This fascinating Thematic Paper, published 2025 by the European Commission - DG EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL AFFAIRS, AND INCLUSION, reviews the evolving role of the Public Employment Services (PES) in the prevention of unemployment through career counselling and upskilling of employees. Helping workers at risk of unemployment to make job-to-job transitions has ... Read More
John McCarthy
29
Apr2025
FINNISH NATIONAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION 2023
The provision of guidance counselling in Finland is based on the structure of its education system where basic education encompasses the age range of 7 to 16 years followed by transition to either upper secondary, vocational education and training, or work and independent living. Finland ... Read More
April 29, 2025John McCarthy
20
Mar2025
Career guidance professionals in Sri Lanka have long been members of the ICCDPP community, including participating as a country team in the ICCDPP International Symposia on career guidance and public policy. Hence, it is of great pleasure to see how such participation has contributed to enriching national public policy debate ... Read More
March 20, 2025John McCarthy
13
Mar2025
OECD Working paper 2024 based on PISA 2022 results
This working paper is a salutary reminder of the challenges of translating good policy and systems intentions into effective mechanisms for developing teenagers' career visualisations and plans for the future. It is based on the analysis of responses of 62 schools and 2138 ... Read More
March 13, 2025John McCarthy
21
Jan2025
ICCDPP and the World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES) undertook a joint survey of career guidance provision in public employment services worldwide in late 2024. The survey examined public policies driving the provision of career guidance and their implementation through organisational programmes and priorities. It looked at main user ... Read More
January 21, 2025John McCarthy
10
Jan2025
Auckland, New Zealand
NOVEMBER 2026
The Careers and Transition Education Association of New Zealand (CATE) and the International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy are delighted to announce that the next International Symposium on Career Development and Public Policy will take place in Auckland, New Zealand in November ... Read More
January 10, 2025John McCarthy
10
Jan2025
Global Insights from the WAPES/ICCDPP Career Guidance Survey 2024
Date & Time Jan 20, 2025 12:00 CET (Brussels time)
Interpretation in French and Spanish will be provided
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Navigating Futures in Career Guidance Provision in PES – Global Insights from the WAPES/ICCDPP Career Guidance Survey. After ... Read More
January 10, 2025John McCarthy
03
Dec2024
The Quality Framework for Career Information, Advice, and Guidance (New Zealand) is the most recent addition to an impressive set of documents produced by the Tertiary Education Commission to improve the provision of career guidance for all of the population of New Zealand. The TEC engaged Dr Lynette Reid, an eminent ... Read More
December 3, 2024John McCarthy
25
Oct2024
RATIONALE
A very impressive National Careers System Strategy (NCSS) has been developed by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), New Zealand, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the careers system. Economic and structural changes arising from COVID-19 provided the impetus for the refresh. The review allowed for alignment with government priorities ... Read More
October 25, 2024John McCarthy
30
Sep2024
A well known axiom of good policy development is first consult with the target group for whom the policy is being developed to get an idea of their contexts, existing experiences, behaviour, motivations, life values, perceptions, and advice. Transitions from Secondary School is an excellent research report of the New Zealand ... Read More
September 30, 2024John McCarthy
02
Sep2024
This is a welcome initiative involving UNICEF for the first time in an international research study (in cooperation with ETF) of young people’s career learning needs, the means to address these, their educational and occupational aspirations, key factors in their choices, and their current sources of career learning support. Nine ... Read More
September 2, 2024John McCarthy
31
Jul2024
In 2023, Issue 2 of SKILLS4DEV newsletter of the World Bank Group focused on career guidance, marking a welcome return of WB interest in career guidance after a lapse of almost 20 years. Back then, under the stewardship of Dave Fretwell, the WB was very involved in international reviews of policies and ... Read More
July 31, 2024John McCarthy
27
Jun2024
This excellent Powerpoint presentation by Ms Nozuko Mfenyana, Project Manager, Career Development Services Systems Coordination, Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), at the recent NICDS Policy Dialogue, describes the challenges of implementing government career guidance policy in South Africa.
Policy, strategy, systems, and practice are key components of career guidance ... Read More
June 27, 2024John McCarthy
30
May2024
This is an excellent Powerpoint presentation on lifelong guidance in Finland, created by representatives of two ministries (Ms Ulla-Jill Karlsson, Ministry of Education and Culture and Ms Anna Toni, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment), and presented recently online at a National Conference on Career Development in South Africa organised ... Read More
May 30, 2024John McCarthy
29
Apr2024
The International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy and the World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES) have teamed up to enhance career guidance on a global scale. This collaboration will particularly benefit member communities by shedding light on the counselling services provided by Public Employment Services.
With ICCDPP championing ... Read More
April 29, 2024John McCarthy
27
Apr2024
Canada is one of many countries where the career guidance sector is unregulated and not organized at a national level, with no universal application of consistent job titles, sector member definitions, or sector data tracking systems. Policymakers, employers, and the public know very little about the sector. Provincial and territorial ... Read More
April 27, 2024John McCarthy
27
Apr2024
This is one of the best OECD publications on career guidance for a long time. It addresses how education systems can assist the education to work transitions of young people who experience barriers to successful transitions because of socioeconomic circumstances or gender (including sexual orientation and identity) or migrant status (including ... Read More
April 27, 2024John McCarthy
21
Feb2024
SUPPORTING EMPLOYABILITY AND POVERTY REDUCTION
Among the many challenges facing career guidance policies, systems, and practices are those of showing proof that career guidance has a very positive effect on people's lives in concrete terms such as obtaining employment and improving their socio-economic circumstances. Canada provides us with two recent evidenced-based ... Read More
February 21, 2024John McCarthy
23
Jan2024
Public Employment Services (PES) play a critical role in active labour market policies, helping to match jobseekers with job opportunities, and supporting job changers. Matching is not a straight forward activity. The skills demanded by employers e.g. in emerging jobs, may not be those held by jobseekers. Moreover, jobseekers are ... Read More
January 23, 2024John McCarthy
23
Jan2024
The CIP theory of career choice concerns the application of general principles of cognitive information processing to making and implementing career choices.
The recently published “Cognitive Information Processing: Career Theory, Research, and Practice” aims to improve the integration of cognitive information processing (CIP) theory, research, and practice, leading to more cost-effective ... Read More
January 23, 2024John McCarthy
18
Jan2024
Context shapes how we envision, plan, and action our futures. Benign social, economic, and political environments enhance our career vision, planning, and action. Hostile environments have the opposite effect: narrow/limited vision, lack of opportunity, fragile planning, leading to despair and lack of hope. This essay, devoted to the memory of ... Read More
January 18, 2024John McCarthy
26
Nov2023
It is with sincere regret that ICCDPP wishes to inform readers of the untimely death of Dr Ronald Sultana (Malta). Ron was an outstanding scholar and prolific writer and presenter who personally befriended anyone who collaborated with him and whose death touches us all. He was both a national and ... Read More
November 26, 2023John McCarthy
23
Oct2023
Glossaries are timebound and culturally bound compilations that enable communications within a field of of academic discipline, between professionals, and between professions and society. In the field of career guidance, glossaries have been developed by national associations of career practitioners to facilitate national and sectoral (education, training, employment, social) professional ... Read More
October 23, 2023John McCarthy
12
Sep2023
INNOVATION: CAREER EXPLORATION THROUGH THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM
FOR STUDENTS AGED 15-16 YEARS
The Department of Education in Ireland has a unique one-year school programme that bridges the gap between junior and senior cycle education, known as the Transition Year Programme (TYP). It represents a radical systems experiment whereby one whole year in the middle ... Read More
September 12, 2023John McCarthy
08
Sep2023
Career guidance provision for adults has long been recognised as the weakest link in the chain in lifelong guidance careers services and systems in most countries. This is paradoxal as we spend most of our lives in adulthood, experiencing multiple transitions in work and life roles, and trying to balance ... Read More
September 8, 2023John McCarthy
22
Jul2023
ENGLAND: JULY 2023
Career guidance has a century long rich history and tradition of theory and practice innovation in England. The consistency of such developments over time stands in stark contrast to its value and interest to policy makers and developers which fluctuate constantly in government policies for education, training, and ... Read More
July 22, 2023John McCarthy
20
Jul2023
JOINT STATEMENT OF IAG (2023)
This welcome statement from seven relevant international organisations (OECD, WB, EC, CEDEFOP, ETF, ILO, UNESCO) sets out the benefits to workers, employers, economies, and societies of investing in career guidance provision for workers. Using an ILO definition of worker, it categorises workers into several groups: formally employed, ... Read More
July 20, 2023John McCarthy
22
Jun2023
SKILLS IN LATIN AMERICA REPORT: OECD 2023
This interesting report highlights some of the challenges and opportunities facing governments and societies in several Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries. Despite remarkable recent increases in enrollment, school completion, and educational attainment, these countries lag behind in skills development among both secondary school students ... Read More
June 22, 2023John McCarthy
24
May2023
DISRUPTED FUTURES: HOW SCHOOLS CAN BEST EQUIP STUDENTS
FOR THEIR WORKING LIVES
The OECD is hosting a free 3 day online conference next week whose focus will be the role of schools in preparing students for working life. The programme includes practice and research papers, in parallel sessions, from 15 countries worldwide. The opening session on ... Read More
May 24, 2023John McCarthy
30
Apr2023
This article describes a qualitative study of the experiences, understandings, and conceptions of lifelong guidance systems of a sample of career experts based in different work settings, and mainly in European countries. It aims to elucidate how such systems develop and to identify features of effective systems and of their future ... Read More
April 30, 2023John McCarthy
30
Apr2023
The IAEVG and ICCDPP will be hosting a joint event on the 28th June from 16.00 to 17.30 at the IAEVG annual conference in the Hague, Netherlands. The theme will be Career Development Across the Life Span. It will be an interactive session in which participants will engage in exchanging ... Read More
April 30, 2023John McCarthy
15
Apr2023
Noloc, together with Euroguidance and the Open University, is organizing the 45th global IAEVG conference from 28 to 30 June 2023 in the World Forum in The Hague, Netherlands. The theme is 'Lifelong development as a standard'.
We are very happy to welcome you to the International IAEVG conference. Lifelong development ... Read More
April 15, 2023John McCarthy
01
Apr2023
The IVETA International Conference Events – IVETA is being planned in cooperation with the annual US Association for Career & Technical Education (ACTE) Conference https://www.careertechvision.com . The joint conference provides IVETA members with the opportunity to: (i) share information at IVETA presentations and events; (ii) meet and attend some of ... Read More
April 1, 2023John McCarthy
29
Mar2023
FOR NEETS, EARLY SCHOOL LEAVERS, AND STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES
AN EMPOWERMENT BASED APPROACH
"Nothing succeeds like observed success" is a phrase that I learned from my professor of applied psychology back in the 1970s! These words came to mind again in recent interactions with Pascal Chaumette, the director of ID6, a ... Read More
March 29, 2023John McCarthy
28
Jan2023
Jens Bjornavold worked for many years at CEDEFOP as a lead international expert on the interrelationships between education, training, and the labour market, the changing nature and role of vocational education and training, the role of learning outcomes and competences in reforming education and training policies, and the continuous development ... Read More
January 28, 2023John McCarthy
19
Jan2023
The Department of Education, Ireland, has just published a Consultation Paper on a national framework for lifelong guidance provision. It provides a brief overview of existing career guidance provision, a rationale for a national lifelong system, a vision for a high functioning system, some guiding principles, and four strategic pillars. It offers readers ... Read More
January 19, 2023John McCarthy
02
Jan2023
THE ROLE OF CAREER GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
EU REVIEW 2022
This CEDEFOP report maps the existing career guidance and counselling policies and practices supporting learners at risk and early leavers from vocational education and training in the 27 EU countries plus the UK. It analyses the key characteristics of these policies and practices, identifies ... Read More
January 2, 2023John McCarthy
24
Dec2022
NEW BOARD MEMBERS FOR ICCDPP
Following a worldwide public recruitment campaign, ICCDPP has appointed 4 new members to augment and enrich the knowledge, skills and experience of the Board of ICCDPP in the pursuit of its mission and goals. The new members are:
Dr David Fretwell:
Dr. Fretwell’s primary area of experience ... Read More
December 24, 2022John McCarthy
20
Dec2022
This interesting and well researched review report of career guidance provision in Viet Nam covers all the bases that one would expect using the career guidance systems review model recently developed by the ILO. Thus, the legal instruments and their applications are well described as are the ministry roles and those of ... Read More
December 20, 2022John McCarthy
01
Nov2022
The National Guidance Forum of Germany aims to promote the professional delivery of guidance in education, vocational training and employment sectors in Germany, to give stimulation for the (further)development of guidance services which meet the different needs of the users, to develop guidelines for quality and quality assurance of services and practices, and ... Read More
November 1, 2022John McCarthy
28
Oct2022
LIFELONG DEVELOPMENT AS A STANDARD is the main theme of the 2023 IAEVG annual conference to be held at The Hague, Netherlands.
The Call for Papers can be downloaded from the following weblink:
https://iaevgconference2023.nl/papers/
October 28, 2022John McCarthy
12
Jul2022
The International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy (ICCDPP) is a non-profit body committed to improving policies, strategies, and systems to strengthen career service provision around the world. ICCDPP promotes exchange, collaboration, and action through international symposia and targeted policy initiatives.
The ICCDPP is seeking new board members with experience ... Read More
July 12, 2022John McCarthy
27
Jun2022
This 2 minute video, Meet the Future, produced for OECD, is intended to encourage employers to provide careers talks to school students as well as to highlight the value of careers talks as part of career education in schools.
Meet the Future is also the title of a 25 page nicely ... Read More
June 27, 2022John McCarthy
24
Jun2022
This well-intentioned joint ILO ETF publication acknowledges the socio-economic context of Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC), particularly infrastructure, geography, demographics, migration and emigration, attitudes and values, gender and age expectations, and participation in and the role of the informal economy. It identifies key elements or reference points for the development ... Read More
June 24, 2022John McCarthy
24
Jun2022
In 2009, CEDEFOP undertook landmark research Professionalising Career Guidance into the roles of career practitioners in EU Member States and into their initial and continuing training and qualifications. Based on the research findings, CEDEFOP proposed a competence framework for career practitioners while recognising that career practitioner roles were not homogenous between ... Read More
June 24, 2022John McCarthy
24
Jun2022
This succinct and comprehensive Briefing Note draws attention to the importance of career practitioner professionalism in career guidance delivery, to the need to continually redefine practitioner competences and occupational profiles in response to societal and technological changes, and consequently the need for continuing government investment in re-skilling and up-skilling of practitioners ... Read More
June 24, 2022John McCarthy
23
Jun2022
There are many things that the Scots get right at a policy level: the importance of youth engagement between ages 16 to 24 years in learning, work, and other societally productive activity; the need to provide additional career learning support to disadvantaged youth to enable them to visualise and plan ... Read More
June 23, 2022John McCarthy
23
Jun2022
هناك العديد من الأمور التي يفهمها الأسكتلنديون تماماً على مستوى السياسات:
أهمية انخراط الشباب بين 16 و24 سنة بالتعلم والأنشطة الأخرى المُنتجة اجتماعياً، والحاجة الى تأمين دعم إضافي للتعليم المهني للشباب لجعلهم قادرين على تخطيط وتصور مستقبلهم في العمل والمجتمع، والحاجة الدائمة لمراجعة وتعديل سياسات وأنظمة الخدمات المهنية بالتشاور مع أصحاب ... Read More
June 23, 2022John McCarthy
23
Jun2022
تملك فنلندا واحداً من أفضل موارد أنظمة التوجيه المهني المدرسي حول العالم، حيث يُعتبر التعليم المهني جزءاً متكاملاً وإلزامياً من المنهج المدرسي، وتبلغ نسبة الطالب الى ممارس توجيه مهني المدرسي 350:1.
بالتالي، من الطبيعي ان تملك مؤسسات التعليم العالي والمستمر في فنلندا (بما في ذلك التعليم والتدريب التقني والمهني TVET) معدلات ... Read More
June 23, 2022John McCarthy
21
Aug2024
POLICY INITIATIVES – ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM