#TheWeekInCareers - Episode 84

Welcome to #TheWeekinCareers ! If you are a first-time reader (and congratulations if so, you are now part of a 4300+ strong community!), this newsletter is my attempt at summarising some of the key #Careers -related news from across the #Careersphere each week, along with some of the talking points I feel are worthy of further debate amongst the #Careers community! So, without further ado, on to the news!

After publishing a weekly newsletter for so long, it almost feels jarring to go 3 weeks without penning an issue, but in this case it has been much needed, with recovery from a brief sickness bug and a post-election long weekend forcing me out of my usual cycle of busyness. The time off has given me plenty to catch up on all-things careers and a plethora of options for what to include in this week's newsletter - unsurprisingly, we start with a recap of last week's seismic (although not entirely unexpected) UK general election results and what this could mean for the career development sector moving forward, then move on to review the most recent issue of the CDI's Career Matters publication (eminently readable, as always) and conclude with a brief pause for breath on the subject of Generative AI and Career Development, and what 'next' might look like in this space.

As always, we conclude the newsletter with a jam-packed #BestOfTheRest (it's always SO hard to pick what to include in this segment, with the volume of great work being undertaken by careers professionals across the sector) for you to peruse alongside your weekend coffee (or hot beverage of choice) - as always, I hope you enjoy the newsletter and please do share your thoughts, insights or suggestions related to any of this week's items in the comments thread at the bottom of the newsletter!

Thank you as always for continuing to subscribe, read, comment on and support #TheWeekInCareers! ??

After the Landslide...??

Okay, hands up if you attempted to pull a general election all-nighter? ??♂?

Shamefully, I only ended up making it to 1:30 before deciding I'd seen enough, although I was back up at 6:30 and straight back on the news coverage, so feel that I definitely got the full value out of my TV license fee this election cycle. The results of last week's UK general election may not have been a total shock (if you'd been keeping up with the polls) but they certainly have the potential to be significant for the country - The Labour Party now have the second-largest parliamentary majority (172 seats) in their history, the Conservative Party have the lowest number of MPs (121) in theirs and frustrations regarding our First-Past-The-Post electoral system have been raised anew , with the Reform party securing 2.1% more of the overall vote share than the Lib Dems but returning just 5 MPs to the House of Commons, in comparison to the Lib Dems' 72. Whatever your thoughts on the respective policies of the political parties in question, it's not difficult to understand why a number of folks are renewing calls for proportional representation (and other alternative voting systems) off the back of the election results.

Since Labour's election to the big seat last week, we are already seeing a marked change of tone in how ministers are approaching their briefs, with newly installed Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy declaring 'the culture wars are over' and the Secretaries of State for Health, Education and Transport (Wes Streeting, Bridget Phillipson and Louise Haigh, respectively) opening up dialogues with trade unions and professional bodies to attempt to resolve ongoing disputes and industrial action within these parts of the public sector. We've also seen a notable change of rhetoric regarding international relations, energy/the environment, immigration and criminal justice reform (to name but a few) which could suggest we are looking at a government with more of a social justice leaning than their predecessors, and at the very least one that potentially understands more keenly the challenges facing the majority of the population, with 96% of the cabinet state school educated (the first time this has exceeded the 93% figure that mirrors the percentage of the population who are currently state educated) and a number of prominent ministers (such as Angela Rayner) possessing lived experience of what we might refer to as 'social mobility'.

Time will tell if this initial optimism leads to material change but so far, the omens appear to be positive - but what does this all mean for the career development sector? Well, aside from the knock-on benefits that we could potentially see from the change of approach mentioned above (e.g. I'd be shocked if the appointment of James Timpson to the Ministry of Justice doesn't lead to some targeted programmes of careers/employment support for offenders/individuals at risk of offending), there are parts of Labour's manifesto that should lead to tangible change for careers professionals moving forward (although of course, the jury is still out on whether this change will be positive, negative or somewhere in between...). As Tristram Hooley outlines in our post-election We Are Careers special (dropping on Wednesday 17th July @ 12:00 via our YouTube and Spotify channels), there are three key areas CDPs need to keep an eye on when it comes to the costed manifesto pledges that Labour have made, which relate directly to our work:

?? Delivering work experience and careers advice for all young people - Currently costed to the tune of ￡85 million, it remains to be seen what exactly this policy will look like in practice (e.g. will it be ring-fenced money for schools or, perhaps more likely, allocated to the CEC to facilitate coordination of WEX via regional Careers Hubs?), but nonetheless it is welcome additional funding and focus on the importance of CIAG and WEX for young people.

?? Creation of Young Futures Hubs - With ￡95 million pledged to this policy, the new Youth Hubs were a core part of Labour's election offer to young people, with the aim of providing every community with access to youth workers, mental health support workers, and careers advisers to support young people’s mental health and help them get the best possible start in life. When and where these hubs might start to appear is TBC, but suffice to say there appears to be a key role for careers professionals in the delivery of this policy, much as there was in the Connexions era.

?? Bringing Together the Public Employment Services - Perhaps the most controversial of Labour's career development-related policies (at least, within our sector), the plans to bring together Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service to create a 'national jobs and careers service, focused on getting people into work and helping them get on at work', have the potential to be either transformative or disastrous, depending on how they are implemented and what the focus of said new service would be (e.g. Will it be a 'true' careers service or an extension of previous 'welfare to work' approaches, focused on getting individuals out of the benefits system as swiftly as possible?). This policy is lacking in detail for now, so we await further developments in this space with bated breath...

Coupled with the above, there are also a slew of policy areas within Labour's plans for government that it is well worth careers professionals being cognisant of, including plans for an integrated skills strategy for FE and HE, proposed reform of the Apprenticeship Levy and a 'youth guarantee' of access to training, an apprenticeship, or support to find work for all 18- to 21-year-olds (although who they expect to deliver this support is not yet clear e.g. JCP? NCS? The new combined service? Someone else?). In the heady optimism of a change of government, it's of course important for us to remember that change is not going to happen overnight in relation to many of these policy areas and that it is also worth us keeping a beady eye on the 2nd and 3rd largest political parties in the House of Commons, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, who will have ample opportunities to challenge Labour's approach and try and influence the government based on their own proposals within the career development, education and skills space (for example, both the Conservatives, via the Lifelong Learning Entitlement , and the Lib Dems, via their proposal of a lifelong Skills Wallet/Passport for learners , are quite keen on the idea of giving individuals more flexibility over their training/qualification journey, so might this be something that Labour take on board when implementing their proposals?)

It's of course also important to note that not all change impacting careers professionals will come from Westminster - just this week, the Regional Mayors from across England visited 10 Downing Street to speak with new PM Sir Keir Starmer regarding additional devolution of power across the country, something that could lead to further opportunities for careers professionals to influence and get involved with the delivery of CEIAG within their local setting (for example, shortly before he was ousted as West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street had pledged ￡2.4 million for 40 dedicated careers advisers to work with young people in the most challenging areas within his region).

As Tristram Hooley notes on our We Are Careers episode out next week, while there is plenty of lobbying activity planned from organisations like the Career Development Policy Group , there is much that individual careers professionals can do too, when it comes to advocating on behalf of the profession - last week's sea change in the House of Commons has brought with it a swathe of new MPs ready to make their mark in parliament, so now may be the perfect time to catch their ear and remind them of the value of our work while they are at their most receptive.

If not now, then when?

Career Matters in Review - June 2024 edition! ??

It’s July, which can only mean one thing for Career Development Institute members – we've all recently received the latest copy of the CDI’s quarterly Career Matters magazine, which as always contains a veritable cornucopia of thoughtful articles, occupational insights and diverse perspectives from a range of careers professionals. As usual, #TheWeekInCareers has spotlighted our three favourite pieces from the latest Career Matters, along with a breakdown of what else you’ll find in the publication this time around…

?? Up first, it's over to Evelyn Bell-Jones from Birmingham City University, who has penned a really valuable overview of her research into the somewhat nebulous world of social media influencers. In her article, Evelyn identifies the current paucity of 'job profiles' available when it comes to this line of work and surfaces some of the key information that careers practitioners and individuals need to be aware of when it comes to discussing work as a social media influencer, including the knowledge needed for self-employment, realism around the variability of income and the sort of leaning and development that might benefit someone looking to do this type of work, even though qualifications are famously not a pre-requisite. Well worth a read to get up to speed on this now well known but often misunderstood area of work!

?? Next up, a cracking read from Dr Cathy Brown and Gilly Freedman that looks at how careers professionals can better support clients in their later-life careers. As someone who predominantly works with younger clients, I'm always curious to read this sort of content in CM, and Cathy and Gilly's article did not disappoint, as it not only explores the relevance to CDPs of understanding later-life career pathways (e.g. It will impact all of us at some point and is particularly pertinent in terms of how the global workforce is changing) but also provides practical examples of how CDPs can put themselves in the shoes of later-life clients and support them most effectively, including reframing language around later life options (e.g. Pivot, maintain, accelerate, retire) and encouraging individuals to take part in reverse mentoring programmes or skills swaps to facilitate upskilling/reskilling. A valuable read, whether you work directly with this client group or not!

?? My final pick for this issue of CM comes courtesy of Brian Houston , Esports lecturer at New College Lanarkshire, who has written a fascinating article on the subject of Gamification / play-based learning and how this can be applied within a guidance-related context. In his piece, Brian references the Interactive Narrative Method, a constructivist approach based on Savickas' Life Design Counselling that he has developed, which can be used during 1:1 or group coaching/guidance to help individuals to explore career pathways, via a range of narrative options / scenarios with a game-based flavour (e.g. You encounter a dragon, what do you do? A, B, C or D...), built around personality models like MBTI. Brian outlines an excellent example of using this approach to help a client surface important traits they recognised in themselves which could inform career choice and how he plans to enhance this approach further through the application of other career models, such as Holland's personality types. Brian is currently intending to develop this approach into a video game and is keen to connect with anyone who might be interested in the project - suffice to say, you may soon get a virtual knock on your door from the We Are Careers team about this topic, Brian!

That's just a flavour of what is in this issue of Career Matters, as June's edition also includes the following:

? David Freeman from the ONS provides an overview of the Post-pandemic labour market.

? Kim Newman explains how the CDI is helping to raise awareness of post-16 technical education pathways via their collaboration with the Gatsby Foundation.

? Suzanne Lockwood details the work Young Enterprise UK have been doing to help equip young people for the workplace, via the Young Enterprise Start Up Programme.

? Judith Howard utilises the analogy of a car and journeys to empower clients with career understanding and agency.

? Jon Cheek from UniTasterDays writes about some of the advantages of regional contacts at universities and how school based practitioners can leverage this growing resource.

? UKCDA nominee William E. Donald makes the case for greater collaboration between University careers advisers and graduate recruiters.

? Careers Writers Association member Richard Piper explores the implications of mental health when it comes to delivering career guidance.

? Carole-Ann Jones highlights the vital, and often hidden, area of career development work that involved supporting veterans to navigate civilian life.

? Claire Johnson and John Walker preview the updated CDI Code of Ethics.

? Future We Are Careers guest Cerys Evans , Careers Lead at Into Film , breaks down the breadth of opportunities available within the Screen Industries.

? As always, there are a range of excellent book and website reviews from members of the careers community, including Kay Vernon reviewing the latest book in the You're Hired series from Corinne Mills, Mark Yates sharing his thoughts on Letting the Cat out of the Bag: The Secret Life of a Vet by Sion Rowlands and overviews of the new NCTJ careers site, a job search portal for roles in the countryside and a new website for exploring opportunities in the hospitality, leisure and tourism industries.

? The Last Word for June's issue of CM goes to the Career Companion (and fellow CWA member) himself, Hilary Nickell , who reflects on the various technological changes that have impacted the career development sector over time, and how we as a profession could respond to AI, the latest kid on the block.

Kudos as always to Dr Oliver Jenkin PGCE RCDP and the Career Matters Editorial Board for putting together another fantastic edition of the magazine, which continues to be a vital read for the membership!

CDI members can read the full Career Matters magazine at their leisure by heading to the CDI website and logging in to the members area – if you are not yet a CDI member and are potentially interested in joining the professional body, all the relevant information on how to do this can be found below!???

AI x Career Development - What does 'next' look like? ??

Shockingly (for me, at least), it's been over a month since I last wrote on the subject of Generative AI and Career Development, so by my estimations you are long overdue being subjected to another essay on the subject, #TheWeekInCareers readers! Gratifyingly, for those of you who aren't huge fans of this subject, this item will be mercifully short but, I felt, nonetheless worthy of inclusion in this week's newsletter, given the pace of change we are continuing to see within this field of technology.

I was inspired to write this piece following two AI/Careers-related encounters I had this week; the first was co-hosting a fascinating webinar as part of our AI in Action series (shout out to Associate Professor Deirdre Hughes OBE and the CareerChatUK team!), in which the inimitable Alex Zarifeh presented a stark view of just how transformative AI technology is already becoming and why it is so vital we take a different approach to supporting young people to adapt and thrive in this new world (keep an eye out for the Futures Readiness programme he has developed within The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership (ATLP) , it really is a super initiative!). The second occurred just yesterday, when I spoke with a number of colleagues in the careers sector regarding the possible applications (and implications) of Generative AI within graduate coaching, leading to one individual stating they felt 'both inspired and slightly terrified'! What was notable about both of these encounters is that I've seen these sort of conversations, training sessions and webinars become more and more frequent in recent months, particularly at a careers service/organisation level.

My point with all this is that talking about and using AI within our practice is becoming an everyday occurrence for careers professionals (much as it is for individuals in many other industry areas) but despite this, the picture is still messy - while organisations like the Career Development Institute have established a popular AI training programme for career development professionals and numerous members of the careers community, such as Marie Laffey , Danny Mirza FRSA, MSc, MA, MBA , Matthew Sutcliffe , Claire Mc Mahon-Harvey , Clare Adams , Associate Professor Deirdre Hughes OBE and Obieze Oputa have been speaking or writing about this topic for some time, the sense I get is that as a sector, we are still figuring out our position on AI and what this could mean for our work now and in the future.

So, how do we start to unpick all of this? For me (and although I do not claim to be an expert, I've been researching and writing on the subject of GenAI and Career Development for almost 18 months now, so like to think I have a modicum of insight on the subject!), I feel the following are three key areas we should be focusing on as careers professionals when it comes to what 'next' looks like in our relationship with AI ??

?? Understanding LM-AI - Without a doubt, AI is already having a demonstrable impact on a wide range of industries around the world and in truth, it's often challenging to keep up - whether it's AI autonomously piloting F-16 fighter jets or the International Olympic Committee (IOC) deploying AI to tackle social media abuse aimed at athletes, it's vital as careers professionals that we stay connected to how AI is impacting different sectors / job roles and what it might mean for clients we work with who have an interest in these areas of work. As just one recent example of how the rise of GenAI over the past 18 months has materially changed the work of a particular industry, look no further than the New York Times piece below, which highlights how consultancy groups such as BCG, McKinsey and KPMG have seen a huge influx of work from businesses keen to leverage AI or have bespoke AI products created for them (McKinsey seem to be particularly big winners here, with around 40% of their business this year predicted to be GenAI related! ??):

?? Considering how we use AI...and how we teach others to use it - We've seen some fantastic experimentation with GenAI across the career development sector over the past 18 months (think Danny Mirza FRSA, MSc, MA, MBA 's CLEAR approach to prompting, Marie Laffey 's use of AI tools to scale baseline careers support to a cohort of 19,000+ students at the University of Galway and Stay Nimble 's use of a bespoke bot to supplement their coaching offer) but the truth is, a lot of the activity that has happened to date has been pocketed and independent, rather than coordinated and uniform (quite understandable, given what a frontier technology GenAI is!). Moving forward, it would be great to see the formation of more formalised communities of practice related to AI and career development from organisations like the Career Development Institute and AGCAS , so that careers professionals have a space not just to share the use cases that have worked well for them, but also to discuss what we feel might be the most appropriate ways to approach supporting our clients to use this technology for their own career development.

?? Applications and Implications: What are our training needs? - One of the most striking things I've found in conversations with careers professionals and services over the past six months is just how much appetite for training in this space there is, but equally, how tricky it can be to know what sort of training might be most useful when it comes to the subject of AI. Is the best course of action to make sure that all CDPs in a service understand broadly how different forms of AI work and how to use tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, HeyGen and others within their day-to-day practice, or is it better to start off by considering the ethical implications of using AI within a career development context, and what appropriate/inappropriate uses with clients might look like? The answer, of course, is ideally a combination of the two, and this is exactly why Leigh Fowkes and I created The Foresee Framework (which you can check out via the link below), a reflective professional development tool to help individuals understand their position on GenAI and what this might mean for their practice, now and in the future. Looking ahead, I think that reflecting on and understanding our training needs in relation to AI could be one of the biggest focus areas for the career development sector, and it's something I'm particularly eager to support with through my work and sharing the framework that Leigh Fowkes and I have created:

To facilitate further critical discussion and action in this area, I'm keen to hear from individuals with a range of views on the topic of GenAI x Career Development, whether you're an evangelist, trailblazer, sceptic or something in between - I'd ideally like to use platforms like the We Are Careers show and this newsletter as a safe space for careers professionals to share practical use cases, concerns and insights regarding their interactions with AI in a career development capacity, so if this sounds like something you might be interested in contributing to, then you know where to find me! (in the online space, at least - I'm obviously not giving out my home address on here...??)

If you don't yet feel comfortable enough to speak or write on this topic, the great news is that there are lots of opportunities available throughout the remainder of this year to enhance your knowledge of what is happening with AI in the careers space - I've already mentioned the AI in Action webinar series run by Associate Professor Deirdre Hughes OBE and CareerChatUK, but I'd also highly recommend registering for #CareersFest2024, the latest iteration of Caroline Green (RCDP, MCDI, Assoc. CIPD) 's fab CPD event for careers professionals, where (amongst a range of other fantastic sessions) Danny Mirza FRSA, MSc, MA, MBA and I will be talking about what 'next' could look like for the use of AI within the career development space - don't miss it! ??

What are your current thoughts regarding how we are leveraging Generative AI within the career development sector? Does it feel like we are staying ahead of the curve (even if we aren't always using AI regularly within our work) or is more concrete research, training and ethics work needed in this space, from the perspective of our profession? Whether you want to see these sort of topics feature in the newsletter or would be interested in penning a piece about something GenAI x Career Development related yourself, I'm all ears! ??

The Best of the Rest: My Hot Picks from the wider?#Careersphere???

?? Gap year insights and ideas - Up first this week, it's a shout-out to one of my regular reads as Lucy Sattler returns with the latest issue of her Pondering Careers newsletter , and, as we creep towards the end of the academic year, it's a topical focus on gap year insights and ideas. In the newsletter, Lucy highlights the changing face of 'gap years' (e.g. It's not always 12 months of travelling, and probably never has been!) and surfaces some of the benefits and risks to young people of considering this pathway, including breathing space for career decision making, skills development and personal growth (the good stuff) vs the potential for procrastination, loss of momentum and financial constraints (the not-so-good stuff). We are going to be talking more about gap years with Yipiyap via the We Are Careers show in the not-too-distant future, so this is an excellent primer!

???????? How to choose a job in the NHS - Up next, Chris Targett RCDP and the CXK team are back with another excellent YouTube video tackling the often complex task of discussing job roles in the NHS - never an easy feat, with around 350 different roles to choose from! Chris' suggested activity to help students understand the different areas of work within the NHS is super simple and easy to facilitate (with minimal resources), and looks to be a cracking method for helping young people (or any clients) filter between patient-facing and non-patient-facing roles, with a further filter for roles with more or less responsibility. Well worth a watch this weekend!

?? Going Green - Last week's NICEC conference focused on sustainability and careers, and it's safe to say that this is an area we'll be hearing more about over the remaining months of 2024 and beyond, with a number of members of the global careers community writing and speaking about this topic. If you're wanting to get up to speed with what you need to know about Green Skills as a careers practitioner or educator, then don't sleep on this great free course from Energising Futures , which has been designed and accredited by the Association of Science Educators (ASE). Shout-out to Victoria Geary (she/her) from We Are Futures for flagging this CPD opportunity!

?? Have you brushed up on your post-16 options? - With the end of the school year just around the corner, many careers professionals will doubtless still be working with Year 11 students who remain undecided about what the next stage of their life could look like. With this in mind, Lis McGuire RCDP 's LinkedIn post couldn't be more timely, as she has generously shared a concise and visually engaging guide to post-16 options , including useful information on Apprenticeships, A-Levels, T-Levels, BTECs, supported internships and more! Bookmark this link NOW!

? What's in a name? - We finish this week's newsletter with an excellent piece from Careers Writers Association stalwart Polly Wiggins , who reflects on how the naming of jobs can impact on career choice. In the blog on the CWA website , Polly surfaces the disparity in prominence between different jobs, based on how we name them and where we see them featured in popular culture, and how the often messy and inconsistent nature of job names across industries can impact on job searching and the perceived status of different roles. It's a really well written piece with some top tips for CDPs at the end related to how we can potentially mitigate some of the issues raised, which makes it well worth 10 minutes of your time this weekend!?

I'm always keen to hear what people think of this weekly newsletter format (e.g. Is it helpful? Does it add value to what is already out there on LinkedIn? What might make it better/more digestible?) so please do drop me a DM if you have any thoughts!

See you in the #Careersphere next week for?Episode 85! ??