Island
NVL – Career counseling for adults in Iceland: A brief overview
Career guidance for adults – definition:
Keywords: holistic, lifelong, lifewide
Career guidance refers to services and activities intended to assist individuals, of any age and at any point throughout their lives, to make educational, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers. Such services may be found in schools, universities and colleges, in training institutions, in public employment services, in the workplace, in the voluntary or community sector and in the private sector. The activities may take place on an individual or group basis, and may be face-to-face or at a distance (including help lines and web-based services). They include career information provision (in print, ICT-based and other forms), assessment and self-assessment tools, counseling interviews, career education programmes (to help individuals develop their self awareness, opportunity awareness, and career management skills), taster programmes (to sample options before choosing them), work search programmes, and transition services.
Career Guidance: A Handbook for Policy Makers, 2004
Target groups
• Adults within the formal school system from secondary to tertiary can use the student career counseling services.
• Adults who are unemployed receive services from the employment offices. Services is divided into levels depending on how long the individual has been out of work.
• Adults who have been long-term unemployed, receiving social welfare benefits. Career counseling as a part of a longer educational offer.
• Adults with disabilities. Rehabilitation program including career counseling.
• Adults on the labor market with little formal education. Out-reach services provided by lifelong learning centers around the country. Career counselors visit workplaces and introduce and offer career counseling at the workplace.
• Adults within the Reykjavík community. Guidance located at community centers. Access is open to all community members
• Adults on the labour market participating in specific non-formal educational offers provided by lifelong learning centers around the country. Career counseling (group and individual) included in the educational offer.
• Adults within the labour market (with tertiary education) who want to maintain the highest standards within their profession in order to strengthen their employability.
Objectives for career guidance
• Information giving
• Knowledge of own interest and abilities
• Motivation and support
• Overcoming obstacles (solution focus)
• Providing career management skills
• Education/Work
• Informed decision making
• Increasing participation in lifelong learning/employability
• Collecting information on the educational needs of diverse groups
• Preventing student drop-out
• Preventing unemployment
Content
• Information about services offered
• Information about educational offers and occupations
• Individual guidance and counseling
• Motivation and support
• Learning to learn (study skills)
• Group guidance (or individual): job search, resume writing, portfolio development
• Various assessment instruments, such as interest inventories
• Study plans
• Goal setting
• Follow-up
Organizers
• The formal schools system; from primary to tertiary education. Career counselors are to be found in the majority of upper secondary schools and universities, but there is still a lack of counselor in the primary school, specially in rural areas. The proportion of student per counselor ranges from 1:180 up to 1:1100. The education for career counselors is a 2 year Masters degree (as of year 2006).
• Employment offices. Career counselors are to be found in most local employment offices. They have received diploma (1 year) in career counseling.
• The labour market. Career counselors have recently been hired at the 10 lifelong learning centers around the country. Services are aimed at people with little formal education. Career counselors visit workplaces. In the past 5 years, trade unions have been active in the development of career counseling for their members.
• In private organizations. Career counseling by private practitioners has been quite limited. Several practitioners have opened private practice for a limited time.
• Community level. Career counselors have recently been hired at the Adult learning centre in Reykjavík. The center focuses on the development of basic skills and is open to all community members. The career counselors are located at community centers in Reykjavík and work in close cooperation with professionals such as social workers, psychologists etc.
Challenges
• Lack of strategic leadership in the are of lifelong guidance
• Lack of coherence between systems
• Problem focused role of counselors in the formal school system (lack of additional professional support within the school system, such as psychologists), leading to work overload
• Multicultural issues and issues concerning minority groups in general
• Identity issues within the counseling profession
• Career counselor training is school-focused
Higher Education Institutions in Iceland
The University of Iceland runs the Office of International Education www2.hi.is/id/1006726, which is a service organisation for all higher education institutions in Iceland. Universities in Iceland:
• www.lhi.is
• www.ru.is bjorg(ät)ru.is
• www.holar.is
• www.khi.is namsrad(ät)khi.is
• www.hi.is radgjof(ät)hi.is
• www.unak.is solveig(ät)unak.is
• www.bifrost.is erla(ät)bifrost.is
• www.lbhi.is
All these institutions introduce their educational opportunities together once a year.