Career support

Career education

Career education is the planned provision of activities, courses and programmes in educational institutions to help learners develop skills in balancing their interests, abilities and aptitudes, setting career goals, managing their careers; providing knowledge and understanding of the world of work, its links with education, career planning and further education opportunities; and ensuring effective participation in working life.

Today, the concept of career has broadened considerably. Whereas “career” was originally interpreted and associated with success in a professional field in which it was possible to rise to prominence, fame and popularity, “career” is now understood not only as professional advancement, but also as a natural progression of personal development and successive changes of occupation throughout one’s life. A career is a person’s purposeful, meaningful life-long pursuit, bringing together all the roles, leisure activities, learning and work in an individual’s life.

There are three important things to consider when choosing your career path and profession:

• to make the profession interesting and engaging
• to match skills to a profession
• to get a job in the profession.

When planning your personal life, building a career and choosing a profession, it is important to understand what you CAN do and what you MUST do for society.

WANT is a person’s interests, desires, aspirations, what is important in life and work. It would probably be a very long list to list all your interests, desires, things you like to do, things you like to do and things you would like to do. Many people have a wide range of interests, and it can be difficult to decide which to pursue as a career and which to keep as a hobby. To make the right decision, you need to know the content of the potential career/profession, the job responsibilities and the circumstances.

POWER is a person’s skills, knowledge, abilities, qualities, strengths and state of health – all professionally relevant qualities. Once vocational interests have been identified, it is important to understand whether the individual has the aptitude to match these interests. Capacities are most fully discovered and developed in action – in learning or in practice.

NEED – occupations and competences that are in demand on the labour market at a given place and time, i.e. which professionals and competences are needed now and in the near future; therefore, when choosing an educational pathway, you need to know what knowledge and skills (competences) can be acquired by studying in one or other of the programmes offered by educational institutions. You need to be aware that the professions themselves are changing, as are their content and the competences needed to carry out specific tasks, so you need to be prepared to keep learning.

The aim of career education

The aim of career education is to organise the content of education and the educational process, providing the learner with the basic knowledge and skills necessary for self-exploration, career exploration and career planning and management, to create a basis for timely, informed and balanced personal decision-making about further education.

Career education objectives

1. To help students develop themselves:
   • understand yourself and assess your strengths and weaknesses
   • develop a flexible outlook on life and realistic expectations about your career,
   • develop skills and attitudes that will help them in their careers, such as self-confidence, self-reliance, the ability to “present yourself”, goal-setting and action planning in school and in your personal life
   • analyse your personal experiences, interests, talents, skills and abilities, values, goals, personal qualities, achievements.
2. Motivate and help to investigate career opportunities:
   • understand changes in society and how they affect career development,
   • explore different careers and how to get into them
   • study and assess trends in labour markets, employment and occupations, education and training opportunities
   • compare and contrast personal achievements and qualities with those needed for a specific future career/training/studies,
   • take part in work trials
   • find out where and how to get the information, resources and help you need
   • preparing for the transition from study to working life or to further study/other work
   • explore and reflect on your personal and societal values,
   • Find out what employers want from you, and what skills and personal qualities help you stay in work.
3. Help to plan and lead career:
   • career management skills
   • identify your development needs
   • improve your knowledge and skills
   • be aware of information and advice opportunities
   • develop your personal career plan
   • develop skills to implement personal decision plans,
   • understanding the links between careers and educational achievement and lifelong learning.