Career management skills and employabilityAnne Leppänen

Jukka Lerkkanen & Anne Leppänen

Uranhallintaidot Career Management Skills (ELGPN 2012)

12.4.2013

Professional Competences

Social Competences

PersonalCompetences

ProfessionsWork

StudiesEducation

Career Management Skills

Socialinclusion

Jukka Lerkkanen & Anne Leppänen

A general definition of career management skills

– Career management skills refer to a whole range of competences which provide structured ways for individuals and groups to gather, analyse, synthesise and organise self, educational and occupational information, as well as the skills to make and implement decisions and transitions (Sultana 2009)

– They relate to self-consciousness or to an awareness of opportunities (education, professions, jobs)(knowledge dimension)

– They also relate to decision making skills as well as to those of implementation of decisions and transitions (process dimension)

– …and to the experience of social participation (Gravina & Lovsin 2012)

12.4.2013

From career planning to career management- definition of the concept from the perspectives of the counselor and counselee

Career management skills = an individual feature, a broad definition contains career management skills and the related metaskills metataidot, that is, the student’s resource planning (= reasoning and performance strategies, especially in challenging situations and with different kinds of changes and choices)

Career planning skills refer to competences (competence objectives) with the help of individuals can collect, analyse synthesize and organise information related to

- self, – education and– professions,

In addition, they have an abliity to apply this information and make decisions in different kinds of transition phases.”

Career counselling = counselling operations in cooperation with the students aimed at the clarification of educational and professional choices.(Elinikäisen ohjauksen kehittämisen strategiset tavoitteet 2011; Sultana 2010; Leppänen & Torvinen 2013.)

The concept of employability(EU definition, see Kasurinen 2013)

Life-long career management and planning skills are an essential part of the concept of employability:Employability is a combination of factors that facilitate employment, staying employed and career advancement. Individual employability depens on: (a) Personal characteristics (including the adequacy of knowledge and skills); (b) How personal characteristics present themselves and are displayed in the job market; (c) Social context and environmental impact (i.e. incentives and opportunities to develop and update one’s competence) (d) State of economy (e.g. economic boom or recession).

(Kasurinen, H. 2013. Ohjaus työllistyvyyden tukena. Teoksessa Yhteisellä matkalla – Aikuisten ohjauksen vaikuttavuutta etsimässä. Toim. M. Niemi-Pynttäri ja A. Ryhänen. Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän ammattikorkeakoulu, 65 – 74)

The elements of employability in career counselling (Kasurinen 2013)

Life situation and conditions

Individual factors External factors

Abilities• self-knowledge• expectations on personal

capabilities• motivation• career planning skills• general life management skills• self-assessment skills

Competences• degrees and qualifications• work experience• working life skills and

knowledge• information acquisition skills• other skills

Individual• attitudes• health• background• characteristics

Life situation• human relations• responsibility for others

(children, parents etc.)• other factors• employment situation• hobbies

Conditions• living • commuting to work or school• resources

National level• public services• labour market situation• economic development• educational and labour force

policies

Local level• services supporting educational

and career planning• services – e.g. child care• opportunities offered by

business life• employment situation• educational provision

Figure 1. The elements of employability integrated to the counselling frame of reference

Students’ resource planning - individual factors and abilitiesResource planning (metacognitive) = individual reasoning and performance strategiesImportant in e.g. • learning and studying (students’ subjective notions of themselves as

learners and ways of studying)• decision making (students’ notions of themselves as decision makers

and ways of making decisions)• difficult and challenging situations plus change and choice situations It is a part of one’s self-knowledge to become aware of personal

resource planning It is a part of the development of one’s personal capabilities to review

one’s reasoning and performance stategies and realize that resource planning can be developed = empowerment

Skills and competences valued by employers(EU – vrt. Oivallus-hanke Suomi; Kasurinen 2013)

The position of anticipation in career counselling?

Pyramid of Information Processing Domains (James P. Sampson, Florida State University)

Knowing about myself

Knowing about my options

Knowing how I make decisions

Thinking about my decision

making

Client Version

The decision making process in career planningCASVE Cycle - Client Version(James P. Sampson, Florida State University)

Knowing I Need to Make a ChoiceKnowing I Made a

Good Choice

Understanding Myself and My Options

ImplementingMy Choice

Expanding andNarrowing My List

of Options

Choosing AnOccupation, Program

of Study, or Job

Thank you!More information:anne.leppanen@jamk.fi