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1. What is Career Development all about?

2. What are "Career Development Practitioners"?

3. Why Career Development Training for Practitioners?

4. What is this program about?

5. What is the tuition cost?

What is Career Development all about?

In the past, it was understood that people should choose an occupation and stick to it! It was common for individuals to stay in the same job or occupation from graduation to the gold watch. Career Decision making was seen as a one-time only decision based on a match between the person and the world of work. Career counselling, then, was a one-time process of administering tests and giving advice regarding the best fit for the individual. The world, however, has changed!

Today, it is recognized that the goal of career counsellors is to teach people how to manage their career paths. When individuals take control, they can continue to grow and find meaning in their careers. A developmental approach recognizes that an individual's goals, interests and skills change. Thus, the counsellor's emphasis is on empowerment, motivating, skill building, facilitating and providing information, rather than advising.

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What are "Career Development Practitioners"?

The field of career development is evolving and expanding today, enabling the practitioner to work in a variety of roles. Practitioners can specialize in career counselling, training, program development, program delivery, research, marketing, human resource development and organizational development.

As with every occupation, there is a set of professional values, beliefs and attitudes common to expert career development practitioners. It is the congruence of these qualities that make a role meaningful to a person. When a role is meaningful, one is motivated to continue in professional development, building skill and knowledge. Typically, career development practitioners:

• value holistic approaches to human growth and career development
• understand that people are interested in and capable of self-growth and continuous learning
• assist people to create and manage their own career paths
• assist people in learning the skills needed to achieve their goals
• value career building as a process to be used throughout one's life
• value working with a diversity of people and cultures
• utilize a non-judgemental/ non-directive counselling approach that allows people to make their own decisions

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Why Career Development Training for Practitioners?

Whereas many practitioners have entered the field from diverse educational and experiential backgrounds, the evolving demands of the work dynamic today call for a specialized training program. This program was designed with reference to national research and in consultation with local community experts. Conestoga College believes in the importance of quality career development training. Career development practitioners are most effective when they:

• have the knowledge of how people learn, develop and manage their careers
• are able to implement theory into practice
• continue to develop their skills
• are aware of new labour market trends and new career development practices
• continue to evaluate how they can improve their skills and contribute to the field

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What is this program about?

The Career Development Practitioner Program is a 45 - week post-degree, post diploma Certificate. It is designed to enhance the knowledge, skills and values base of a wide range of individual who are engaged in some form of career development work or volunteer settings.

Individuals interested or involved in the following areas can benefit from the program:

• self employed
• community-based agencies
• multi-cultural settings
• post-secondary institutions
• adult learning institutions
• labour adjustment contexts
• human resource departments
• employment-related service programs

Skills acquired in the program may offer career mobility to participants who wish to serve a broader variety of client groups, attain more in-depth competencies in selected areas of specialization, or who may wish to assume more proactive management skills, strategies and choices in their current professional setting. The skills and knowledge taught in this program include:

• individual counselling and group facilitation
• theoretical models of career development
• human development, sociological and economic views on career development
• the tools, techniques and processes of career counselling
• working with diverse populations and equity issues
• consulting skills for career development practitioners

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What is the tuition cost?

Each semester costs $1,950.00 (approximately) for full time students.

Each course costs $281.50 for part time students.