A changing landscape: reflecting on a 20-year career in career education

As we mark Canada Career Month this November, I find myself reflecting on my own professional journey. Over the past two decades that I’ve been working in career education and work-integrated learning (WIL), the field has undergone significant transformation, and I have been fortunate to witness and contribute to its evolution.

Background

In the early part of my career, we referred to career education and WIL areas as “career services” and “co-op programs”. We also used bulletin boards to promote workshops and career fairs, and the primary focus of our work was to help students find jobs. A lot has changed.

Today’s students demand (and deserve) much more than a series of job experiences, and today’s labour market demands much more than someone with a good resume. To address the needs of students and employers alike, career educators and practitioners play an integral role in a postsecondary environment.

A career practitioner will guide, equip and support individuals as they learn the complexities of a quickly evolving employment landscape. At the same time, they’ll encourage self reflection on personal skills, talents, values and workplace expectations.

Oftentimes for students, this process is daunting and overwhelming; balancing the high demand of their university courses while navigating, often for the first time, the expectations of the “real world” during a time of developmental transition from youth to adult.

In my experience, students who invest the time and effort early in their journey, and as an ongoing practice, experience reduced stress associated with the process and build career confidence.

The journey is the destination

A student’s career roadmap is unique to them, it rarely (if ever) follows a straight line, and it is defined by the person themself, not the environment around them.

When students realize the authority and influence they have over their own journey, and they embrace and learn from their experiences along the way, this is total career empowerment.

Career practitioners and work-integrated learning offices understand this as being fundamental to a student’s self-awareness, confidence, and ultimate career success. As such, the journey to reaching a career goal is marked by many milestones and evolves in perpetuity throughout a person’s lifetime. Those who understand that the journey is the destination, experience career success throughout the entire career development process, not just at the point in time that they land their #dreamjob.

For future you

I often hear from my peers and colleagues that our roles as career practitioners have evolved from a focus on “preparing students for jobs” to a focus on “preparing students for their futures”.

This evolution extends to the structure of our teams, the design of our programming and our approach to service delivery. At Faculty of Engineering - McMaster University , we recently renamed our co-op and career services unit to reflect the changing landscape I’ve described. We’re now the Centre for Career Growth and Experience .

By emphasizing growth and the diverse experiences that bolster students' career confidence, we are recognizing the significance of the journey itself.

I look forward to equipping students with the skills and confidence to direct their own journey and achieve success alongside the team at the Centre. Our future-focused approach will position us well to navigate the next 20 years of change.

The future is sometimes an elusive destination we strive to reach, but it’s a place at which we all hope to arrive someday. When we get there, hopefully we realize and acknowledge the journey that brought us to that place.

Please get in touch if you would like to learn more about our integrated and holistic approach to career development and work-integrated learning.