Sharing experience of careers work in different settings

Abstract

What do the practices of career support given to individuals in various settings have in common? Whether labelled career advice, career education, career guidance, career counselling, career coaching or career development, what are the differences between them? The answers to these questions could throw new light on practice in the career field and suggest ways to enrich it. However, the relative lack of contact between career professionals working in different settings – such as schools, colleges, higher education, public employment services, the voluntary sector, private-sector career services and the workplace – gives little opportunity to address these questions. We therefore propose that practitioners from a variety of settings should engage in dialogue; and, importantly, that researchers should also take part in this dialogue, and help to stimulate and disseminate learning widely across the whole career field.