What is career?
Def. (Oxford English Dictionary)A person’s course or progress through life. It also pertains to his occupational or profession that usually involves special training or formal education and is considered to be a person’s lifework.
What is career development?
Career development is an ongoing process of gaining knowledge and improving skills that will help an individual to establish a career plan.Strong school leadership is crucial to raising the aspirations of all pupils, encouraging them to overcome barriers to success and to do what it takes to fulfil their potential. Good careers guidance is distinctive to the needs of individual pupils so the school’s overall strategy should be shaped accordingly. Schools are expected to work in partnership with local employers and other education and training providers like colleges, universities and apprenticeship providers. This will ensure that young people can benefit from direct, motivating and exciting experience of the world of work to inform decisions about future education and training options. Schools should also ensure that, as early as possible, pupils understand that a wide range of career choices require good knowledge of maths and the sciences.
Modern careers guidance is as much about inspiration and aspiration as it is about advice. Sustained and varied contacts with employer networks, colleges, higher education institutions, mentors, coaches, alumni or other high achieving individuals can motivate pupils to think beyond their immediate experiences, encouraging them to consider a broader and more ambitious range of future education and career options.
1. Schools should have a strategy for the careers guidance they provide to young people. The strategy should be embedded within a clear framework linked to
outcomes for pupils. This should reflect the school’s ethos and meet the needs of all pupils. Schools should consider the following principles for good practice when
developing their strategy:
- Provide access to a range of activities that inspire young people, including employer talks, careers fairs, motivational speakers, colleges and university visits, coaches and mentors. High quality mentoring can be an an important part of delivering against the duty as it develops the character and confidence needed to build a successful career.
- Build strong links with employers who can help to boost young people’s attitudes and employability skills, inform pupils about the range of roles and opportunities available and help them understand how to make this a reality.
- Offer high quality work experience that properly reflects individuals’ studies and strengths, and supports the academic curriculum.
- Widen access to advice on options available post-16, for example, apprenticeships, entrepreneurialism or other vocational routes alongside the more traditional A levels and university route. This should also include giving other post-16 providers opportunities to engage with pupils on school premises.
- Provide face-to-face advice and guidance to build confidence and motivation. This should include consideration of the role that careers professionals can play in supporting pupils as one element of a varied careers programme.
- Work with local authorities to identify vulnerable young people, including those with special educational needs and those at risk of not participating post-16, and the services that are available to support them.
- Provide information to students about the financial support that may be available to help them stay in education post-16.
- Consciously work to prevent all forms of stereotyping in the advice and guidance
they provide, to ensure that boys and girls from all backgrounds and
diversity groups consider the widest possible range of careers,
including those that are often portrayed as primarily for one or other of the sexes.
3. Schools can retain in-house arrangements for providing advice and guidance to pupils, but these in themselves are insufficient to meet the duty. In-house support for
pupils must be combined with advice and guidance from independent and external sources to meet the school’s legal requirements.
4. Schools can measure the effectiveness of their careers and inspiration activity by considering both the attainment and the destinations of their pupils. Success will be reflected in higher numbers progressing to apprenticeships, universities – including selective universities, traineeships, and other positive destinations such as employment or a further education college. This will help to close the gap in destinations between young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and others.
5. Schools can use destination measures data, published by the Department for Education, to assess how successfully their pupils make the transition into the next stage of education or training, or into employment.
6. Schools should offer pupils the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills for selfemployment – and make it clear to them that working for themselves is a viable option (in fact it will be necessary for many). Pupils should receive the advice and support necessary to build and develop their own jobs, and have a clear understanding of potential barriers – whether real or perceived.
7. There is currently a mismatch between the careers that young people want to pursue and the opportunities available. Choices made at school should be based on a clear view of the current labour market and how opportunities may change in the future.
8. Employers can demonstrate the opportunities available and advise on how to access them. They can explain the skills needed, and where pupils should be prepared for a level of competition in gaining access to courses or employment. Access to a network of employers is associated with better outcomes for young people. Employers can pass on the benefits of their experience to both pupils and teachers, helping to link curriculum subjects to employment and providing an overview of the different routes into careers.