CDAA Networking Event Discussion Guide

Future Work – Exploring the impact for career practitioners, their networks and for the career development industry.

The world of work is changing. Jobs exist now that didn’t several years ago. Technology and automation are replacing some jobs and creating others, and changes to the way we work will impact on all occupations. New technologies are arising that require new skills.

Disruptive technologies are doing just that – disrupting our established ways of living and working. Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving into all occupations. Uber, Airb’n’b, Netflix, e-Bay and Airtasker have rapidly established themselves as legitimate alternatives to the way businesses previously worked.

Career practitioners are not immune from the impact of this disruption.

Until very recently, we could reasonably assume that our clients experienced a predictable sequence of life stages, and could be neatly categorised in Donald Super’s life-span life-space rainbow. We sorted and labelled our professional selves based on our primary client stage focus. Our siloed approach to our professional expertise is catered for with multiple professional associations for each specialisation.

But the world of work is changing and the need for careers support has never been greater.

‘Getting a job’ is not a single event. In the current economic climate, many jobs are part-time, casual, short-term, and downsizing and retrenchments are common. It takes longer for young people to find a job, and everyone can now expect to regularly experience periods where they are unemployed or underemployed. Career transitions can happen at any time, so access to quality career support throughout life would be a great support.

While school based careers teachers provide assistance for students who are still at school, once students leave school professional quality career advice can be unavailable or unaffordable. Moving from school into further education is not a guarantee of future employment security, although successful completion of either university or TAFE qualifications dramatically improves employment prospects. One strategy that has been suggested would be to provide ‘Year 13 career guidance’ for students in the period immediately after leaving school so that these students don’t fall through the system. To take this further, we all need ‘Year 13’ assistance at some point as we experience multiple career transitions throughout our working lives.

The future is uncertain, but we do know that as a society we are experiencing major disruptions to traditional patterns of the way we work. In response, as careers practitioners we need to disrupt our traditional professional demarcations, and share our knowledge and expertise. The Career Development Association of Australia (CDAA) as the professional body representing careers practitioners from every specialisation, is ideally placed to take the lead in presenting a holistic approach to the challenges of the future of work.

Discussion Questions:

Is your work with clients changing? In what ways?

What is driving these changes?

What impact is this having on you? On them?

What are the biggest challenges you face in helping people navigate the current and future work environment?

What resources are you finding helpful?

In what ways do you agree or disagree with the statement below? How might this impact your practice?

Given the uncertainty and dynamism in work and how much jobs are related, young people can abandon the need to choose an occupation with an unbroken path to seniority or fixating on jobs which appear more resistant to automation. Instead it is more helpful to think about jobs as part of a cluster of work that demands similar skills sets.

https://www.fya.org.au/report/new-work-order-summary/#0

How is technology changing recruitment practices and what does this mean for your work?

Eg Google for Jobs - https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/298624

CDAA Collaborative Strategic Review

Members are the focus of CDAA’s strategies and goals and this process of collaborative discussions with members around how to add value is focused on 3 key areas:

• Relevance • Significance • Viability

How is CDAA relevant?

o Creating and supporting a culture of excellence within our membership through promotion of best practice, excellence awards and evidence based practice.

o Increasing participation in professional learning by enabling and facilitating professional learning for members and the career development community to ensure best practice outcomes.

o Building a strong and cohesive professional community, inclusive of all members, that respects the value and contribution of all members to the career development community.

Framework of Excellence

How can CDAA increase its relevance?

How is CDAA significant?

Member focus: A substantial increase on understanding the needs and expectations of our members and delivering effective learning and development to assist with these.

Community: A solid media and communications focus that has been utilised to respond to national media whilst also proactively driving media engagement.

Industry: To actively engage with industry to promote the professionalism of CDAA members as well as the importance of career development at all life stages.

Government: To engage with government to ensure the promotion of CICA as an industry body, the promotion of the industry standards and CICA’s member associations as communities of best practice.

o Developing an evidence base to support the argument for greater policy support for career development nationally.

How can CDAA increase its significance?

How is CDAA viable?

o Creative thinking around sustainability that has focused on operational, financial and professional viability.

o Commercial imperatives that have delivered an increased focus on growth and advocacy for our association, our members and the profession.

This includes financial viability, operational viability, membership viability and industry viability.

How can CDAA increase its viability?