 1. Main professional functions of career guidance counsellor according

to level of hierarchy

Educational paths/
Levels of Main professional EQF
Areas of practice Accreditation
practice functions (Mpf) Level
requirements
MPF 1 (Level Β+Α): University degree
Performs all the basic Plans, organises and in any subject +
professional functions prepares the CVET in CGC of
and tasks related to framework for the at least 250 hours
primary service provision of CGC + 2 years of
provision in services. professional
education, training or experience or
employment, in order 200 hours of
LEVEL B to meet the needs of MPF 2 (Level Β+Α): internship in CGC
(BASIC) different target groups Provides CGC EQF public or private
MPF (students, young services. 6 services +
1,2,3 people, adults, the Written
MPF 3 (Level Β+Α):
unemployed, examinations
Evaluates redesigns
vulnerable social including
and expands access to
groups) evaluation of a
CGC services and
(MPF 1,2,3); model counselling
his/her professional
session
practice.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

Performs both
professional functions MPF 4 (Level Α):
and tasks of level B, Supervises and
as well as advanced ensures the quality of
professional functions CGC services.
with increased
responsibility
MPF 5 (Level Α): University, master
requirements and
Conducts research and or doctoral
higher scientific
LEVEL Α provides training on degrees
expertise, such as
(EXPERT) CGC in CGC
planning, conducting
and evaluating career EQF
MPF No examination
guidance training 6,7,8
1,2,3,4,5,6 procedure is
programmes,
required for
supervising,
MPF 6 (Level Α): certification
designing and
development of Promotes the
career guidance development of CGC
assessment tools, tools.
scientific research
etc.
(MPF 1,2,3,4,5,6)
Source: EOPPEP (2015). Translated by author. See also Cedefop and ReferNet Greece (2020).

A model modular CVET programme in CGC was also proposed, as a basis for
the development and evaluation of relevant training leading to basic level
certification (B). The profile was validated by an expert committee, organised by
EOPPEP, consisting of representatives from the stakeholder ministries,
institutions and social partners (18) (EOPPEP, 2015; Gaitanis, 2019; Vlachaki and
Gaitanis, 2014).
The two distinct professional levels were considered appropriate by the
scientific and professional CGC community in Greece (IEKEP, 2002),
encompassing both the practitioners possessing long-term work experience and
highly specialised professionals equipped with university-level qualifications in
CGC (EQF 6,7,8). This integrated approach contributes to building a common
professional identity for all CGC practitioners, featuring diverse professional
roles. It also facilitates the accreditation of prior learning through competence-
based learning and inter-professional mobility by identifying different
specialisation routes in the field (Cedefop, 2009; EOPPEP, 2015; Kettunen,
2017; McCarthy, 2004; Schiersmann et al., 2016).
While the development of the occupational profile has been undoubtedly a
very important milestone in Greece, recently established legal provisions set the

(18) As regulated by Law 4115/30.1.2013 Article 19, Paragraph 5 (amendment of Article

3 of Law 3369/2005 (Α’ 171) as amended by Article 30 of Law 3879/2010), Joint
Ministerial Decision 110998/2006 and the EOPPEP’s Governing Board decision
DA/6962-100/7.2.2014.

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 CHAPTER 3.
Professionalising career guidance in Greece: current and future challenges

ground for accelerating developments in this field. A new law foresees the
development of a system for the certification of the Career guidance counsellor
qualifications, their classification into levels A' and B', and their enrolment in the
relevant registers that will be maintained by EOPPEP (19). The Register of career
guidance counsellors Level A1 was already established in 2019, following an
open call targeted to university degree holders in CGC (EQF 6,7,8) (20). A
ministerial decision will define the conditions and examination process for the
accreditation of Level B’ practitioners, and their subsequent enrolment in the
Level B’ Register of certified career guidance counsellors. EOPPEP has been
assigned the responsibility to validate the CVET programmes provided by the
lifelong learning centres (adult continuing and vocational education), including
those in the field of CGC, regarding their content, training curriculum and
material, and expected learning outcomes (21).
Important pilot initiatives, based on the requirements set for Level B’
practitioners, started in 2020. The Labour Institute (INE) of the Greek General
Confederation of Labour (GSEE) is currently developing a CVET curriculum and
adequate training material. This ESF part-financed project also involves the
creation of an examination thesaurus to facilitate self-assessment and official
evaluation of the respective learning outcomes, as well as a training pilot
(Sidiropoulou - Dimakakou et al., 2021; Varvitsioti et al., 2021). At the beginning
of 2020, the Lifelong Learning Centre of the National and Kapodistrian University
of Athens (EKPA) delivered a model 450-hour CVET course to 18 participants
with no previous education and experience in CGC.

3.3. The changing context of career guidance

practice: implications and future challenges
Ιn the context of the evolving labour market digital transitions, the practice of
CGC is being transformed worldwide, by new disruptive technologies, such as
big data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, block chain technology and
ubiquitous computing. In Greece, ICT-enabled solutions have been introduced in
the CGC processes, mainly facilitating self-career management, information

(19) According to Article 155 of Law 4763/21-12-2020 (Government Gazette 254 A')
National system of vocational education, training and lifelong learning.
(20) According to the provisions of Article 21 of Law 4115/2013 and the Ministerial
Decision DS/64529/27-1-2017, Government Gazette Β’ 317/6.2.2018.
(21) According to Article 57 of Law 4763/21.12.2020 (Government Gazette 254 A')
National system of vocational education, training and lifelong learning.

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 Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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provision, decision-making and distance counselling (Cedefop, 2018, 2020a,

2020b). This digital shift, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, offers
innumerable possibilities for ICT innovation enabling differentiated, personalised
and more accessible CGC interventions. At the same time, it creates a novel
‘ecosystem’ that marks new challenges and skills for CGC providers and
professionals (Bakke; Haug and Hooley, 2018; Brown et al., 2019; Cedefop,
2016, 2018, 2019, 2020c; Kettunen, 2017; Mezzanzanica and Mercorio, 2019;
Nikolaou; Georgiou and Kotsasarlidou, 2019; Polychronaki et al., 2019).
The increasingly digitalised services will create the need to review the
occupational profile and the existing CGC education and training curricula at
national level. As an attempt to capture the newly emerging functions, tasks,
knowledge, skills and competences arising for CGC professionals, the following
aspects should be taken into account.
(a) New professional functions, activities, and tasks. Core traditional CGC
administrative tasks, such as client management and scheduling, archiving,
client data collection and processing, information collection, processing and
provision, client monitoring, and networking may be prone to automation.
Consequently, all the activities related to the design and organisation of
CGC service delivery may soon need to be revised.
(b) New areas of knowledge. The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) (22) is
creating unprecedented workplace challenges and opportunities, further
intensifying the rather unpredictable, unstable, and non-linear career paths
for the individuals. These prospects shift the focus of CGC from the
management of career decisions to the management of change and
achievement of career adaptability and resilience. This shift accompanied by
boundaryless ICT innovation contributes to the emergence of new CGC
interventions given the name Career guidance 4.0 (Euroguidance, 2017;
Vlachaki, 2018). This refers to digital innovation practices in the changing
context of career guidance provision to support lifelong career development
with the disruptive changes and transitions in the world of education and
work, in the digital transformation era. Therefore, updated theoretical
approaches and models suitable to address career development in

(22) See Davies (2015). Defined as disruptive transformations in the design,

manufacture, and operation of systems, products, processes, and services as a
result of new and innovative technological developments. It is characterised by a
fusion of technologies blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological
spheres, leading to a range of changes in systems of production, management, and
governance, based on technology and devices autonomously communicating with
each other along the value chain (Davies, 2015; Schwab, 2016).

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 CHAPTER 3.
Professionalising career guidance in Greece: current and future challenges

transitional, digitalised and precarious working conditions, such as the

psychology of working theory (PWT), collaborative career exploration and
shared careering, should be included in education and training of CGC
professionals (Duffy et al., 2016; Hirschi, 2017; Kettunen, 2017; Oakley,
2019). Digital pedagogy and modern media literacy to enable the critical-
reflective management of all new forms of digital media and ICT applications
are also important (SCAS, 2016). Openness to digitalisation and a blended
approach in career counselling, as well as a broader understanding of digital
assets and existing European tools, are usually under-addressed in the
initial education and CVET designed for CGC professionals in Greece
(Bakke; Haug and Hooley, 2018; Cedefop, 2018). The knowledge of
contemporary labour market information and intelligence (LMI), advanced
LMI systems and data interpretation (jobs, skills, and qualifications
dynamics) is crucial. Further understanding of digital career management
skills, such as digital job search, social media use, building and maintaining
professional digital identity, multitasking, remote working, crowd working,
and job sharing will need to be developed (Kettunen, 2017; Moore, 2016). All
the above, as well as the evidence-based approach and updated ethical and
quality assurance issues related to mainstream CGC and ICT-based
innovation practices, need to be accounted for in the profile and adequately
developed through CGC initial education, CVET and in-service training
(Barnes et al., 2020; Cedefop, 2019; Hooley, 2014).
(c) New skills and competences. The acquisition of advanced digital
competences for CGC professionals should be increased. These include the
ability to identify, critically select, integrate, adapt, configure, and contribute
to the development of new ICT methods. Emphasis should also be given to
information and digital media literacy skills, such as the ability to work in a
context of blended service delivery, including digital communication and
cooperation, networking, and outreach approaches to target audiences
(Joint Research Centre of the European Commission; Vuorikari and Punie,
2017; Kettunen and Sampson, 2019; Moore, 2017; Moore and Czerwinska,
2019; World Economic Forum, 2016). Critical soft skills, such as resilience,
adaptability and readiness for change must, in principle, be developed by the
CGC workforce, to be able to cope with emerging changes. Client interaction
competences, which are difficult to automate, will improve practitioner
employability and maintain connectivity with their beneficiaries, despite the
rather impersonal conditions (Bughin et al., 2018; Frey and Osborne, 2013;
Kergroach, 2017; Martin, 2018; OECD; Hanushek and Woessmann, 2015).

Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021 39

Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

3.4. Concluding remarks

The need for quality CGC support and for adequately competent professionals is
constantly increasing across the EU. National policies and actions promoting
professionalism in the EU vary from ad hoc arrangements not framed by policy,
established qualification standards and accreditation criteria, to highly regulated
‘registers’ or ‘licensing’ arrangements (INEK-PEO et al., 2015; Kettunen, 2017).
Yet, as in the case of Greece, there are persistent gaps and long-lasting
processes in defining mandatory minimum qualification requirements and
accreditation procedures (Barnes et al., 2020; Cedefop, 2009; INEK-PEO et al.,
2015; Kettunen, 2017; McCarthy, 2004; Schiersmann et al., 2016). However, the
importance of safeguarding adequate CGC training, as well as continuing
personal and professional development (CPD), self-regulation, reflective and
action research practice, are also highlighted (Barnes et al., 2020; Bimrose;
Hughes and Collin, 2006; Cedefop, 2009; Gough, 2017; Kettunen, 2017;
Kosmidou and Usher, 1991; Lewin, 1946; Schiersmann et al., 2016; Schon,
1983; Sultana, 2018).
In this context, we can argue that Greece has undertaken institutional
initiatives to enhance CGC practitioner competence, aiming to regulate the
profession and assure quality service delivery. Recent legal arrangements pave
the way for the long-awaited definition of minimum professional standards and
credentialing for CGC professionals (Barnes et al., 2020; Cedefop, 2009;
ELGPN, 2015; Plant, 2001; Vlachaki; Tetradakou and Toumpas, 2007; Vuorinen
and Watts, 2012). However, the need for updated competence-based higher
education and CVET programmes, reflecting the ever-changing challenges and
new digitalised CGC practices, should also be prioritised. This goal can only be
achieved by following the standards set in the occupational profile. Also, the early
identification of practitioner training needs, as well as adequate resources in the
context of increasing digitalisation and automation, should be ensured. All the
above will enable the quality digital transition of CGC services, increasing
accessibility for all end-users, and, with the reality of the digital divide, the
necessary special focus on disadvantaged groups (Kettunen and Sampson,
2019).

40 Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021

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Professionalising career guidance in Greece: current and future challenges

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ρόλου για την ποιοτική αναβάθμιση των υπηρεσιών δια βίου συμβουλευτικής
σταδιοδρομίας [Providing more professional services: EOPPEP’s systemic
interventions under its institutional role for improving the quality of lifelong
guidance services]. Review of Counselling and Guidance, Vol. 103, pp. 144-
157.
Vlachaki, F.;Tetradakou, S. and Toumpas, L. (2007). Το προφίλ των λειτουργών
Συ.Ε.Π. στην εκπαίδευση και την απασχόληση και η αναγκαιότητα για τη
διασφάλιση ποιότητας και την πιστοποίηση των επαγγελματιών και των
υπηρεσιών Συ.Ε.Π. στην Ελλάδα [The profile of career guidance counsellors
in education and employment and the necessity for quality assurance and
certification of professionals and services in Greece. In: EKEP (ed.). Guide
for employment, counselling and vocational guidance. National Center for
Vocational Guidance. pp. 147-149.
https://www.eoppep.gr/images/SYEP/ODIGOS_APASXOLISIS.pdf

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rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

Vuorinen, R. and Kettunen, J. (2017). The European status for career service
provider credentialing: professionalism in European Union guidance policies.
In: Yoon, H.et al. (eds). International practices of career services, credentials
and training. Broken Arrow, OK, USA: National Career Development
Association.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317504302_The_European_Status
_for_Career_Service_Provider_Credentialing_Professionalism_in_European
_Union_EU_Guidance_Policies
Vuorinen, R. and Watts, A. G. (eds) (2012). Lifelong guidance policy
development: a European resource kit. ELGPN tools, No 1. Jyvaskyla,
Finland: ELGPN – University of Jyväskylä – Finnish Institute for Educational
Research.
http://www.elgpn.eu/publications/browse-by-
language/english/ELGPN_resource_kit_2011-12_web.pdf/
World Economic Forum (2016). The future of jobs: employment, skills and
workforce strategy for the fourth industrial revolution, global challenge insight
report: global challenge insight report. Geneva: WEF.
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs.pdf

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CHAPTER 4.
The relevance of the Estonian occupational
qualification sub-framework in the field of
career guidance
Margit Rammo (23), CareersNet, Estonia

4.1. Introduction
The Estonian occupational qualifications framework (EstQF) holds great potential
in encouraging capacity building and professional development. In the context of
professionalising career guidance, the EstQF, together with the occupational
qualifications system, provides a meaningful and up-to-date opportunity both for
those entering the profession or applying for jobs, and those who are already
employed and should enhance their professionalism. Following the principles of
continuous development and stakeholder involvement across sectors, it provides
an important foundation for strengthening quality assurance in career guidance.
This chapter introduces the EstQF and the occupational qualifications
system and its elements, and discusses their significant role in ensuring the
professional development of practitioners in career guidance. It introduces
stakeholder views on the value and efficiency of the occupational qualifications
system today. Areas for further development are proposed. Material is based on
findings from a recent focus group study (Psience, 2020) (24), carried out by the
Association of Estonian Career counsellors, the awarding body for the career
specialist qualification, and the Estonian Euroguidance centre.

4.2. The qualification framework and occupational

qualification system
Qualification frameworks for lifelong learning are widely accepted as ‘powerful
tools that make it easier for people to carry their skills and credentials with them
to different contexts’ (Cedefop, 2020b). Considering the rapidly changing need

(23) Euroguidance Manager, Estonian Agency for Erasmus+ and European Solidarity
Corps, Education and Youth Board.
(24) The report is published in the Estonian language and includes a summary in English.

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for competences, the occupational qualifications system holds great potential in

encouraging capacity building and professional development.
The eight-level Estonian qualifications framework (EstQF) was established in
2008 with the main purpose of increasing the competitiveness of the national
economy, to monitor and forecast labour needs, and to promote the
development, assessment, recognition and comparison of individual
competences (Estonian Parliament, 2008). The EstQF is a comprehensive
framework, consisting of four sub-frameworks (Estonian Qualifications Authority
and Aarna, 2016) as seen in Figure 1. It includes:
(a) general education qualifications;
(b) VET qualifications;
(c) higher education qualifications;
(d) occupational qualifications.

Figure 1. Estonian qualifications framework: sub-frameworks and levels

Source: Estonian Qualifications Authority and Aarna, 2016.

Since there are no specific higher education qualifications available for

career guidance in Estonia, access to the career specialist profession is provided
through awarding an occupational qualification (25).

(25) In this paper, Cedefop decided on the use of ‘occupational qualification’ instead of
‘profession’ as used in the NQF monitoring (Cedefop, 2020b). In Estonia, the
translation of the Professions Act of 2008, § 3 defines ‘profession’ as the qualification
received after passing a professional examination, and the level of which has been

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 CHAPTER 4.
The relevance of the Estonian occupational qualification sub-framework in the field of career guidance

The three main elements of the national occupational qualification system

are:
(a) the occupational qualification standard (26) (hereinafter professional
standard; kutsestandard) describes occupational activities and provides the
competence requirements (27) for a profession and their levels;
(b) the system of awarding occupational qualifications (kutse andmine), the
outcome of which is a professional certificate, an electronic entry in the
register of professions (kutseregister) and a document which certifies the
compliance of the competence of the applicant to the requirements of the
professional standard;
(c) the register of professions (kutseregister) is a State database with
information on sector skills councils (28) (kutsenõukogu), valid occupational
qualifications, professional standards, awarding bodies (kutseandja) and
professional certificates.
The EstQF and referencing it to the European qualifications framework, has
provided an important incentive for the development of the lifelong learning
system in Estonia, for the development of a national occupational qualifications
system and a quality assurance system for lifelong learning (Estonian
Qualifications Authority and Aarna, 2016).

4.3. Career specialist as a profession in Estonia

4.3.1. Professional standard for career specialist
Career guidance in Estonia is based on three pillars – careers education, career
counselling and career information provision – provided within the education and
employment systems. Careers education is integrated in curricula at different
education levels and has a long tradition. However, career information provision
and career counselling inside and outside school has been organised differently
over the years and often influenced by the resources available at a given

determined in the relevant professional qualification standard (Estonian Parliament,

2008).
(26) Experts use both ‘occupational qualification standard’ and ‘professional standard’,
where the latter is used in the official English translation of the Professions Act.
(27) The term ‘competency requirement’ is used in the translation of the occupational
qualification standards web page.
(28) In the Estonian occupational qualification system, the labour market is divided into 14
sectors (according to a statistical classification of economic fields of activity) and
each sector is managed by a sector skills council (Estonian Parliament, 2008, §8).

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time (29). In 2018, the Estonian government acknowledged that there was some
room for improvement both regarding access and quality of the career services
and the need to ensure guidance for all as a priority in public employment offices
(PES). In January 2019, the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund, the public
employment service in the country (PES), restructured its system of career
services and integrated the services offered to young people (Cedefop, 2020a;
Puulmann and Rammo, 2021). It became responsible for the provision of career
counselling and career information for all, and career guidance professionals
from the Foundation Innove Rajaleidja (‘Pathfinder’ in English) guidance centres
for youth in the education sector, were transferred to the public employment
services.
The role of education institutions is to ensure access to career guidance for
their students and support them in reaching the learning outcomes set in
curricula. The Education Act stipulates career guidance for children and the
young as the responsibility of local governments. However, schools have a great
degree of autonomy. For example, general education schools are obliged to
ensure the availability of career-related services. The national curriculum does
not prescribe what actions are to be taken to achieve the set goals: schools are
able to select the best ways, methods and means. The compulsory central topic,
Lifelong learning and career planning, is to be followed by all. Among the
solutions there is often a mix of approaches; some offer an elective subject by
their own staff, some invite experts from outside school, e.g. cooperate with PES
(Puulmann and Rammo, 2021).
The occupational qualifications system plays a significant role in ensuring
the professional development of practitioners (career specialists) in career
guidance. The system was launched in 2006, when the Estonian Qualification
Authority certified the Association of Estonian Career Counsellors (hereinafter the
association) for awarding and recertifying occupational qualifications, after a
public competition. This designation is valid for a five-year period, stipulating that
the association must regularly ensure that it complies with the requirements. This
includes demonstrating that the development of relevant professional activities is
a focus, and that the association has the resources and expertise necessary to
organise the awarding of qualifications.
The professional standard for the career specialist describes the
occupational activity and competence necessary for practising career guidance:
skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to work successfully (Table 1). The
current professional standard is valid until November 2022. Professional

(29) For more information on lifelong career guidance in Estonia see (Cedefop, 2020a).

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 CHAPTER 4.
The relevance of the Estonian occupational qualification sub-framework in the field of career guidance

standards were initially developed for each of the services agreed in the Estonian
career service (career education, career counselling and career information
provision). Since 2017, there is one valid competence-based standard for career
specialist, at EstQF levels 6 and 7, equivalent to a bachelor degree and
professional higher education certificate (level 6), and a master degree (level 7).
The main difference between the levels is that, in addition to the service
provision, the level seven practitioner has more extensive experience and
competences at national or international level, such as using new tools, curricula,
research, or training.
The learning-outcomes-based approach, introduced for the EstQF in 2017,
defines the occupational qualifications and competence assessment in terms of
individual knowledge and skills outcomes. The development of this approach to
professional standards resulted in the identification of the commonalities in
competences required for the career specialist profession (and qualification),
valid across all guidance services. Stakeholders who were involved in 2017
aimed to cover practitioners across sectors, including education and
employment, but also in private services (Kinkar and Rammo, 2020).
Part A of the standard provides a general overview of the nature of the work,
its main areas, necessary tools, work environment, including its specificities, the
personal characteristics and skills-enhancing occupational activities. The
description of work includes activities such as individual and group career
counselling, information provision concerning education, the labour market and
occupations for groups and individuals. Main tasks and elective areas of work are
also identified.
The competence requirements are presented in part B. Four mandatory
competences and the so-called ‘recurring competence’ (30) must be
demonstrated. All competence descriptions include performance indicators. The
recurring competence has been identified with performance indicators including
engagement in self-reflection and continuous capacity building, customer focus,
adherence to professional ethics, goal setting, outcome analysis, language
proficiency, team building, and use of technology. In addition, at least one of the
elective competences must be demonstrated: either career information provision
or career counselling (Register of occupational qualifications).

(30) Recurring competences relate mainly to foundation competences in Cedefop (2009).

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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Table 1. Career specialist standard: work and competence requirements

Part A: description of work Part B: competence requirements

MANDATORY COMPETENCES
TASKS The promotion of services
Promoting services Networking to provide services
Networking to provide services Service development
Service development The provision of instruction and training
Instruction and training
COMPETENCE OPTIONS
ELECTIVE AREAS OF WORK Career counselling
Career counselling Career information provision
Career information provision
RECURRING COMPETENCES
Source: Register of occupational qualifications, translated and summarised by author.

In practice, the professional standard in guidance is used as a basis for

compiling curricula and training programmes that meet the requirements of the
labour market; as a basis for competence assessment; to assist employers in
describing and introducing occupations, recruiting employees, compiling job
descriptions, defining professional requirements; and to help professionals
assess own skills gaps, or for their own career development. It is also a basis for
international comparisons of professional certificates. In principle, to hold an
occupational qualification is optional for practitioners and is not a precondition for
recruitment, but the certificate is highly valued by the PES (Psience, 2020). As a
result, the contents of the professional standard have been incorporated into the
relevant job descriptions, and salaries tend to be higher for those who are
qualified specialists. Guidance professionals working in the private sector can
benefit from having the qualification when applying for field-related projects.

4.3.2. Awarding occupational qualifications

Since the right to award an occupational qualification is limited to a five-year
period, a regular update is part of the system. Accordingly, the association, as
the legally appointed awarding body, is responsible for ensuring impartiality in the
process, and for setting up a professional qualifications committee. According to
the Professions Act (Estonian Parliament, 2008, §18), the committee involves
stakeholders with an interest in the awarding system: specialists (career
specialists), employers (PES), and unspecified representative employees,
trainers (university or national agency), representatives of occupational
associations and, if necessary, guidance client representatives, as well as other
interested stakeholders.
The professional standard serves as a basis for the assessment of the
applicant’s competences. The assessment standard is a public document that
describes the process, assessment arrangements, criteria, assessment guide for

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 CHAPTER 4.
The relevance of the Estonian occupational qualification sub-framework in the field of career guidance

the assessor, and contains forms for the applicant (Association of Estonian
Career Counsellors, 2020).
The assessment is carried out in three successive stages. Figure 1
illustrates the stages from the awarding body and the applicant’s point of view in
respect to the three main elements of the occupational qualifications system.

Figure 2. Elements of the occupational qualification system and the awarding

process

Award
Professional Register of
occupational
standards professions
qualifications

The professional
qualification committee The awarding body
At the invitation of the sets the procedure for submits the data of the
professional council a awarding. recipient to the register.
working group of The assessment A professional
experts in the field committee assesses certificate is entered in
creates a standard. the conformity of the the register and is
competence with the publicly available.
standard (professional
exam).

The applicant submits The person holding a

the portfolio, including profession may use the
The applicant assesses CV, self-assessment name of the profession
the compliance of his or and description of during the validity
her knowledge and professional activities to period of the
skills with the standard. the awarding body and professional certificate,
answers additional and present themselves
questions from the as competent in the
assessment committee. profession.

Source: Author.

4.4. Focus group findings on occupational

qualifications system in career guidance
4.4.1. Background and methodology
Career guidance provision is constantly changing, posing new challenges for
both career guidance professionals and the system as a whole. At national level,
career guidance is still adapting to the changes initiated in 2019, where career
counselling and career information providers from the guidance centres
(Rajaleidja) were integrated into the PES structure. Additional disruptions in
career services due to COVID-19 where meetings have moved online, and the
introduction of digital solutions, both hinder and encourage development and
create new demands on practitioners' competences. This sets the stage for

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rethinking how the quality of services can be improved through updating

standards and examining the pathways towards becoming a qualified career
guidance specialist. To support this effort, the national Euroguidance centre
initiated a study based on the collected responses from guidance specialists and
stakeholders. The results reported in Psience (2020) provide an overview of the
current situation of the occupational qualification system in career guidance,
offering ideas for making the system more flexible and modern, to improve the
quality of services.
The national Euroguidance centre is the Estonian National Resource Centre
for Guidance. It provides a range of services to guidance professionals in Estonia
and abroad, including practitioners, researchers, educators and policy-makers.
Belonging to the European Network of Euroguidance centres, the centre aims to
support the competence development of the guidance community on the
European dimension of lifelong guidance. The Association of Estonian Career
counsellors, the awarding body for the qualification of career specialist, is the key
player in the occupational qualification system in career guidance. Along with
Euroguidance, the Association shares the common aim of supporting the
professional development of the career guidance community. Hence the two
partners decided to involve experts, career guidance specialists and other
stakeholders in the field to assess the functioning of the existing qualifications
system and identify areas for improvement, to make it even more efficient and
effective for the career guidance field.
The study collected stakeholder responses through online focus group
discussions. These had three to seven participants per target group, and a total
of eight focus groups and 50 persons, who were selected by the partner
institutions. Participants included:
(a) career counsellors and career information specialists who have or have not
participated in the certification process;
(b) experts directly involved in the process, i.e. members of the professional or
assessment committee;
(c) experts who have not been involved in the process, such as representatives
from the education ministry, national agencies, third and private sectors;
(d) school personnel, including career teachers, school principals and others
involved in the development of career management skills.

A structured questionnaire (Box 1) with rating scale responses was used to

stimulate the focus-group discussions. The questionnaire contained open-ended
questions and seven using rating scales focused on different aspects of the
occupational qualifications system. Prior to the session, participants were sent

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The relevance of the Estonian occupational qualification sub-framework in the field of career guidance

instructions and general information, including the application process,

professional standards, and current assessment standard.

Box 2. Selected focus group topics

Stakeholder views were sought on:

Usefulness of the occupational qualification system in the field of career guidance
(i.e., for the career specialist qualification) and most important changes, according to
different viewpoints
Extent the system supports professionalism of the field and supports provision of
training
Digitalisation and use of ICT in the accreditation process and impact of COVID-19
Assessment of ICT competences among current guidance specialists
Whether or not content and quality of training meets the needs of the labour market
Relevance and clarity of competences in the current professional standard, and views
on latest changes in competence options
Extent to which the assessment standard is understandable in order to describe
competences during the application process
Developments and changes necessary for the efficient and effective functioning of the
occupational qualification system in career services

Source: Author’s summary of topics.

4.4.2. Findings on system strengths and areas for improvement

Based on the results of the focus group discussions, it can be concluded that the
occupational qualifications system in Estonia is clearly an essential and useful
component of quality assurance, with a focus on professional training of staff who
support career development. In general, it is highly valued and provides a
guarantee to the employer and to the client. However, several areas for
improvement were identified, both in respect of modernising the qualifications
system in general and to improve the awarding process in particular. Some of
these observations are summarised below.

4.4.2.1. Digitalisation and the use of ICT tools

Guidance stakeholders in the focus groups were asked to share their opinion
about practitioner ICT competences and digitalisation. Despite the different levels
of experience and generational differences, the ICT competences of practitioners
were highly valued. Some practitioners were described as very independent and
innovative users of ICT, while others have lower skills levels, so they are unable
to exploit the full potential of technology for remote guidance delivery. A big leap
in development was noted in connection with COVID-19 in spring 2020. Various
online platforms for remote delivery became commonplace, so practitioners were
encouraged to upgrade their skills accordingly (Psience, 2020). For example,
participation in remote services has grown considerably in labour offices, and

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online career fairs proved to be valuable (Holland and Mann, 2020). Participants
acknowledged that today it is not possible to work as a career specialist without a
good level of ICT competences and agreed that the standards need to be
updated accordingly (Psience, 2020).
Earlier research also revealed that the rapid development of ICT had a
significant impact on guidance provision (Psience, 2017). ICT and digital tools
were seen as an opportunity and as a challenge. The main advantages were the
rapid exchange of the information and ability to communicate. From the
perspective of service provision, this in turn helps to make the service more
accessible, for example through online-services (e.g. chat-service) and to ensure
quality nationwide service. ICT helps to obtain a broader picture (for example
through gathered statistics), and digital tools make the service more attractive
and interactive, while being relevant to the different target groups (ibid).
The main area for improvement in terms of professionals' digital
competences is seen in relation to digital tools, such as the introduction of digital
tasks and self-analysis tools (including games for young people and other
assistive tools). Respondents remarked that the assessment process needs
modernising. While the possibility to send documents electronically is in place,
the application system does not use online forms, tests, or video counselling.
According to the participants, the guidelines of the final professional exam should
be more interactive; for example, instructional videos would be welcomed. Focus
group participants also remarked on challenges in assessing the applicants’
digital competences: the system does not require their meaningful demonstration.

4.4.2.2. Renewal of professional standard with a focus on international

dimension
The findings of the study demonstrate the professionals’ views on the need to
ensure a stronger focus on the international dimension. Participants argued that,
in the context of the globalising education and labour market, citizens are more
mobile both for learning and work, both within the country and in going abroad;
practitioner competences regarding international opportunities and multicultural
issues are not sufficiently covered. Although the competences described in the
professional standard as a whole were relevant, international aspects need
closer attention, and this may lead to supplementing the required competences,
and renewing accordingly both professional standard and procedure for awarding
qualifications. Participants felt that the standards need to be updated in
competences related to service delivery in a multicultural environment (Psience,
2020). The increasing importance of the ability of practitioners to handle more
complex types and larger amounts of information, and to deal with clients of

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different cultural backgrounds, was also reflected in earlier research (Rosenblad;

Sõmer and Tilk, 2018).
One of the objectives of the qualifications system is to make occupational
qualifications internationally comparable; the focus group discussed the issue of
recognition of occupational qualification system across Europe. Apparently, the
comparability of the Estonian system and standard with international standards is
not clear enough for the guidance community. However, the lack of recognition of
foreign qualifications across Europe in different specialisations (e.g. career
coach) was identified and the possibility of increasing the value of the Estonian
qualifications is seen in its potential portability. Participants shared interest in
having their qualification recognised in other countries and would welcome
information on other settings where the certificate is valid. It was also suggested
that one of the goals of the qualifications system could be to tie it to an
internationally unified professional system (Psience, 2020).
4.4.2.3. The value of occupational qualification system for professionals and
institutions
The respondents generally confirm that, in the absence of a higher education
qualification – an academic degree in career guidance – the occupational
qualifications system is very useful for indicating that the requirements of the
professional standard have been met. Further, legislation supports regular
improvement; as example, the role of the awarding body serves for a limited
period and the there is a specific validity period for the professional standard.
Stakeholders share an understanding that the system offers professionals
the opportunity for self-analysis and conscious setting of professional
development goals, and that a professional certificate increases their self-
confidence (Psience, 2020). The PES, as the largest employer, values the
qualification, linking it to their salary system. The participants also saw the
implementation of outcomes-based learning as an important step forward, but
they also emphasised that the current approach regarding competence options is
largely oriented towards service provision organised in PES. For example,
regarding elective areas of work, participants remarked that counselling and
information provision are closely linked. A client-centred approach would require
the need-based complex provision of services by practitioners who have the
competences of both a career counsellor and an information specialist, and the
ability to apply them appropriately based on the client (ibid.).
However, according to participants, the systemic deployment of the
qualifications system in education sectors still has room for improvement. The
2019 career guidance reform has had a major impact on service provision
including career guidance in schools (Puulmann and Rammo, 2021). The

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responsibility of schools in organising career education has significantly

increased, including cooperation with extracurricular partners. Unfortunately, at
the same time, participants noted that the current qualifications system does not
consider the specificities of school career coordinators and teachers involved in
guidance. It is difficult for a person working with career education at a school to
apply for the qualification of career specialist, because the content of work and
the profile of activities do not match the competences and performance indicators
described in the professional standard and assessment standard (Psience,
2020). Therefore, from these observations, it is worth considering bringing the
professional standard of a ‘career coordinator’ valid in 2005-12, back to the table.

4.4.2.4. Capacity building

Based on the results of the study, the capacity building of career guidance
practitioners could be improved. Although it is not possible to acquire the
required qualifications as a career specialist through academic education, the
required knowledge and skills can be obtained through higher education or
through non-formal courses offered by public agencies and private companies.
According to focus group participants, training provision in career guidance
is rather limited. While the training needs of practitioners in PES are well
covered, training opportunities for professionals in educational institutions and
the private sector are few. There are sometimes communication gaps about
offers, but there is also a lack of basic and advanced training (Psience, 2020),
including learning and exchange of practices at international level. However, the
study confirms that the courses offered are well designed, linked with the
occupational qualification system and are based on the competence
requirements identified in the professional standard.

4.5. Conclusions and recommendations

The Estonian occupational qualifications system is an important tool in forming
and ensuring the professional identity of the career guidance community of
practitioners across sectors. Due to its periodic updates and systematic
involvement of stakeholders under the leadership of the national qualifications
authority and a professional association, it is a fundamental and recognised
foundation for training providers and other stakeholders in supporting
professional development of practitioners. Assuring practitioner professionalism
is the key to having an impact and supporting clients in managing learning and
work and moving towards a personally determined and evolving future.
Based on the outcomes of the study, two main recommendations can be
identified:

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(a) digitalisation and internationalisation are rapidly evolving areas which affect
people, so attention is needed in developing the competences of career
guidance professionals. To provide practitioners maximum support for their
professional development, studies are needed on current and future training
needs, followed by suitable training opportunities;
(b) changes in society change individual needs for skills development and
career guidance. Career guidance provision is constantly changing, posing
new challenges for both career guidance professionals and the system as a
whole. To meet the needs of the labour market, stakeholders should focus
on, and closely cooperate in, updating competence requirements,
modernising the awarding procedures, and supporting capacity building of
professionals.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

Estonian Qualifications Authority and Aarna, O. (2016). Referencing of the

Estonian qualifications and qualifications framework to the European
qualifications framework. https://europa.eu/europass/en/reports-referencing-
national-qualifications-frameworks-eqf
Holland, K. and Mann, A. (2020). How Estonia is delivering online career
guidance during the coronavirus crisis. OECD blog Education and Skills
Today. https://oecdedutoday.com/estonia-online-career-guidance-during-
coronavirus-crisis/
Kinkar, V. and Rammo, M. (2020). Uuringu abil pilt selge: karjäärispetsialisti
kutsesüsteemi väärtustatakse kõrgelt, kuid on ka arenguruumi [With the help
of the study, the picture is clear: the occupational qualification system of a
career specialist is highly valued, but there is also room for development].
https://www.personaliuudised.ee/sisuturundus/2020/11/25/uuringu-abil-pilt-
selge-karjaarispetsialisti-kutsesusteemi-vaartustatakse-korgelt-kuid-on-ka-
arenguruumi
Psience (2017). Rajaleidja keskuse töötajate IKT vahendite kasutamise kogemus
[User experience of ICT tools among Rajaleidja guidance centres staff].
Foundation Innove.
Psience (2020). Karjääriteenuste valdkonna kutsesüsteemi fookusgrupiuuring
[Occupational qualification system in the field of career guidance: focus
group study]. Archimedes Foundation, Euroguidance Estonia.
http://haridus.archimedes.ee/sites/default/files/Dokumendid/Karj%C3%A4%
C3%A4riteenuste_uuring_1811.pdf
Puulmann, A. and Rammo, M. (eds) (2021). Lifelong guidance in Estonia 2021.
Euroguidance Estonia 2021.
https://www.euroguidance.eu/resources/publications/other-
publications/lifelong-guidance-in-estonia-2021
Rosenblad, Y.; Sõmer, K. and Tilk, R. (2018). OSKA study of human resources,
administrative and business consultation occupations: key findings. Estonian
Qualifications Authority.
https://oska.kutsekoda.ee/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/HR_EN.pdf

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CHAPTER 5.
Digital badges for career practitioner skills
validation in Italy
Giulio Iannis (31), CareersNet, Italy

5.1. Introduction
Professionalism of guidance practitioners in the digital context is one of the main
challenges for national and regional career guidance systems. Most practitioners
have professional backgrounds built from different starting points and pathways,
such as from diverse educational contexts and from a variety of work
experiences. Career guidance practitioners learn their skills in both formal and
informal contexts. ‘The professionalisation of practice means that guidance
practitioners will need to promote a greater awareness of the need for career
adaptability. This means that career practitioners will need to promote not only
formal qualifications (for example, further education and training), but must also
emphasise different forms of learning-while-working that contribute to the
acquisition of career adaptability competences (learning in networks, learning on-
the-job and learning through occupational changes and challenges)’ (Barnes et
al., 2020, p.43). Considering the rapid changes in guidance settings and
environments, and the new technologies now available, career adaptability
should become a core competence also for each career practitioner.
In several countries, such as in Italy, a formal national skills and qualification
system for career practitioners is still under construction and there are no legally
defined national qualification requirements for career guidance practitioners
(Cedefop, 2020). These diverse backgrounds and informal experiences are
reflected in their CVs, making the recruitment of career practitioners a challenge
for private and public career guidance providers.
There are also no formal training pathways or specific degrees in Italy that
give direct access to work in this field. Most practitioners (68%) employed by the
public employment services have obtained a secondary school qualification or
lower, while only 28.7% have a university degree (ANPAL, 2017). Within the
education system, teachers can be in charge of career guidance activities without
having a formal qualification or specific experience in career guidance.
Practitioners employed by private guidance providers have diverse backgrounds

(31) Centro Studi Pluriversum.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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and qualifications (including degrees in psychology, education sciences,

sociology, political sciences, law or economics). Recruitment is open to
applicants from diverse disciplines and formal education pathways, and there are
also procedures in place for assessing informal learning and work experience
acquired in the field of career guidance.
The national system of validation is regulated but it is not fully developed.
Decree 13/2013 establishes the ‘National repertory of education, training and
professional qualifications’ which is the single framework for the certification of
competences. The repertory is a comprehensive collection of national, regional
and sectoral repertories, under the responsibility of the regional authorities or
‘entitling bodies’ (for more information, see Cedefop, 2020).
In 2016, the new national qualifications repertory – Atlante del lavoro e delle
qualificazioni (INAPP, 2016) was created as a national reference for all regional
qualifications (the regional repertories’ qualifications remain active and legally
valid). The national repertory is based on the descriptions of sectors, main work
processes and sub-processes, work activities and expected outcomes. It includes
several work activities related to career guidance. The repertory describes the
practitioner’s main activities and expected outputs (such as the provision of
career interviews and of career information), but it does not describe the
competences related to each work activity. Therefore, to certify their skills,
practitioners have to refer to regional services, following both the regional and
national frameworks and procedures (32). However, in most Italian regions, these
services are not yet available, nor are they fully developed.
Given the gaps in training and qualification routes in Italy in the current crisis
context and in the face of vast labour market and social changes, career
guidance providers are under pressure to find methods for increasing
professionalism in their workforce. The public employment services (PES) is one
example of a provider currently updating and expanding its workforce, to improve
the quality and quantity of its services for clients. In 2021 and over the next few
years, the new national plan for the PES (Italian Ministry of Labour, 2020) will
strengthen the role of the PES system and around 4 000 new practitioners will be
hired by regional PES.

(32) The National guidelines (2013) and National standards on lifelong guidance (2014)
are agreements signed within the Conference among State and regions. They are
policy guidelines for the regions, who by law have the power to regulate regional
VET, SPI, guidance systems and validation and certification services. There are
different regional systems, at different stages of development. The Atlas is the
national inventory for all regional references to refer to, to relate each available
single regional qualification to a national standard.

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In Italy, the PES system is organised and managed by the regions, following
national legislation and similar funding programmes across regions. There are 20
different regional PES systems, with about 8 000 practitioners and extensive
support of regional agencies and private providers. On average, there are about
380 users for each practitioner, including administrative and back-office staff
(ANPAL, 2017)
Quality standards for employment services are defined by the Ministry of
Labour and the Regions (Italian Ministry of Labour, 2018). The document
provides a list of services and methodological references for all public
employment offices in Italy and also for private job centres and employment
agencies. It includes descriptions of information and career guidance services,
with work processes and expected results of each service. The standards also
include ethical treatment of clients, availability of career information and the
obligation to explore job offers suitable for all clients (Cedefop, 2020). However,
the document on quality standards does not include a description of skills and
qualifications of practitioners.

5.2. Supporting professionalism with a digital badge

system
Among national and regional initiatives to value informal learning, the use of
innovative tools such as digital badges is a promising alternative to setting up an
effective system of validation and a transferable model for fostering and
supporting the professionalism of career practitioners. A digital open badge is ‘a
validated indicator of accomplishment, skill, quality or interest’ (MacArthur
foundation, 2011), which describes specific (prior) learning undertaken or work
experience carried out in order to earn the badge. The digital badge is based on
blockchain technology and is easily integrated within powerful social networks for
international recruitment, such as LinkedIn. Core components of a badge include
the information needed to determine its validity, authenticity, source, and value.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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Figure 1. Digital badges – Sample competence areas, public employment service

practitioners

Source: Pluriversum – Open Badges.

This information includes the recipient (who earned the badge), the issuer
(the individual or the organisation taking responsibility for issuing the badge), the
badge’s criteria and description (what the recipient needed to do or demonstrate
to earn the badge), evidence (an authentic representation or connection to the
underlying work performed or contribution made to earn the badge), a date (when
the badge was awarded), its expiration (when, if ever, the credential is no longer
valid), and a certificate or assertion (a connection to an official form of verification
vouching for the validity of the award) (Finkelstein; Knight and Manning, 2013).
An innovative digital badge system for career guidance practitioners,
Competenze Servizi Lavoro (Competences for the employment services) was
recently developed and tested in Tuscany. This new system was created by one
of the largest (33) career guidance providers in Italy, in order to support the career
development of its practitioners who work in the regional public employment
service (PES). The digital badge system is based on the Atlante del lavoro e

(33) Pluriversum is a career guidance provider which employs about 150 career
practitioners.

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delle qualificazioni (INAPP, 2016), through an open and transparent system (34),
in order to validate the core competences of PES practitioners (also for career
progression and career mobility). It includes relevant competences for other
career practitioners employed in school settings, in career services of
universities, and vocational training institutions. The Atlas developed by INAPP
experts used serval sources, including the 2014 Standards for lifelong guidance,
regional qualifications and interviews with experts and practitioners.
Digital badges ensure wide online visibility, which helps protect from
counterfeiting and falsification. The system is based on an objective and impartial
evaluation procedure, following UNI-ISO 17024 standards and with the
involvement of an external team of evaluators (35). Participation in the digital
badge validation procedure is voluntary. The whole validation procedure includes
tutorship by an expert, and can be fully managed online, through a dedicated
web platform and videocalls between tutors and recipients.
Through a system of digital badges, each practitioner can easily
demonstrate his/her own skills, collecting evidence of learning and working
achievements, through the creation of an open e-portfolio in their profile in major
social networks where the badges are shared.

5.3. Digital badges and PES career practitioner

competences
A team of experts and practitioners in Italy developed all badges, starting from
daily experience in the provision of career guidance services in the PES and from
the descriptions of the national repertory, but also including related competences.
In this model, each digital badge describes a specific competence area required
within career service delivery that the practitioner-recipient should demonstrate
has been acquired (Figure 1) (English translations provided by the author):
(a) analysis of users’ needs and definition of the service agreement (analisi
bisogni e patto servizio);
(b) career guidance (consulenza orientativa);
(c) coordination of career services (coordinamento servizi occupabilità);
(d) advice for self-employment and enterprise start-up (creazione
impresa/lavoro autonomo);
(e) career education (educazione all’orientamento);

(34) The description of the system is available here.

(35) The external team includes members of the association of evaluators.

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(f) intercultural mediation in employment services (mediazione linguistico

culturale);
(g) career information (orientamento informativo);
(h) career e-guidance (orientamento formative a distanza);
(i) career services for disadvantaged users (orientamento lavorativo
svantaggio);
(j) placement services (incontro DO e placement);
(k) services for identification and validation of non-formal and informal learning
(individuazione competenze);
(l) support for job placement (accompagnamento transizioni).

Figure 2. Digital badges in six competence areas (public employment sector)

Source: Pluriversum – Open Badges

The development of each badge followed a participatory bottom-up process

with the direct involvement of career guidance practitioners and experts. The
team of experts worked with practitioners to identify the specific skills, with
reference to each specific area of activity. This bottom-up process facilitated the
process of making the badges more effective in describing the actual activities
carried out within the main guidance services and the associated skills, and tools.
In this way the badges include competences and skills found in the National
repertory as well as additional ones based on an examination of activities carried
out by practitioners working at the public employment services.

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Box 1 provides the common format for each badge, through the example of
the contents of the badge awarded for career e-guidance (C-Box competences,
n.d).

Box 1. Digital badge content, Career e-guidance competence

The recipient (who earned the badge): Name of the practitioner.

The issuer (the organisation taking responsibility for issuing the badge): Pluriversum
(career guidance provider).
The badge’s criteria and description (what the recipient needed to do or demonstrate
to earn the badge):
The owner of this badge participated in the identification and assessment of skills
through which the possession of the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve the
following expected results (ER) was ascertained.

Knowledge
(a) business organisation concepts for data processing and return, in relation to the
type and needs of the users of the data;
(b) customer care elements to manage the conversation with the customer / user in
case of improper use;
(c) methods of managing information sessions in person (group or individual) or
remotely for the phase of access to the service and reception;
(d) information on training offered in the territory;
(e) planning of moments of verification in compliance with the defined times, the
learning objectives and the assessment methods prepared;
(f) digital resources, guidance software and e-guidance systems;
(g) user reception techniques;
(h) techniques for analysing the characteristics and the information request of users
who access the services;
(i) assertive and non-verbal communication techniques;
(j) techniques for administering qualitative and quantitative data collection tools
(including client assessments);
(k) tutoring techniques;
(l) terminology of computer and multimedia systems to effectively manage their use.

Skills
(a) welcoming the user, ensuring the transmission of information, through direct
and/or virtual communication with the user to provide advice, guidance and
assistance;
(b) apply intervention methodologies to support the client in the process of research,
self-consultation and critical reading of information on training and professional
opportunities also with digital tools and e-guidance devices;
(c) apply procedures for research, cataloguing and updating of integrated information
systems (physical and virtual information boards) dedicated to the training offer
and job opportunities;

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(d) apply mediation and communication facilitation techniques between the actors
who intervene in various capacities in information and training activities. Detect the
needs of the participants and the critical issues;
(e) provide information to users on the needs and methods of intervention in case of
malfunction of communication tools; provide for the resolution of functionality
problems also through contact with technical assistance services;
(f) detect any learning problems and assist inexperienced users in accessing
services and using IT tools in the context of computer literacy, mediating and
disseminating knowledge, tools and techniques of new technologies to facilitate
access to telematic services, also through virtual community animation activities;
(g) use the tools defined for gathering information; periodically produce reports to
contact person through the use of appropriate drafting techniques.

Evidence (an authentic representation or connection to the underlying work

performed or contribution made to earn the badge).
Date (when the badge was awarded).
Expiration (when, if ever, the credential is no longer valid).
Certificate or assertion (a connection to an official form of verification vouching for the
validity of the award).
This badge allows its holder to obtain recognition of their professional skills by
Pluriversum and by other organisations which, operating in the sector of employment
services, have granted the endorsement.

Source: Pluriversum. Translated by the author.

5.4. Challenges and areas for improvement

This digital badge framework is an innovative experiment promoted locally to
empower the skills of a large community of career practitioners, using new
technology. It needs to be further improved and tested, but it has already brought
an innovation in the way of designing and managing the organisational chart of a
career guidance company that provides services regionally.
A further spread of digital badges will provide a ‘map’ of the skills of
practitioners in all areas of the region, with data on skills needs and overlapping
and strategic information to ensure the best performances in all PES offices. This
will help to manage the turnover, to move mentors and coordinators, and also to
plan training and hiring of new staff.
There is a need for developing new digital badges focused on the
practitioner’s ICT skills, to map and foster a large and complete implementation
of new distance services, based on new technologies for career e-guidance and
to support wider access to e-guidance resources and tools.
Another challenge is the accessibility of these digital badges. The process of
acquisition could be difficult and stressful for many practitioners and, overall, for
schoolteachers, who are only minimally involved in some guidance activities.

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Most are likely to possess only partial competences needed to earn one badge
and this will discourage many practitioners and teachers from applying if there is
a high risk of failure.
For this reason, it could be useful to design two different kinds of badges:
‘heavy badges’ related to main career guidance skills for professional
progression of career practitioners (who have to provide evidence of their skills)
and ‘light badges’ related to basic knowledge, specific activities or tasks (for
example: to use digital tools to provide career information or e-guidance). ‘Light
badges’ should more easily earned by practitioners and teachers, and they may
encourage engagement in career guidance activities, so boosting interest in the
‘heavy’ ones.
The training offers could be redesigned to support candidates to learn the
skills and knowledge related to each badge and to prepare applicants for the
acquisition of further digital badges.

5.5. Conclusions and implications for policy

Recognition and certification of workplace learning, and competences is one way
of enhancing the career practitioner’s professionalism. This has many
implications for policy, particularly in respect to meeting the increasing demand
for training, making skills visible and for quality assurance among providers.
The digital badge system, with the detailed map of the areas of activity and
skills, also stimulates practitioners in their choice of specialisation and
encourages demand for training courses and other learning opportunities in
areas where practitioners have not yet acquired any badge. For example, the
huge and urgent development of career e-guidance services is increasing the
demand for new specific digital skills in career guidance. Practitioners who
already have these skills can quickly apply for the related badges and they can
provide evidence of their skills to all career guidance providers of their region and
also become e-trainers or e-mentors for other practitioners.
Badges can also represent different levels of work and engagement,
including more granular, specific skills or achievements. They are a promising
tool for validating and demonstrating the skills of practitioners, where a formal
system of training and qualifications is still missing. Badges also support
smoother mobility of practitioners from one region to another or from an
organisation to another, because each badge represents the evidence of a clear
and specific performance, a set of skills, and it includes also all the necessary
documents and evidence for an easy and fast validation process (or also a formal
certification) in other regional systems.

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The digital badge system is useful for practitioners, but it brings great value
and strategic benefits for career guidance organisations to map the whole set of
skills available, and to identify gaps and skills shortages and types of skills, for
strengthening provision and set up more effective training plans.
Although the focus has been on the digital badge system and competences
suitable for career guidance provided by the public employment services,
practitioners working in the education and training sector can also benefit from
the badge system.
Badges are valuable for validating skills and competences acquired outside
formal systems and for recognising workplace skills development among
practitioners. However, full professionalisation of career guidance in Italy, across
sectors, will require development of comprehensive pathways in initial training
and in courses targeting specific professional competences, requiring knowledge
of career development theory.
The recent regulations in Italy in 2018 and 2020 (36), referred to in this paper,
offer a new essential framework to begin the urgent process of qualifying
practitioners in the national career system, and to build a formal training offer,
and update the system for all career practitioners.

References
[URLs accessed 12.8.2021]

ANPAL (2017). Monitoraggio sulla struttura e il funzionamento dei servizi per il

lavoro 2017. Rome: Anpal Servizi.
https://www.anpalservizi.it/documents/20181/21651/30_05_MOnitSpi2017_
Rapporto+_corretto.pdf/d25e62c9-e442-4255-b240-c4a186c20e4d
Barnes, S.-A. et al. (2020). Lifelong guidance policy and practice in the EU:
trends, challenges and opportunities : final report. Luxembourg: Publications
Office. https://doi.org/10.2767/91185
C-Box competences (n.d.). Digital badge online (e-guidance). Pluriversum.
https://www.iqcbox.com/BadgePreview.aspx?IDBadge=OHSaH292nlmeKce
Ewfl8Fg%3d%3d
Cedefop (2020). Inventory of lifelong guidance systems and practices – Italy –
CareersNet national records.
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/publications-and-resources/country-
reports/inventory-lifelong-guidance-systems-and-practices-italy#training-and-
qualifications

(36) Decree No 4 of 11.1.2018 and Decree No 59 of 22.5.2020.

72 Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021

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Digital badges for career practitioner skills validation in Italy

Finkelstein, J.; Knight, E. and Manning, S. (2013). The potential and value of
using badges for adult learners: final report. Washington DC. USA: American
Institute for Research.
https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/AIR_Digital_Badge_Report_508.pdf
INAPP (2016). Atlante del lavoro e delle qualificazioni [National register of
qualifications].
https://atlantelavoro.inapp.org/repertorio_nazionale_qualificazioni.php
Italian Ministry of Labor (2018). Degreto 11 gennaio 2018 – Criteri per la
definizione dei sistemi di accreditamento dei servizi per il lavoro. [Decree of
11 January 2018 on quality standards for employment services].
http://www.lavoro.gov.it/documenti-e-norme/normative/Documents/2018/DM-
11-gennaio-2018.pdf
Italian Ministry of Labor (2020). Modifiche al Piano straordinario di potenziamento
dei centri per l' impiego e delle politiche attive del lavoro. [Decree on
upgrading of employment centers and active labor policies].
https://www.lavoro.gov.it/documenti-e-
norme/normative/Documents/2020/DM-n-59-del-22052020-Piano-
straordinario-potenziamento-Centri-Impiego-e-politiche-attive-lavoro.pdf
MacArthur foundation (2011). DML competition and badges for lifelong learning:
an open conversation [video]. https://www.macfound.org/videos/330/

Cedefop working paper series – No 2 / November 2021 73

CHAPTER 6.
Active support for the unemployed:
implications of digitalisation for
professionalism in career guidance
Susanne Kraatz (37), CareersNet, Germany

6.1. Introduction
Career guidance offered by Public Employment Services (PES) mainly targets
the unemployed. Employment counsellors assist jobseekers in the development
of integration strategies to find a job comprising job search assistance or more
complex interventions such as helping with internships, training, or working in
partnership with various other social services. This is different from educational
and vocational guidance having the objective to facilitate orientation and
decision-making (Rübner, 2017). Sometimes misleadingly referred to as the ‘job
interview’’, employment counselling is recognised as one of the most effective
active support measures for finding a new job (ELGPN, 2015).
Much research exists on career guidance and different aspects of digital
transformation (Bakke; Haug and Hooley, 2018; Barnes et al., 2020; Goss and
Hooley, 2015; Sampson; Kettunen and Vuorinen, 2020). A gap is noticeable,
however, regarding digital transformation and career guidance for labour market
integration, a field where numerous career guidance counsellors are working.
This article explores the impact of digital transformation on the job profile of
employment counsellors working with unemployed individuals. To that end, it
proceeds in several steps: First, it characterises the specifics of career guidance
for unemployed individuals in the context of changing concepts of active labour
market policies. Second, it looks at the concept of career guidance for the
unemployed and professionalism used by the European Network of Public
Employment Services (PES). Third, it examines the state and impact of digital
transformation on the job profile of employment counsellors. In a fourth step, it
analyses to what extent the need to rethink PES counsellors’ professionalism is
covered by the existing tools developed for the European PES Network. The
article concludes with points for future reflection to make PES career guidance
provision for the unemployed fit for the digital future. It is mainly based on

(37) Public Employment Service, Germany, at the time of production of the article: Policy
analyst (Seconded national expert) at the European Parliament.

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analytical and strategic papers produced for or by the European Network of

Public Employment Services.

6.2. From activation to active support

Career guidance for the unemployed takes place in the policy context of active
labour market policies (ALMPs). After two decades of so-called activation
policies, there are indications following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic of
a conceptual transformation in the policy approach at European level.
At the heart of the so-called activation paradigm is the objective not to limit
support to the payment of ‘passive’ benefits to unemployed individuals, but to
motivate and support them through ALMPs including career guidance, training,
work experience or subsidies to find a new job.
Promoted by the European institutions, the labour activation paradigm ‘from
welfare to workfare’ has been embraced all-round within the European Union.
Activation policies manifest themselves in a diverse manner within the various
European welfare regimes depending on institutional traditions and ideological
factors. According to Moreno (2012), they lie on a continuum between two poles
of welfare models, the liberal Anglo-Saxon model and the Nordic flexicurity
model: ‘In the former, social policies have a limited role and their short-term
paramount concern is to incite individuals to search actively for jobs […]. In the
latter, activation is meant to provide social services from a long-term perspective
in an attempt to break an equilibrium between individuals’ and society’s
demands’ (Moreno, 2012)
The specific type of governmental activation policy, together with PES
strategic management priorities, has an impact on the service concept for career
guidance and employment counselling. If closer to the flexicurity model, career
guidance has a stronger focus on securing transitions on flexible labour markets;
if closer to the liberal model, the risk of benefit dependency, administrative
monitoring and enforcement have a more important role (Table 1):

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Table 1. Activation policies between two welfare models

Flexicurity model Liberal welfare model

Activation – active securities for better Activation – employability + enforcement of

transitions on flexible labour markets benefit eligibility conditions
(flexicurity), social citizenship
Concept of human behaviour:
Concept of human behaviour: Autonomous Passive individuals, welfare State to manage
individuals, welfare State to secure resources – individuals’ behaviour – moral contract: access
skills matching to the economic circumstances to social rights/ entitlements dependent on
behaviour.
Policy approach Policy approach

Active securities (financial): Generous benefits Out-of-work benefits may lessen the motivation
6-9 months to look for or take up employment
Career – right to development and voice Expanding job opportunities (hiring incentives,
Active securities (support): protecting job mobility)
employment, not the same job, social justice Effective labour market institutions and policies
considerations
Empowerment – enabling individuals to change
from one work situation to another
Professionalised employment services and case
management
PES counsellors: PES counsellors:
Empathy + challenging unemployed to try hard Strengthening motivation (support +
+ encouraging to take over risky transitions administrative monitoring, sanctioning)
Increasing job readiness (skills)
Source: Own compilation based upon Moreno, 2012, pp. 141-143 (models); Schmid, 2010; OECD, 2018;
Grubb, 2012.

From a guidance and counselling perspective, it is also important to note the

different underlying concepts of human behaviour (Moreno, 2012): an
autonomous individual that needs to be encouraged through a mix of empathy
and challenging (flexicurity), and a passive individual that needs to be activated
through a mix of support, control and sanctions, the so-called ‘carrot and stick
approach’, inherent in the liberal welfare model.
Recently, indications of rethinking activation at European and at international
levels can be noted.
With the European Pillar of Social Rights, proclaimed by the European
Commission, the European Parliament and the Council in November 2017, a
fundamental change can be observed, which may transform the mainstream
activation paradigm in the future. Principle 4 'Active support to employment' sets
out that:
'everyone has the right to timely and tailor-made assistance to improve
employment or self-employment prospects.'. In the same vein, the
Recommendation on an effective active support to employment following the
COVID-19 crisis (EASE) (European Commission, 2021), forming part of the
European Social Pillar focuses on active support comprising hiring and transition
incentives, enhanced support by employment services for job transitions,

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upskilling, reskilling and support measures. In the context of the COVID-19

pandemic, the OECD recommended different steps for easing the normal
requirements placed on jobseekers given a limited number of job openings in
times of such crisis while maintaining the activation approach (OECD, 2020).

6.3. Professionalism in employment counselling:

performance assessment in the PES Network
To ensure effective and sustainable activation as a main driver for cooperation of
PES at European level, in 2014, the hitherto informal European expert group of
Heads of Public Employment Services (HoPES) was scaled up in status and
scope of action through an EU legal act, a Decision by the European Parliament
and the European Council (see PES Decision 2014, amended in 2020).
The PES Network has elaborated a strategic vision attributing a key role to
service and client orientation as well as to career guidance and employment
counselling. Inspired by the Nordic activation model and building on the theory of
transitional labour markets (TLM) (Schmid, 2010) PES in Europe strive to
become transition management agencies enhancing career management skills.
They shall ‘build bridges’, taking a holistic approach. Bridging career transitions is
a matter of empowerment: jobseekers and job changers need to be enabled to
build bridges themselves, to take control of their own careers, supported by
guidance, advanced digital technology and skills development. PES should adapt
their services to new challenges, changing customer groups and needs: ‘The
evolution from bureaucratic organisations towards more flexible, market and
network-oriented structures must continue [requiring] a mental and cultural shift.’
PES should equally invest in the empowerment of staff promoting the
development of competences, and acquisition of qualifications (PES Network,
2018). This approach is broadly compatible with the principles for lifelong
guidance set out by the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN,
2015).
To strengthen PES capacities for service delivery in practice, the PES
Network, with support from the European Commission, has set up the so-called
‘Benchlearning’. Building upon the European Foundation of Quality Management
(EFQM) model, the Benchlearning framework defines operational standards for a
qualitative performance assessment in combination with quantitative
performance data. While participation in the Benchlearning exercise is binding for
PES members of the European Network, the competence for service design
remains with the Member States and the PES. The general structure of the
qualitative performance assessment consists of a self-assessment by a given

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PES and a subsequent external assessment. Each assessment ends with

feedback and a summary report on strengths and weaknesses, priorities for
action and recommendations including which other PES could be contacted to for
learning what to learn, and from which PES (ICON Institute Public Sector; Fertig
and Ziminiene, 2017; overview: see Kraatz, 2019).
In line with the PES Network´s strategic vision (ICON Institute Public Sector;
Fertig and Ziminiene, 2017), the Benchlearning framework equally puts
sustainable activation, management of transitions and career guidance by PES
counsellors centre stage: employment counsellors are tasked with identifying the
employment potential and needs of an unemployed individual in a collaborative
process, resulting in agreement to an individual action plan for labour market
integration. Following the principle of mutual obligation defining rights and
responsibilities, this plan sets out the PES commitment in terms of supporting
measures, such as job search or training, while the client commits her or himself
actively to engage and comply with the activation requirements (number of
applications, attendance of training).

Box 1. European PES Network: Benchlearning

The framework for qualitative performance assessment consists of seven areas of so-
called ‘enablers’. Each of the areas is underpinned by a set of operational standards
and items in a questionnaire to measure the ‘maturity’ of a PES:
(a) strategic PES management;
(b) design of operational processes + use of information (including digitalisation);
(c) sustainable activation + management of transition (including guidance, individual
action planning – if legally possible based upon mutual obligation/conditionality);
(d) relations to employers;
(e) evidence-based design and implementation of services;
(f) effective management of partnerships and stakeholders;
(g) allocation of resources (including HR, training).

Source: ICON Institute Public Sector; Fertig and Ziminiene, 2017.

What is different from the PES Network’s vision is that the Benchlearning
framework presents a mixed approach combining support with conditionality of
benefit payment (if legally possible) implying enforcement and sanctioning: the
‘carrot and stick approach’ common to the liberal welfare model. Consequently,
employment counsellors must balance between enabling unemployed individuals
and enforcing national rules for activation, including decisions on sanctioning if
part of their job profile. As the Benchlearning framework states: PES counsellors
‘have a job profile that can combine the role of broker, counsellor, social worker
and includes administrative tasks’ (European Commission, 2014). Acting in a

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setting of conflicting goals they have to manage switching roles between client-
oriented counselling and administrative monitoring in a concrete counselling
situation (European Commission, 2014).
How does the Benchlearning framework conceive of professionalism of PES
staff? The excellence model described in the publicly available Benchlearning
manual sets broad standards for assessment requiring the existence of
qualification requirements and competence profiles for all PES staff. Each PES
should have a competence-based training and career development plans in place
(Box 2). That the PES have agreed on common standards can be considered a
milestone. Nonetheless, from the publicly available information it is not clear
whether there is agreement on a set of basic competences every employment
counsellor should have, and which should form the basis of training.

Box 2. Benchlearning manual – Standards for human resource strategies

The shift in the role of PES towards services focused on activation and facilitation of
transitions, has strengthened the counselling and guidance elements in the job of
employment counsellors. […] The differentiation of tasks requires a broad range of
interdisciplinary knowledge as well as adequate ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills with the
expected balance between key administrative and customer service competences.

PES HR strategies should include:

(a) the definition and description of qualifications and competences profiles;
(b) an initial training plan for new employees upon entry tailored to qualifications and
competences recruitees have;
(c) mentoring and coaching programmes;
(d) competence-based training and a career development plan incorporating a life-
cycle approach to be linked with incentives and training for implementation of
blended services should be part of HRM.

Source: European Commission, 2014.

6.4. The European reference competence profile for

PES and EURES counsellors
At European level, a tool exists describing the competences of PES counsellors
and also of EURES counsellors providing guidance for mobile jobseekers in the
EU: European reference competence profile for PES and EURES counsellors
(European Commission, 2017a). It has been elaborated following a request by
the Network of Heads of PES by an expert in cooperation with a PES working
group. This framework is evidence-based, building upon a survey conducted
among the members of the PES network in 2012. This had revealed a striking

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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discrepancy between a widely shared consensus on key tasks employment

counsellors should carry out and the diversity of PES entry requirements and
training concepts. The reference competence profile integrates lifelong guidance
concepts and competence frameworks developed by other European and
national initiatives (Kraatz, 2020). Following the structure of the Cedefop
framework of 2009, the PES and EURES reference profile comprises three
strands:
(a) foundational competences;
(b) client interaction competences;
(c) supporting competences including system and technical competences.

Figure 1. European Reference competence profile for PES counsellors (2014)

Source: Author, based on European Commission (2014).

Consisting of 44 competences, mainly in the area of client interaction and

employment counselling (25), the profile does not set one standard for all, but
serves as a menu to choose from, adapting it to the recruitment strategy of a
given PES. Focusing on a client- and resource-oriented enabling approach, it is
compatible with the variety of activation approaches as it comprises modules on
working with individual action plans and on managing the dual role of enabling
clients and enforcing rules for activation to sanctioning. Given a general
description of competences for each module, it can be used for designing training
modules. The Benchlearning manual does not refer to this competence profile,
despite it being developed four years before the publication of the former.

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6.5. PES digital transformation and counsellor job

enlargement
Digital transformation in PES has been progressing considerably during the last
decade (see European Commission, 2017a); the experience of sudden
confinement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic worked as a strong catalyst.
According to a poll among 250 participants of the EU PES Network webinar PES
strategies to support recovery after the COVID-19 crisis, most PES had set up
remote appointments and new digital services. Four out of 10 PES
representatives think that most of the changes will become permanent; three out
of 10 consider that at least a few changes will be kept (Cedefop, 2019). A joint
international survey produced by seven organisations and experts in career
guidance and published by Cedefop among career guidance providers worldwide
confirms this development toward digital transformation of services (Kraatz,
2018).
So-called digital-first strategies will gain importance in the future following
the model of a number of PES who are recognised leaders in this respect
(including VDAB-Belgium, Estonia, France and Sweden (see European
Commission, 2017a; ICON Institute Public Sector and Walsh, 2020)).
Consequently, the web platform is becoming the organisational face to the
customer:
(a) multifunctional platforms for career development function as a first access
point and gateway. Increasingly designed in a process-oriented way, they
are structured along key points of a client´s journey (e.g. Federal
Employment Agency Germany, Pôle Emploi). At European level, the
Commission is reshaping the Europass platform in a similar manner;
(b) an increasing variety of self-help tools is in place to offer online services for
skills-based matching of vacancies with jobseekers, for detecting skills gaps
and training needs. Some platforms offer automated suggestions for jobs
and learning using big-data analysis and artificial intelligence (AI). To
prepare and complement the assessment of jobseekers by employment
counsellors, several PES apply so-called ‘statistical profiling’, meaning that
jobseekers are grouped by the intensity of support needed or the risk of
long-term unemployment on the basis of a limited number of tested
characteristics (such as age, qualification) using big-data analysis. Those
job-ready and having sufficient digital skills, receive a recommendation to
continue with online self-help tools (as in Estonia and Sweden), (Cedefop,
2019; Eurostat, 2020);
(c) online information and contact points receive more in-depth support: if a
client needs more information or counselling to solve specific problems,

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additional links or click buttons provide a variety of interactive possibilities

including the establishment of contact with a personal counsellor;
(d) mobile apps make access easier and more flexible.

To conclude from this increasingly common way of working in the wider

context of digital government strategies, counselling sessions are changing
considerably, as many traditional counsellor tasks have been or are going to be
automated. Regardless of these developments, human interaction remains
crucial using a variety of digital channels (email, individual or group counselling
using online video channels or chats) or offered on site (see Kraatz, Rübner and
Weber, 2021, in this collection). As Pieterson (2020) puts it: ‘While the internet is
evolving into the backbone of service delivery in (digitally) more advanced
countries, many traditional channels are not disappearing. Rather, different
channels are finding very specific functions, often in conjunction with the online
channels’.
Career counselling provided by practitioners is indispensable for two
reasons in the context of unemployment services: the existence of a digital divide
and the complexity of problems a share of unemployed individuals are facing.
The digital divide particularly affects those living in rural areas and those with
lower education and digital skills levels, as well as some groups of migrants
(ICON Institute Public Sector and Walsh, 2020; Kidwai and Sarwar, 2015). In
2019, only four out of 10 EU citizens (44%) used information from government
websites during the previous 12 months. The percentage of Europeans using the
internet for job search and applications is even lower (36% in Denmark and 6% in
Romania). The joint international survey report cited, also found evidence that
traditional channels such as telephone communication, can better reach some
vulnerable clients across country settings (Kraatz, 2018). If not complemented by
compensatory measures, digital transformation aggravates existing patterns of
disadvantage and inequalities. In order to support vulnerable groups better,
several PES have set up mobile labour offices or stations in other public buildings
(e.g. libraries) to provide access to PCs and internet in remote/rural areas as well
as assistance and training for those not having sufficient digital skills (Kraatz,
2020).
Many barriers jobseekers are facing are too complex to be solved by online
self-help tools, including the traumatising effect that becoming unemployed has
on psychological wellbeing and mental health (Gazier, 2020). For these clients,
intensive employment counselling, or case management based on social work
methods, is necessary to assess their personal situation in a holistic approach
and to set up a tailored integration plan in cooperation with a network of other
services.

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Overall, these developments show that the job tasks of employment (and
other) career guidance counsellors are becoming more demanding with
increasing digitalisation through new technologies, and that job-ready and
digitally skilled unemployed will increasingly rely on self-help tools (ICON Institute
Public Sector; Fertig and Ziminiene, 2017; Institute for Employment and
Research and Konle-Seidl, 2020). This implies an enlargement of job profiles
requiring new knowledge, skills, and attitudes to:
(a) guide a jobseeker through the increasing offer of digital information and self-
help tools, to answer follow-up questions and to integrate the digital service
offer consistently into the specific counselling session, with the objective of
enabling her or him to manage this independently;
(b) work with a client base shifting in its composition towards clients with more
complex problems and needs.

Other developments contribute to growing needs. A number of PES are

expanding service delivery to early intervention (contacting young people at risk
of dropout in education) and prevention (workers threatened by unemployment or
having been notified of dismissal), or to new target groups, particularly people
with disabilities being inactive (European Commission, 2014, 2017b).

6.6. Rethinking competences and training in the digital

context
Research on digital transformation of PES highlights that staff should be trained
in using the new tools, both technical application together with professional
content and as part of the counselling process (European Commission and
Pieterson, 2017, p. 35; see also Kraatz, Rübner and Weber in this collection).
Both the Benchlearning manual and the European reference competence profile
incorporate digital transformation at a basic level, referring to the need to train
staff for working in a context of blended service delivery:

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Box 3. Competences for blended service delivery in the digital context

Benchlearning framework:
´Ideally a PES combines different channels of service provision (blended services)
and uses an integrated multichannel management to supply proper services via the
proper channels to customers according to their needs and background. […] All
members of staff should be trained to put blended services into practice´.
European reference competence profile: ICT skills and ability to work in a context of
blended service delivery:
(a) acquire knowledge of and use basic ICT equipment and software, as well as
service- and organisation-specific ICT equipment and software;
(b) use Internet and online resources for the management of job placement offers and
job search processes for their clients;
(c) acquire knowledge and skills to provide blended services both to employees and
job applicants, and effectively use internal recruitment systems and online
recruitment tools and regularly acquire new skills in this area;
(d) maintain contact with registered jobseekers and employers, and provide
telephone/online job information and assistance.

Source: Cedefop, 2018.

The competence profile provides a set of basic digital competences for

employment and other counsellors in PES. It could benefit from an update, given
the increasing proportion of digital tools and services used and the greater impact
on service that goes beyond using these tools.
However, the main challenge ahead for human resource development in
PES may be of a more fundamental nature. Considering gradual automation of
administrative tasks and of placement into jobs, the main reason to maintain
physical PES will increasingly be the value employment counsellors add in terms
of specific competences and professionalism: empathy, enabling, and
counselling competences.
So far, this area of performance enablers has received less attention than
others, judging from evidence from the PES Knowledge Centre. Although a PES
toolkit Building career guidance and lifelong learning (Kraatz, 2017) includes a
section on capacity building, the resource does not address the specific job
profile of employment counsellors.
Future work related to digital transformation by the PES Network on human
resource development for employment counsellors could consider several
European sources and international research. These include, for example, the
European self-assessment tool for digital competences, the DigCompSaT, to be
launched in 2021 as part of the Europass platform, the Cedefop Handbook of ICT
practices for guidance and career development (Hughes et al., 2016), and results

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from the project EmployID on managing changing counsellor identities in times of

digital transformation.
Research has provided evidence on the impact of guidance and staffing.
Career guidance and coaching for labour market integration increase the
sustainability of placement and widen the perspective of socially disadvantaged
groups (Behncke; Frölich and Lechner, 2010; Caliendo; Schmidl and Uhlendorff,
2011). An aspect that is sometimes overlooked in the work with the unemployed
is the important role systematic activation of informal social networks has for
finding a job (Behncke; Frölich and Lechner, 2010); research also shows that
employment effects are higher if an employment counsellor belongs to the same
social group as the unemployed (Behncke; Frölich and Lechner, 2010).

6.7. Conclusions
During the last decade, the PES Network has produced a valuable knowledge
base on career guidance and employment counselling in PES. The adoption of a
common strategic PES Network vision and of a common framework for
Benchlearning including employment counsellor tasks, digital change and staff
professionalism can be considered milestones worldwide. Both will be revised in
2021 to take up developments related to labour markets, technologies, and PES
strategic reflections. Analysis on digital transformation is at an advanced level,
also covering aspects such as the digital divide and the need to maintain face-to-
face guidance while specifying its changing role.
This article concludes that future service concepts for career guidance in
PES in the European Union may undergo a double transformation. There are
signs of a paradigm shift from the liberal two-track activation paradigm,
combining support with the threat of sanctions, to one-track policies with a focus
on active support. A strategic shift towards digital-first strategies and online self-
help tools is taking place due to the increasing use of digital governance.
The impact of these changes on professional career guidance for the
unemployed is two-fold: policies for active support alone facilitate professional
career guidance in PES as counsellors do not need to switch between supportive
client orientation inherent to career guidance and administrative
monitoring/sanctioning. This would allow PES to concentrate in their HR
strategies on equipping counsellors with the additional competences required to
integrate digital technologies in the counselling process, addressing the needs of
a client base shifting towards disadvantaged jobseekers facing complex barriers.
Against this background, the following topics may deserve further reflection
and research:

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(a) what evidence exists in research on active labour market policies regarding
the impact of face-to-face career guidance for unemployed individuals?
(b) given the increasing role of quality employment counselling in times of digital
transformation, what basic competences can be considered as necessary for
all PES employment counsellors?
(c) could a set of open-source European training modules for blended
employment counselling based on an agreed set of competences provide
efficiency gains, saving development costs?
There is evidence that quality career guidance helps compensate for social
disadvantage by widening individual perspectives, and that the large majority of
unemployed people are willing to work even if feeling depressed about their
situation. This may serve as inspiration for discussing future PES priorities and
strategies.

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technology in career interventions. International Journal for Educational
Vocational Guidance, Vol. 20, No 1, pp. 191-208.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334096445_The_role_of_practition
ers_in_helping_persons_make_effective_use_of_information_and_communi
cation_technology_in_career_interventions
Schmid, G. (2010). Non-standard employment and labour force participation: a
comparative view of the recent development in Europe. IZA Discussion
Paper, No 5087. https://ssrn.com/abstract=1651712

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 PART II

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interface in career development
Füsun Akkök (38), CareersNet, Turkey and Deirdre Hughes (39), CareersNet, UK

7.1. Introduction
The world has changed significantly in the last year. As a result of the global
pandemic, societies everywhere have had to adapt in ways we could not have
previously imagined. Unknown to most before ‘lockdown’, millions of people are
now familiar with face masks, video conferencing, Zoom calls and Facebook to
help connect with loved ones, simply to get together in communities for support
or to adjust their working practices to fit into the ‘new norm’. Technology is
becoming even more ubiquitous. Digital growth, increased automation and
artificial intelligence (AI) require people to be committed lifelong learners (ETF,
2020), thinking about their transferable skills, upgrading their skills or switching
from at- risk sectors to remain in employment. Increasingly, careers support
services are offering both digital and non-digital careers information, advice and
guidance to a diverse range of clients. While evidence shows increased use of
digital and social media, globally half of the world’s population has no internet
access (UNICEF, 2017). They are missing out on opportunities to find work, learn
skills, save money, and access important services. Many individuals are already
coping with issues such as loneliness, poverty or unemployment.
The impact of COVID-19 has resulted in rising levels of inequality, with
lowest earners more likely to have been affected by the pandemic than those on
the highest salaries (Joyce and Xu, 2020). A recent survey of 37 countries
indicates that three in four households suffered declining income since the start
of the pandemic, with 82% of poorer households affected (Save the Children,
2020). Global evidence shows economic disruption is being felt most acutely by
young people (Fleming, 2020). As a result, there is a growing need to redouble
efforts and avoid negative economic and social consequences, in relation to
people, jobs, productivity and growth. Evidence shows health and wellbeing
outcomes generally worsen with greater socioeconomic disadvantage (UNICEF,
2020). For those displaced from key sectors most affected by the pandemic, shift

(38) Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, Emeritus Professor.

(39) DMH Associates and CareerChat, England UK, Director.

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workers and new entrants to volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous labour
markets, day and night access to trustworthy careers information, advice and
guidance has become vital. Over the coming year(s) there is likely to be further
demand for careers support services as individuals strive to adapt and prosper.
In this chapter, we discuss the new digital forms of careers support
interventions and focus on the continuing importance of human intervention in the
helping process. The first part explores practices and approaches currently
central to careers support service design and delivery. We argue ‘the bots’ are
coming and career development professionals need to embrace such
developments and find ways to share designing and adding this to their expert
repertoire of services. The second part discusses the art of ‘career chat’
conversations that harness big data, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning,
labour market intelligence (LMI) and chatbots. This is both challenging and
complex. We argue that the intersection between the use of such digital
technology to produce ‘bite-sized’ careers information and advice, complemented
by human professional careers guidance, is under-explored. The chapter
considers how career guidance professionals can develop new insights and
approaches in enabling individuals to access tailored careers support anytime of
the day or night. We briefly discuss the need to pay careful attention to
addressing bias, ethics and taking account of operational contexts. This is
followed by illustration of a careers chatbot prototype, theoretically informed and
jointly created with career guidance professionals, offering insight to a new digital
form of blended approach. The third part outlines how a chatbot and human
interface mode of delivery needs to be embedded in professional development
and training. We consider the crucial importance of careers practitioners learning
to transfer their professional skills and knowledge, working in harmony with AI
innovation. This requires a new mentality, adaptability and resilience to deliver
new modes of delivery. Upskilling and reskilling, particularly in digital
competence, opportunity awareness and ethical considerations, are key
considerations. So far, the training and competences of careers practitioners in
the art of AI-driven careers support has been overlooked by policy-makers and
leaders in the careers sector. Career chatbots hold equal promise for careers
professionals and their clients; while the evidence-base is limited, the career
development community has an exciting opportunity to stay ahead of the
innovation curve.

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7.2. Careers support services

In response to the social and economic impact of the pandemic, career guidance
professionals have rapidly had to adapt and transform their service design and
delivery arrangements. They have discovered more inclusive and innovative
ways of using technology to good effect (Cedefop, 2020). Examples include
distance and e-based careers policies and practices, delivered by telephone,
online interviews 1:1 or in groups, webinar sessions, gaming, virtual career fairs
and virtual work experience or internships. Each are designed to offer more
personalised and interactive digital and non-digital support commonly referred to
as ‘a blended approach’. These give rise to the potential of increases in self-
directed learning that can potentially transform people’s lives. Careers services
are often challenged when it comes to providing accessible and tailored support
for people of all ages, particularly marginalised groups of clients or customers:
migrants, ethnic minorities, low-skilled workers, those not in education,
employment or training (NEET), or people involved in new forms of work
(platform work, gig workers and the self-employed) (ETF, 2020).
There is a new blurring of the boundaries between and across traditional
models of education and careers support for young people and adults. Zelloth
(2014) produced a taxonomy of careers support models setting out different and
clearly defined approaches to career guidance design and delivery: ‘the
curriculum model’ (an ‘in school approach’), ‘the centre model’, ‘the individual
model (specialist or semi-specialist)’ (both associated with ‘in school and out of
school’ approaches) and ‘the virtual model’ (self-assistance and use of websites
and web-based interactive programmes). In 2021, digital technologies have
become ubiquitous and part of everyday life. Education has changed
dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, with teaching undertaken
remotely and on digital platforms. There are, however, challenges to overcome.
Some students without reliable internet access and/or technology struggle to
participate in digital learning. Li and Lalani (2020) states that ‘while some believe
that the unplanned and rapid move to online learning – with no training,
insufficient bandwidth, and little preparation – will result in a poor user experience
that is unconducive to sustained growth, others believe that a new hybrid model
of education will emerge’. Careers support activities are also changing in new
working environments. Digital technologies are deeply intertwined with human
activities. These should not be considered as objects or end points of human
actions. Instead, digital spaces create opportunities for constant interaction
between humans and non-humans.

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7.3. Applying the art of artificial intelligence

Rapid expansion of technology using devices like smartphones, apps, tablets and
wearables (e.g., smart watches) enables new methods of learning about careers
(Attwell and Hughes, 2019). A thousand years ago when the Chinese invented
Suanpan – one of the first forms of a calculator – humankind witnessed the birth
of cognitive augmentation: tools that help humans to think faster and do complex
counting that cannot be done easily by the brain alone (Abbass, 2019). Today
machine learning focuses on the development of computer programmes that can
access data and use them to learn for themselves. This is an application of
artificial intelligence (AI) that provides systems the ability to learn automatically
and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed. However,
biases are often encoded in new AI and machine learning systems, which in turn
amplifies inequality.
Crawford (2017) outlines two kinds of harms that can arise from AI bias.
First, ‘allocation harms’ occur when a system allocates opportunities or resources
to certain groups, or withholds them; for example, if bias caused job applications
continually to deny applications to women or disabled people. An allocation harm
can range from a small but significant and systematic difference in treatment to
complete denial of a particular service. Second, ‘representational harms’ occur
when systems reinforce discrimination against some groups because of identity
markers such as race, class or beliefs. To mitigate this, ethics and the principle of
nonmaleficence should be firmly enshrined in career development professional
training, in particular in the creation of career chatbots.
We live in an age of conversations powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
From customer service chatbots embedded in online banking or insurance
systems to bots that help individuals meditate on their health and wellbeing. In
reality, new conversational interfaces are becoming part of our everyday lives.
The introduction of chatbots in careers support services is, so far, globally
underdeveloped. Yet, societal and technological changes require new forms of
reaching out to young people and adults using digital approaches. For careers
support services, understanding how best to use open data sets in this context,
to capture evolving labour market trends and career trajectories, is vital.
Use of big open data sets, including national and local labour market trends,
salaries and job prospects, has proved challenging in many countries (Řihová,
2016). This is further accentuated by the shock of the pandemic in key sectors,
which means an overreliance on traditional forecasting methods using historical
data only is no longer sufficient. Instead, innovative approaches and transparent
quality standards in the use of AI and LMI data are now required. This will help
rebuild knowledge and understanding of rapidly changing labour markets and the

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evolving opportunity structure in the years ahead. Governments can perform a

key role in this regard. New application programme interfaces (APIs) are
emerging which facilitate the easy transfer of more relevant local, regional and
national data into mobile and other portable devices; an example is government-
funded course data within the UK 'LMI for All' initiative. Beyond this, there exists
an exciting opportunity for crowdsourcing local LMI data from practitioners in
local community settings. AI-based systems rely on good quality data to learn
and get smarter in responding accurately to the end-user. However, AI and LMI
remain largely under-researched in careers support services (Akkok, Hughes and
Bekiaridis, 2020; Bright, 2015). National systems function differently, with
differing funding mechanisms, but much can be learned from innovative work in
this regard.
Web-based interactive systems use internet technologies to deliver
information and services to users or other information systems/applications in an
interactive way. They offer information on occupations and learning opportunities,
combined with assessments of personal skills and attitudes. Many include the
possibility of creating personal portfolios detailing skills, qualifications,
experiences and aspirations. They can contain matching engines, linking
personal traits and skills to advertised vacancies and allowing people to draft
their CVs and apply for jobs (Cedefop, 2019). Yet there are inherent dangers in
the application of algorithms: legitimate concerns that those lacking digital skills
will get left behind, alongside technologists and/or innovators designing bots
largely in the absence of career development specialist knowledge or expertise
(Hughes et al., 2021).
Career development professionals have a major role to play in co-creating
career chatbots and embedding this within their ‘toolkit’ of professional practice.
Chatbots, backed by machine-learning technology, can automate customer
services by determining how to resolve a problem based on knowledge of the
topic and the process involved. If the ‘AI worker’ cannot answer a question,
he/she will alert a human colleague, observe the following interaction and learn
how to respond to comparable questions in the future. The use of chatbots can
help companies with various tasks, including scheduling meetings, helping
salespeople access customer-relationship management (CRM) information,
managing to-do lists, and reporting on key business metrics. The use of chatbots
has strengths and weaknesses. For example, clear privacy policies regarding
collecting, analysing and using the data should be issued. The chatbots can take
the jobs of people currently working in customer services. AI-driven programmes
have a huge potential providing they can get better at understanding language
contextually. Not all services can be offered by a chat-based dialogue. A chatbot
can help to solve a problem better, get to the market faster or improve someone’s

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experience. For example, the chatbot called Joy (2016), aims to track mental
health by asking you once a day how you are and analysing the results, as well
as offering stress tips. Or Acebot, which is useful at the workplace to manage
expenses, keep track of to-do lists, quickly poll colleagues and handle a range of
other digital office tasks (Dredge, 2016).
Chatbots have potential uses in career guidance. A chatbot system is able to
respond to repetitive and typical questions and can improve the efficiency of a
career-guidance service, allowing the practitioners to focus on the in-depth
counselling of their clients. In South Korea, a chatbot system was developed in
2019 for the public employment services (ICCDPP, 2019). In UK-England,
NESTA (2020) – an innovation foundation – and the Department for Education
(DfE) set a national ‘CareerTech Challenge’ through a prize competition on
innovative uses or sources of LMI to improve careers information, advice and/or
guidance. The original goal was to drive innovation in careers support services
for adults, particularly those whose jobs were at risk due to automation prior to
the pandemic.
An example includes ‘CiCi – the powerhouse that supports your career™’,
one of 20 national finalists designed with input from professionally trained careers
and employability advisers (40). This theoretically informed prototype chatbot,
currently being tried out in practice, combines AI and NLP to translate bite-sized
careers information and advice to adults in three major cities, accessible
throughout the day and night. The development is testing the boundaries
between online careers information and advice and professional career guidance,
delivered locally by qualified careers and employability specialists. In particular,
can the bot be trained using AI to learn its own limitations and to know when to
refer the user to a careers professional? With permission granted by the client,
can the chatbot share information in advance of a careers interview, so that the
person does not have to repeat what they have done already in their career
search? Such an approach can potentially strengthen the way people learn to
access and make better use of online careers information and advice. There is
the reassurance to the individual user of professional support available locally, if
needed. The chatbot also enables practitioners to have an added tool to work
effectively with their clients and concentrate their specialist skills on those most in
need.

(40) Dr Hughes leads an innovation team working on the development of CiCi –

https://careerchat.uk/

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7.4. The human interface in career development

These latest innovations hold promise in helping provide clients with tailored and
targeted careers information and advice, but we argue that holistic careers
guidance and personalised support will require some form of skilful human
intervention. Cedefop (2019) suggests this certainly applies to complex and
deeply social activities like counselling. Human presence, and contact when
helping individuals, can positively affect healthy levels of the neurotransmitter
dopamine in an individual’s system (Hambly and Bomford, 2019). This can
contribute to increased motivation and energy, as well as coordinating functions
within many higher brain regions, and can decrease chronic anxiety states
through activation of the attachment system. Moreover, the majority of
communication is non-verbal, documenting research that 55% of communication
pertaining to feelings and attitude is conveyed through facial expressions (with
7% conveyed vocally, and 38% by how things are said) (Hanley et al., 2017).
The helping relationship in different modes, such as face-to-face contact,
allows for an attachment relationship to develop. A ‘therapeutic’ presence is often
at the forefront of career guidance/counselling and involves practitioners being
fully in the moment on a multitude of levels, both physically and relationally.
Having the physical presence of the helping professional (a career guidance or
career counselling professional) can add value to the client experience. For
example, Geller et al. (2002) in her work on assessing the impact of therapist
presence emphasises the integral role of coordinated, reciprocal rhythmic
patterns of movement, vocalisation and gesture through face-to-face contact.
She argues this allows for practitioners to be fully present in providing the client
with an attuned responsiveness, based on a kinaesthetic and emotional sensing.
It also supports one’s own intuition and skill and the relationship between (ibid).
A systematic review of comparative studies on the interactional differences
between telephone and face-to-face psychological interventions (Irvine et al.,
2020) confirms a blended approach is necessary for effective practice. When
differentiated careers service delivery is taken into consideration, depending on
the individuals’ level of readiness for career decision-making, a dynamic suite of
approaches is required to meet the diversity of individuals and their unique set of
circumstances. For example, people with high readiness often make the best use
of self-help services (resource rooms, websites, social media and networking),
while those with moderate readiness may need brief staff-assisted services, and
individuals with low readiness often benefit more from individual case-managed
services (Sampson et al., 2000). In some cases, their digital skills may be
insufficient to access or use web platforms, labour market information may be
difficult to find and interpret, and users may simply have questions which are not

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answered by the available content. To deliver a holistic provision means this

should take account of the individual and their circumstances, providing a
personalised service that is supported by multi-channel delivery mechanisms
(Barnes et al., 2020).
Self-directed online services tend to be of less use to people with relatively
low levels of skills and knowledge. Their digital skills may be insufficient to use
the web platforms, career information may be difficult to find and interpret, and
users may simply have questions which are not answered by available content.
Many people need qualified guidance practitioner assistance to make the most of
these digital tools. A common strategy is to rationalise support through a
combination of digital and non-digital channels (Amar et al., 2020). The right
combination of channels depends on users’ needs, which are usually
progressively assessed to adjust the support they receive. Further, investing in
workforce digital capabilities and thinking about how best to connect with clients
both online and offline requires careers support services around the world to
embrace innovative digital approaches.

7.5. Professionalisation matters

The role of trained and qualified careers guidance practitioners has changed as
the pace of delivery in using digital approaches has accelerated since COVID-19
(Cedefop, 2020). Guidance professionals’ work has transformed; many are
adopting a different mind-set and approach. The application of technology-rich
methods and the skills required to blend career interventions for holistic service
provision present both opportunities and challenges. Career practitioners are in a
position to develop new skills alongside other human support services such as
mental health specialists, public employment service work coaches and youth
workers that could serve different target groups in a wide range of settings,
including multicultural contexts. Together, professionals have an opportunity to
co-design careers and wellbeing services and learn how best to target and
personalise their services accordingly. Sharing big data sets and identifying local
needs and trends is paramount. This approach brings in the importance of the
social context and tailoring the intervention to the specific needs of the target
groups and the local demands of employability.
The COVID-19 pandemic suddenly caused an increase in unemployment,
occupational shifting, and a change of job content and mental health concerns. In
such a situation, the role of career guidance professional is to help people to find
solutions to this modern crisis. Well trained and qualified career-guidance
advisers should also be able easily to refer clients to other appropriate services,

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mental-health organisations or welfare support. Virtual solutions should be jointly

explored, developed and adopted by schools, counselling and guidance centres,
public employment services (PES) and universities. Digital educational solutions
based on AI and other learning analytics techniques should be designed and
implemented in the near future.
It is time to reflect on the role digital technology should have in the future of
education, training, employment and career guidance, not only as a solution that
enables the continuance of services during such a pandemic, but also, as
example, for the personalisation of learning/career guidance. AI-powered
systems could have helped teachers, students and parents, employers and
unemployed people navigate the range of digital learning resources out there if
they had been more available and ready to use. This pandemic has shown that
training and preparing the school/PES’s counsellors to undertake their work
online is absolutely necessary. Practitioners need to be willing to revise their
strategies and to help develop technology-rich methods (Cedefop, 2019).
Practitioners should be well-prepared for their role of ‘keeping hope alive
and affirming the dignity of their clients’ (Herr, 1997): supporting young people in
tackling career confusion (41), dealing with a higher diversity of clients
(disadvantaged young people, older workers, migrants, adults involved in new
forms of work), implementing more individualised service provision, introducing
the sustainability dimension, developing clients’ transversal skills for the future, or
making more use of new technologies in career guidance.
Holistic careers guidance or counselling requires some form of skilful human
intervention; this has implications for the professionalisation of the career
guidance workforce. Overall, a dynamic suite of approaches and tools are
required to meet the diversity of individuals and their unique set of
circumstances. The bots are coming and careers professionals need to embrace
such developments, including new approaches to sourcing labour market
intelligence, to help guidance career conversations with clients.
Professionalisation of the careers workforce must include finding ways of co-
design and using chatbots, and adding this to the practitioner expert repertoire of
support services. Career chatbots hold equal promise for careers professionals
and their clients: while the evidence-base is limited, the career development
community has an exciting opportunity to engage and stay ahead of the
innovation curve.

(41) Career confusion can be defined as the individual’s lack of self-awareness,

opportunity awareness, level of confidence and/or knowledge in knowing how to
make decisions for career development.

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in rich countries. UNICEF. Innocenti Report Card, No 16. https://www.unicef-
irc.org/child-well-being-report-card-16
Zelloth, H. (2014). Career guidance for Vocational Education and Training (VET).
Journal of the National Institute for Career Education Counselling, Vol. 33,
No 1, pp. 49-55.
https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/nicec/jnicec/2014/00000033/00000
001/art00008

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complexity
Tibor Bors Borbély-Pecze (42), CareersNet, Hungary

8.1. Introduction (43)

One of the world-famous quotes of Winston S. ChurchilI is that ‘I only believe in
statistics that I doctored myself.’ With his sarcastic dry humour, he expressed the
opinion of many: statistics, and labour statistics, figures and the relationships
between data sets are unknown to many. Conflicting statistical details that make
it harder to interpret the information presented can be seen daily, such as in
ubiquitous social media used by ordinary citizens. Yet, lifelong career guidance
practitioners cannot be among those without adequate competences in
understanding and interpreting labour market information and statistics and their
production because career guidance systems and services mobilise these
resources to support users. In arguing for increased attention to the current
challenges faced, this chapter’s points of departure are that these competences
surrounding LMI, and, in particular, relevant statistics and databases, are critical
in career guidance. Several points are presented about labour market statistics
which career guidance systems and service development, as well as guidance
practitioners, could usefully incorporate into the knowledge of practice. Two main
themes are discussed: the nature of modern labour markets, and new ways of
analysing labour market databases. Also presented is the context surrounding
career guidance and its provision and practice, and the special role that trained
career practitioners play in relation to the labour market and their clients.

(42) WJLF John Wesley Theological College, Department of Education Science.

(43) The author wishes to thank John McCarthy, director of the ICCDPP for checking the
language and providing input to the first drafts of this paper.

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8.2. Modern labour markets, large-scale databases,

and contemporary lifelong guidance
Both modern labour markets and the methods of analysing databases have
strong impacts on the quality of lifelong guidance practice, as well as the design
and implementation of service delivery. Beyond the frontline service delivery, the
design and development of lifelong guidance policies, systems and services also
need to take these issues into consideration. There are a range of issues within
the first theme concerning the nature of modern labour markets. The second
concerns new ways of analysing large statistical databases, which are an
unprecedented historical development now facilitated by global internet networks
that contain billions of personal data, nowadays referred as the ‘big data
revolution’. This concerns both qualitative and quantitative information.
These new large databases are navigated using data mining, which provides
access to customer profile types in diverse fields, from online grocery and travel
habits to labour market relevant data. This also means that entities such as
corporations and government can potentially access extensive individual, family
and community data (Harari, 2018) (44). The positive side of this data-rich
environment is that career guidance services in employment and education
institutions can support and follow-up on individuals’ career choices over the
lifespan, like never before. Career information was also never as accessible for
citizens as in the 21st century, yet intentionally or accidentally manipulated
information (fake news) was also never so widely spread. Social media is a
powerful tool for information management, but these platforms also maintain
‘tribal or cultural cognition’ (Kahan, 2015), often with fragmented career
information that is professionally uncontrolled while certain closed social media
groups maintain their own interpretations about careers. Closed groups, as in the
tribal age, are often built around emotions rather than scientifically controlled
facts. In the age of the internet, anyone can act as a publishing house or run a
YouTube channel, and the reality of online career information can be challenged
too. Some historians (Finchelstein, 2020) argue that these ‘echo chambers’
create new types of alternative realities which cannot be challenged via
intellectual and democratic dialogues.

(44) Harari refers to this extensive access to data as ‘hacking’.

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8.3. Updating career practitioner core competences to

provide quality services
Career information is often fragmented or professionally uncontrolled in that it
can be freely uploaded and spread by users/citizens. The community of career
practitioners, classified as belonging to occupational fields from vocational
guidance to life coaching, is small in any country if we compare to professional
communities of social workers, teachers, or other human development
professionals. Trained career professionals are not the only group active in
lifelong guidance: several other professions, such as teachers, psychologists,
mentors and social workers, also deliver certain elements of career guidance
services. Nevertheless, what makes career guidance practitioners unique is their
special relationship with career information and its management, including labour
market and occupational information. Bassot (2012), using a constructivist
approach, alluded to career guidance as a bridge between society and
individuals: the ‘bridging role’ of career guidance between childhood and
adulthood, between school and the labour market, and between jobs. This
requires practical but professionally well-established knowledge and application
of labour economics related intelligence. However, this knowledge and skill are
usually weak elements of the initial and continuous training and professional
development of career guidance professionals. Understanding the ever-changing
nature of the labour market and labour market analysis are especially important
for career guidance professionals, so they can protect their clients from ‘being
hacked’ by modern marketing of education, training, and labour market
opportunities. For example, student recruitment is based more on the economic
interest of education institutions rather than a career guidance service based on
assessment of the users’ needs.
Professionalising career guidance (Cedefop, 2009), presents labour market
and occupational knowledge as essential for guidance practice, but only lists
elements of these two knowledge types. Attention is directed to public
employment services (PES) professionals without specifying the details of the
professional competences required for understanding and applying labour market
information in the guidance process (ibid., 2009:43) by career counsellors and
case workers. This would include career guidance professionals becoming aware
of the limitations of labour market information and understanding the process
nature of labour markets rather than seeing them as static. Modern career
guidance theories (Leung, 2008) and practices also acknowledge the role of the
environment, including labour market settings, but often describe the guidance
process without recognising economics, and labour economics in particular, as a
core competence of professionals. If users are to gain from the guidance

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process, career counsellors must do more than signal labour market information
to clients by using occupational databases, for example. They must be
professionally capable of discussing and explaining the content of these data
sets.
Based on these pressing arguments about the nature of modern labour
markets, and new ways of analysing labour market statistical databases, there
are several issues surrounding the provision of labour market information during
the career guidance process that should inform the work of guidance
practitioners and that require more attention from guidance practitioners and
service managers (Moreno da Fonseca, 2016).

8.4. The changing nature of modern transitional

labour markets
Labour markets are complex, pulsing, changeable structures and there is no
career guidance without a proper understanding of their nature. Labour markets
are more processes than static systems. Human beings as factors of production,
represent the labour supply (Black, 1997). Navigating through super complex and
changeable phenomena throughout the lifespan requires supporting systems
such as career guidance services, information, and lifelong guidance systems,
designed and built around citizens to empower them.
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Economics ‘labour markets are
processes by which workers and employers are brought into contact, and wages
and conditions of work are decided' (Black, 1997). The hours and conditions of
work, and the rules about hiring and firing, are frequently subject to legal
regulation. Much of the labour market, however, does not involve formal
institutions or negotiations. From the perspective of lifelong guidance, the most
important feature of labour markets are the individual’s jobs and occupations,
which are also connected with their lifestyles. When people choose a career or
enter into an employment contract, this decision is also about a way of life, a life-
changing personal decision. As a personal decision or in the absence of a
decision-making opportunity, such as no local or regional job opportunities, this is
always a value-driven issue. It is not only a rational decision based on personal
equilibrium (a balance between working and leisure times) as the early (A. Smith,
F. Hayek) and contemporary laissez-fair (neoliberalist) economists (M. Friedman)
suggested.
Labour markets are different in their nature from capital or commodity
markets. Regardless of the growing numbers involved in labour migration and in
distance working, people mainly seek opportunities in local markets.

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Consequently, general labour market information about occupations, learning

pathways, trends, and prognoses, about wages and living standards, have a
relatively limited value in the counselling/career educating process in local
settings. Therefore, authors from the career guidance field commonly propose
the personal customisation of such information (Sultana and Watts, 2006). The
biggest practical question remains: how can this be done?
Since the turn of the 19th century, wage labour (paid employment) (Greer,
1985) became the primary model of capitalism. Career information, including
labour market information, became a determining element of career guidance
and education. ‘Labour market information (LMI) represents a core component of
the knowledge required for career development interventions. It distinguishes the
work of career development practitioners from other kinds of helping’ occupations
(Bimrose, 2020). According to Cedefop’s LMI toolkit, labour market information
and intelligence tells you about the workplace or labour market and describes its
condition, past and present, as well as future projections. It clarifies where work
opportunities are increasing or decreasing, what occupations exist, study
pathways towards occupations and what is required, how to find or change a job,
or progress in a career (45). The theory and practice of career guidance uses the
outcomes of labour market research but this cross-disciplinary linkage (between
psychology, pedagogy and economics) could be further developed so knowledge
about the labour market could be more deeply embedded and integrated into the
policy, theory and practice of career guidance. Career guidance theory has been
largely shaped by psychologists during its 100-year history but, guidance as such
is truly a cross- and interdisciplinary area of study. Without the integration of
knowledge and research from pedagogy, psychology, sociology, law, history and
economics, our understanding of career decision-making, behaviour, and
development would remain very limited.
The development of ‘career information’, which includes labour market and
occupational information, already has a long history dating back to the beginning
of early industrialisation. It has developed alongside occupational standards and
these standards regularly need to be updated due to the industrial revolutions.
Chain revolutions have been reshaping the relationship between people and their
jobs throughout human history (Borbély-Pecze, 2020). The Technological
Revolution (1870-1914), also known as the second industrial revolution, led to
the development of methods for the manufacturing of interchangeable parts, the
collapse of the guild system, and the professionalisation of the labour force. For
the first time in human history, fundamental skills (such as reading, writing, basic

(45) See Cedefop webpage on resources for guidance.

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math skills), a basic ability usually considered necessary for competent

functioning in society (APA online dictionary) became a workplace requirement
and thus also became an economic necessity for making a living. Modern
vocational education and training, adult education, and career
guidance/education, born during the second industrial revolution, are based on
these changes.
However, the taxonomy of the world of work (occupational standards) has
become increasingly complex since the early decades of the 20th century. For
example, during the second Kondratieff-cycle, the steel industry reshaped the
world of work (Kondratieff and Stolper, 1935). Additionally, life expectancy and
the duration of working life increased during the 20th century at a faster rate than
previously. Therefore, relationships between people and their jobs are not static
but dynamic and even volatile in the 21st century. Labour market volatility is
forcing people to spend their (free) time even more practically. ‘We are personally
responsible for reducing (job) insecurity, which we solve by working tirelessly on
our applicability’ (Frayne, 2015). Skill-biased technological changes overrun the
traditional skillsets learned through vocational education and training; and often
micro-skills play a determining role (Autor; Levy and Murnane, 2003). These are
buzzwords that counsellors may know and share with their clients.

8.4.1. The concept and the reality of the transitional labour markets
Also of interest to career practitioners is the concept of ‘labour market transition’,
another fashionable term at present. It means that lifetime jobs/employment are
no longer available in the labour market. Individuals who remain in the same
occupation long-term need to move between employers, employment forms or
project-based, fix-term engagements. According to EUROSTAT-LFS (labour
force survey), labour market transitions ‘show the movements of individuals
between the labour market statuses of employment, unemployment and
economic inactivity’. The concept of the transitional labour market (TLM)
(Brzinsky-Fay, 2010) was originally used to mean youth entry into the labour
market after the 1970’s oil shocks, while later the TLM concept was extended to
the full lifespan; the youth labour market entry issue is now called school-to-work
(STW) transition (Bradley and Nguyen, 2003) reflecting the lack of stable lifetime
employment or a market of stable employers in today’s labour market. In a
longitudinal study, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that the average
worker will experience 12 job/career changes during their lifespan (US Bureau of
Labour Statistics, 2017). The comprehensive concept of the transitional labour
market is based in the idea that people change jobs and occupations (European
Commission, 2019), and are also living longer. This phenomenon is often
described as a desirable need of the individual career-builder and literature often

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links this to the psychological needs of the millennials (born between 1981-1996)
or with Generation Z (born between 1997-2012) (Howe and Strauss, 2000). Also
included is the changing nature of the demand side of the labour market and the
shrinking lifespan of companies, including the huge number of micro, small and
medium enterprises. ‘The average lifespan of a company listed in the S&P 500
index of leading USA companies has decreased by more than 50 years in the
last century, from 67 years in the 1920s to just 15 years today.’ (INNOSIGHT,
2018). Thus, the interoperation of the TLM concept is attributed to the
psychological needs of the new generations but also to the economic reality of
the companies.

8.4.2. Labour market trends always based on cycles

Knowledge of cycles affecting the labour market is also labour market information
that is useful for practitioners serving clients. Schumpeter (1939) and Kondratieff
(1935) were first to explain that modern capitalism works in business and
economic cycles (called the Kuznets swing or cycle). This means that there are
peaks and deep depressions in modern economies on an average of every 15 to
20 years. For example, it is useful to revisit the unemployment rate during the
2008-09 global crisis and compare it with 2020-21 and COVID-19. The
visualisation of data, such as for the stock market, helps us to understand the
peaks (in this case negative) observable within a single decade.

Figure 1. Total unemployment rate in the OECD countries

Source: OECD (2020).

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Individuals and families, despite the fact they are instructed to be

responsible for careering and their own life-design, are a part of a social-
economic structure and part of the general labour market, unless they leave
collective society and live in isolation. Unequal growth of household incomes
aside, the average working lifespan during the 21st century, implies that each of
us will be a victim of three to five economic depressions and may benefit from the
same number of economic/ labour market peaks. Therefore, poor integration into
the labour market (PINE) is partly based in individual or household decision-
making, but also a circumstance of the overall labour market situation. From the
career professional’s perspective, it is highly relevant to understand the business
cycles of modern labour markets and when we are experiencing peaks or
depressions. A prognosis about a lifetime career investment during a peak could
be as false as a prognosis provided during a depression.

8.4.3. Automation and robotisation do not necessarily kill jobs

Since industrial robots already work in the production line, there is continued
public discussion about the end of human labour and the start of the workless
society. In a historical perspective, this is the same discussion, even with a
similar emotional volume, as in the Luddite movement during the early 19th
century England. The main aim of the movement was to destroy the (steam)
machines that were being blamed for high unemployment (Kirkpatrick, 1995). We
observed the same fears during different industrial revolutions, but humans
managed to navigate through different shifting occupational fields.
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Union recently
investigated automation, finding that ‘even though the share of low-skilled
workers declined over the analysed period (1995-2015), there is no evidence that
industrial robots contributed to this trend. […] The use of industrial robots is
positively correlated with total employment […] robots might not replace jobs as a
whole but only certain tasks’ (Klenert; Fernandez-Macias and Anton, 2020).
Cedefop (2020) research found that the average rate of decline due to
automation was just -2% during the time period 2008-18.
From the career professional’s point of view, the most relevant message
here is that internal occupational standards and job advertisements will undergo
continuous changes as joint human-machine task fulfilment reshapes the content
of occupations. For example, spelling and translation can be done by robots, but
it may not mean the end of the book editor as an occupation. It may only mean

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that career guidance tools which are widely used (e.g. Holland-hexagon) (46)
need to be adapted to the new occupational circumstances as the skills, attitudes
and interest profile of the jobs of tomorrow undergo change (Ratcheva; Leopold
and Zahidi, 2020).

8.5. Changing available data and their management

8.5.1. Traditional survey-based labour market information
Although there are plenty of discussions about artificial intelligence (AI) and big
data, the reality is that most of the existing labour market data sets used by
guidance professionals have been built using traditional survey-based
methodologies. This fact has important implications for the quality and usability of
data in moving forward. As the Committee on Techniques for the Enhancement
of Human Performance pointed out two decades ago, ‘Shifting from a backward-
looking to a forward-looking system that will aid decision-makers in designing
work structures will also require occupational analysts to consider the human
resource and organisational practices needed to support alternative ways of
structuring work’ (National Research Council, 1999). The International Labour
Organization (ILO) based labour force survey (LFS) is a good example of a data
set based on traditional survey-based data collection. Employment and
unemployment figures circulated in the daily news and maintained by Eurostat
and used in the Cedefop skills forecast, are all (or partly) based on LFS data.
Labour economists are aware of the limitations of LFS data, but most guidance
professionals may not be. The LFS was built before comprehensive
administrative data became available from many countries but still has been used
as a primary international data set for comparison. As it is based on
representative sampling, there are not enough items for analysis at certain
territorial levels: LFS usually provide statistics at NUTS level 2 only. This cannot
be properly used for local labour market prognosis (at NUTS 3/county and 4/local
levels).
In several countries, public employment services conduct employer surveys
but these often use non-representative sampling. The results might not be
reliable or can be misleading for those who are not aware of sampling methods.

(46) American psychologist John L. Holland (1919-2008) created a hexagonal model

showing the relationship between personality types and environments. The Holland
codes or the Holland occupational themes (RIASEC) refer to a theory of careers and
vocational choice (based upon personality types) that was initially developed by
Holland.

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Another limitation of this type of survey methodology used in producing

labour market information is the level of accuracy. Data are collected from
individuals/households or companies through interviews or questionnaires, and
the responses are difficult to validate. The respondents answer what they believe
to be true or not, at the time the data is collected. For example, a representative
of a household may claim that there are no jobseekers in the family without
knowing if this is true or not. Firms are interviewed about future hiring plans, but
these plans can be changed, postponed, or rewritten. Outcomes of these surveys
are always retrospective, based in a reference period in the past, not the present
or the certain future, and the further we look, the more uncertainty is revealed.
Occupational data based on single occupations, as opposed to a branch of
occupations or aggregated data, also tend to have greater instability. Single
occupation analysis is based on even smaller samples, so reliability is very low.
Most labour market prognosis systems use aggregated ISCO (International
Standard Classification of Occupations) data, and not the available few hundred
occupations set in ISCO-08; the reason is that sampling numbers are usually low
in survey-based data sets such as the LFS. The small number of observations is
thus aggregated into larger occupational groups, thus increasing the reliability of
the analysis. The implications for guidance professionals discussing the outlooks
for certain occupations with clients or when clients use online self-help career
outlook tools, is that they are not seeing the outlook of a stand-alone occupation
but the prognosis of a branch of occupations. Aggregations of taxonomies are
discussed below in more detail.
These methodological aspects of survey-based data are important for
guidance professionals to be aware of during practice. The visualisation of data
may look impressive, but the background content needs to be viewed with
caution considering associated limitations.

8.5.2. Aggregations in labour market taxonomies

Occupational standards were traditionally developed for national or international
labour market statistical purposes, not for labour market matching or for career
guidance. In the EU, the introduction of the ESCO (multilingual classification of
European skills, competences, qualifications and occupations) may change this
during the coming years as it is features single competences, not only
occupations.
Currently, most career practitioners during career counselling/career
education processes use occupational taxonomies such as ISCO and the
national/regional versions of it. ISCO also provides a clear statistical structure for
labour market prognosis and it is still the primary tool to identify labour market
bottlenecks or surpluses (Schellenberg et al., 2016). ISCO-based reports and

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data sets are frequently used by career professionals as well. While career
practitioners use this data, it is also important to know that ISCO was designed
by the ILO in the 1940-50’s for international comparative labour statistical
purposes, not for labour market mediation or career guidance purposes. It masks
important differences because it aggregates bigger occupational groups as the
integral elements of every aggregation, and it adopts a generic, horizontal
statistical approach. It works relatively well in major group I (managers) and II
(professionals), but is much less usable in major groups III and IV ( 47) because
the differences between four-digit occupations in those groups are minor or
irrelevant in the job market or in the learning pathways.

8.5.3. Artificial intelligence and big data offer a different view

Our societies have been moving closer to Web 4.0 and leaving the semantic Web
3.0 environment: ‘(Web 4.0) services will be autonomous, proactive, content-
exploring, self-learning, collaborative, and content-generating agents based on
fully matured semantic and reasoning technologies as well as AI.’ (Murugesan,
2010). The opportunity to use data lakes, where different data sets can be
moulded into a single data market, will soon provide a situation where survey-
based, pre-defined research will look outdated. For example, Cedefop’s (2019)
online job vacancy (OVATE) portals analysis is moving in this direction. However,
it is also important to note that, for the time being, AI LMI related activities are still
going to be based on existing labour market/occupational taxonomies and
building a machine-learning-based new taxonomy is the next step (Mezzanzanica
and Mercorio, 2019). Even the European skills, competences, qualifications
and occupations (ESCO) taxonomy, based on skill, attitude and competences as
its smallest building blocks, has the potential to be upgraded by big data and AI.
It is not clear how the ESCO taxonomy will look after this upgrade in 2030 and
beyond. The use of AI and big data is an emerging practice in the field of labour
market information, already adopted in certain segments of the market but far
from being a general approach at the moment. From the perspective of career
professional practice, it is important to distinguish between structured taxonomies
and AI ‘fished’ artificial data sets.
A new report published by the European Commission (Barnes et al., 2020)
based on extensive interviews with guidance experts, highlighted the relevance
of AI in future career guidance practice and service delivery and the importance

(47) Major group III refers to technicians and associate professionals, Major group IV is
about clerical support workers (ILO, 2012). Both groups have several occupations
where the identification of the certain professionals belonging to these groups is
volatile.

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of its joint development and application: ‘If ICT and artificial intelligence (AI) are
to be used effectively in guidance, the guidance community should be engaged in
how it is developed and used’. (p.50). Several current promising developments
(such as within the Swedish PES and VDAB, and the Flemish PES (European
Commission, 2018)) can be noted that signal bringing the application of LMI to
the next level and away from expert-predefined static taxonomies. This includes
the development of data lakes, new AI-based competence frameworks for human
resource development, labour market mediation and for career guidance
services. Artificial Intelligence combined with data lakes have the capability to
recognise patterns that humans cannot. Much before the internet and AI this was
the original aim of the paper-based French taxonomy tool, Répertoire
Opérationnel des Métiers et des Emplois (ROME). The ROME classification is
very elaborate. It features additional concepts like activities and work
environments; it has an extensive skill/competence dimension and is not based
on ISCO. Accordingly, ROME is a forerunner of the ESCO. It also constitutes a
very relevant tool for guidance professionals as the building blocks of the
taxonomy are competences and not occupations. Competence-based
taxonomies provide a better (temporary) connection between jobs and humans in
the transitional labour market. This fact makes competence-based taxonomies a
powerful guidance tool for the future.

8.5.4. Survey data: not administrative data nor big data

It is important to highlight the differences between survey-based data, big data,
and administrative data, especially if they may be combined when used for
guidance practice. Survey data, due to time and implementation costs, are not
likely to reveal a complete pattern, so their use and limitations in the guidance
process and in decision-making must be very clear to both counsellor and
client/user.
Administrative data, which have already replaced the census in many
countries, could provide a more comprehensive view, but with their own
limitations in terms of applicable national regulations or data storage capacities.
Big data refers to large amounts of data produced at high speed from many
sources of different types. Big data analytics aim at the identification of
efficiencies applicable to a wide range of sectors and occupations, leading to
innovative new products and services, greater competitiveness and, in turn,
economic growth (Cedefop, 2018).
Once big data is used (accommodating privacy issues such as GDPR)
career guidance/teaching will be very different from what we know now. For
example, as Google can track users via Google maps, now our careers can be
and will be tracked in the future. Microsoft and Cisco have been working with

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LinkedIn data to identify the global needs for micro-credentials based on the skills
profile of the LIN users (using data from both sides, individual and companies).
Based on our online jobseeking activities, company websites visited, CVs sent, it
is possible that our career-readiness profile or our intention to change jobs will be
obvious from big data even before it is noticed in our immediate environment (by
our colleagues or superiors). It resembles what happened with the increased
popularity of the smart health watch in health care and insurance or the use of
big data and AI during the last COVID-19 lockdown to model the spread of the
epidemic weeks in advance. This has opened a new chapter in the career
counsellors’ code of ethics and practice, as a certain element of the career
guidance service process can and will be replaced by AI.

8.6. Conclusion
The current technological revolutions have been reshaping societies, labour
markets, and our everyday lives. The accumulation of these changes is rapid and
requires strong adaptation from all of us. Lifelong guidance and guidance
professionals are not exceptions. Career professionals and theorists have been
discussing the role of personal resilience and individual empowerment for as long
as the profession has existed.
Labour markets are more processes than static structures and any career
guidance activity is meaningful only if the intervention has an effect at the labour
market. These effects can often be observed at the individual or household level
(changing jobs, enrolment in new training, better wellbeing at work, subjective
satisfaction with a career) but the dynamism is always there as the dynamically
changing individual/family/community meet with the changing labour market.
Lifelong guidance, as a system and as a service, needs to engage and
continuously interact with the labour market in a way that was not necessary
before. During the 20th century, occupational status was a static trait for most
individuals, which is less of a reality now and increasingly less typical in the
future.
The risk for lifelong guidance as a discipline and as a profession is not to
recognise the new dynamism of society and the new nature of careers. There is
an opportunity for guidance professionals to gain a much better and deeper
understanding of society, including labour market trends and transformations, so
they can support clients in continuous career decision-making throughout the
lifespan.
A detailed understanding of labour market data sets and analysis is an
essential, additional component of the training and continuous professional

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development of career guidance professionals. This is an area of study and

competence where most European career guidance training curricula have room
to develop. Since Cedefop’s the last publication (2009) on competences of career
guidance professionals, the Network for Innovation in Career Guidance and
Counselling in Europe (NICE) (Schiersmann, et al., 2012) collected robust
evidence from across Europe about academic career guidance and counselling
study courses and programmes. Reviewing this work shows that labour market
skills play an integrative role in lifelong guidance. The International Association
for Educational and Vocational Guidance global competence framework for
guidance practitioners was also reviewed (IAEVG, 2018), but the labour
economics and data science parts of career counsellor training curricula were not
explicitly mentioned in any of these developments. This issue is in need of
immediate attention to prepare and protect both the end-users (clients) and
guidance professionals.

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CHAPTER 9.
A context-resonant quality framework for
continuous career guidance
professionalisation: the case of Norway
Erik Hagaseth Haug (48), CareersNet, Norway

9.1. Introduction
Career guidance plays a vital role in rapidly changing employment markets and in
supporting people in their navigation of transitions between education and
employment, across their lifespan. As a recent Norwegian official report states
‘Norwegian society will face many significant challenges in the coming years.
Access to high-quality career guidance services is crucial in times when change
is necessary, and transitions are ongoing.’ (Ministry of Education and Research
of Norway, 2016).
Norway is engaged in a long-term and systematic project to develop its
career guidance system. The project encompasses the creation of a national
quality framework for lifelong career guidance, further development of national
digital career guidance services, and legislation concerning career guidance
services for adults and newly arrived immigrants. The development of this career
guidance system was given focus in 2014 following the OECD’s (2014) skills
action report. The report recommended that Norway should apply a whole-of-
government approach to establishing a comprehensive career guidance system
covering all stages of lifelong learning and providing high quality services.
In this chapter, the focus is on the importance of interrelatedness between
the national quality framework and the further development of the digital career
guidance service.
The development of the quality framework builds on the lessons learned by
other countries (49) (Hooley, 2019). This framework also draws on quality and
quality assurance research and reviews in career guidance (Hooley and Rice,
2018). The primary objective of the quality framework is to strengthen quality and
professionalism in career guidance. This is to be achieved through a cross-
sectoral and transversal tool for quality development and management, useful

(48) Associate Professor in Guidance, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences.

(49) The study is based on six case studies of quality in career guidance in Australia,
England, Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland and South Korea.

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both in the field of practice and in governance at national and regional levels. The
framework includes recommendations related to four main areas concerning
quality assurance and quality development of career guidance: what defines
good and ethical practice; what competences do career practitioners need; what
should the learning outcome of lifelong guidance be; how can we know that what
we do is high quality (Haug et al., 2019). A digital platform was released in
October 2020, including a description of the components of the four areas in the
framework and associated resources (research articles on different quality topics,
recommended tools for practitioners concerning how to provide ethical practice
and self-evaluation tools for service providers and individuals in connection to the
recommended competence standards). A self-evaluation tool for systematic
quality assurance is scheduled for launched in January 2021.
As a parallel process, a new comprehensive National digital career guidance
service was launched in autumn 2020 (Kompetanse Norge, 2021). This includes
digital guidance, self-help services and information concerning learning and
occupational opportunities. As with the framework, it builds on experiences (e.g.
Jochumsen, 2020) and recommendations (e.g. Cedefop, 2018) from other
countries. Skills Norway, the Norwegian directorate for skills policy, leads both
the work on digital career guidance and the national framework.
In this chapter, I use the establishment of the digital career guidance service
as a case to exemplify the need for a so-called context-resonant quality
framework in the achievement of high quality in career guidance. I will focus on
how to utilise the context-resonant quality framework in the creation of a national
digital career guidance service. I will describe the concept of integrated guidance
and career learning through digital interaction as two examples of how the quality
framework can increase the quality and consistency of the digital service. In the
concluding section, I will focus on possibilities, challenging issues, and next
stepping-stones in the development of professional career guidance in Norway.

9.2. The national digital guidance service

Guidance and learning increasingly takes place in diverse settings. ICT is
becoming more embedded (Barnes et al., 2020) and ICT is being increasingly
used in career guidance and counselling all around the world (Jochumsen, 2020).
Activities increasingly take place across all or part of the internet (European
Commission, 2020), and the current pandemic increases progress towards a
digital turn (Hooley, 2020). Until 2020, the main resource for digital career
guidance in Norway was utdanning.no.: this is the official Norwegian national
education and career portal. It contains an overview of the education available in

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Norway and around 600 career descriptions. Education and career information
have been developed in close collaboration with relevant institutions, such as
education providers and professional bodies. Utdanning.no also contains
interviews with professionals and students, course descriptions and articles, all
being designed to help prospective students select an education and a career.
The main goal of the new National digital career guidance service was to
contribute with quality-assured, publicly funded guidance, accessible for all adult
citizens (Skills Norway, 2020). The project addresses four important areas
accomplished by the end of 2020:
(a) further development of utdanning.no into a national portal for education and
career information;
(b) establishment of a technical solution for a new chat and telephone guidance
service (Kompetanse Norge, n.d.);
(c) establishment of operational organisation for the national guidance service
on chat and telephone;
(d) competence development of supervisors to promote the service, the
professional anchoring, and the quality assurance of the service.

9.3. Context matters in defining quality

The Oxford dictionary defines quality as ‘the standard of something as measured
against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something’.
Hooley and Rice (2018) describe quality assurance in career development as ‘a
range of techniques that can be used to ensure consistency in the way that
activities are approached and that can potentially also be used to ensure fidelity
of practice to policy’ (p.2). However, quality and quality assurance are not
uncontested terms in career guidance. As quoted by Sultana (2020, p.10):
‘Context matters when it comes to thinking through the meaning and relevance of
career guidance as a social practice’. Context as a concept relates to both
geographic, political, cultural, and societal features. Further, it relates to a given
time in history, and specific characteristics at that given time. Finally, the context
influences how we understand career development (Hooley and Rice, 2018).
Generally, but certainly in times of crises, there is a drive towards answers to the
question ‘what works’, also in the case of career guidance (Hooley, 2020). This
implies a drive to find examples of the best and most easily accessible practices
that are relevant to the current situation and is driven by a desire to develop
systems and procedures that take into account the complexities and diversities of
our communities. How issues of quality are conceptualised and addressed in the

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field of career guidance varies across different countries and contexts for policy
and practice (Hooley and Rice, 2018).
An awareness of the need to ground career guidance approaches in the
specificities of economic, social and cultural realities is needed to secure that the
action taken resonates with the specific issues in a given context (Sultana, 2020).
This implies that before a quality framework can be fully utilised, in this case as a
resource for the development of the digital guidance service, it must be adjusted
and customised according to the given contexts. Therefore, the defining of quality
in career guidance needs to be contextualised. Such contextualisation is framed
as context-resonance (McMahon; Watson and Patton, 2014). It implies taking a
framework in context perspective that considers complexity and avoids
oversimplification of societal structures and mechanisms that potentially affect
the usefulness of it.

9.4. Developing a context-resonant quality framework

Given the argumentation that ‘context matters’, an important decision is to
choose an appropriate approach for a new framework (Bimrose; Hughes and
Collin, 2006). Hooley and Rice (2018) propose four approaches to quality
assurance in career guidance:
(a) Regulatory approaches that focus on legal requirements imposed on
providers as a means of improving quality;
(b) advisory approaches that describe what quality looks like for providers, and
may include exemplars of good practice for them to follow;
(c) organic approaches that view quality as being defined by the provider and
the professional;
(d) competitive approaches view quality as being driven by customer responses.

Mixed economies, social democratic politics, high levels of taxation, welfare

provision, a commitment to gender equality, to social cohesion and to limiting
income inequality and differences between social classes (Marklund, 2017) are,
according to a recent publication (Haug et al., 2020), the features of ideological
similarity of what is sometimes referred to as the Nordic model. Haug et al.
(2020) describe the overarching characterisation of Nordic career guidance as
being framed by the four ‘COs’ (context, community, co-construction and
collaboration). The four COs describe the key values and approaches that
underpin career guidance in the Nordic countries. The four ‘COs’ implies:
(a) the acknowledgement of career and career guidance as embedded in
context;
(b) community as important resource for career guidance;

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(c) co-construction as the defining professional approach to career guidance;

(d) collaboration between policy, research, and practice across the Nordic
countries as the usual way in which career guidance is developed and
managed.

This description applies to the Norwegian context despite the differences

between the Nordic region countries.
The creation and the published version of the Norwegian framework can be
seen as advisory, when viewed in the light of the typology of different
frameworks. It is built collaboratively through the involvement of different
stakeholder perspectives, and is created through a collaboration of policy,
research, and practice. The version launched consists of practice and policy
suggestions, not regulations. It does, however, provide recommendations for
relevant foci for ethics, competences, and outcomes, but leaves final
customisation and adaption to the different sectors. Career guidance in Norway
has, until recently, been focused on supporting people in their career decisions.
There has, however, been increasing focus on what citizens learn from taking
part in career guidance and career education. The learning of career
competences has, through this evolution, become a central element in
descriptions of preferred outcomes in the framework.

9.5. Framework contribution to the national digital

guidance service
I focus, in this section, on the use of the context resonant quality framework in
the creation of the National digital career guidance service. I describe the
concept of integrated guidance, and of career learning through digital interaction.
I present these as two examples that show how the quality framework can
increase the quality and consistency of the digital service.

9.5.1. The concept of integrated guidance

It is argued that the professional identity of career guidance practitioners needs
to be transformed such that it is brought into line with technological development
(Bimrose and Brown, 2019). Vigurs and colleagues (Vigurs; Everitt and Staunton,
2017) also argue that digital career support is most effective when it is focused
on the context within which it is to be used, and where its usage is supported by
face to-face and professional interventions. This finding moves the field away
from a sterile debate that pits online careers provision against face-to-face
provision, to a discussion of how the required degree of integration between
different modes of provision can be achieved. An official report (Ministry of

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Education and Research of Norway, 2016) introduced, for the Norwegian case,
the concept of integrated guidance to secure a comprehensive service. This
concept was continued in the quality framework and in the National digital
guidance service as an underpinning principle.
Integrated guidance seeks to combine career guidance that is delivered
through different modalities (face-to-face, by telephone, online) in such a way
that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Whiet the conception of career
guidance as a multi-modal, diverse, but connected, set of interventions is not new
(OECD, 2004), current policy support for career guidance in Norway, as well as
the country’s high level of digital engagement and adoption, means that it offers
fertile ground for the development of new ideas such as integrated guidance
(Bakke; Haug and Hooley, 2018). Questions such as ‘what is the role of digital
guidance in the comprehensive system’ and ‘how should the digital and face-to-
face service cooperate’ are therefore important in the joint creation of a sector
specific quality assurance system for national digital career guidance. The
concept of integrated guidance also highlights the need for cross-sectoral
cooperation, in both the development and provision of the service.

9.5.2. Career learning as the main outcome

Career guidance in Norway has, in recent years, been strongly influenced by a
focus on career learning. This draws on the work of Law (1996) and other
international theorists. This perspective has been further developed in Norwegian
literature, which has placed career learning at the centre of Norway’s approach to
career guidance (Haug, 2018). Career learning is a main feature in the national
quality framework represented by the model Career learning in context. This
model builds on several principles, (e.g. Haug et al., 2019):
(a) pinpoint and reflect on the different contextual conditions that influence
career learning;
(b) discuss the role of the professional ‘career learner’;
(c) an open understanding of the competences a participant (client) in a career
learning process needs or wants;
(d) pinpoint freedom of choice for the guidance practitioner concerning which
methods and approaches to use in the guiding process;
(e) describe five areas of exploration and learning unlike the more usual
representation of career competences (or career management skills)
through matrix models (Hooley et al., 2013).

Individuals, by basing their exploring and learning on competence areas, can

develop the career competences that are important in their situation.
Competence areas are not end-competences or specific learning outcomes.

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They are open, general topics that are relevant to the development of career
competences. They are also built on an oxymoron (a figure of speech in which
two words with opposing meaning are used intentionally for effect). The two-word
pairs are used to illustrate the dilemmas and tensions that can arise, which can
have an impact upon a person in their setting out to address life, learning and
work in times of change and transition. The exploration and learning areas are
widely applicable. The word pair ‘change and stability’ is, however, particularly
relevant in the present pandemic situation. It invites reflection on how changes in
a person’s life or environment can alter their premises for choice, and the
analysis of previous changes and how they were addressed. It also invites the
person to look for stable elements in their life and environment.
Practitioners are invited to reflect on how a career learning focus can be
incorporated into a digital career guidance service, such as in chat
communication with citizens. This sits well with the idea of transforming career
guidance from a purely labour-market information service to a shared creative
process (Kettunen and Sampson, 2019). Further, there is awareness of the
potential pitfall for digital services that they tend to be built on generalised
content, which can have a negative effect on the learning benefits for the
individual, and for usage of the tool. An example of this is the publication of CV
templates that are not sufficient for all positions and individual backgrounds. The
simplification of complex problems always risks oversimplification and a reduction
in significance (Jochumsen, 2020).

9.6. Ways forward: concluding reflections

Hooley (2019) argues that quality systems tend, instead of being designed at the
outset, to evolve over time. Systems that can evolve and include multiple
stakeholder involvement, can lead to richer and more sustainable quality
systems. Additional documentation and translation for different sectors and
settings may be needed for the framework to become relevant and easy to use.
Norway has taken the first steps towards a comprehensive system for career
guidance, with integration of both digital and face-to-face approaches. Recent
international research reveals that challenges in implementing ICT in career
services for all include various issues: inadequate access to ICT; inadequate
access to information; inadequate skills and competences; and inadequate
integration (Kettunen and Sampson, 2019). It can be argued that Norway has
strong quality-assured systems and platforms for LMI and for education
information. Professionalisation, however, is still in the start phase, particularly
digital guidance with career learning as a preferred outcome. It is also known that

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counsellors’ perceptions of technology and their prejudices limit the use of digital
tools in guidance situations. This prevents them from producing their own
creative plans with technology integrated in them (Sampson; Kettunen and
Vuorinen, 2019).
A quality system cannot just be a framework that is written down (Hooley,
2019). If it is going to have an impact, both on an individual and societal level:
(a) it needs to be implemented and governed carefully;
(b) it should build on lessons learned from other countries and theoretical
contributions on the complexity of quality as concept;
(c) it should be combined with a sustained awareness of the need to be context
resonant for national, regional and local characteristics;
(d) further development should be based on shared creation of measures.

Considerations of these aspects is pivotal for future development of quality

in Norwegian career guidance. As argued in this chapter, much of this is
accomplished already at a structural or system level through the parallel
development and implementation process coordinated by Skills Norway and the
interconnectedness between the national framework and the digital service. That
said, Peter Senge, the famous theoretician on organisational development, is
quoted saying ‘people do not resist change, they resist being changed’.
Therefore, changes and further development of the career guidance services
without involvement and ownership from those affected by the changes are
difficult or even impossible to achieve.

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 PART III

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Social and emotional skills in career
guidance: a Romanian school counsellor
guide
Angela Andrei, CareersNet, Romania (50)

10.1. Importance of social and emotional skills in the

21st century
This chapter argues that social and emotional skills (SEL) are relevant for school-
based career guidance and counselling. It presents the results of an initiative in
Romania in 2020 where a guide for school counsellors was developed based on
an SEL approach to counselling for students in primary and secondary education.
Social and emotional skills are the subject of interdisciplinary research and
many terms are used to describe them and their broader conceptual frameworks.
Terminology also differs across countries, time, and research and social contexts
(Kankaraš and Suarez-Alvarez, 2019). Social and emotional learning (SEL) was
introduced by the Fetzer Group in 1994, as a conceptual framework to promote
the social, emotional and academic competence of young people and to
coordinate school-family-community programming to address those educational
goals (Weissberg et al., 2017). SEL is defined by the Collaborative for Academic,
Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) as ‘the process through which all young
people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills and attitudes to
develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective
goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive
relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions’ (Niemi, 2020).

(50) The author wishes to thank the Romanian school counsellors for implementing and
sharing SEL programmes and activities included in the guide, as well as the
Romanian directors of the County Centres for Educational Resources and
Assistance for their support during the preparation of the guide for school
counsellors.
Particular thanks go to colleagues Delia Goia, Speranța Țibu, Petre Botnariuc,
Andreea Scoda, Alina Craciunescu, Oana Iftode, Marius Lazar, Manuela Manu,
researchers from the Research Unit in Education, the National Centre for Policy and
Evaluation in Education (the former Institute for Educational Sciences), Bucharest,
Romania, for their valuable contribution, thoughtful comments, and
recommendations on the guide.

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Social and emotional skills are also seen as crucial components of the 21st
century and employability skills (De Fruyt; Wille and John, 2015; Trilling and
Fadel, 2009), because they are important for an individual’s personal and career
development, and being able to contribute productively to society (Kankaraš and
Suarez-Alvarez, 2019; National Academy of Sciences, 2012). Studies have
demonstrated that people who choose a career that aligns with their personal
and vocational values tend to experience a higher level of happiness, satisfaction
with life and career, and to have high work performance (Hartung and Taber,
2008; O’Brien, 2003). Other research (Proyer, 2012) showed that the types of
vocational personality proposed by John Holland (51) are related to certain
positive character traits. Positive psychology emphasises the importance of this
match and the choice of a career in which the person can use her/his strengths,
abilities, and interests with positive effects on wellbeing and work performance.
Other skills and competences used in different policy fields and social
contexts are related and share commonalities with social and emotional skills:
non-cognitive skills, soft skills, transversal skills (UNESCO International Bureau
of Education, 2013), life skills (Sala et al., 2020), core competences, and career
management skills (ELGPN, 2012). There is a lack of consensus on the use of
the terminology and they are used differently according to context. They are not
yet systematically assessed, and more large-scale international research and
impact studies on SEL impact are needed (Kankaraš and Suarez-Alvarez, 2019).
Interest in these types of traits and skills is on the increase among policy-makers,
researchers, and different categories of practitioners. Kankaraš and Suarez-
Alvarez examined the predictive values of individual social and emotional skills
and brought solid arguments on the value of these in relation to the broad set of
life outcomes in education, conduct, health and personal wellbeing.
Some of these competences are fundamental in European policy
documents, as evidenced in the European Union’s Council recommendation of
22 May 2018 on key competences for lifelong learning. It acknowledged a set of
non-cognitive skills for three of its eight key competences: personal, social and
learning to learn competence, citizenship competence and entrepreneurship
competence (Council of the European Union, 2018). The ‘personal, social and
learning to learn competence’, is defined as: ‘the ability to reflect upon oneself,
effectively manage time and information, work with others in a constructive way,
remain resilient and manage one’s own learning and career. It includes the ability
to cope with uncertainty and complexity, learn to learn, support one’s physical

(51) John Holland (1919-2008) classified the types as: realistic, investigative, artistic,
social, enterprising, and conventional (RIASEC).

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and emotional wellbeing, to maintain physical and mental health, and to be able
to lead a health-conscious, future-oriented life, empathise and manage conflict in
an inclusive and supportive context (ibid.).’
The Entrepreneurship competence framework (EntreComp) includes non-
cognitive skills such as creativity, taking initiative, perseverance, and the ability to
work collaboratively (Chernyshenko, 2018; Bacigalupo et al., 2016).
This chapter first presents the wider field of social and emotional skills and
SEL learning, followed by a look at the SEL framework and relevant activities.
These ideas are then applied and illustrated through describing an initiative in
Romania involving the creation of an innovative school guide for school
counsellors, including SEL programmes and activities.

10.2. Life competences and social emotional skills

The European Framework for personal, social and learning to learn key
competence considers such competences as ones which apply to all spheres of
life, and which can be gained through formal, informal, and non-formal education.
The aim of the LifeComp conceptual framework is to establish a shared
understanding, and a common language on these three related competence
areas. Each has three competences: self-regulation, flexibility, wellbeing
(personal area); empathy, communication, collaboration (social area); growth
mindset, critical thinking, and managing learning (learning to learn area) (Sala et
al., 2020).
Chernyshenko, Kankaraš and Drasgow (2018) analysed the nature and
structure of social and emotional skills, their development, malleability, and
factors that influence them, their cross-cultural comparability, and their relevance
for a wide range of educational, economic and life outcomes. The study showed
that social and emotional skills have a demonstrable relevance for a wide range
of educational, work and life outcomes: educational attainment and educational
success; employment outcomes such as income and job performance; quality of
life outcomes such as life satisfaction, happiness, and health; societal relevance,
such as civil participation, social cohesion, crime and safety, and environmental
awareness (Chernyshenko; Kankaraš and Drasgow, 2018).
Other studies highlighted the importance of identifying and explaining for
policy-makers, educators, parents, students and the business community the
relationship between social and emotional skills and the skills today’s employers
seek in the workplace (Yoder et al., 2020a). However, the authors note there is
no clear alignment between the social and emotional skills developed in the
education system and workforce skills (ibid.).

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Social and emotional skills are becoming increasingly critical to helping

individuals develop the competences needed to become employable. The EU
labour market is already demanding more non-cognitive and digital skills, and
specifically a combination of both. Almost all the occupations that have expanded
in recent years are either professionals or service and commercial managers who
require a combination of ICT use and non-cognitive skills, such as dealing with
customers and teams (Gonzalez Vazquez et al., 2019).
There is some evidence that jobs requiring a combination of digital and
social and emotional/non-cognitive/soft skills are better paid (Gonzalez Vazquez
et al., 2019). The skill most sought by European employers is ‘adaptability to
change’, mentioned in three out of four vacancy notices in a sample of over 30
million vacancies (Cedefop, 2019). Survey analysis of the skills that employers
seek in the United States found that employers are continually identifying
communication and interpersonal skills, self-management skills, the ability to
collaborate or work in teams, problem-solving skills, and integrity or the ability to
make ethical decisions as the most sought-after skills in the workplace. Cappelli
and Tavis (2018) highlighted the importance of advanced technical skills, social
emotional learning (SEL) skills and career management skills (CMS). It is also
important to understand the ways individuals use key SEL skills in preparation for
and within their working-life. The pandemic experience suggests that we need to
reset our priorities and respect limits: individuals are asked more than ever to
exercise social and emotional competences (Yoder et al., 2020b).

10.3. SEL concepts and framework

CASEL (2020) (52) defines SEL as encompassing five interdependent sets of
cognitive, affective and behavioural skills: self-awareness, self-management,
social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Together,
these skills form a framework.
Often, development of SEL skills for students in school is a crucial
benchmark that must be reached to help improve other college and career
readiness skills. For example, self-management and responsible decision-making
are essential to higher-order thinking skills, such as critical thinking and problem
solving. Social awareness and relationship skills are an important precursor to
the development of employability skills, such as teamwork, collaboration, and
effective communication (Dymnicki; Sambolt and Kidron, 2013). These five skills

(52) See https//:casel.org for a detailed description of each of the five sets of skills and
the framework.

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can be taught in many ways and in different spaces (adapted to each classroom
and/or school context). They should provide a ‘foundation for better adjustment
and academic performance as reflected in more positive social behaviours, fewer
conduct problems, less emotional distress, and improved test scores and grades’
(Greenberg et al., 2003).
Students with good self-management skills use impulse control and goal
setting in their academic learning. For relationship skills, communication and
relationship building are important in the academic setting. All individuals need
social skills and social awareness to interact with different managers and work
environments, as well as self-management skills to engage in lifelong learning. In
the workplace, self-management includes strategic planning and reliability.
Listening skills and conflict resolution are also important. In schools, it is
important to create a favourable SEL instruction and classroom climate, to
develop school-wide culture, practices, and policies, to create authentic
partnerships and aligned learning opportunities. Career-guidance activities in
schools, universities, public employment services, companies, and other settings
should focus on the development of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills.

10.4. SEL programmes and activities

Career guidance programmes and services should change their focus from
supporting both younger and working age individuals to making appropriate
career decisions on helping them to develop decision-making, proactive and
resiliency skills (Solberg, 2017). These changes require a rethinking of some
current practices and introducing innovative ways of delivering and ensuring
training and support for career development professionals to innovate and
develop their practice (ICCDPP, 2019).
SEL can be seen as a way to engage the young in ‘career readiness’;
however, a better understanding of how SEL can help students to be college and
career ready is needed. A framework which aligns with the College and career
development organiser (53) was developed in the U.S.A. by the National High
School Center (Dymnicki; Sambolt and Kidron, 2013; National Academy of
Sciences, 2012).

(53) The College and career development organiser was created by the National High
School Centre with the aim to synthesise and organise the field of college and career
readiness initiatives. The organiser can be used to map the efforts of State education
agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) as well as other organisations
devoted to researching and providing support for college and career readiness.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has also shown us that it is essential for countries
to create the conditions for districts and schools to support SEL development.
There is a risk that the development and wellbeing of young children and young
people is being undermined during the crisis and they may not receive the critical
supports they need. They have had to adjust to major changes in everyday life,
such as physical distancing and home confinement, but their families may also
struggle to meet their basic physical and emotional needs. Rates of poverty,
unemployment, parental mental health problems and substance abuse, child
abuse and neglect, and intimate partner violence tend to rise during disasters
(Bartlett and Vivrette, 2020).
Various studies have investigated the role of SEL in public policy and which
approaches are most effective in different contexts relevant to school-based
career guidance. In the Committee for Children-CASEL analysis of all 50 US
States’ COVID-19 response plans, 38 American States were found to make
reference to SEL or student wellbeing. Some States provided a clear definition of
SEL (and distinguished it from mental health) and emphasised the development
of social and emotional skills in their COVID-19 response plans (Yoder et al.,
2020c).
Based on the review of States’ responses, the following six
recommendations were identified: communicate SEL as important for all students
at school and adults in the community; define and coordinate SEL and mental
health supports; disseminate SEL practices; provide professional learning and
support for adult SEL competences, capacities, and wellness; leverage data for
continuous improvement; encourage use of funds (Yoder et al., 2020c).
Durlak et al. (2011) found that the most effective SEL programmes were
those that incorporated four elements represented by the acronym SAFE:
(a) sequenced activities that led in a coordinated and connected way to skills;
(b) active forms of learning;
(c) focus on developing one or more social and emotional skills;
(d) explicit targeting of specific skills.
Cefai and Cavioni (2013), based on the results of 317 studies involving
324 303 elementary school children, argue that SEL programmes implemented
by teachers improve children's behaviour, attitudes, and academic results.
More research on SEL and better assessment instruments and approaches
are needed to measure impact and to provide valuable insights for policy and for
practitioners, to offer new opportunities to develop solid evidence-based
programmes and activities.

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10.5. Fostering SEL skills in career guidance practice

Global challenges require new ways of thinking and innovative approaches to
redesigning the services and activities of career guidance. Practitioners should
be better prepared in implementing more individualised service provision,
developing social and emotional skills of their clients and making use of new
technologies. This pandemic has shown us that training and preparing school-
based career guidance for SEL teaching and development are necessary. For
example, school counsellors should be well prepared to support students in
conditions of increased rates of poverty, unemployment, parental mental health
problems and substance abuse, child abuse and neglect (Bartlett and Vivrette,
2020). The Aspen Institute (2020), an influential US non-profit, recommends that
relevant training courses for school personnel are online, interactive and address
topics such as:
(a) assessing and addressing stress and trauma among students and teachers;
(b) establishing healthy learning environments infused with supportive, nurturing
relationships, with separate courses for early childhood, elementary, and
secondary students and settings;
(c) embedding healing practices into the daily routines of schools and classes;
(d) integrating academic content and social-emotional support.

The Institute also makes several recommendations about SEL that are
applicable to school-based career guidance (Aspen Institute, 2020):
(a) practitioners in the field of psychology should be able to identify and address
the stress and trauma that students and young people have experienced
during school and office closing;
(b) promising practices should be highlighted, and funds and other resources,
used for implementation;
(c) practitioners should be engaged to help develop resources and provide
templates to track student engagement during distance learning (logins,
contacts with teachers and/or counsellors, participation in class activities,
assignments);
(d) practitioners need to be prepared to offer support for all young people for
nurturing relationships, sense of safety and belonging, and group healing; to
offer targeted interventions where needed; and to manage referrals to
community health and mental-health services.

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10.6. Romanian SEL guide for school counsellors

A guide for school counsellors, with examples of SEL activities and programmes
for students from primary and secondary education levels, was developed in
Romania in 2020 at the request of the Ministry of Education and Research. In
May, the Ministry invited the National Centre for Policies and Evaluation in
Education (NCPEE), the Unit of Research in Education, to prepare a tool to
support practitioners and students to manage distance learning during the
pandemic. It responded to the need for innovative approaches to redesign career
guidance services and to develop communities of practice.
In June 2020, a national call was launched by the NCPEE for the 42 county
centres for educational resources and assistance (CERAs) to prepare and send
examples of SEL programmes and activities, according to their understanding of
SEL. By the end of June, 268 examples of SEL programmes and activities had
been collected and 132 examples of these were selected for the guide (Table 1).
Theoretical chapters were included. In September 2020, three volumes for
elementary school, middle school and high school and VET school, accordingly,
were published on the website of the Ministry of Education and Research.
Prior to this initiative, school counsellors in the 42 centres had already
participated in a conference organised by Euroguidance and the Institute of
Educational Sciences in 2019, on SEL methods and concepts. The counsellors
had also received the SEL model and conceptual background to aid their
selection of programmes. Workshops offered during the conference were
structured on the five dimensions of the CASEL framework: self-awareness, self-
management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision.
After the conference, a publication was prepared containing examples of SEL
reflection journals of Romanian school counsellors and experts in career
guidance (Andrei, 2021).
The resulting guide in the three volumes of 665 pages is the first collection of
practices for Romanian school counsellors, systematised based on the
internationally recognised CASEL framework. All the programmes and activities
included in the guide are presented based on two common templates: one for the
presentation of the programme and another for the activity. The guide has
practical tools, such as student worksheets. Almost all the suggested
activities/programmes included in the guide are designed and implemented by
school counsellors, adapted to the Romanian setting and using local resources
(Andrei, 2020).

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Table 1. Programmes and activities in the guide for school counsellors

Total number Programmes Activities

Total number 132 37 95

Elementary school (Primary) 26 8 18
Middle school (Lower secondary) 58 14 44
High school/ VET school (Upper secondary) 48 15 33
Source: Author.

10.7. Analysis of the counsellor guide

The programmes and activities (Table 1) in the guide for the three school levels
were analysed in relation to the SEL framework and concepts as applied to
school-based career guidance. The results of this analysis are briefly
summarised below, in lists according to the relevant school levels/types (also
corresponding to the three volumes). This includes specific skills students should
acquire in relation to the SEL approach, teaching and learning methods and
activities, teaching programme themes and objectives. Brief information on an
evaluation of the activities is included (54).
All contents pertaining to implemented programmes and activities in each
respective volume were selected for analysis. The content was coded according
to the sections of the two templates (programme and activity presentation).
The templates of SEL programme and activity presentation included
sections common to both or specific to programmes or activities: title, who runs
the programme or activity (school counsellor, teams of school counsellor and
tutor/ advisory teacher/other teachers), SEL area/s covered, aim and objectives,
modalities of implementation (face to face, online, blended), duration, evaluation
modalities, resources needed (human, financial), author/team of authors, contact
data, references, etc.
For the purposes of this publication, only a few sections analysed in the
guide are presented: skills/competences involved, themes covered, objectives of
programmes or activities, methods used at different education levels, evaluation
modalities and impact.
The guide contains, in addition to activities that can take place face-to-face
under normal conditions, those that take place online or in hybrid format,
supporting school counsellors and teachers during the health crisis. At

(54) Further information and the original guide for school counsellors are available in
Romanian.

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elementary school level, two SEL activities can be delivered online and six can
be delivered in a blended format. Activities address stress management,
empathy, communication and relationship skills, and healthy behaviours.
At middle school level, four SEL programmes have an online component, 23
activities can be delivered online and three, can be delivered in a blended format.
Programmes and activities address management of emotions, communication
and relationship skills, decision-making, self-awareness, personal management,
stress management, social awareness, relationship and communication skills,
and assertiveness.
At high school and VET school level, three SEL programs have an online
component, 12 activities can be delivered online and three, can be delivered in a
blended format. These programmes and activities address self-awareness,
management of emotions, decision-making, personal management, management
of crisis, culture of kindness, dealing with difficulties in interpersonal
relationships, communication and relationship skills, preventing bullying, and
decision-making.

10.7.1. Programmes and activities for elementary pupils (age 6-10)

The activities proposed for elementary education focused on the following skills
in relation to the CASEL dimensions (Goia, 2020):
(a) self-awareness: recognising and naming one's own and others' emotions in
relation to different situations; understanding how emotions influence
behaviour; identifying their own resources, strengths; promoting positive
attitudes;
(b) personal management: emotion management, stress management, solving
problems, anger management, growth mentality, self-determination,
transforming challenges in opportunities;
(c) social awareness: developing empathy; promoting self-confidence and
respect for others, acceptance and appreciation of diversity, cooperation;
(d) relationship and communication skills: communication, interpersonal
knowledge, developing the skills of appropriate relationships with others,
friendship, prevention and combating bullying, conflict prevention and
resolution;
(e) decision-making: ability to solve problems, healthy behaviours.

Among the methods used during SEL activities for elementary school pupils,
the following were mentioned: games, contests, role-playing, case study, analysis
of stories, comics or film sequences, art-creative methods (drawing, collage,
dance), the use of riddles, puzzles, use of various worksheets, mindfulness
exercises, storytelling, practical activities and homework with parents, forum

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theatre, discussions, explanation, brainstorming, and exercises (relaxation,

problem solving).
SEL activities were evaluated using diverse methods: questionnaire,
discussion with stakeholders (students/teachers/parents), systematic
observation, use of portfolio, evaluation between colleagues, reflection questions,
and self-assessment.
Impact of the SEL activities for elementary education students was
evaluated through discussions with teachers and observing student behaviour.

10.7.2. Programmes and activities for lower secondary students (age 11-14)
The main themes presented in the SEL programmes for lower secondary
education students were (Andrei and Scoda, 2020):
(a) student awareness of own emotional states and identification of coping
mechanisms, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic;
(b) stress management and preparing students for exams;
(c) prevention and reduction of bullying in the school environment (for students:
building respect and self-confidence, assertive communication, bullying
management, constructive expression of emotions and needs, conflict
resolution, identifying positive and negative group influences, practising
responsibility; psycho-pedagogical assistance provided to teachers for the
management of situations of violence in the classroom and counselling
provided to students’ victims/aggressors and parents);
(d) preventing and resolving conflicts in the school environment by promoting
some prosocial behaviours and healthy interpersonal relationships;
(e) supporting and developing independent living skills for students whose
parents work and live abroad and reducing the negative consequences of
parents’ migration by involving these students in groups of emotional support
(composed of students from higher classes, teachers, school counsellors),
extra-curricular activities, including trips, theatre, painting, and literature;
(f) facilitating the integration of students with special educational needs in
mainstream education by employing the following SEL skills: personal
management (e.g. managing one’s emotions), social awareness (e.g.
developing tolerance, non-discrimination, acceptance), relationship and
communication skills (e.g. stimulating cooperation). Among the activities
implemented for students are: discussions in the classroom with special
needs adults who are actively employed; writing letters to peers using the
knowledge acquired.

Methods used in the activities for lower secondary students included:

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(a) experiential learning: exercise, role play, case study, project, methods of art-
creative (making drawings, collages, posters);
(b) social and communication learning: storytelling, discussion, panel
discussion, conversation, argumentative debate;
(c) reflective learning: introspection, reflection, problematisation, portfolio;
(d) computer-assisted learning: exercise, simulation, educational game.
Impact is measured based on the following indicators:
(a) number of times students participated in the programme;
(b) reduction in the number of conflicts between students;
(c) reduction in the number of bullying incidents;
(d) better management of students’ emotions and behaviours;
(e) favourable school evolution by obtaining better academic outcomes.

10.7.3. Programmes and activities for upper secondary students (age 15-18)
The objectives of SEL programmes for upper secondary education students are
(Tibu, 2020):
(a) prevention of risk behaviours, acquiring better ways to control emotions and
to reduce anxiety in adolescence;
(b) development of socio-emotional skills (emotion management, empathy,
healthy relationships);
(c) promoting mental health;
(d) preventing school dropout among VET students (self-awareness, awareness
of own strengths and weaknesses, emotion management, stress
management, assertiveness, adequate attitudes towards group pressure);
(e) facilitating the school adaptation of students in the first year of high school;
(f) developing student capacity for leadership.

Additional objectives of SEL activities for upper secondary education

students are (Botnariuc, 2020):
(a) self-knowledge, developing a realistic self-image;
(b) awareness of the relationship between thoughts and emotions;
(c) awareness of personal potential and responsibility in cultivating it;
(d) improvement of self-image by reference to social models;
(e) personal management in stressful situations, crisis;
(f) development of attitudes and behaviours appropriate to self-promotion of
physical and mental health;
(g) promoting a culture of kindness among students.

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10.8. Conclusions and further recommendations

The school counsellor guide highlights the importance assigned to developing the
socio-emotional skills of students, both as a factor in ensuring the wellbeing of
students and improving school performance and subsequent socio-professional
success. These factors relate to student careers in the wider sense. The SEL
practices included in the guide show the use of active learning-teaching
practices, extra-curricular activities, the engagement of family and community,
inclusion of social and emotional skill in the school curriculum, and assessment
of student learning. Practices are designed so that students are involved in active
learning and encouraged to reflect on the meaning and relevance of the learning
material, interact with teachers, and learn from and engage with real-life
examples related to content. The practices are undertaken by school counsellors
alone or in teams with teachers. Some of the activities proposed are designed for
online delivery.
The large number of contributions received across the country (268) in a
short period of time indicated the great interest of school counsellors in carrying
out SEL programmes and activities, some of which were designed and
implemented for students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Another positive aspect was that many involved the parents and local community.
SEL skills are crucial during the crisis, marked by uncertainties and major
change in the lives of students and the school. This resource offers support and
ideas for school counsellors in designing, conducting, and evaluating counselling
programmes and activities. It facilitates communication, mutual learning,
exchange of ideas and good practices among Romanian school counsellors,
teachers, and other key actors, also suggesting more community partners. It
contributes to the school counsellors’ understanding of SEL practices, and
identifies needs for improvement and innovation in the Romanian education
system.
Through this experience it is possible to derive several policy
recommendations to enhance the quality of career guidance in schools. First,
although there are some valuable digital counselling tools in Romania, with open
or certain access restrictions, their diversity and quantity are still limited. This
could be improved, through further development of school counselling. Innovation
is also needed in current practices through provision of initial and continuing
training on SEL for school counsellors and teachers, so that digital tools can
support the guidance process (Goia, Botnariuc, & Andrei, 2020).
Some systematic programmes and activities for the development of
students' socio-emotional skills should also be an immediate strategic policy
measure in the Romanian education system. Appropriate resources need to be

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allocated to support piloting, implementation, rigorous assessment, and

measurement of the impact of skills development programmes for students at all
levels. Future education reforms should take the latest developments in SEL into
consideration. It is also important to underline that more research is needed on
what practices might enhance positive social and emotional skills development
and under what conditions these practices should be implemented to support
students best.
The objectives of SEL programmes and activities must be more clearly
articulated, implementation more closely monitored and the results accurately
measured. The school counsellor SEL guide provided policy-makers, school
counsellors, education practitioners, parents and researchers with a more
comprehensive knowledge-base on where and how to improve systems, policies
and practices for better support to students’ social and emotional skills
development.

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CHAPTER 11.
An international dimension for improved
capacity building of guidance professionals
Nina Ahlroos (55), CareersNet, Sweden; Graziana Boscato (56), CareersNet,
France; Margit Rammo (57), CareersNet, Estonia

11.1. Introduction
Globalisation, digitalisation, and demographic changes are creating an
increasingly diverse and interconnected world. The current pandemic has shown
that we are more dependent on each other than ever. In such a world, it is
important to offer individuals good opportunities for developing their ability to see
themselves in an international context, make international comparisons, and
engage in meaningful learning for their future. Here, career guidance support is
needed to encourage individuals to seize the opportunities available within
periods of learning abroad.
This chapter discusses the need to ensure an international dimension in the
context of the updated competences and training of career guidance
practitioners. The aim is twofold: to improve the career guidance practitioner’s
ability to provide mobility guidance for their clients; and to support the guidance
practitioner’s own competence development through international exchange and
cooperation. Considering rapidly changing labour markets and the constantly
growing free movement of people across borders, global competences and
intercultural understanding become essential components of skills needed both
at individual and community levels. At European level, the importance of
international exchange and learning mobility for skills development have long
been emphasised (Council of the European Union, 2011; European Parliament,
2018). The role of guidance professionals in providing mobility guidance to help
clients understand learning mobility and its value for career development is
crucial, even if its promotion has not always enabled movement of guidance
practitioners themselves across Member States (Cedefop, 2009).

(55) Senior Advisor at Swedish Council for Higher Education and National Coordinator of
Euroguidance.
(56) Chargée de mission Euroguidance, France.
(57) Euroguidance Manager, Estonian Agency for Erasmus+ and European Solidarity
Corps, The Education and Youth Board.

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Key concepts used in the chapter are the international dimension in

guidance, learning mobility and mobility guidance:
(a) the international dimension in career guidance refers to the ability of
guidance practitioners to assist their clients towards periods of meaningful
and high-quality international learning mobility. It is also related to
strengthening international cooperation in lifelong guidance and encouraging
the exchange between stakeholders in guidance research, policy, and
practice;
(b) learning mobility means physical international mobility organised for
education and competence development in formal or non-formal settings.
However, in practice, a much wider potential is now also seen, such as
taking part in international exchange from home;
(c) mobility guidance refers to the support offered by guidance practitioners
during the different stages before, during and after a cross-border mobility
period of their clients.

These ideas and concepts are discussed, then followed by an example of

professional development and training aimed at developing needed competences
among guidance practitioners. Special focus is on similarities and differences in
education and training provision and policy for practitioners in Estonia, France,
and Sweden. Three Euroguidance training offers are compared.

11.2. Learning mobility for skills development

New demands are emerging in education and employment. Many of the jobs of
tomorrow are unknown, others have recently been created. Certain basic needs
do not change, but the way they are met is changing, driven by technological
innovation, societal change, and environmental constraints. The adaptation of
skills to this new environment, and hence the role of education, initial and
continuing training in a lifelong learning perspective, are essential (Estonian
Ministry of Education and Research, 2020).
Today, every job has an international dimension. Although the scope of
some roles is local, the nature of our multicultural communities, international
supply chains and global economic connections require individuals to be
equipped with core international competences. These competences include
interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds, the capacity to adapt
and learn from their environment, and the self-confidence to thrive in the 21st
century workplace (Potts, 2020). Global competences discussed by the OECD
are linked to the international dimension and defined as the capacity to examine
local, global and intercultural issues, to understand and appreciate the

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perspectives and world views of others, to engage in open, appropriate and

effective interactions with people from different cultures, and to act for collective
wellbeing and sustainable development (OECD, 2018). In addition to
international and global competences, smart use of ICT has become one of the
main success factors for raising the competitiveness of every economic sector.
As a catalyst of change, ICT has a strong impact on personal wellbeing and
possibilities to access guidance services and engage in international exchange
(Government of the Republic of Estonia, 2018).
Evidence from research indicates that learning abroad contributes to the
development of these competences. Learning mobility is not just a means of
acquiring ‘intercultural skills’, it also contributes to the development of personal
competence, including creativity, independence, flexibility and entrepreneurship
(Simons et al., 2013). In addition, according to some studies, people with
international experience have a reduced risk of long-term unemployment,
generally earn higher wages, and have more responsibilities in their working lives
than those who do not (Brandenburg; Berghoff and Taboadela, 2014; CSN, 2017;
European Commission, 2019).
Finnish research revealed that whereas language skills, cultural knowledge
and tolerance are generally known by employers who consider international
experience as important in recruitment, they also valued an additional three so-
called hidden but important competences: productivity, adaptation, and curiosity
(CIMO, 2014).
Populism and nationalism are emerging in many countries along with the
development of globalisation (Swedish Trade Union Confederation, 2018). As a
counterweight, cross-border learning mobility expands people's choices for
shaping their careers and supports self-fulfilment. It helps to mitigate stereotyping
and support taking a broader view of the world (Gramberg and Rammo, 2020;
Pérez-Karlsson, 2014). Exposure to a different life in another country can be an
important part of an individual’s journey to personal growth and professional
development (Launikari, 2019). This applies to both guidance practitioners and
their clients.

11.3. Impact of mobility guidance provision

Pro-active guidance towards mobility – mobility guidance – can encourage
individuals to take hold of the opportunities available within a period of learning
abroad (Swedish Council for Higher Education, 2018). It has the potential to
assist transformative learning, seeing learning in exposure to difference

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(Kristensen, 2014). Three dimensions of mobility guidance provision can be

identified in connection with current European developments:
(a) increasing the volume of learning mobility. The German presidency of the
Council and the European Parliament's negotiating team secured a
provisional deal on the Erasmus+ programme for the period 2021-27. The
increased budget will potentially provide mobility opportunities to many more
individuals than in the current programme (European Commission, 2018).
With career guidance support, more people will be able to access
opportunities to go abroad for learning, expanding the population's ability to
become global citizens;
(b) enhancing the quality of the learning process. For example, guidance can
provide learners abroad with capacity to increase the reflexive learning
outcome. The phases of guidance support before, during and after an
experience abroad can create loops of understanding that will increase the
effect of the learning experience (Kristensen, 2014);
(c) compensatory aspects. How do we ensure that more people with fewer
opportunities can take part in this unique type of learning that is essential for
the future? Such learning must be equally distributed. Regarding learning
abroad as a kind of career capital makes it crucial to even out the score for
disadvantaged groups (European Commission, 2018; Swedish Council for
Higher Education, 2019).

Learning mobility has the best impact only when it is well prepared and
meaningful. Both education institutions and career professionals can encourage
people to use international opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills; to
help them plan the learning mobility period; to guide them to reliable information
sources and institutions and consciously to use what has been learned for their
future working-life and self-realisation (Rammo, 2020).

11.4. European and national contexts for mobility

guidance
Do guidance practitioners really have a role in providing mobility guidance? The
2008 Council Resolution on better integrating lifelong guidance into lifelong
learning strategies concluded that ‘The enlargement of the European Union has
increased the potential for mobility in education and training, as well as in the
labour market, thereby creating the need to prepare Union citizens to develop
their learning and professional pathways in a broader geographical context’
(Council of the European Union, 2008). In its study on professional standards for
career practitioners in 2009, Cedefop identified mobility in a general sense as an

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emerging issue in training, and included it as an item in the client-interaction area

of its competence framework (Cedefop, 2009). The new Europass Decision is
another formal link between career guidance and mobility. The decision calls for
‘guidance for learning mobility’ to support career management and upskilling
across Europe (European Parliament, 2018).
Competence frameworks developed by career guidance professional
associations also acknowledge the international dimension of guidance as part of
the professional profile of guidance practitioners, which also relates to practices
in mobility guidance. For example, the NICE network states that ‘supporting
students in identifying […] career options internationally’ is something that
guidance practitioners ‘should be well prepared for’ (Schiersmann et al., 2012)
and the IAEVG framework for practitioner competences refers to information for
those going abroad as ‘specialised competences’ (IAEVG, 2018).
At national level in the three country contexts for Estonia, France and
Sweden, the link between career guidance and mobility is visible in various ways:
as a directly given task for guidance professionals, or as an indirect task due to
the national frameworks for education and skills supply. For example, one of the
objectives for the degree programme in career guidance in Sweden, specified in
legislation, is that the guidance student ‘must [… ] demonstrate knowledge of
education, working life and societal developments both nationally and
internationally" (SFS 1993:100). The Estonian career management skills model
identifies a special competence to ‘[u]nderstand how the general trends and
changes in the world of work both globally and in the Estonian economic
environment affect his or her career’ (Innove, 2017). French guidance
practitioners have to relate to a regulatory framework, which specifies that the
European and international mobility of students is an effective educational
investment for the development of key competences, employability, growth and
social inclusion, as well as the strengthening of self-esteem and civic values of
tolerance and mutual understanding (MENESR; DGESCO and DEI, 2016).

11.5. Training routes and professional development in

the three countries
The rapid changes that we are facing put considerable pressure on career
guidance professionals. According to an EU study on lifelong guidance, there is a
key role in supporting citizens and workers to ensure they are aware of the
opportunities available in new economic sectors, new jobs and activities, and
reskilling opportunities (Barnes et al., 2020).

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This leads to an increased need for competence development among

guidance practitioners, to be able to offer high quality services. Educational
choices, skills needs and career prospects become more and more complicated
to manage. Guidance professionals must adjust fast, learn new skills, and rethink
their roles; as an example, dealing with people with different cultural backgrounds
is becoming increasingly important. Due to digitalisation, they are also expected
to handle larger and more complex ranges of information in their work (Estonian
Qualifications Authority, 2018).
Cedefop’s Inventory of lifelong guidance systems and practices (2020a, 2020b,
2020c) (58) includes information on how training routes, qualifications and
capacity building for the guidance profession differ across European countries
such as Estonia, France, and Sweden. In Estonia, most practitioners have a
background as psychologists, teachers, youth or social workers and there is no
specific full academic qualification in career guidance. A master level course (60
ECTS) is available from the Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, and
targeted CPD is on offer. Further, the national occupational qualification system
is set up for career guidance practitioners to support the development,
assessment, and recognition of occupational competences (Euroguidance
Estonia, 2020) (also see Rammo, in this collection). In France, guidance
practitioners who work for the Ministry of Education must have a master degree
in psychology. A compulsory additional postgraduate training from one of eight
different universities is required (MENESR, 2017). Training for guidance
practitioners in Sweden is offered as undergraduate academic education, leading
to a bachelor degree in career guidance. A master degree is also available.
The situation in reference to further training opportunities for guidance
practitioners is similar across the three countries. Those that exist are offered
irregularly and often in connection to certain projects or driven from the
organisational perspective, such as in PES, other national agencies, trade-
unions, and professional associations. The National Union of Teachers in
Sweden concludes in a recent report that those ‘who are to provide guidance to
others about studies and professions must have the opportunity to keep updated
with the latest information about the labour market and study paths’. The report
states that guidance practitioner opportunities for regular competence
development should be guaranteed, which was not the case at the time: only
37% of guidance professionals reported receiving sufficient competence
development (Swedish National Union of Teachers, 2020). Estonian guidance

(58) See: https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/publications-and-resources/country-

reports/inventory-lifelong-guidance-systems-and-practices

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stakeholders similarly concluded that capacity building of career guidance

professionals is an important area for improvement. While progress can be seen
in PES, career guidance practitioner competence development in education
institutions and in the private sector needs significantly more attention (Psience,
2020). In France, career practitioners have had an individual right to training
since 2017, which enables competence development. There is still a lack of
continuing education and training offers even though the regions, as well as trade
union organisations, are setting up some opportunities to strengthen and update
practitioner skills (Bulletin officiel No 44, 1.12.2011).

11.6. Guidance practitioners’ interests in international

learning and mobility guidance
One competence area where the needs of career guidance professionals are
clear is the international dimension in guidance, which is directly related to the
provision of mobility guidance for clients. For example, guidance practitioners in
Sweden were invited to rate their needs in a 2016 survey. Among a large number
of listed competence areas, ‘studies and work in other countries’ came second
(Ungdomsbarometern, 2016). Estonian research shows that international
cooperation supports the practitioner’s professional development and enables the
introduction of good practices from other countries (Tamm and Vaade, 2019). A
European-level Euroguidance stakeholder survey also confirmed this need
among guidance professionals: almost half of the respondents identified
international learning mobility opportunities for educators and guidance
professionals as a main area for future competence development (Goia and Tibu,
2020).
Looking at whether national training meets these needs, the international
dimension of guidance is invisible in the reference legislative text for initial
training in France (MENESR, 2017). However, guidance professionals are
trained to deal with mobility issues in different ways, depending on their target
audience. The Euroguidance network in France offers courses that are integrated
into the initial training for education professionals but also as further training. In
Sweden, the international dimension in guidance is usually not covered in the
initial academic training programmes. Similar to France, however, Euroguidance
Sweden contributes to developing guidance competences for learning mobility in
Sweden both as part of initial training and as further training courses
(Euroguidance Sweden, 2015). Euroguidance Estonia contributes to the
development of practitioner competences through the exchange of innovative
practices between countries, and in relation to multiculturalism and international

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

mobility (Euroguidance Estonia, 2020) (see further information on e-courses

below).
In terms of content for mobility guidance provision, Nordic Euroguidance
coordinators have developed a grid for the guidance counsellor’s ‘international
capital’ needed in improving the quality of learning mobility (Launikari et al.,
2020):
(a) awareness of and belief in the benefits and added value of international
mobility for individuals and society;
(b) showcase mobility as social capital;
(c) knowledge of various preparations needed for the client to take the next step
throughout the mobility process;
(d) awareness of the need to compensate for unequal background;
(e) linking mobility to the development of career management skills.

11.7. Training offers with an international dimension

National Euroguidance centres have a unique role in developing competences for
learning mobility and contributing to the general competence-development of the
guidance community (mostly practitioners but also experts and decision-makers),
through international exchange and cooperation. At the top of the list of activities
are capacity building initiatives, including training offers, seminars, peer-learning
events, study visits and conferences. Considering current circumstances during
the pandemic, countries have adapted their approaches to the digital context.
Accordingly, the focus is here given to online courses for mobility guidance and
international peer learning for practitioners.

11.7.1. Online courses (59)

For several years, the Euroguidance centres in Estonia, France and Sweden
have provided e-courses for the competence development of practitioners related
to the international dimension in guidance provision. Sweden launched the
development in 2016 (Euroguidance course in mobility guidance (Euroguidance
kurs i Ivägledning)) (60), followed by Estonia in 2017 (Multiculturalism, learning
and work mobility (Multikultuursus, õpi- ja tööränne)) and France in 2018
(Dinamo (Découvrir INformer Accompagner la Mobilité en Orientation)). All follow
the principle of continuous improvement, where learner and/or expert feedback is

(59) See Annex 1 for an overview of the three courses, accordingly.

(60) https://www.uhr.se/syv/infor-en-utlandsvistelse/aktuellt-inom-det-internationella-
vagledningsomradet/distanskurs-i-ivagledning-varen-2021/

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regularly monitored, and updates implemented as necessary. When the

curriculum was first developed, a needs analysis confirmed that, while mobility is
increasing along with its potential importance in personal career development,
guidance professionals lack sufficient confidence, information, knowledge, and
experience with mobility guidance to support their clients. To ensure easy access
and flexibility for practitioners, an online solution was a natural development for
all the three countries. As the courses are based on national needs, there are
similarities and differences when it comes to aims, structure, volume, learning
outcomes and specific target groups.
All three courses share the same aim of encouraging active mobility
guidance and cover both international learning and job mobility (see Annex 1).
However, driven by the wider partnership, the Estonian approach is broader, also
covering multiculturalism. This is also reflected in the larger volume of courses.
While participants in the French course are expected to contribute eight hours of
their time, with no time-limits, participants in Sweden spend about 21 hours over
six weeks, and those in Estonia dedicate 104 academic hours (4 ECTS) during a
four-month period.
The Swedish course mainly targets guidance professionals in the wider
community in secondary and higher education settings, whereas the French
approach addresses guidance professionals both in the education and
employment sectors. The Estonian course is offered to any practitioner who
wants to gain knowledge for working with individual clients interested in working
or studying abroad, or with new arrivals who will learn or work in Estonia. Basic
counselling skills are required for the Estonian course but university students (in
training) are also admitted. However, most of the participants are guidance
professionals from both the public and private sectors. In Sweden and France,
participants are required to have relevant employment experience as guidance
practitioners or international coordinators and an associated academic degree.
All courses use a mix of teaching-learning methodologies, featuring both
individual and group exercises, theoretical and practical elements, with material
including illustrations, videos, concrete cases, and other varied resources. So far,
all countries have only offered online learning but in 2020, in response to
participant requests, the Estonian courses introduced a blended mode with
webinars and on-site seminars.
Besides contributing to the acquisition of knowledge of mobility, participation
in distance learning also provides the learners with hands-on experience in using
digital tools. Since information is mostly offered online and, usually, quite
fragmented among different agencies and web solutions, practitioners need to
have a good understanding of relevant digital resources.

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Course feedback confirms that the courses are highly valued and that
learners see the benefit of online tools. Practitioner self-evaluation of learning
outcomes, prior to and after the course, showed a clear progression of
knowledge and competences among the participants in all three countries. In
Sweden, the results in all courses show a clear movement from rather low rates
before the course to higher rated knowledge afterwards in three areas: mobility
for skills development, existing international opportunities, and the content of
mobility guidance. One-hour in-depth telephone interviews with a sample of
French participants enabled an evaluation of the user experience of the platform,
the relevance of the content and the progress of knowledge. The French
professionals all expressed their satisfaction and were positive that knowledge
acquired would be used for their client’s benefit. The Estonian results also
showed a significant rise in competence development, confirming that
participants were able to expand their understanding related to international
learning and work mobility, and multiculturalism more broadly. They reportedly
gained knowledge for working with outgoing and incoming clients. Further, the
participants in all three countries recommended the courses for others in the
guidance community, and partners have accordingly decided on future training
offers.
Participants generally valued the content of the courses highly. The
exchange of practices with the other participants and the opportunity to analyse
their work in depth was also appreciated. The French participants who completed
the courses receive a digital badge issued by Euroguidance France, while those
in Estonia receive a digital certificate from either by University of Tartu or Tallinn
University, and those in Sweden obtain a digital certificate from the Swedish
Council of Higher Education, signed by Euroguidance Sweden.
The France-based DINAMO mobility training module has been validated by
the Ministry of Education and will be accessible on a national training platform
M@gistère for all teachers and education staff engaged in guidance activities.
The platform includes online training courses for ministry staff (teachers,
guidance counsellors, head teachers). The Estonian e-course – awarded a
national e-course quality label – was recently included in an academic training
programme as an elective subject at Tartu University.
Many of those in Sweden who have completed the mobility guidance training
course reported using their certificates when applying for jobs but, when
engaging in their annual individual development and salary discussions with
employers, there is currently no published information or systematic evaluation
on these processes. Participants also undergo self-assessments on completion
of the course.

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11.7.2. Peer-learning and mobility for professionals

International cooperation is an additional resource that enables professionals to
reflect on their daily work, find new solutions and develop professionally. Peer
learning needs to be strengthened: ‘International exchange and cooperation
between guidance professionals contributes to the development of their
competences by providing opportunities to study guidance methods and
practices in other countries and opens up possibilities for project cooperation
between guidance services’ (Barnes et al., 2020). This includes becoming more
motivated and better at providing mobility guidance services (Ahlroos and
Eensalu, 2014).
Peer learning can be defined as the acquisition of knowledge and skills
through active help and support between peers or ‘twin peers’ (Topping, 2005). It
plays a crucial role in initial and continuing training, both in face-to-face and
virtual learning environments and in international learning mobility.
The Euroguidance network has for years facilitated international exchange
and cooperation between guidance practitioners in different countries through the
organisation of international conferences, seminars, and study visits. Academia,
for example, is a European study exchange project set up by guidance
practitioners in 1995. More than 2000 guidance professionals have participated in
these exchanges, sharing experiences, raising awareness of good practices, and
facilitating the creation of new networks supported by European mobility grants.
Participants benefit from learning outcomes that will have an impact on their
practice. Estonian researchers report that a large proportion of practitioners who
have participated in international learning mobility abroad confirm they use new
methods in their daily work (Tamm and Vaade, 2019). Since the beginning of the
pandemic, virtual and blended learning has been experimented with in Estonia,
giving an important role to new technologies; an example is the first-ever
eAcademia virtual mobility event (Gramberg and Rammo, 2020).

11.8. Conclusions
Constantly changing society demands a systematic assessment of guidance
practitioners' needs for capacity building, both within initial and further training.
However, current training systems do not seem to meet the needs for regular
competence development, nor do they acknowledge the international dimension
in guidance.
In this chapter we have shown that international competences are crucial for
the career development of individuals, and why guidance professionals should
support their clients in the development of these competences. Active mobility

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
rethinking careers practitioner professionalism

guidance can potentially increase the numbers of mobile individuals and improve
the quality of their learning process.
Competence frameworks developed by professional guidance associations
acknowledge the international dimension of guidance as part of the professional
profile of guidance practitioners; the link between guidance and mobility is visible
in national frameworks and legislation for education. Still, many guidance
practitioners do not know how to deal with mobility guidance in their daily work
and there is a need for competence development in the field. In a rapidly
changing and globalising society, modernised capacity building for career
guidance professionals should be on the agenda. We have illustrated this
through a comparison of three online courses that provide knowledge, inspiration,
and exchange of experiences in the area.
However, future research is needed to see how the national frameworks for
competences and the initial training of guidance practitioners can be further
developed to include an international dimension. This should cover guidance
service delivery related to international mobility for learning and work, and also
the guidance practitioner’s own competence building through international
exchange with colleagues from other countries. This would strengthen the quality
of guidance services and ensure that the training of professionals is in line with
the developments and expectations of society.

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Annex 1. Comparison of Euroguidance e-courses in Estonia, France and Sweden

COUNTRY Estonia France Sweden

NAME AND Multiculturalism, learning and work Dinamo (Découvrir INformer Euroguidance course in mobility
VOLUME mobility (Multikultuursus, õpi- ja Accompagner la Mobilité en guidance (Euroguidance kurs i
tööränne), 104 academic hours (4 ECTS) Orientation), 12 hours (*) Ivägledning), 21 hours (**)

AIM The course provides an opportunity to Dinamo reinforces the skills of guidance The purpose of the course is to
expand understanding related to professionals in terms of international contribute to proactive guidance about
international mobility and multiculturalism, mobility and contributes to the international mobility, to make more
and to gain knowledge for working with development and promotion of lifelong pupils and students seize the
people who want to go to study or work mobility. opportunity, and to raise the quality of
abroad, and who have come to Estonia their mobility experience.
from abroad and need further career
guidance.

LEARNING The graduate will: The users of the platform will: The participant will gain:
OUTCOMES • understand the value of learning and • become aware of the added value of • general knowledge about
work mobility and its potential for career mobility for the purpose of professional international mobility and its
development; integration and career development; benefits;
• be aware of the various opportunities for • be aware of the different forms of • specific knowledge about different
international mobility and is ready to mobility (studies, employment, gap opportunities for studies, practical
provide guidance on this subject; year, etc.); training, and work in other countries;
• be able to support individuals in matters • improve their knowledge of European • understanding of the possible
related to mobility, including motivating, mobility tools; guidance interventions in relation to
preparing, supporting throughout the • improve their knowledge of mobility for the whole mobility process;
mobility and return; specific groups such as people with • awareness of various tools and
• be aware of multiculturalism, including the disabilities, apprentices, etc.; information sources that can
peculiarities of different cultures and the • learn how to use the resources of the facilitate the work;
diversity of values, and is able to advise Euroguidance website • understanding of how mobility
clients with different cultural backgrounds • understand the issues at stake in a guidance can be part of the regular
on studying and working in Estonia. mobility guidance interview. guidance work.
(*) www.euroguidance-formation.org
(**) https://www.uhr.se/syv/infor-en-utlandsvistelse/aktuellt-inom-det-internationella-vagledningsomradet/distanskurs-i-ivagledning-varen-2021/

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CHAPTER 12.
Strategic competence and the
transformative role of ICT in lifelong
guidance
Raimo Vuorinen (61), CareersNet, Finland and Jaana Kettunen (62), CareersNet,
Finland

12.1. Introduction
At European Union level, lifelong guidance is acknowledged as a shared policy
responsibility across the fields of education, training, youth, employment, and
social affairs. A number of European case studies and reviews strongly indicate
that the demand for guidance far exceeds the supply of services and that
citizens’ needs cannot be met by relying exclusively on traditional forms (e.g.
Barns et al., 2020; ELGPN, 2010; Zelloth, 2009). No service provider,
professional group or organisation can alone respond to the increasing needs of
more diverse client groups. A growing number of countries are linking lifelong
guidance with lifelong learning and providing continuity between different sectors
in policy development and service delivery. The Estonian EU Presidency 2017
Conclusions on lifelong guidance also note that widening access to coherent
services in an effective way necessitates policy coherence, partnerships, LMI
sharing, service professionalisation, and service integration.
Technological upheaval is profoundly affecting the provision of guidance and
inspiring alliances among new and existing partners and services. Despite the
increasing use of ICT-based career services in many countries, the success of
these provisions varies significantly from country to country (e.g. Barns et al.,
2020; Kettunen & Sampson, 2019; Kettunen, Vuorinen & Ruusuvirta, 2016). In
developing national career information and resources, practitioners and policy-
makers alike must identify any gaps in their current knowledge to develop a more
advanced understanding of how ICT can improve guidance services. This
understanding is fundamental to the development and successful implementation
of existing and emerging technologies in guidance services. If ICT is viewed

(61) Project Manager, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä,
Finland.
(62) Associate professor, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of
Jyväskylä.

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solely as an information delivery channel, or if the development of tools for

diverse user groups remains fragmented, technology’s full potential cannot be
exploited in pursuing integrated service delivery or formulating lifelong guidance
policies (Kettunen et al., 2016). Increased synergies among actors and
stakeholders at national, regional, and local levels is needed to ensure a
common vision, leadership support, and a strategic path for the successful
implementation of existing and emerging technologies in guidance services
(Kettunen & Sampson, 2019).
While the importance and utility of career guidance and counselling are
generally acknowledged by societies around the world, retaining the quality of
practice is challenging in service delivery environments where practitioners are
under pressure to achieve more for less (Barnes et al., 2020). In decentralised
administrations, or in contexts without legislation for career guidance, service
providers have considerable autonomy in how they deliver and organise lifelong
guidance (LLG) services for their users. This implies that career practitioners
need to have opportunities to share their experiences and mentor others.
National competence frameworks for practitioners provide a common model for
promoting professionalism in a decentralised administrative structure (Barnes et
al., 2020), and the European Union has funded a number of projects that have
developed competence frameworks (e.g. Cedefop 2009), job profiles (e.g.
European Commission, 2014) and standards (e.g. Schiersmann et al., 2016) for
career practitioners. International professional associations (e.g. IAEVG, 2018;
NCDA, 2009) provide competence frameworks, which can be applied at national
or regional levels. Most of the frameworks consist of occupational descriptions for
different types of career practitioners, encapsulating practitioners’ roles and main
tasks in specific settings or with specific user groups. They also link theories,
questions of knowledge, values, attitudes and skills to their overall meaning for
practitioner performance (Niles, Vuorinen & Siwiec, 2019).
The main driver of the development of most international competence
frameworks has been the question of what support individual citizens need.
Wider tasks that are related, for example, to the coordination of guidance
services are perceived as being beyond what should reasonably be expected
from all career practitioners (e.g. Schiersmann et al., 2016). However,
transformation of lifelong guidance towards collective and group-based activities
is a process engaging many actors, various interests, and multiple layers
(Nykänen, Saukkonen & Vuorinen, 2012). Career practitioners should be able to
cope with more complex situations and operate adequately in potentially
contradictory roles. In addition to competences involving working with clients –
especially given the lack of binding legislation or national quality frameworks for
guidance in most EU Member States (Barnes et al., 2020) – practitioners must

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more strongly emphasise strategic competences that enable them to define their
new roles and tasks in multi-professional networks, both within organisations and
at the interfaces of service providers (Vuorinen & Kettunen, 2017).
To sum up, inconsistency in legislation and growing autonomy imply that
career practitioners need competences in creating an understanding of which
national and local actors should be involved (and how) in the design and delivery
of guidance services. Mintzberg (1995) defines this kind of strategic thinking as
‘seeing’: seeing ahead and behind, seeing above and below, seeing beside and
beyond, and seeing it through.
Strategic thinking takes an expansive view of career guidance and
counselling, with three pairs of opposing perspectives and one overarching one
(Mintzberg, 1995). Seeing ‘ahead’ reflects the future-oriented perspective of all
guidance processes. At the same time, we must be aware of the evolution of
career guidance services, so seeing ‘behind’ provides an opposing perspective to
maintain a strategic view. To understand the locus of career services between
different sectors, it is necessary to see oneself ‘from above’ and to discern the
underlying principles by looking ‘from below’. To build cross-sectoral partnerships
in the design and implementation of career services, practitioners need to find
collaborators by ‘seeing beside’, and they must ‘see beyond’ the current provision
to foster innovation. After reflecting on these different perspectives, it is possible
to ‘see it through’ and understand the underpinnings and key features of the
career guidance system and define the necessary preconditions for consistent,
coherent service delivery.

12.2. Four perspectives on strategic competences

In strengthening career practitioners’ strategic competences, for developing
relationships and partnerships with key stakeholders to establish a sustainable
mandate for career services in decentralised contexts, it is crucial to apply
strategic thinking as ‘seeing’ and to pay greater attention to the four perspectives
below, connected to multi-professional guidance service delivery (Figure 1).
Widening perspectives beyond one’s individual practice enables practitioners to
position guidance services and themselves as service providers in an interface
between different sectors and discipliners. This broader understanding of the
systemic nature of career services contributes to the effective and efficient use of
ICT in guidance and counselling (Kettunen & Sampson, 2019).

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Figure 1. Diverse perspectives on networked multi-professional guidance

services

Source: Nykänen Karjalainen, M., Vuorinen, R., & Pöyliö, 2007.

User perspective
Career professionals perceive an individual’s learning path as a continuum and a
chain of interfaces between training and working life. In various transition phases,
individuals use different career services from different organisations. From an
individual perspective, career services are perceived as an activity that crosses
organisational boundaries and may be patchy and fragmented. When experts
plan career services, users are not necessarily asked what kind of services they
need; but, when career services are understood as a user’s entitlement,
individuals become better aware of what services exist and what they can expect
from them. This urges service providers to shift their view from the supplier
perspective to the user perspective and their focus from helping to enabling. This
requires service providers to ‘see beyond’ the supplier perspective and to create
new measures to obtain a better understanding of the needs of diverse user
groups and their readiness for career development. This changes the operational
boundaries of organisations and challenges them to ‘see beside’ to produce
knowledge together and learn regionally and organisationally (Nykänen et al.,
2007, 2012).

Staff perspective
In cross-sectoral networks, guidance services are provided at multi-professional
interfaces with other practitioners or organisations, in a learning space, and have

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to be able to provide a rationale for their existence, their knowledge and juridical
position (Nykänen et al., 2012; Nykänen, 2011). A multi-professional network is a
mechanism of coordination, organisation, and collaboration. It is important from
the viewpoint of referral to services, availability and fit that staff members in
different organisations know what services others provide. Together, the
practitioners solve problems, create knowledge and innovations, and acquire
resources. They participate both in the coordination of their network and in its
management tasks (Nykänen, 2011). Ideally, this work allocation and
coordination approach comes close to the concept of distributed leadership
(Gronn, 2008).

Organisation perspective
The organisational perspective refers to the planning, coordinating and
implementation of guidance services within an organisation. Within an
organisation responsible for career services, practitioners with different job
profiles cooperate in multi-professional teams, such as in community centres,
one-stop-shops, a distributed centre (no co-location location) or via online
platforms. Multi-professional cooperation supports mutual trust and reduces
isolation and unnecessary competition for clients and resources. Cooperation can
be extended to cover planning the division of labour, eliminating overlapping
duties, agreeing on the core activities of the services, and producing joint
guidance materials, as well as improving the activities of guidance providers. The
division of labour and shared responsibility together include how guidance
services are implemented, planned, and coordinated within and between
organisations and administrators at national, regional, and organisational levels
(Nykänen, 2011).

Regional/national perspective
The regional/national perspective refers to formal or informal inter-organisational
networks of guidance providers from different government sectors across the
fields of education, training, youth, employment, and social affairs policy.
Cedefop (2020) provides evidence of national-level efforts to increase
collaboration among professionals and involve new actors in guidance provision.
According to Barnes et al. (2020), effective and multi-directional communication
needs strengthening as it has a pivotal role in securing maximum impact of LLG
services and facilitating leadership and cooperation. In practice, the capacity of
networks to produce innovations has to do with ‘seeing through’ and with the
creation of structures and relationships, leadership, expertise, and the
envisioning of entire processes. Technology can bring together a range of

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relevant partners to provide coordinated and seamless specialised service

throughout an individual’s life.
At regional and local levels, the structures for cooperation need to be
established in accordance with local conditions, but local networks with multi-
organisational structures often have contradictory aims and goals due to their
operational cultures, mandates, and internal administrative statutory
arrangements. Often, there are different perceptions of the key concepts,
features and underlying principles of career guidance. In providing career
services, organisations from different sectors may find themselves in competition
for the same limited resources (ELGPN, 2010).
Municipalities and local public employment service (PES) offices are
increasingly important in coordinating guidance stakeholders, illustrating the need
for career practitioners to engage in multi-layered, multi-administrative regional
strategic work. The practitioners should more often ‘look beyond’ and cross the
boundaries between different sectors to collaborate in creating shared knowledge
and solutions in complex problem-solving situations. This is crucial in, for
example, outreach strategies, validation of skills, enterprise-based career
learning activities and flexible training offers leading to qualifications. It is also
important that when working with individuals, practitioners connect career issues
into wider life contexts. From this perspective, ‘seeing beyond’ includes
understanding and knowledge of how clients can finance learning, which
programmes are available or should be promoted for financial and non-financial
support for learning. Such jointly formed knowledge overcomes sectoral
protectionism, promotes the efficiency of investments and increases the potential
for solving problems that a single individual or professional group cannot tackle
(Engeström, 2004; Kettunen, 2021; McGuire, 2006; Nykänen, 2011).
Further, an important area of this strategic competence is guidance
personnel’s exploratory reflection on their own activity and subsequent evaluation
of the services (Nykänen, 2010). Practitioners should be able to apply the basic
theories of career development and should also be able to interpret the nature
and quality of their relationships with clients and the premises for career
development. Wider reflection focuses on the content of career services and the
education system, working life and wider community as a context for career
services. Strategic thinking empowers practitioners to take responsibility for
changing their work though pilots or development projects: in which settings and
contexts it is relevant and feasible to use ICT and to promote synergies in the
strategic planning of the services; which are the internal and external networks
where guidance expertise could be utilised? Only changes in doing can promote
changes in seeing. These two approaches are interwoven and embedded in each
other, and they emerge simultaneously.

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12.3. Conclusions
Existing international competence frameworks have references to how career
practitioners need to intervene in social systems and community development.
The references aim to design, implement and evaluate interventions to address
the needs of user groups, not directly to strategic transformation of the guidance
services (e.g. IAEVG, 2018; Schiersmann et al., 2016). Practitioners are
encouraged to contact stakeholders, approach existing networks, and build new
ones. They are expected to be competent in engaging in societal debate about
the purposes of career guidance and counselling and to advocate on behalf of
people seeking support in career-related issues (Schiersmann et al., 2016).
The IAEVG (2018) and Cedefop (2009) competence frameworks include
attempts to promote strategic thinking in career services by encouraging
collaboration between community partners. To demonstrate this specialised
competence, practitioners are encouraged to work with the local community to
analyse human and material resources and use them effectively according to a
community needs assessment. The European reference competence profile for
PES and European Employment Services (EURES) counsellors (European
Commission, 2014) follows the Cedefop competence areas but includes strategic
thinking in dealing with the use of ICT in the service provision.
Transforming career guidance services to improve access and address
social equity in accordance with constant changes in society make it necessary
to employ a stronger systemic approach in developing proactive lifelong guidance
services in all sectors (ELGPN, 2015). Transdisciplinary collaboration entails a
shift from traditional expert services and established networks to a dynamic
combination of independent and communal ways of working (Kettunen and Felt,
2020). Key elements of practitioners’ strategic competences are needed to
develop, implement, and evaluate policies and action plans to address economic,
social, educational and employment goals of the community (IAEVG, 2018).
To exploit the full potential of existing and emerging technologies, career
practitioners must understand the broader goal of career services and collaborate
with partners, system developers and policy-makers in the design and delivery of
services and in the evaluation of their impact and effectiveness. This early
involvement in multi-actor collaboration should take place in public
administrations, between members of different public bodies, and amongst
private partners. This requires understanding of how theoretical frameworks
could inform a jointly determined vision of existing ICT-based career services and
how these frameworks can be embedded in the design of and effective
integration of such services (Kettunen & Sampson, 2019). The diverse

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perspectives on networked multi-professional guidance services presented here

offer one such example.
These new strategic competences should be part of initial practitioner
training programmes of and continuous professional development in all settings,
but they become even more crucial in countries that are increasing their market-
based service providers in accordance with liberal regimes (Moreno da Fonseca,
2015). According to Barnes et al. (2020), strategic competence is particularly
important in decentralised contexts where practitioners are very much on their
own and lack organisational support.

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 PART IV

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CHAPTER 13.
Enhancing practitioners’ skills to work in the
digital context
Jaana Kettunen (63), CareersNet, Finland

13.1. Introduction
The role that digital technologies can play has come under the spotlight during
the COVID-19 pandemic. Even prior to the pandemic, the use of digital
technologies was an emerging, strategic priority within the field. The growing
consensus around the increasingly essential role of information and
communication technology (ICT) in the career service sector is evidenced in a
number of policy documents, case studies and reviews (Cedefop, 2011; Cedefop
et al., 2020; Council of the European Union, 2004, 2008; Data Europa, 2014;
OECD, 2004a, 2004b). As demand for services continues to grow, we need
continually to review and improve our service delivery modes and mechanisms in
a cost-effective manner. Technology provides opportunities to extend services,
especially services aimed to reach those in remote locations or homebound due
to disabilities. Individuals who prefer written, rather than spoken communication,
or those having limiting disabilities, may also benefit from online services. To
maximise these opportunities and support for those with weak digital skills or less
experience with digital guidance services, it is important to ensure that career
practitioners are equipped with the requisite ICT competences.
‘Digitalisation’ is a generic term for the digital transformation of all sectors
based on large-scale adoption of existing and emerging digital technologies;
these technologies are the tools through which digitalisation will occur (Randall
and Berlina, 2019). Some of these technologies already exist and have been
adopted to varying degrees; others exist but are yet to be adopted at large scale.
In this article, ICT refers to the products, infrastructure and electronic content that
support lifelong guidance policy and service delivery. These interactive services,
resources and tools are designed and developed for citizens, and their use, in
turn, informs their design. ICT also refers to the digital competency required to
use technology in a career development context (ELGPN, 2015). Before the
COVID-19 pandemic, the skills and competences required for the use of ICT

(63) Associate professor, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of

Jyväskylä.

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(including social media) in guidance were often considered secondary and are
therefore poorly developed in initial and continuing training (Barnes et al., 2020
Kettunen, & Vuorinen, 2020; Cedefop, 2009, 2018; European Commission,
2014). It has become evident that, within professional training programmes, the
role and use of ICT in guidance and counselling are dealt with very differently. A
closer look at this issue has shown that most programmes do not teach the use
of ICT in a professional context.
To contribute to the current discussion and improve the training of career
professionals, this chapter describes the design and content of an international,
jointly developed ICT training programme for guidance and counselling
practitioners. Content development for the course drew on the latest
phenomenographic research exploring career practitioner conceptions of social
media and 'competency' (64) for social media in career services (Kettunen,
2017).). Phenomenographic studies help to improve practice by exploring
variations in participants’ experiences of the phenomenon in question, which are
revealed by the dimensions of variations that highlight the differences between
the conceptions (Akerlind, 2008). From an educational point of view, such studies
also reveal what is needed to gain a more complex understanding of the topic in
question.
The training programme described was jointly designed and delivered by the
Finnish Institute for Educational Research (FI), Malmö University (SE),
eVejledning (DK) and the University of Iceland (IS). The partners involved have
extensive experience in training and research in the use of ICT in the guidance
and counselling field, and they support and work with practitioners both in Nordic
countries and internationally. Their complementary competences, experience,
knowledge, and skills encompass higher education (SE/IS), practical
applications (DK), research (FI) and private practice (SE) specifically within
career guidance. The course is open to degree-seeking students and
experienced practitioners from various settings, as it exposes them to situations
that challenge them to see and reflect on the variation in the potential uses of
technology in career guidance and counselling. Those who successfully complete
the course are awarded five ECTS credits.

(64) While competence is the ability to do a particular task, competency concerns the
underlying characteristics which allow a person to perform well in a variety of
situations (e.g. Trotter & Ellison, 2001, p. 36). The term competency is used
throughout the text to refer to the combination of relevant attributes that underpin
successful professional performance (Moore, Cheng, & Dainty, 2002; Woodruffe,
1991).

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13.2. From information delivery to co-careering

Kettunen (2017) established an empirically derived evidence-based foundation
for the development of international training programmes for guidance and
counselling practitioners. This foundation considers the fact that ICT is used both
on a self-help basis (e.g. self-directed use of career resources and service) and
as part of face-to-face service in physical settings and distance service delivery
via ICT. The results revealed five general approaches to social media and
competency for social media (for details about the study results, see Kettunen,
2017). These encompass a passive approach and information-centred,
communication-centred, collaborative career exploration and co-careering
approaches (see Figure 1). Co-careering refers to the shared expertise and
meaningful construction on career issues among community members (Kettunen,
2017, p. 41). This foundation offers a basis and establishes a continuum on
which to work, resulting in the provision of training and opportunities to
experiment more broadly and practice with ICT and social media. Specific
practitioner competences addressed during the course include proficiency in
locating, evaluating and using online content; being a versatile and thoughtful
writer; being able to generate and sustain engaging and constructive online
discussion; and creating a visible and trusted online presence (Kettunen et al.,
2020; Kettunen; Sampson and Vuorinen, 2015).

Figure 1. Five general approaches to ICT and social media in guidance

Source: Based on J. Kettunen et al., 2017, p.48.

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Emphasis was also placed on interventions that foster collaborative learning

among peer group members (Kettunen; Sampson and Vuorinen, 2015) to
support career learning and development. Throughout the course, the use of ICT
in guidance and counselling was linked to ethical issues (such as accuracy and
validity of recourses, confidentiality, and user privacy). Peterson and colleagues
(2008) cognitive information-processing approach was used to illustrate how
theory can be deployed to guide ICT-based career counselling and guidance
practice.
The course underlying teaching and learning philosophy is grounded in
social constructivist (Brown; Collins and Duguid, 1989) and sociocultural theories
(Säljö, 1975). These concepts informed decisions on how to organise the training
and the employment of a student-centred approach and problem-based or case-
based 21st century learning principles for professional education. In this view,
learning is a situated process within a community of mutually supportive learners,
and research-based knowledge is linked to practice through hands-on training
and empirical examples provided by instructors and participants. The course
assigned great importance to experimentation and collaboration in interactive
workshops to increase knowhow, adopting a goal-oriented approach based on
the sequence theory/application discussion. Building on this idea, teaching
invokes the central idea of constructivism: learners as constructors of meaning
(Mason and Watson, 2005).
To demonstrate how the course was implemented based on the continuum
from information delivery to co-careering, each of these approaches is described
in the next sections. Compared to the other more proactive stances in the model,
the term ‘passive approach’ implies that successful integration of ICT in guidance
services depends not only on the skills or technical facilities available but also on
practitioners’ willingness to accept the changes that new technology may bring to
service delivery.

13.3. Delivering information

The most common use of ICT in guidance is the dissemination of career
information. The course seeks to augment students’ ability to identify and
evaluate online career information and resources and to teach them how to use
these tools creatively to meet client needs. To improve information delivery
capability, the teaching focused on media and information literacy: proficiency in
locating, evaluating and using online content. Participants shared career
information and online resources and described how these are used (or could
best be used) in professional practice. Using real-world examples, the goal of

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these exercises was to illustrate how the multiple types and sources of available
information could be utilised to enhance career services. Participants also
worked with case examples to develop their awareness of potential sources of
invalidity in social media-based career information, specifically the occupational,
educational, training and employment information developed and disseminated
by users of that information (Sampson et al., 2018). Potential sources of invalidity
include intentional bias (with or without profit motive), unintentional bias,
restricted range of experience, out‐of‐date information, popularity bias, similarity
bias, and context deficiency (for more detailed information, see Sampson et al.,
2018). Examples of software evaluation criteria (NCDA, 1991) were distributed
and discussed in small groups. Participants reviewed and shared their
observations regarding the assigned sections under the following headings:
programme information, career development process, interaction, technical
aspects of the software and materials, and support. These activities were
designed to increase participant awareness of existing criteria, as well as their
ability to identify and evaluate online career information and resources.

13.4. One-to-one communication

The course aimed to expand students’ ability to use ICT for one-to-one
communication. This communication can be synchronous (in real time) or
asynchronous (involving a delay). Training was provided in text-based
communication using email and chat, as these are the most commonly used
forms of communication in guidance service provision. The training focused on
online writing; examples of authentic and anonymised text-based email cases
were distributed, and participants analysed these in groups, discussing the
emotions expressed in the written material and the questions raised. After
discussing how best to address the case, they worked together to formulate a
written response. The aim of these exercises was to highlight the potential for
empathetic responses and summarisation in a written context. The exercises also
afforded opportunities for participants to develop their understanding and skills in
providing guidance and counselling in written form. For instance, to convey their
intentions and engage the client, practitioners must be able to draw on guidance
and counselling skills that include paraphrasing, clarifying, summarising,
empathising, sharing observations, supporting, open-ended questioning and
reassuring (Amundson, 2003).
To broaden their knowledge and use of chat (synchronous communication in
written form) in professional practice, the course included an introduction to
Danish eGuidance and the associated 4C model of communication, which

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involves four phases: contact, contract, communication, and conclusion. The

contact phase seeks to establish and maintain a good relationship with the client.
The contract phase seeks to define together the focal issue of the virtual
guidance session in collaboration with the client. In the communication phase,
the counsellor processes the information received from the client and attempts to
put the issue in perspective. Finally, in the conclusion phase, the counsellor
provides information and/or instructions regarding the focal issue as defined
during the contract phase and assesses the client’s readiness to act.
The course activities encouraged participants to reflect on chat as a medium
for guidance and counselling and on any possible differences in how chat is used
across various countries. Based on examples of authentic and anonymised chat,
they also used the 4C model to identify the different phases, noting parts that
functioned well and less well and how chat functions in a guidance and
counselling context. Participants also gained direct experience in chatting;
working in pairs, one played the client and contacted the other student (as the
counsellor) with a personal dilemma. In each phase, the 4C model was used to
equip the eGuidance practitioner with concrete questions and phrases. By
switching roles, participants gained experience in experimenting with chat as
both a counsellor and a client in a professional context.

13.5. Collaborative career exploration

In collaborative career exploration, knowledge is shared in purposefully designed
online spaces among individuals and practitioners as they work towards common
learning goals, such as understanding the question at hand or solving a problem.
The teaching addressed participants’ skills and knowledge in devising
interventions to foster collaborative career exploration through online discourse.
This focused on practitioners’ ability to design a space that integrates self-
directed materials with interactive communication and knowledge of methods,
techniques and activities to improve participation and interaction in online
discourse and to foster peer group collaboration in career learning (Kettunen,
2017). A five-stage model of structured learning activities (Salmon, 2011) was
introduced as a means of building interaction and participation. The model
includes social interaction, motivation and learning by using digital tools. The first
two stages of Salmon’s model seek to acclimatise the learner to the online
environment and to develop a supportive social context. In the third stage
(information exchange), learners interact with course materials and online
activities and exchange further resources. In the fourth stage (knowledge
construction), learners work collaboratively, sharing ideas, posing problems, and

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challenging each other in the spirit of inquiry. Here, the practitioner facilitates the
continuing learning process by asking questions, enhancing discussion, and
motivating and encouraging learners. The final stage (development) invites
participants to take responsibility for and reflect on their own learning.
Throughout the course, learners used an online learning platform based on
this model to gain experience of collaborative career exploration and to develop a
practical understanding of methods for improving participation and interaction in
online discourse. Participants gained direct experience in instructor-facilitated as
well as peer-facilitated online discourse through activities such as virtual
meetings: addressing a case scenario involving an ethical dilemma by defining
key issues, identifying ideal resolutions, and brainstorming practical strategies in
small groups. Discussion and group reflection processes were audio- and video-
recorded and shared among participants, allowing everyone to have access to
their own and peer group reflections to encourage whole group discussion. In
addition to its collaborative aspect, the exercise allowed participants to
experience using video conferencing/communication, which is gradually
becoming the new normal in shaping the way we communicate, learn and work.

13.6. Co-careering
Social media use has become a daily practice for many career practitioners in
facilitating co-careering which refers to the shared expertise and meaningful
construction on career issues among community members (Kettunen, 2017,
p. 41). To develop relevant student co-careering skills and understanding, the
training focused on how to create and express a visible and trusted online
presence, as well as questions of ethical practice in social media, including
accuracy and validity of resources, professional boundaries and issues of
confidentiality and privacy. To begin, the concept of co-careering was introduced
and discussed, and examples were provided of how different clients might use
social media to explore occupational, educational and employment issues with
others, including friends, personal acquaintances and even individuals with whom
no personal relationship exists. Participants worked through the examples,
identifying the phases in which co-careering occurred. Emphasis was placed on
more conscious engagement with online communities where meanings and
understandings are co-constructed, and empirical examples referred to strategies
for operationalising a visible and trusted online presence in professional practice.
The key to success in social media is to establish clear goals and ensure
that actions work to achieve them (Rutledge, 2010). Building a reliable and
authentic image within relevant communities requires a mindful online presence

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and monitoring and actively updating one’s online profiles, grounded in a

practical understanding of how this presence is conveyed to others. Strategies to
operationalise a visible and trusted online presence (Sampson, Kettunen, and
Vuorinen, 2020) were explored and discussed in terms of practitioner need to
monitor social media posts within their organisations to:
(a) respond to requests for information or services;
(b) recommend resources and services that fit individual characteristics and
needs, following up as appropriate;
(c) exploit opportunities for co-careering among community members that their
organisation serves, identifying and responding to teachable moments;
(d) participate in social media sites maintained by their organisation by
answering questions or requests, recommending resources and services as
appropriate, marketing their organisation and other sources of assistance,
and engaging in co-careering as opportunities emerge.
In exploring social media engagement tactics, participants crafted social
media posts that would encourage interaction. The aim was to illustrate co-
careering and to reflect on one’s own future practice in this regard.

13.7. Discussion
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about new needs for digital services and
increased the demand for existing ones. New methods of access to guidance
services are offering opportunities to address people’s needs and expectations.
However, one of the issues facing policy-makers is the increased need to
develop the skills and competences of the practitioners and managers of
guidance centres/services. Career practitioners’ capacity building is crucial for
the successful integration of ICT in careers practice, and there is an urgent need
for both the pre-service and in-service training curricula to be updated to include
this knowledge. This jointly developed international course provides a concrete
model for bridging the skills gap in career practitioners’ initial and continuing
training using a research-based framework (Kettunen, 2017) for ICT competence
development. This training will raise the professional profile and standards of
career practitioners and other staff involved in guidance activities by enabling
them to respond more effectively to the needs and expectations of both citizens
and policy-makers (Council of the European Union, 2008). This would likely lead
to improved coordination and cooperation between stakeholders in the use of
new and emerging technologies for easier access to lifelong guidance and
information through diverse and innovative service delivery.

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CHAPTER 14.
Career practice education and training in
Portugal: challenges during the pandemic
Helia Moura (65), CareersNet, Portugal; Maria do Céu Taveira (66) and Sofia
Marques Ramalho (67)

14.1. Career practice after COVID-19: the use of ICT

As in many other countries, in Portugal, the COVID-19 crisis led to the
declaration of a state of emergency, specifically from 18 March to September
2020. A set of preventive public health measures were implemented: schools
were closed and other departments, including public employment services,
reduced face-to-face activity. All services had to reorganise their activities to
adapt to the new reality, including career guidance across sectors: before the
pandemic, most career interventions were delivered face-to-face but this was no
longer possible. Information and communication technologies (ICT) have been
considered as an available alternative resource for crisis intervention in a variety
of domains (Ribeiro et al., 2020). In recent years, the provision of remote career
interventions, with the support of telephone, computer, internet-based
technologies and social media networks, has become an alternative. Access to
specialised interventions by a greater number of individuals is one of the
advantages demonstrated (Kettunen; Sampson and Vuorinen, 2017; Sampson;
Kettunen and Vuorinen, 2020). It is also a way of blurring geographic distance or
mitigating factors associated with other types of constraint (Sampson; Kettunen
and Vuorinen, 2020), similar to those experienced during the pandemic. In
addition to these aspects, social networks are the choice for youth interaction,
which can increase the motivation and adaptation of students to ICT-based
interventions (Vigurs; Everitt and Staunton, 2017).
It is useful to understand better to what extent, as future guidance
professionals, psychologists’ initial training prepares them to use ICT in career
guidance interventions. This chapter presents findings from our study, including a
review of the training pathways and existing curricula to prepare career

(65) Advanced Specialist in Vocational Psychology and Career Development.

(66) School of Psychology, University of Minho, PhD.
(67) Vice-President, Portuguese Psychologists’ Association; Specialist in work, social and
organisational psychology and in educational psychology.

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counsellors in Portugal. We explore the topic through responses from different

relevant groups: official bodies responsible for training in this field; employed
career guidance practitioners; and undergraduate psychology students looking
ahead at the role of digital skills in their future careers. The objectives of the
enquiry, methods and results of these procedures are presented, with particular
emphasis given to the challenges professionals faced during the pandemic and
the role of ICT and practitioners’ digital skills.

14.2. Career counselling practitioner training in ICT

The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced in Portugal the need for strategies that
allow schools and other institutions to continue maintaining their advice and
support intervention systems for beneficiaries. The use and implementation of
computer and internet-based services is gradually being considered as one
alternative, to cope with the challenges. However, these strategies must be
guided by scientific and ethical criteria, by the proficient use of ICT by practising
psychologists providing career guidance, as well as by the mastery of technical
specificities associated with remote intervention (Ordem dos Psicólogos
Portugueses, 2016). Despite the recognition that remote services are a reality
accelerated by the pandemic, the study of ICT-based career interventions as a
learning content is not a part of the higher education training curricula in
psychology (Cordeiro et al., 2018). This means the career counsellors do not
have any formal initial training in using ICT in providing career guidance; what
could be done to open new horizons?
Guided by this concern, we conducted a study with four main objectives:
(a) to know how career counsellors operating in different sectors faced the
challenges associated with institutional lockdown and teleworking;
(b) to understand the value that career counsellors assign to digital skills in their
work;
(c) to understand the extent to which their initial training included digital skills;
(d) to understand how professionals and those responsible for training are
addressing the gaps in this area.

Various methods were used to collect data and address these objectives.
We analysed relevant higher-education training curricula in the discipline of
psychology, followed by brief semi-structured interviews with those responsible
for the initial training of psychologists. We also carried out an online survey
targeting career counsellors from public and private education and employment
sectors, and an equivalent survey for psychology students in higher education
programmes. The results of each of these steps are summarised below.

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14.3. Training pathways for career counsellors

Career guidance and counselling activities in Portugal are carried out by
psychologists. The main reason for this option is the assumption that activation
and support for career development should take place in the context of the
activation of psychological development in general (Campos, 1980; Pelletier;
Noiseux and Bujold, 1974; Vondracek; Ford and Porfeli, 2014). Assistance to
career construction is conceived within the broader framework of helping people
to elaborate and execute a life project in all dimensions. It consists of specialised
help in the process of identity construction and career self-regulation. The focus
is on supporting career decision-making, but also on coping with transitions, and
in preparing individuals for the working role in a variety of contexts: in school as a
student, at home in the specifics of domestic tasks, during working life, or even
as a volunteer in the community. In this context, the dichotomy between
information provision and guidance or counselling, or between educational and
vocational guidance, no longer makes sense. The different modalities of career
intervention - self-administered activities, information, class interventions, career
self-management workshops, individual or group counselling, career
development programmes, consultations with parents, teachers, employers – are
part of the same psychological intervention strategy. This psychological
intervention can be more or less broad, in terms of goals and activities,
depending on the context in which the professional operates, client needs, and
the resources available. Depending on the case, the psychologist may use one,
several, or even all types of intervention.
It is also understood that the role of a career counsellor is distinct from that
of teachers, trainer(s), family member(s), colleagues, mentor(s) or even
employer(s). Careers counsellors must differentiate themselves from these other
profiles with educational, relational or labour responsibility, because the mission
of career counsellors is to support clients’ identity construction in the context of a
specialised helping relationship based on the presence of the same professional
throughout the whole process (Campos, 1980; Guichard, 2004; Savickas, 2019;
Savickas et al., 2010). However, teachers, trainers, relatives, colleagues and
friends, and even mentors and employers, can be multiple and coexist in the
same temporal space (Campos, 1976; 1980). Without denying the importance of
all these other agents, since they play a role in shaping and informing intentional
environments for the career development of all citizens, psychologists specialised
in vocational psychology and career development have the necessary conditions
to help, and to be better translator-interpreters, of individuals’ multiple
relationships and conflicts in the educational, formative and occupational
contexts in which their careers are embedded. They can also help and catalyse

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the relationships between the various educational, relational, and working

contexts in which individuals move, as well as institutional and government
policies, creating or improving conditions for the career development of all
individuals, at any stage in life.
With this career services conception in mind, Portuguese career counsellors
operate in schools, colleges, employment centres and vocational training
institutions, companies, human resources agencies, clinics, and community
projects (68). In its more recent historical development, the training pathways of
psychologists working in career guidance, has followed two main routes (69). The
first precedes the establishment of the Bologna process (Bologna Process
Committee, 1999) in Portuguese higher education, and the creation of the
Portuguese Psychologists’ Association in 2008. Professionals working in the field
who followed this pathway have at least a degree in psychology, corresponding
to five years of higher education. The degree in psychology has a one-year
internship in a professional context, supervised by a university lecturer and a
more experienced psychologist working in the internship context. In the access to
jobs involving career counsellor tasks, priority is given to hiring psychology
graduates with a curricular internship in school and educational psychology,
counselling and human development, or work and organisational psychology.
This is because of the greater attention given to the career problems and
techniques of career intervention in these areas, when compared with other
practical training areas (Presidência do Conselho de Ministros, 2020).
The second training path, currently the only available option for new aspiring
psychologists, follows the regulations of the Portuguese Psychologists’
Association, with the entry into force of its statutes, in 2010, updating Law No
57/2008 (4 September) and finally revised in Law No 138/2015 (7 September).
The regulation of the profession stipulates that aspiring psychologists must meet
three conditions:
(a) have a higher education degree (bachelor) in psychology, equivalent to 180
ECTS;
(b) have a higher education degree (master) in psychology, equivalent to 120
ECTS;

(68) In the school context, all practitioners are qualified psychologists. Practitioners
working in PES could have a background in psychology or sociology and may have
completed a nine month course in career guidance.
(69) Also see under quality assurance, training and qualifications in the inventory of
lifelong guidance systems and practices in Portugal (Cedefop, 2020).

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(c) complete one year of supervised practice, corresponding to 60 ECTS, in one

of three defined areas of expertise: clinical and health psychology,
educational psychology, or work, social and organisational psychology
(Ordem dos Psicólogos Portugueses, 2016).

These regulations were defined in accordance with the European diploma in

psychology (EUROPsy), which, in turn, is in line with the curriculum
reorganisation brought by the Bologna process. This means the initial degree in
psychology now amounts to three years of study, and can be directly linked to a
two-year master programme, leading to an integrated master in psychology;
alternatively, it may require the enrolment of the student in a new, non-integrated
master course in psychology.

14.4. Psychology curricula for career practice

The analysis of almost 90 higher education psychology curricula in Portugal
indicates that the reality of education and training for career practice in the
country remains close to what was reported in the Cordeiro et al. (2018) study.
Their analysis of the prevalence of designated career psychology curriculum
units, as with our findings, revealed the lack of programme content focused on
the use of ICT in career interventions.
Cordeiro et al. (2018) identified 89 higher education psychology programmes
from 31 institutions throughout the country, distributed over the three cycles of
studies including undergraduate, master and PhD. From these, 26 are degrees
(29.2%), eight of which are from public higher education institutions and 18 from
private ones; five are integrated master degrees (5.6%), four in public institutions
and one in a private college; the remaining masters (n=47; 52.8%) are non-
integrated, from 17 public institutions and 30 private ones. In the third cycle of
studies, there are 11 doctoral programs in psychology (12.4%), nine in public
institutions, and two in private ones. With respect to career development and
counselling topics, Cordeiro et al. (2018) found that, of the 26 degrees in
psychology, only three offered curriculum units in career psychology; all the
integrated master degrees in psychology contain curriculum units of career
psychology; from the 47 master degrees in psychology, only 12 included the
teaching of career psychology; and, from the 11 PhD programmes identified, only
one presents curriculum units in career psychology. The teaching of ICT-based
career interventions is minimal or even non-existent, in these programmes (see
below).

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14.5. Responses from professors in initial training

In a second phase, we conducted a brief interview with five professors
responsible for career psychology programmes at three public universities
(Lisbon, Évora and Algarve). When asked whether career counsellors training in
their institution included ICT use their work, different answers were given,
presented in Table 1. Two of the university interviewees considered that the use
of ICT for psychological interventions was not a priority; the third signals the
presence of a unit on psychological assessment and counselling in which ICT is
somehow approached.

Table 1. ICT in counsellor training in three public university career psychology

programmes (two interview questions)

Question 1: Question 2:
Is ICT included in the What do you plan on doing
programme? next?

‘The pandemic situation gave rise to

Not directly - these skills are
a greater concern with the
acquired throughout the course
psychological intervention carried out
University of Évora (undergraduate and master), within
digitally and the various CUs seek to
the scope of several curricular
include these issues in their classes
units.
(since March 2021).’

Does not include. Digital

‘I think it has to be. But be careful!
competences are the responsibility
There is a risk of distorting the
of each one and the training and
essence of the psychological
University of Lisboa development of these
relationship - listening to the other
competences are carried out
and giving a useful sense to
outside the curriculum structure
guidance and counselling.’
(e.g. extracurricular training).

‘Yes, the master degree in

‘It has been a concern to focus these
educational psychology offers an
themes on issues related to
optional course unit – internet
psychological assessment and
psychology and psycho-
counselling, the use of online
pedagogical processes – whose
University of Algarve psychological assessment
main objective is to envisage a
instruments and, in general, forms of
current comprehensive approach to
psychological intervention and
research carried out within the
monitoring / counselling through the
scope of psychology and the use of
use of digital technologies.’
social software technologies.’ :
Source: Authors.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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14.6. Responses from career practitioners and

students
In the third phase of the research, a survey was conducted and a total of 168
practitioners responded from different settings in the public, private, and civil
society sectors. Aspects addressed in the survey included the sector of activity;
duration of service in guidance and career development and guidance; tools and
strategies to continue the activity with the target audiences with whom they
worked; difficulties experienced; and importance of digital skills for professional
development.
Most practitioners worked in public schools. Others provided guidance in
various settings (in descending order): vocational education schools, public
employment services (PES), private schools, companies (private sector), higher
education and the social sector.

Figure 1. Respondents’ (guidance practitioner) sector of professional activity

(%)

Social sector 2.4

Higher education 4.2
Private Sector 5.4
Private school 7.8
PES 13
VET schools 29.9
Public school 37.1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Source: Authors.

Most of the practitioners had been working as career counsellors for more
than 10 years (66%), and smaller proportions for six to 10 years (10.2%), one to
five years (16.9%), and a small group for less than one year (6.6%).
When asked about the difficulties experienced during lockdown, the major
difficulties respondents noted, in descending order, were: the use of ICT in itself;
technical-scientific issues such as group management; online psychological
assessment and lack of career measures adapted to remote intervention; and
deontological (ethical) issues.

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Figure 2. Difficulties experienced by practitioners during lockdown (%)

Deontological 23

Scientific 26

ICT issues 37.1

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Source: Authors.

With respect to the digital/remote communication tools practitioners used to

interact with their target audience, the responses indicated that email, telephone,
and Zoom were the most used.

Figure 3. Digital/remote tools practitioners found useful under lockdown (%)

30

25
24.4
20
20
19
15 16.7 15.9

10

5
4
0
Mail Telephone Zoom Teams Whatsapp Google Meet

Source: Authors.

Respondents were also asked about to what extent they found digital skills
useful for their work and professional development. The responses were mostly
positive. All of them considered digital skills to be extremely useful (56.9%), very
useful (34.7%) or useful (7.8%), with only a few who did not value them.

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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In the survey conducted with psychology students, the sample included 29

students from the relevant master and PhD programmes. Three similar questions
were posed in relation to their training and future occupation: ‘Does your training
address digital skills?’ (yes/no); What kind of digital-related contents do you want
included in the curriculum?’; and ‘To what extent do you find digital skills useful
for your future work?’.
Of these respondents, in slight contrast to the previous finding on whether
digital skills and ICT in guidance delivery is covered in career guidance training
curricula, 34% of psychology students replied that their training did address
digital skills (outside of their higher education programmes/curriculum) (70), while
66% reported that these skills were not covered.
Referring back to the three types of difficulties practitioner-respondents
faced during lockdown in Figure 2 (deontological, scientific, and ICT-related),
psychology students similarly responded that contents pertaining to ICT were the
most preferred dimensions of digital contents needing to be included in the
training curriculum, followed by contents with scientific (34%), and deontological
dimensions (24%). In the same way that practitioners responded positively to the
usefulness of digital skills for providing career guidance, the largest proportion of
students answered that these skills would be extremely (37.9%) or very useful
(51.7%), while only about 10% found them useful.

Figure 4. Usefulness of digital skills for students’ future occupation (%)

Extremely useful 37.9

Very useful 51.7

Useful 10.2

Not very useful 0.2

Not useful at all 0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Source: Authors.

(70) Training courses in digital skills were provided by the Portuguese Psychologists’
Association, as well as webinars and guidelines for psychology services delivery
mediated by ICT.

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14.7. Summary and conclusions

The study addressed four questions presented at the start of the chapter in
relation to the challenges faced by career practitioners during lockdown: the
value they assign to digital skills in their work and training, and to what extent
training pathways include content related to ICT and practitioner digital skills.
Professionals responsible for training also responded on the existing training and
any gaps in training provision.
Career guidance and counselling activities in Portugal are most often carried
out by psychologists. The main reason for this option is the assumption that
activation and support for career development should take place in the context of
the activation of psychological development in general. The pandemic has
brought about changes in the ways in which interventions are made available,
bringing a strong increase in interventions at a distance. Despite the digital skills
gap, the career professionals tried to adapt, during the confinement phase, using
alternative ways of making interventions available. The study found that to face
these common challenges among colleagues, self-training and the use of
recommendations produced by the Portuguese Psychologists’ Association were
the most used strategies. Different ways of interacting were employed including
more traditional channels like telephone and email, but also platforms like Zoom
and Teams.
According to interviews during this study, the clients stayed engaged; in
some situations the number of absences was even reduced. This happened in
PES as well as in schools and VET institutions. Even those working with children
or young people under the age of 18 did not report finding any
resistance/difficulties on the part of parents or guardians. The major difficulties
evidenced by the practitioners were the use of ICT in itself; this was followed by
technical-scientific issues such as group management, online psychological
assessment, lack of career measures adapted to remote intervention, and
deontological (ethical) issues. Digital skills were valued and considered as an
added value for counselling activity and professional development by career
counsellors from different sectors. Despite the fact that the most of those who
answered the survey had been working for many years, and did not belong to the
generation of digital natives, the responses were mostly positive: most of the
practitioners considered digital skills to be extremely important or important, with
only a few who did not value their use. The students surveyed responded in a
similar fashion.
Both students and those in charge of training, recognised that the curricula
of the courses that enable students to enter the occupation of career counsellor
do not include digital skills. From the 11 PhD programmes identified, only one

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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offered units in career psychology. According to those interviewed, only one

master degree in educational psychology offers a relevant optional course unit -
internet psychology and psycho-pedagogical processes - whose main objective is
to envisage a current comprehensive approach to research carried out within the
scope of psychology and the use of social software technologies.
The teaching of ICT-based career interventions seems to be minimal, or
even non-existent, in Portuguese psychology curricula. Some of those
interviewed who were responsible for the training of career counsellors
recognised the need for curricula to include digital skills but have doubts about
the full advantages of ICT-based interventions, especially regarding the risk of
dehumanising the support relationship.
Given the current digitalisation context, the advances in research and
practice in the use of ICT in career guidance and counselling, and the results of
the study briefly presented in this chapter, lead us to conclude with three main
points: it is no longer possible to disregard the use of ICT and social media when
providing guidance interventions; practitioners are aware of this new reality
despite the lack of relevant content in their training programmes; and it is
important to consider integrating these learning contents in the career psychology
training curricula.

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CHAPTER 15.
Career guidance in the digital context:
trends in Germany
Susanne Kraatz (71), CareersNet, Germany; Matthias Rübner (72), and Peter
Weber (73)

15.1. Introduction
Professionalism and training of career guidance practitioners in Germany takes
place in a specific, historically anchored institutional setting attributing a strong
role to the Public Employment Service (PES) Germany, the Bundesagentur für
Arbeit (BA) (Federal Employment Agency) (PES Germany). After legal reform
ended its monopoly of vocational guidance and job placement in the 1990s, the
landscape of career guidance provision for educational and vocational choices,
employment and social inclusion became more diverse. The regions (States) are
responsible for major areas of educational guidance, municipalities offer
guidance with a focus on adult learning, universities have set up their own career
services, private providers offer career guidance and coaching, and contracted
services support vulnerable groups with in-depth guidance for social inclusion
(Cedefop, 2020; Schiersmann and Weber, 2013). Given the federalised system
in education and shared responsibilities with municipalities in labour market
integration, no national binding legal requirements exist for qualification in career
guidance. Digitalisation of services has been triggered by contact restrictions
during the COVID-19 pandemic, transforming guidance delivery (NFB, 2021) in a
country that is not among the forerunners in Europe regarding digital government
(European Commission, 2019).
As the article shows, the increasingly digital context is altering the concept of
professional guidance provision towards ‘career guidance plus digital’, yielding
changes in the training of guidance counsellors in Germany. Following an
overview of trends in training paths, this article analyses recent developments in

(71) Public Employment Service, Germany, at the time of production of the article: Policy
analyst (Seconded National Expert) at the European Parliament.
(72) Professor for Vocational Integration, University of Applied Labour Studies,
Mannheim, Germany.
(73) Professor for Career Guidance and Counselling, University of Applied Labour
Studies, Mannheim, Germany.

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Germany with a view to changing job profiles and training responses in times of
accelerating digital transformation.

15.2. Diversification and increasing professionalisation

Contrasting with a legally based obligation for the PES Germany to offer career
guidance corresponding to the needs of the counsellees (including consultancy
for employers), the qualification of career guidance counsellors is not legally
regulated in Germany. As result, the diverse array of recruitment requirements to
enter service as career guidance counsellor mirrors the broad landscape of
providers, with numerous practitioners working in the field not always having a
specific qualification. Nevertheless, encouraging trends towards increasing
professionalism can be observed since the mid-2000s.
Traditionally, vocational guidance practitioners at the PES Germany had to
complete a tertiary-level-qualification dedicated to career guidance comprising
intensive training in counselling, while employment counsellors completed a
separate dedicated track. Two categories of career guidance counsellors operate
in the PES Germany: vocational guidance practitioners offering career guidance
for young people and so-called ‘placement officers’ offering guidance and
mediation services for the unemployed. The picture changed when PES
Germany integrated private-sector approaches to human resource management,
triggered by the focus on New public management, and underwent major
organisational reform (2002) to become a service- and client-oriented agency. In
line with the Bologna process aim to make qualifications more comparable
across Europe, Germany adjusted its qualification, creating two bachelor
programmes for PES specialist staff in 200; this applies to both vocational
guidance practitioners and employment counsellors as well as other specialists.
At the same time, the new Bachelor courses introduced at the PES university
(University of Applied Labour Studies, German Federal Employment Agency)
strengthened professional guidance and counselling for employment counsellors
adding a new track for guidance counsellors for social inclusion (case managers,
such as employment counsellors working with clients with multiple problems).
Recruitment became more flexible and access paths more varied for all staff.
Vocational guidance counsellors and employment counsellors, for example, are
recruited externally from various backgrounds and through internal promotion
and further training (Kraatz, 2011).
During the last decade, training for all career guidance services provided by
PES Germany has been streamlined, strengthening client-oriented guidance and
counselling with the objective of enabling clients to take informed decisions and

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to implement them. A common, research-based counselling concept provides the

basis for this as an elaboration of certain common key principles and
fundamental differences in respect to objectives, job tasks and counselling
processes.
Issued in 2010, this counselling concept can be considered a milestone for
ensuring a coherent guidance offer given diverse recruitment channels. It has
been used to train more than 30 000 practitioners and team leaders. An updated
version will be published soon (Box 1):

Box 1. Counselling concept of the German PES

The updated version will have five central objectives:

(a) to define counselling for different life stages and situations as a central service of
the PES in dynamic working environments;
(b) to create transparency for internal and external stakeholders about the foundation
of counselling in the PES;
(c) to provide practitioners with an updated and consolidated well-founded framework
as well as an easily accessible inventory of counselling methods and techniques;
(d) to further develop success criteria and quality standards of counselling;
(e) to create an up-to-date professional basis for the development of detailed
counselling concepts and training units.
The main features of counselling are based on key elements and principles of action,
particularly client orientation, a constructive working relationship, integration of
process and professional perspectives, expertise, and counselling competence to
develop solutions. The counselling approach focuses on establishing and maintaining
a respectful and appreciative communication. It is resource- and solution-oriented
and guided by principles of ensuring reflexivity and transparency during the whole
process.
The counselling concept distinguishes between two basic formats, plus one under
development:
(a) counselling for orientation and decision-making, which helps young people and
adults to identify their vocational goals, interests, qualifications and abilities and
supports the decision-making process;
(b) counselling accompanying integration, which assists jobseekers in the
development of integration strategies and their implementation;
(c) as a third counselling perspective, holistic employment-oriented counselling is
being further developed to support people in complex life situations to enable
return to the labour market and social inclusion.

Source: Rübner and Weber (2021).

This concept provides the basis for all training for professionals, with
counselling tasks in the BA, and takes account of specific features of the different
settings (vocational guidance for orientation, case management and employment

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Digital transitions in lifelong guidance:
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counselling for labour market integration). The updated and reviewed version will
also strengthen digital counselling.
Looking beyond PES Germany, a trend towards an increasing offer in
tertiary-level qualifications and continuing education in career guidance can be
observed. A study by Schiersmann and Weber (2016) identified 21 master
courses in addition to the two bachelor programmes described above, and one
master programme at the PES university. Standards for education quality have
been included in legally binding regional standards. Since the early 2000s, the
initiative of the RQZ (regional qualification centres for educational guidance and
skills development) has provided continuing education for practitioners combining
an academic approach with a strong practice orientation, resulting in a certificate
of advanced studies: 15 ECTS (NQF 6).
However, this positive trend in terms of availability of training for guidance in
the context of developing quality standards is thwarted by a number of structural
factors not always favourable for investing in training of human resources.
Examples of challenges are the prevalence of project-based financing (ESF
projects or State projects) affecting sustainability, a lack of regulation, the
diversity of quality management and quality assurance across the guidance
provision landscape, and considerable staff volatility due to fixed-term contracts.

15.3. Digital transformation of career guidance in PES

Germany
Digitalisation strategies for career guidance can vary greatly in nature and scope.
To be able to assess where PES Germany stands in this process and what
development steps are planned, three strategic areas can be examined, guided
by the question of whether career guidance is provided with or without the
intervention by a counsellor:
(a) digital self-service tools, without intervention by a counsellor, including a
wide range of tools increasingly integrated in multifunctional platforms such
as information databases, online self-assessments, and job portals. These
different offers can also be embedded in a process-oriented approach for
different topics and concerns (career orientation, return, further education
(Kraatz, 2021)). In the future, a further distinction is likely to become
increasingly important for digital offers: the distinction between AI and non-
AI-supported services;
(b) online guidance and counselling means that the practitioner interacts with
clients via digital media, such as email, chat or video. These differ by their
temporal structuring (synchronous/asynchronous), their form of

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communication (written/oral) and the number of clients addressed

(individuals/groups) (Engelhardt, 2018). Social media open up peer-oriented
approaches that can be initiated or accompanied by counsellors (Sampson,
Kettunen and Vuorinen, 2020);
(c) digitally enriched face-to-face counselling is a component of digital strategies
increasingly integrating digital self-service tools in the concrete counselling
session. For example, to enable mobile face-to-face counselling in different
locations, practitioners need appropriate hardware and software equipment
(such as tablets, digital guidance tools). For practical implementation, it is
crucial that they have enough opportunities and competences to integrate
the digital resources into their counselling practice (see Section 4).

On the basis of these three strategic areas, it is possible to assess the status
and the planned further development of digital guidance and counselling services
in the German PES, divided into two target groups: young people (14-24 years)
and adults (see Table 1).

Table 1. Status and planned development of digital guidance and counselling

services in the German PES

Strategic areas Specific approaches Youth Adults

Information national+ national+

Online self-assessment national+ piloting*
Digital self-service
Search national+ national+
Administration NA national+
Video piloting* piloting*
Online guidance and
Email explorative(*) explorative(*)
counselling
Social media explorative(*) explorative(*)
Digitally enriched f2f Extended hardware piloting* NA
counselling Digital tools explorative(*) NA
NB: National+ = Available nationally in all German Lãnder, NA/ = not available, Piloting* = practices that are
nationwide in introduction/piloting, Explorative(*) = there are local initiatives or exploratory studies not
on national scale
Source: Authors.

Looking at the state of digitalisation, PES Germany has put a broad range of
digital self-service tools in place. In recent years, it has revamped its careers
portal, strengthening a process-oriented and problem-solving presentation and
integrating the related information and databases (Cedefop, 2020). Examples are
the careers orientation platforms for young people and for adults as well as the
job platform for jobseekers and unemployed together with strengthened e-
administration.

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In the other two areas, online and digitally enriched guidance and
counselling, the PES is currently in a phase of intensive development,
accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the related contact restrictions.
While the decision for nationwide introduction has already been adopted in some
areas (e. g., video guidance, hardware equipment for classroom events), in other
areas new approaches are being piloted at local level, partly supported by
implementation studies (such as use of social media to offer peer counselling). In
2021, the focus of the German PES will be on the gradual piloting, evaluation and
subsequent rolling-out of video counselling. In the current pilot phase, three
target groups are addressed: young people, people with disabilities and the long-
term unemployed (Bundesagentur für Arbeit – BA, 2020).
The German PES continues to consider personal face-to-face counselling on
the site as a central reference point for supporting and accompanying its clients.
In times of digitalisation, this comprises assisting them in selecting, accessing,
and using good quality ICT applications that are appropriate for their needs
(Sampson, Kettunen and Vuorinen, 2020). This raises the question of how digital
offers and tools are included in the counselling session. According to content
analysis of counselling sessions carried out in 2015, digital self-services were
used in 60 percent of all sessions, mainly to improve information search or to
inform the clients about tools and applications (Rübner, 2017). However, the
study found only a few examples in which counsellors systematically analysed
young people's experiences with their internet search. Online tools were also
rarely used to support the counselling process (Box 2).

Box 2. Exploring a digital tool as part of the counselling session

In an explorative field study (Rübner and Höft, 2019) counsellors for young people
were equipped with a tablet computer with access to an online self-assessment tool.
The tool measures the career choice readiness of young people based on their
reference group. Clients were asked to conduct, shortly before or during the
counselling session, the five-minute self-assessment on the tablet. The results were
visualised by the tool for different dimensions of career choice readiness (for example
information and decision). The results were then discussed during the meeting and
helped to deepen specific questions. Personal counselling can particularly help
clients with a low level of readiness to make an autonomous choice and use of
information and ICT resources (Sampson, Kettunen & Vuorinen, 2020). The overall
promising results of this field study support the idea of integrating additional digital
tools more systematically into counselling and guidance services, not only into one-
on-one but also into group settings.

Source: Rübner and Höft (2019).

Taking up results from this analysis, PES Germany will integrate digital
counselling as a cross-sectional task in its updated counselling concept (Box 1).

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15.4. Digital dimension for career guidance training in

Germany
The evidence presented above demonstrates the need to adjust training
concepts for career guidance counsellors: the set of traditional career guidance
competences has to be complemented by integrating the digital dimension
(Kraatz, 2021). As developments in the PES Germany show, rethinking the
concept of career guidance and counselling is work in progress. Most training
offers are of a more technical nature, covering the general use of new
programmes or IT-tools, not how to systematically integrate these into work with
clients.
An analysis of the current offers for staff training available at the internal
learning platform World of learning (BA-Lernwelt) of the Federal Employment
Agency shows that the topic of digitalisation is being addressed. Using the
keyword ‘digitalisation’, a search resulted in 86 training offers. However, hardly
any training offers are dedicated to the provision of digital guidance services or to
the integration of digital tools into the counselling session or service. Of the offers
that are linked to the keyword ‘digitalisation’, the majority (48) focus on non-digital
topics like law or face-to-face communication without a prominent digital
component; eleven contain knowledge on organisation or leadership; eight
comprise digitalisation in the world of work; six focus on ‘learning” in the digital
space; nine focus on digital administration (using digital programmes or
instruments); three focus on software and digital tools for guidance practitioners;
and two focus on how to work with digital media resources.
Looking at the training concepts of other career guidance providers in
Germany confirms this finding. The focus of training on digital competences
tends to be on the use of individual tools. The creation of digital resources by
career guidance counsellors, such as digital marketing or digital presence in
social-media or shaping a digital environment for their services (e. g. digital
classrooms for group-guidance or group-information), is a topic to be developed
in the future. While increasingly relevant for independent career guidance
counsellors, the creation of digital resources by counsellors working in an
organisation needs further analysis on how to embed these into the
organisational strategy and processes. Overall, coherent integration of the digital
transformation into guidance services, concepts and training remains a task for
the future.

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15.4.1. Shaping new training approaches for counselling in the digital

context
The debate on digitalisation is neither new nor is it restricted to career guidance.
It should be discussed in the broader focus on digital skills for all people
(European Commission, 2016; OECD, 2005) and integrate knowledge from
neighbouring professions. For example, one field to learn from is psycho-social
counselling, where more than 20 years of discussion on digitalisation of services
resulted in a body of publications on competences for and quality of digital
services (Chester and Glass, 2006; Eichenberg and Kühne, 2014; Reindl, 2018).
To conclude from this research, digital competences for career guidance
counsellors comprise three levels:
(a) basic digital literacy: technical skills to handle, create and adapt technology,
understand how technology changes the way we interact, understand how
technology can be used to accomplish broader goals, incorporate
technology in an active dialogue with the environment (European
Commission, 2016; see also OECD, 2005);
(b) specific digital skills for the context of career guidance: e. g., handling of
digital applications in client administration, use of digital communication
tools, platforms, tests, working in the digital space (European Commission,
2014; NICE et al., 2016);
(c) skills in blended or integrated, client-oriented guidance service in a multi-
channel environment including advanced digital skills for specific guidance
settings, e. g. content creation for social media, use of AI (European
Commission, 2014; Kettunen; Sampson and Vuorinen, 2015; Sampson,
Kettunen and Vuorinen, 2020). An integrated service model and processes
set up by management is a prerequisite for such services (see Kraatz, 2021,
in this volume).

Transversal competences and the work on attitudes are also necessary,

including a ‘learning-to-learn’ attitude and reflexivity: continuous self-reflection
with a view to own mindset, behaviour and adaptability to new circumstances
(OECD, 2005; Schiersmann et al., 2012). In addition to training, appropriate
management is required attributing effective value to the face-to-face or digital
forms of personal guidance and providing the necessary resources like digital
knowledge management, hardware, and software.

15.4.2. Integrating the digital dimension: the HdBA certification programme

Researchers at the PES university are currently reviewing and updating the
counselling concept (Box 1) to integrate the digital dimension systematically in a
process-oriented perspective, with a focus on counselling sessions (Rübner M.

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and Weber, forthcoming). Digital guidance competences will be considered as

transversal competences forming the basis for professional service.
Further, a team at PES University in cooperation with specialists at the
Federal Employment Agency launched in 2020 academic training for up to 6000
guidance practitioners based on an agreed competence framework (Weber,
2020a). All participants are employees of the PES and career practitioners,
working either with young people and adults in career orientation or with people
with disabilities. The learning programme is embedded into and related to daily
work situations. It includes strong elements of self-directed learning for training
participants, use of technology in a blended-learning process and professional
supervision. Learning is tailored to practitioners’ individual needs, starting with a
self-assessment of existing competences and setting goals for the individual
learning process (Weber, 2020b). Digital competences are part of the curriculum
and will be trained through intensive use of digital elements throughout all
learning modules.
One of the training modules focuses explicitly on digital career guidance and
counselling (CGC) competences helping learners to achieve the following key
learning outcome: the career guidance counsellor is able to work in different
career guidance formats and settings (e. g., blended-counselling, digital
guidance, guidance supported by digital and social media). The table below gives
a rough overview of the knowledge, abilities and attitudes forming the basis of the
training module, which will be issued by the end of 2021.

Table 2. Module on digital competences for Career guidance counselling (CGC)

Knowledge The career guidance counsellor knows:

• digitalisation as trend and challenge in the world of work
• digital media and tools and the possibilities of digital CGC services
• digital and analogue forms of information and knowledge
management, especially in/with social media (internal and external)

Ability The CGC practitioner is able to:

• deal competently with digital media in different CGC formats (online
communication, group-situation, social media)
• apply different digital instruments/tools to deliver CGC (creation,
application, supporting clients with technical issues)

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Attitude The CGC practitioner is:

• open to digital change and critically examines the opportunities and
risks
• prepared to adapt own actions to different situations/settings
• prepared to reflect on own CGC services and their effects in different
contexts
Source: Authors.

To conclude, the implementation of digital media in career guidance in the

German PES is developing. The COVID-19 situation significantly intensified
efforts (see Kraatz, 2021, in this volume). Training modules may support this
development. Such offers need to overcome a specific challenge: many career
guidance practitioners in Germany are not keen on digitalisation, seeing a part of
their traditional tasks replaced by self-service tools (and increasingly by artificial
intelligence), especially in relation to information provision. It will be crucial,
therefore, to create the conditions for career guidance counsellors to transform
reluctance into a forward-looking attitude thinking ‘beyond the either/or’ (NICE et
al., 2016; OECD, 2005). Supporting future-oriented professionalism with a focus
on quality, competent guidance and counselling will foster both clients’ career
management skills and wider social justice, if sufficient supporting measures are
provided to compensate for social disadvantage. Professional guidance is a
prerequisite independent from the channel of delivery, online or offline or both.

15.5. Conclusions
Which lessons can be learned from recent developments in Germany?
Professionalisation of career guidance has been advancing in Germany during
the last decade, including career guidance for unemployed individuals. PES
Germany elaborated a counselling concept based on common core principles
and techniques while specifying the content for specific objectives:
orientation/decision-making and labour market integration including for clients
with multiple barriers. It would be interesting to test core elements of these
concepts in other contexts or other countries. More than 20 master courses
provide the opportunity for a tertiary-level qualification in career guidance. Digital
transformation in the PES Germany has involved considerable widespread use of
digital self-service tools, and increasingly, video-counselling.
Overall, digitalisation has created new training needs for career guidance
counsellors working in the diverse guidance settings in Germany. Evidence from
research has shown that the online experience needs to be more coherently
integrated into counselling processes.

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We therefore suggest considering the following points:

(a) going beyond the technical issues of digital forms of guidance: it is important
that the introduction of a new digital form of guidance does not focus
exclusively on technical issues and data protection, but that other aspects
are also considered in the design phase and during implementation: For
which clients and which topics is the new digital form of guidance suitable?
How do clients and practitioners respond? Which additional qualifications
are required? What is the added value of a new digital tool for guidance
provision? The introduction of new technologies into operational processes
should therefore be backed up by science and research;
(b) exploring the contribution of career guidance to coping with the risks of
digital transformation of the world of work: not only is guidance becoming
digitalised, but the world of work as a whole, and in this context a further
‘flexibilisation’ of employment, employment biographies and life
arrangements, is taking place, which can be accompanied and supported by
(digital) guidance;
(c) strengthening blended counselling approaches: it is important that digital
services are not limited to information provision and isolated tools for specific
groups. It might be more promising to integrate the use of ICT systematically
into existing lifelong guidance services and at the same time to adapt
guidance services to ICT (ELGPN, 2015). Interdepartmental coordination
and strategies are required, within institutions and between the different
providers of lifelong career guidance. Digital PES services should be part of
a broader, coherent national e-government strategy (NFB, 2021; Sampson,
Kettunen and Vuorinen, 2020);
(d) designing training programmes for students in training and for guidance
professionals: we assume that the professionals of today and of tomorrow
are a heterogeneous group regarding their interest, knowledge and
experience in digital media and ICT. Rethinking professionalism of career
guidance in the digital context means redesigning training programmes for
students in training and also concepts of continuous professional
development for practitioners, with a clear idea of how to address the
different individual needs. Setting goals for the individual learning-path and
peer work in teams close to practice are relevant (Weber, 2020b). A didactic
design that allows transfer from training to practice integrating reflexive
elements could make training not only more effective, but also more
attractive for participants.

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 Working paper series
No 2 / November 2021

DIGITAL TRANSITIONS IN DIGITAL TRANSITIONS

6202 ΕΝ - TI-BA-21-005-EN-N - doi:10.2801/539512

LIFELONG GUIDANCE: RETHINKING
CAREERS PRACTITIONER IN LIFELONG GUIDANCE:
PROFESSIONALISM
A CareersNet expert collection
RETHINKING CAREERS
PRACTITIONER
PROFESSIONALISM
This collection is a step towards updating Cedefop's work on
professionalising career guidance since the publication of
Professionalising career guidance: practitioner competences and
qualification routes in Europe over 10 years ago. The current
papers consist of diverse authored contributions from A CareersNet
expert collection
independent CareersNet guidance experts and contributors to
Cedefop’s 2020 CareersNet meeting. Changing career guidance
delivery and career learning contexts, responding to widespread
labour market changes and digital transformation of services, lead
to new challenges, developments, and opportunities. Papers
focus on the broad theme of professionalising the career guidance
workforce and the particular competences fit for the digital and
wider societal context. Not all authors place direct focus on
technology-related themes. Attention is also paid to developments
prior to, surrounding, or triggered by, the pandemic crisis.
Theoretical/conceptual and overview papers are included, while
several present illustrations of standards in national/regional
guidance systems or particular training or service developments.

Europe 123, Thessaloniki (Pylea), GREECE

Postal: Cedefop service post, 570 01 Thermi, GREECE
Tel. +30 2310490111, Fax +30 2310490020
Email: info@cedefop.europa.eu
www.cedefop.europa.eu

ISBN 978-92-896-3276-8