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Employment & Training Programs and Services

Published Date: June 09, 2021
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Career & Employment Information Services

Career Consulting

POLICY

Career Consulting consists of career advising and career counselling.

Career Advising is an information service and a needs determination service that provides individual guided assistance and referrals. Career Advising is available to all Albertans at Alberta Works Centres, service providers as per the terms of their agreement with the Government of Alberta, Alberta Works Centres, Career Information Hotline, and Delivery Events.

Career Advising sessions may vary in length depending on the needs of the individual. Career Advising may result in conducting a Service Needs Determination Assessment (SND). A SND Assessment may result in a referral to Employability Services such as an Employability Assessment and/or Career Counselling.

Career Counselling refers to an individual or group process which emphasizes self-awareness and understanding, and facilitates individuals to develop a satisfying and meaningful life-work direction. This provides the basis to guide learning, work and transition decisions, as well as to manage responses to changing work and learning environments over the lifespan. Career Counselling helps individuals clarify career goals, make career decisions, and develop individual Service Plans. The career counselling process is focused on helping individuals not to choose a career but rather to construct it. The overall objective of career counselling is to assist individuals to achieve greater self-awareness, develop a life/work direction, increase understanding of learning and work opportunities and become self-directed in managing learning, work and transitions.

Career is a lifestyle concept that involves the sequence of work, learning and leisure activities in which one engages throughout a lifetime. Careers are unique to each individual and are dynamic: unfolding throughout life. Careers include how individuals balance their paid and unpaid work and personal life roles.

Career Development is the lifelong process of managing learning, work, leisure and transitions in order to move toward a personally determined and evolving preferred future.

Career Counselling is available to Albertans who are not attending an education program under the School Act (kindergarten to grade 12).

PROCEDURES

The need for Career Counselling is identified during a Service Needs Determination Assessment or Employability Assessment. Career Counselling sessions may range from one interview to a number of interviews over several weeks or months, depending on the individual’s needs. An interview is typically scheduled for one hour.

Career Counselling is accessible through Alberta Works Centres, outreach/mobile services in response to regional needs and contracted providers as per their Government of Alberta agreements.

Career Counselling activities are recorded on Mobius in the Career Services goal and Career Planning sub-goal.