Career Development Standards: Australia

This report discusses the career development standards in Australia and how they apply to career development services. It covers the importance of career development, career exploration, career choices, career opportunities, and career planning. The report is based on the Career Industry Council of Australia (CICA) and the Professional Standards for Australian Career Development Practitioners.

Running head: CAREER DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS: AUSTRALIA
CAREER DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS: AUSTRALIA
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..............................................................................................................................................2
Who are the report intended for:......................................................................................................2
Career Development: Overview........................................................................................................3
Importance of career development...................................................................................................3
Career Exploration.............................................................................................................................4
Career choices...................................................................................................................................5
Career Opportunities and Australian Standards................................................................................5
Career planning.................................................................................................................................6
Career Implementation.....................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................9

2CAREER DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS: AUSTRALIA
Introduction
Career development is a process in the field of human resource development which is
volatile, fluid, individualistic, creative and ever evolving. As the globalization is taking its
full shape with a tremendous improvement in science and technology, labor markets have
expanded and many new forms of professions have emerged in the recent times. However,
the human resource department, while formulating career, also keeps in mind that different
candidates require different types of jobs throughout different times in their lives. Career
development can be defined as a lifelong process of managing, learning, work, leisure and
transitions in order to move forward towards a personally determined and evolving preferred
future. In the field of career development, the human resource managers in the organization
deals with how individuals manage their careers within and between organizations and how
the organizations structure the career progress of the employees (Patton & McMahon, 2014).
The respective paper is a report of the career development standards and how does they apply
in the career development services in Australia. The report is highly based on Career Industry
Council of Australia (CICA) and also Professional Standards for Australian Career
Development Practitioners along with other labor standards of Australia.
Discussion
Who are the report intended for:
The respective report is important for the agencies, institutions, communities and
organizations that provide career development services. For instance, government agencies,
departments, private agencies, schools, colleges, universities, education and training
institutions and voluntary/ not for profit organizations. The report is also intended for career

3CAREER DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS: AUSTRALIA
counsellors, aspiring career development practitioners, recruiters, human resource experts,
scholars and students.
Career Development: Overview
Career development is a process in the field of human resource development which is
volatile, fluid, individualistic, creative and ever evolving. As the globalization is taking its
full shape with a tremendous improvement in science and technology, labor markets have
expanded and many new forms of professions have emerged in the recent times. However,
the human resource department, while formulating career, also keeps in mind that different
candidates require different types of jobs throughout different times in their lives. Career
development can be defined as a lifelong process of managing, learning, work, leisure and
transitions in order to move forward towards a personally determined and evolving preferred
future. In the field of career development, the human resource managers in the organization
deals with how individuals manage their careers within and between organizations and how
the organizations structure the career progress of the employees. Career development can be
assisted by the different educational institutions that provide career counsellors to assist
students with their educational and professional development (McMahon, 2016). In the arena
of educational development, career development is a process that provides a student focus for
selecting a career or subject to undertake in the future (Savickas, 2019).
Importance of career development
Career development is important because recent information about the organization
and the future trends help the employees to create more realistic career development goals. It
also helps the individuals to focus on their skill development so that they are able to harness
better opportunities in future. Career development is also more important to the employees

4CAREER DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS: AUSTRALIA
because it increases employee motivation and productivity. Therefore, career development is
important for the individuals and professionals at the same time (Arthur et al., 2013).
Career Exploration
Career related exploration can be defined as learning about various occupations and
how do they fit with the unique career prefernces of the individual candidates. Generally,
career exploration is carried out after identifying career prefernces by career tests and
observations by the candidates. Career exploration is important because it tends to improve
candidate’s knowledge of options of career and it also encourages them to develop and work
towards the goals in their critical professional years (Hirschi, Herrmann & Keller, 2015). In
the Australian standards, there are numerous websites and blogs that cater to the needs of
Australian candidate, counselors, entrepreneurs and HR experts who are in the mission of
exploring different types of career. Some of the most important blogs are: Myfuture,
Myskills, Job Outlook, Course seeker and Australian job search. The respective blogs provide
detailed information and analysis of different contemporary skills and professions that are
daily updated in Australia. Myskills is a blog that provides information online about the
vocational education and training options Australian industries and labor market provides.
Myfuture is a website which is Australia’s official website of career information and
exploration service. Jobs Outlook is a website that provides authentic careers and labor
market research information to help the students decide what career would be good for them.
Course seeker is a website that allows students to search over 7000 undergraduate courses
that are offered by Australia. In this website, students can search, select and compare up to
four higher education courses nationally. Australian job search is the country’s largest free
online jobs website. All the above mentioned websites are verified by the Australian
standards of labor and career development in the contemporary times (Cica.org.au.,2020).

5CAREER DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS: AUSTRALIA
Career choices
Career selection of a candidate depends upon his/ her abilities and individualistic
insight about his/her professional future. Career selection includes activities such as self
assessment, exploration of occupation on the basis of the results of self assessments,
identification of career goals through various aptitude tests, skill identification and starting a
career action plan (Arthur et al., 2013). Australia provides numerous options and tools to the
aspiring career coaches and experts to carry out career choices experiments on candidates.
According to Australian Skills Quality Authority that falls under the canopy of Australian
Government, the self assessment tools for the students that are sponsored by National
Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 would follow five phases of the
student’s journey, grouping the relevant standards against each stage (Ey & Brennan, 2017).
A set of questions are provided to the students that they have to answer. The results show
where the student is standing and also provides room for opportunities for improvement in
the future. Various career action plans that are sponsored by the government of
commonwealth of Australia in collaboration with Myskills and Myfuture career development
websites are also available in the internet. All such career action plans are provided to the
educational and professional educational institutions of Australia. The teachers and career
development practitioners are given special induction training and learning lessons about how
to scrutinize and analyze the career action plans in order to find out the eligibility and
employability of the students by going through the solved plans thereafter.
Career Opportunities and Australian Standards
VET, which is also known as Vocational Education and Training is an initiative taken
by the australian industries where they offer nationally recognized training and qualifications
across a range of industries, such as technology, building and constructions, business, nursing
and elderly care, fashion designing and fine arts (Ey & Brennan, 2017). One of the most
trusted websites of Australia’s world of career and professional development, Myskills

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(which is directly under the jurisdiction of the government of Australia) shows that the
Australian government provides more than thousands of qualifications to choose for the
professionals/candidates/ students ranging from Certificate I to Certificate IV and also the
professional qualifications such as diploma, Advanced diploma, Graduate diploma and
Graduation Certificate. The australian government also provides apprenticeships and
traineesships along with VET that are available in all the RTOs, which is also known as
Registered Training Organizations that directly comes under the jurisdiction of Australian
labor standards and australian standards of skills and career development rspectively. Some
of the qualifications (mainly VET) are subsidized by the Australian government, including
both state and territorial governments. Certain social enterprises and career course specific
websites are available that come under Australian government’s statutes and standards are
Work skills Australia, Australian Apprenticeships, Unique student identifier, Study Assist,
Job Jumpstart and Job Outlook. All the respective mentioned names of the websites and
organizations helps in building employability skills among the candidates and students
(Myskills.gov.au.,2020).
Career planning
Career planning is impossible without taking the help of a career counsellor or a
career development practitioner. It will be interesting to know that Australian Association of
Career Counsellors is a national organization of the practitioners who provide career services
for people who are seeking to enter into the workforce or change any worklife direction. The
members of the Australian Association for Career Counsellors work in the areas of education,
employment, rehabilitation, educational resources, human resources and governmental
service (Aacc.org.au.,2020). International Coach Federation is also another organization of
personal and business coaches with the aim to preserve and conserve the integrity of career
coaching across the globe. Recently, the International Coach Federation has commenced its

7CAREER DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS: AUSTRALIA
business in Australia and its representatives are regularly asked to comment on the career
mentorship and coaching in the Australian as well as international media
(Icfaustralasia.com.,2020). One of the most important part of career planning is holding
workshops, seminars and conferences on career development and employability in the
contemporary world of labor and industry. The Career Industry Council of Australia carries
out different types and kinds of events, such as webinar and workshops in order to encourage
the australian workable and enthusiastic youth to diverse career options and employability
exercises and development. With the utilization of such webinars, conferences and
workshops, the Australian employable candidates and the other enthusiastic people (including
youth, housewives, senior citizens and students) will get benefitted.
Career Implementation
After the career planning has been carried out, the most important step that needs to
be taken is career implementation. Career implementation is the process by which an
individual executes and implements his/her career plans that include career counselling, demo
interviews, internships and taking part in different career implementation programs in the
industrial zones and arena. Career implementation is carried out individually and also with
the help of a career development practitioner or a human resource specialist. Career
implementation is carried out by certain career specialists who form a conduit between the
companies and their clients. The career implementation specialists work with clients or the
candidates who have chosen a particular job and tries to perform the job well in the
workplace. Career implementationists are career development practitioners who see to it that
the employees are well suited in the job or not. The implementationists are also human
resource officers who look and observe the talent of the employees and what are their code of
conduct in the jobs they have been assigned to. According to Professional Standards for
Australian Career Development Practitioners, it is ensured that the career development

8CAREER DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS: AUSTRALIA
specialists have to maintain certain decorum while implementing career to their clients, such
as, communicating in easily understandable language with their clients, ensure that the
materials of career development that are available in the web based programs and the other
resource and study materials are accurate and updated according to the changing needs of the
society and business. The practitioners also have to adhere to the rule that they would have to
provide culturally appropriate and relavant job opportunities and options to the client (by
researching intensely about the client’s background) and they also have to be valid and
reliable based on the information provided. The career development practitioners also have
the license to carry out different research and developmental activities for which they are
appropriately qualified and trained. Activities such as career counselling and survey are
always carried out by the practitioners based on the ethics and guidelines set by the
Australian standards of career development. The practitioners have the license to conduct
career developmental work in culturally sensitive ways as deemed by the standards of CPD
(Continuous Professional Devlopment). Australia is a heterogeneous society that has a
contemporary history of being less xenophobic and more liberal in nature. Therefore,
according to the Australian Career Development standards, the practitioners are always told
to acknowledge and respect diversity and adapt an inclusive atmosphere among them while
carrying out career developmental activities. The practitioner needs to adhere to the
governmental legislation regarding diversity and carry out their corporate activities based on
such laws and statutes. From the beginning of planning till the implementation of career,
there is always a need for a career counsellor or a guide who has knowledge and insight in the
areas of professional development. In Australia, all such practitioners need to be licensed
under CICA and Australian Governement to become established career counsellors
(Cica.org.au.,2020).

9CAREER DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS: AUSTRALIA
Conclusion
Australia has a welfare state architechture of its political systems. The country sees to
it that no individual is kept away from choosing his/her desired or expected profession and
also in a systematic and scientific way. The respective paper concludes to be a report of the
career development standards and how does they apply in the career development services in
Australia. The report is concluded by providing information that are highly based on Career
Industry Council of Australia (CICA) and also Professional Standards for Australian Career
Development Practitioners along with other labor standards of Australia.

10CAREER DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS: AUSTRALIA
References:
Aacc.org.au.,(2020). Available at: http://www.aacc.org.au/
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Cica.org.au.,(2020). Available at: https://cica.org.au/professional-standards/
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Amendment (Annual Registration Charge) Bill 2017 [and] National Vocational
Education and Training Regulator (Charges) Amendment (Annual Registration
Charge) Bill.
Hirschi, A., Herrmann, A., & Keller, A. C. (2015). Career adaptivity, adaptability, and
adapting: A conceptual and empirical investigation. Journal of vocational
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Icfaustralasia.com.,(2020). Available at: https://www.icfaustralasia.com/
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Myskills.gov.au.,(2020). Available at: https://www.myskills.gov.au/career-info/starting-your-
career/
Patton, W., & McMahon, M. (2014). Career development and systems theory: Connecting
theory and practice (Vol. 2). Springer.
Savickas, M. (2019). Career counseling (pp. xvi-194). Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.