Who are careers services for?
The Career Review aims to ensure careers services are fit for purpose and future proofed and to provide recommendations for the implementation of all age career services across Scotland in line with Scotland's Careers Strategy - Moving Forward report.
But what are career services?
Through the Career Review, data and feedback on Scottish career services is being gathered, these services include career information, advice and guidance (CIAG) and associated career development services including career education, employability programmes and employer brokerage for the purpose of career support. Use the '+' symbol to learn more about these services.
These career services encompas a range of activities that support young people (under the age of 25) to identify their capacities, competences and interests, to make educational, training and occupational decisions and to manage their individual life paths in learning, work and other settings in which these capacities and competences are learned and/or used.
Information (I) - providing career and labour market information providing information about further and higher education career assessments and tests
Advice (A) - employment, job search and career advice (provided by someone other than a qualified careers professional)
Guidance (G) - career counselling / one-to-one career guidance (with a qualified careers professional)
Education (Ed) - delivering career education as part of the curriculum either as a discrete subject or embedded in wider subject provision. Such learning can be both classroom based and more experiential e.g. through games, simulations and field trips
Employability programmes (Em) - providing employability programmes and training to support individuals to develop their capacity to make transitions and manage their career. These programmes will often involve employer engagement and experiential learning opportunities.
Brokerage (B) - and experiential career learning organising employer encounters such as talks and career fairs brokering mentoring relationships between young people and employers co-coordinating work experience and career-related volunteering.
Case studies
Good careers advice is important for everyone, particularly at important life stages such as at school, at college or university, moving between jobs, or when planning a career move. Here are a few examples of good careers advice being delivered across Scotland.
Boosting student and graduate employability through technology
The University of Aberdeen's Careers and Employability Team harnessed existing technology to quickly design and deliver a new programme of support to meet the needs of students and new graduates in a time of unprecedented change
Rural talent programme sows the seeds of collaboration in the rural sector
Borders College is renowned for its Rural Skills provision, with new courses continually being developed to help support the needs of the growing rural economy and support learners to explore career pathways in the rural sector.
Career Review benefits
A key ambition of the Career Review is to ensure all providers of careers advice in Scotland work together to achieve the best outcome for everyone.
To align with the Young Person’s Guarantee, the review is primarily concerned with young people aged up to 24 years old, although people of any age will benefit from an improved system.
Read on to find out how young people and other individuals, including parents and carers, would benefit from achieving a world class careers system in Scotland.
If you are a young person, you’ll benefit from:
- Lifelong career management skills that empower you to plan and manage your career, one decision at a time
- Awareness of your universal entitlement and how to access services face to face, remotely and digitally
- Accessible and up to the minute labour market information on available opportunities and
the skills employers need - Access to highly skilled and professionally qualified practitioners
- Information, advice and/or guidance tailored to your needs.
If you are a parent or carer, you’ll benefit from:
- Advice on how to be an empowered and informed influencer
- An understanding of what careers services are available and how to access them
- Awareness of the lifelong career management skills needed to make informed choices and how to develop them
- An understanding of current and future employment opportunities and of the range of learning, education and skills pathways into employment.
As an employer, you’ll benefit from:
- Access to a talent pool that’s made well informed career choices
- Understanding your role in providing careers advice and the benefits to your business and employees
- An understanding of the careers services provided to young people and of the support available to them throughout their employment.
Career Review
Over recent months we have worked with partners across Scotland on the most comprehensive review of Scotland’s career services in a generation.
Next steps
The Programme Board will work with practitioners, stakeholders, career influencers and those with lived experience on the next stage of the Career Review.
Career Review background and timeline
Consultation on the Career Review is currently underway and its recommendations will help shape our Strategic Plan.
Career Review Programme Board
We're working with the Programme Board members to achieve the key objectives of the Career Review.