User:OliviaCVS/sandbox

Evolving over decades, the purpose and approach of career and employment services in the landscape of Canadian higher education has progressed from roots in a post-Second World War era “when campuses responded to a national need to assist returning veterans make a successful transition to civilian life” to a requirement of the service to respond swiftly to a modern time marked by technological advances, cultural revolution, and internationalization. Typical career centers in Canadian higher education concentrate on student career development from the outset of one’s entry into a program through to graduation by providing support in areas such as:


 * ·        Employment & career counselling
 * ·        Resume preparation
 * ·        Interview skills
 * ·        Career planning
 * ·        Navigating the world of work

Additively, some career centers provide ongoing support, resources, and programming for alumni populations.

There are three common service delivery models influencing the placement of career and employment services in a post-secondary institution's Student Affairs and Services offering: the centralized, decentralized, and hybrid models of service delivery. The centralized model provides the same menu of services to every student regardless of faculty (i.e. school-wide) contrasting the decentralized model which places focus on individual faculties or schools providing independent support to individual students enrolled in that faculty's programs (i.e. faculty-wide). The third hybrid model "features some centralized career services, such as graduate recruitment, but with faculties maintaining their own career centres".

As the metamorphosis of student populations perpetuates, the future of career and employment services hinges on how swiftly and appropriately the department can respond to change. Robert Shea has identified four areas of note for career and employment services departments to remain cognizant of in the future: experiential learning, new technologies, changing student populations, and research and accountability.

i.             Experiential learning

Having gained increased focus within the post-secondary landscape, “concepts of experiential learning, work-integrated learning, alternative education, practice-oriented education, co-operative education, and internships” require astute anticipation, evaluation, and action from career and employment services professionals.

ii. New technologies

Technological advancement introduces the ability to meet students where they are, both academically and physically. Robert Shea explains that the ongoing development of new technology supports “the delivery of future services, such as digital portfolios, sophisticated searches, and distance interviewing”.

iii. Changing student populations

Increasing diversity in cohorts of students including “older-than-average students, single parents, students of color, international students, Aboriginal and First Nations students, part-time students who are full-time workers, distance students, and students with physical and emotional disabilities” present both opportunities and challenges for career and employment services professionals.

iv. Research and accountability

Little data or literature exists on the impact of career and employment services programming in the Canadian post-secondary landscape including “outcomes of career centre interventions or the effect of work-related factors on student retention”. Improvements in this area can “offer compelling evidence for the efficacy of what career and employment services has to offer on campus”.