Career Edge 18 (October 2007)

If ever you need confirmation that career decision making is an all-age phenomenon, just have a browse through the pages of this edition of Career Edge. From third formers to quarterlifers, from seasoned rugby players to newcomers fresh to our shores, people at all ages and stages in life are engaged one way or another in the career decision making endeavour.

The good news is that there is an ever-expanding range of ways by which people are accessing the information and advice they require. Some channels are more traditional, such as the career expos that are such a feature of the career education landscape. The careers industry pours significant energy and resource into the staging of these events so it is very reassuring that research is going into making sure they are as engaging as possible for participants.

Career expos are not amorphous events for an amorphous mass of people. As the stories in this publication show, they are increasingly becoming more sophisticated events tailored to a wide range of people at various career decision making stages. Exhibitors are certainly embracing the
challenge to engage with people and bring careers to life, to lift them off the page and reveal the essence of what a particular job involves.

These attempts to customise material are very heartening because career decision making is always a personal and individual process, based on the current needs of the individual. While the expo is a mass exposure event, the enduring messages to be taken from them can only be those that are received and acted upon by the individual.

If expos are a traditional avenue for gathering career information, Career Services’ new text messaging service is a good example of an innovative approach. The free text service, which allows people to request an information pack in the fi eld they are interested in, is proving to be an ideal tool for beginning a career conversation with students and school-leavers. Research prior to the pilot indicated that text messaging was the preferred method of engagement for many young people. The huge response to the pilot certainly confirms that.

The need to offer many methods – both traditional and innovative – to support people in their career decision making is highlighted by the fascinating story in this issue on the ‘quarterlife crisis.’ It seems that increasing numbers of twenty-somethings, having experienced the day-to-day realities of their chosen careers, are desperate to reassess things and change direction.

This can be seen as an encouraging development. As the interview with Melita Sharp makes clear, many of these twenty-somethings are motivated by a desire to better align their working lives with their values. They are also eager to strike a better work-life balance than their parents’ generation was often able to. For them to have the personal honesty and maturity to front up to these issues at a relatively young age is very commendable and it suggests that generationally entrenched attitudes towards work are beginning to break down.

At the same time, however, it must be said that a career crisis and accompanying u-turn is not the ideal route to career satisfaction. It usually comes at a heavy cost, both financial and personal. And so the question arises – is there anything that could have been done better and earlier that would have lessened the chances of this happening?

The short answer is to increase people’s awareness of and accessibility to independent career information and advice, which is still comparatively low in New Zealand. Too many Kiwis still don’t know where to turn to for information and advice when they are planning their futures or when the
moment of crisis or opportunity arises.

The second part of the solution is to use every avenue and tool at our disposal to present people with relevant, independent career information. Client research is an essential part of this process as we devise strategies and develop resources that will give people their best chance of
making the right career choices for them.

At Career Services, we are determined to go on enhancing the Career Services’ website, which is such an important career information and guidance resource for New Zealanders. We are also committed to innovations, such as the text messaging service, so that more and more Kiwis are empowered to make smart career choices.

Lester Oakes
Chief Executive - Career Services