4CAREER SERVICES

TOPIC

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Tallin University of Applied Sciences, Estonia

Partners

// Vilnius University of Applied Sciences, Lithuania// Tallin Haapsalu University College, Estonia// Kuressaare Regional Training Centre, Estonia// Turku University of Applied Sciences, Finland// Bifröst University, Iceland// Vilnius University, Lithuania

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The goal of the project is to create new strategies for efficient collaboration between working life and educational institutions. This is going to be reached it by bringing the experience of different countries together in terms of learning from each other and making this way the collaboration more efficient and more similar in Nordic-Baltic area.

The close interaction among higher education institutions (HEIs), vocational schools (VET) and businesses, also public and non-governmental organisations has been highly prioritized by Europe2020 strategic plan. This priority has been mentioned in different agendas because of the important role of HEIs in transferring new knowledge to societies and innovation to economies. Besides HEIs also VET schools play important role in responding to current and future skills' need and help to secure high employability, competitiveness and social inclusion. The importance of the cooperation between schools and working life has been acknowledged also by most of the HEIs and VET schools in Nordic-Baltic region and there are many different examples of collaboration.

The innovative aspect of the project is the systematic approach to cooperation between working life and educational institutions. The project will widen the perspectives for both sides and give more strategic and intensive value for collaboration.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

TABLEOF CON-TENTS

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Previous studies on the role of career services

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CAREER SEVICESCAREER SERVICES – BACKGROUND AND DEFINITION

DEFINITIONSCareer is defined by the Oxford

English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)". In this definition career is understood to relate to a range of aspects of an individual's life, learning and work.

Career is also frequently understood to relate to the working aspects of an individual’s life e.g. as in career woman.

A third way in which the term career is used to describe an occupation or a profession that usually

involves special training or formal education, and is considered to be a person’s lifework. In this case "a career" is seen as a sequence of related jobs usually pursued within a single industry or sector e.g. "a career in law" or "a career in the building trade".

HISTORIC CHANGES IN CAREERS

For a pre-modernist notion of "career", compare cursus honorum. By the late 20th century, a wide range of choices (especially in the range

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CAREER CHOICEAccording to Behling and others, an individual's decision to join a firm may

depend on any of the three factors viz. objective factor, subjective factor and critical contact (Schreuder, 2006).

These theories assume that candidates have a free choice of employers and careers. In reality the scarcity of jobs and strong competition for desirable jobs severely skews the decision making process.

In many markets employees work particular careers simply because they were forced to accept whatever work was available to them.

Additionally, Ott-Holland and colleagues found that culture can have a major influence on career choice, depending on the type of culture (Ott-Holland, Huang, Ryan, Elizondo, Wadlington, 2013).

SUBJECTIVEFACTOR THEORY

suggests that decision making is dominated by social and psychological

factors. The status of the job, reputation of the organization and other similar factors plays an

important role.

CRITICAL CONTACT THEORY

assumes that the appli-cants are rational. The

choice, therefore, is exercised after an objec-

tive assessment of the tangible benefits of the job. Factors may include the salary, other bene-fits, location, opportuni-ties for career advance-

ment, etc.

OBJECTIVEFACTOR THEORY

assumes that the applicants are rational. The choice, therefore, is exercised after an

objective assessment of the tangible benefits of the job. Factors may

include the salary, other benefits, location, opportunities for career

advancement, etc.

of potential professions) and more widespread education had allowed it to become possible to plan (or design) a career: in this respect the careers of the career counselor and of the career advisor have grown up.

It is also not uncommon for adults in the late 20th/early 21st centuries to have dual or multiple careers, either sequentially or concurrently. Thus, professional identities have become hyphenated or hybridized to reflect this shift in work ethic. Economist Rich-

ard Florida notes this trend generally and more specifically among the"cre-ative class".

CAREER MANAGEMENTCareer management describes

the active and purposeful management of a career by an individual.

Key skills include the ability to reflect on one's current career, research the labour market, determine whether education is necessary, find openings, and make career changes.

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CAREER SUPPORTThere are a range of different

educational, counselling and human resource management interventions that can support individuals to develop and manage their careers. Career support is commonly offered while people are in education, when they are transitioning to the labor market, when they are changing career, during periods of unemployment, and during transition to retirement. Support may be offered by career professionals, other professionals or by non-professionals such as family and friends. Professional career support is sometimes known as “career guidance” as in the OECD definition of career guidance:

The activities may take place on an individual or group basis, and

may be face-to-face or at a distance (including helplines and web-based services). They include career information provision (in print, ICT-based and other forms), assessment and self-assessment tools, counselling interviews, career education programmes (to help individuals develop their self-awareness, opportunity awareness, and career management skills), taster programmes (to sample options before choosing them), work search programmes, and transition services” (Career Guidance: A Handbook for Policy Makers).

However this use of the term “career guidance” can be confusing as the term is also commonly used to describe the activities of career counselors.

Changing occupation is an important aspect of career and career manage-ment. Over a lifetime, both the individual and the labour market will change; it is to be expected that many people will change occupations during their lives.

A survey conducted by Right Management (Cullen, 2008) suggests the following reasons for career changing.

According to an article on Time.com, one out of three people currently employed (as of 2008) spends about an hour per day searching for another posi-tion (Cullen, 2008).

The downsizing or the restructuring of an organization (54%)New challenges or opportunities that arise (30%)Poor or ineffective leadership (25%)Having a poor relationship with a manager(s) (22%)For the improvement of work/life balance (21%)Contributions are not being recognized (21%)For better compensation and benefits (18%)For better alignment with personal and organizational values (17%)Personal strengths and capabilities are not a good fit with an organization (16%)The financial instability of an organization (13%)An organization relocated (12%)

CAREER (OCCUPATION) CHANGING

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Key types of career support include:

Describes information that supports career and learning choices. An important sub-set of career information is labour mar-ket information (LMI), such as salaries of various professions, employment rate in various professions, available training pro-grams, and current job openings.

Are tests that come in a variety of forms and rely on both quan-titative and qualitative methodologies. Career assessments can help individuals identify and better articulate their unique inter-ests, personality, values, and skills to determine how well they may match with a certain career. Some skills that career assess-ments could help determine are job-specific skills, transferable skills, and self-management skills. Career assessments can also provide a window of potential opportunities by helping individu-als discover the tasks, experience, education and training that is needed for a career they would want to pursue. Career counsel-ors, executive coaches, educational institutions, career devel-opment centers, and outplacement companies often administer career assessments to help individuals focus their search on careers that closely match their unique personal profile.

Assesses people's interests, personality, values and skills, and helps them to explore career options and research graduate and professional schools. Career counseling provides one-on-one or group professional assistance in exploration and decision mak-ing tasks related to choosing a major/occupation, transitioning into the world of work or further professional training.

Describes a process by which individuals come to learn about themselves, their careers and the world of work. There is a strong tradition of career education in schools, however career education can also occur in a wider range of other contexts including further and higher education and the workplace. A commonly used framework for careers education is DOTS which stands for decision learning (D), opportunity awareness (O), transition learning (T), and self-awareness (S). Oftentimes, higher education is thought of as being too narrow or too researched based and lacking of a deeper understanding of the material to develop the skills necessary for a certain career.

PROVISION OF CAREER SUPPORT

TYPES OF CAREER SUPPORT

CAREER INFORMATION

CAREER ASSESSMENTS

CAREER COUNSELING

CAREER EDUCATION

Career support is offered by a range of different mechanisms. Much career support is informal and provided through personal networks or existing relation-ships such as management. There is a market for private career support however the bulk of career support that exists as a professionalized activity is provided by the public sector.

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Some research shows adding one year of schooling beyond high school creates an increase of wages 17.8% per worker. However, additional years of schooling, beyond 9 or 10 years, have little effect on worker's wages. In summary, better educated, bigger benefits. In 2010, 90% of the U.S. Workforce had a high school diploma, 64% had some college, and 34% had at least a bachelor's degree (DeVol, Shen, Bedroussian, Zhang, 2013).

The common problem that people may encounter when trying to achieve an education for a career is the cost. The career that comes with the education must pay well enough to be able to pay off the schooling. The benefits of schooling can differ greatly depending on the degree (or certification) obtained, the programs the school may offer, and the ranking of the school. Sometimes, colleges provide students more with just education to prepare for careers. It is not uncommon for colleges to provide pathways and support straight into the workforce the students may desire (Brennan, 2013).

Much career support is delivered face-to-face, but an increasing amount of career support is delivered online (Hooley, 2012).

Lifelong guidance has been practiced in Estonia for years. The service has been called in different ways – the latest version being career services and counselling services for special educational needs.

The services of special education teachers are made available to such student, if needed If the

CAREER SERVICES CASE STUDIES: SOME EXAMPLES OF

BEST PRACTICES PRELIMINARY PILOT CASE

Name of organisation | TTK Tallinn University of Applied Sciences

Location | Estonia, Tallinn Established | 1915 Sector (HEI, VET) | HEI

INTRODUCTION:CIRCUMSTANCES

11CONTEXT: HISTORICAL

BACKGROUND

SOLUTION DESCRIPTION: OVERVIEW OF

DEVELOPMENT

supportive measures applied by schools do not give the required results, the student can seek for additional advice from the regional guidance centers (Rajaleidja centres). Higher education institutions must have support systems for students, including study and career counselling (when considering prior studies of work experience).

In TTK UAS there are career support is provided by academic counsellors or other staff. Services are mainly accessible for students but also for prospective students and alumni.

TTK UAS is a learning organization promoting lifelong learning, creating possibilities for lifelong learning, offering continuing education and retraining in all curricula of formal studies. Through offering standard quality complementary further education TTK UAS contributes to the improvement of the labour market and economic situation in the country. Lifelong learning is underpinned by modern science and practice and takes into account the needs of partners and stakeholders.

In the current challenging economic climate, the delivery of career services to college students is more important than ever. The aim of the career counsellors' work is to help and support people in career planning, including in making decisions about choosing a profession, work, training and education, developing job search skills and forming an effective personal career planning style.

In order to prevent dropping out from school in the early period or to avoid elimination through the career service and to support the young people, students should be aware of opportunities which career services are providing in their schools.

Five years ago the need for career services revealed in TTK TUAS. Subjects in curricula: personal development, teamwork, planning – topics which support students career planning.

Job shadow day provides an opportunity to examine work of a true specialist, learn specifics of selected field of work and find out expectations. For first year students and it could be take place in the first term. Students examine everyday work of selected profession, define the skills and knowledge

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they need, experience real work environment. Career day for the first or second year students

in spring or autumn term in order to receive information about speciality of selected field directly from experts and increase of learning motivation.

Public lectures.

Change in the approach to learningImplementation of an approach to learning

that supports each learner’s individual and social development, the acquisition of learning skills, creativity and entrepreneurship at all levels and in all types of education.

Career service opportunities with the needs of labour market

Career services are diverse, flexible and of good quality, resulting in an increase in the number of people with professional or vocational qualifications

Informed career choices supported by information of relevant and appropriate education and access to career services.

Benefits of career services// Shaping of informed choice among students// Broadening prospects// Getting to know yourself their strenghts// Motivation to continue the studies// Development of individual thinking and decision making skills

In education sector differentiated lifelong guidance services have been introduced. Career guidance is provided for young people (age up to 26 years).

By 1st September 2014, Foundation Innove has established 16 Rajaleidja Centres (one in each county) as a part of its Agency for Lifelong Guidance to provide following services in an integrated form:

// special educational, speech therapy, social pedagogical and psychological counselling;

// career counselling and career information.The standard of higher education prescribes that higher education

institutions must have support systems for students, including study and career

CONCLUSIONS: SUGGESTIONS FOR

TOOLBOX

ESTONIA

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

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Using Gibbs` Reflective Cycle and using specific and relevant detail, students describe an experience related to job shadow day.

Reflection is a personal process that can deepen one’s understanding of self and can lead to significant discoveries or insights its strengths etc. Reflection as a self-analyse tool.

Aspects of reflection: awareness and analyses; experience and learning (learning through repetition).

What the experience was, where it took place and how long it lasted. How valuable was the reflec-tive tool in identifying your strengths and weaknesses and improving your practice or knowledge? What went well, what went badly, what could have been

NAME OF CASE HEI

counselling (when considering prior studies of work experience).There are career specialist working in 5 bigger higher education institutions,

some of them part time. In smaller universities there are career support is provided by academic counsellors or other staff. Services are mainly accessible for students but also for prospective students and alumni. Services are provided in Estonian, Russian and English.

There are several web-based resources available:

Name of organisation | TTK Tallinn University of Applied Sciences

Location | Estonia, Tallinn Established | 1915 Sector (HEI, VET) | HEI

INTRODUCTION:CIRCUMSTANCES

CONTEXT: HISTORICAL

BACKGROUND

SOLUTION DESCRIP-TION: OVERVIEW OF

DEVELOPMENT

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N BIBLIOGRAPHYREFERENCE STYLE: APA

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