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Guiding at-risk youth through learning to work
Lessons from across Europe

related decisions; and of being able to present oneself effectively in order to gain
access to courses or jobs’ (Watts, 2009). Others prefer a more pragmatic
definition, conceptualising CMS in terms of career services such as personal
guidance, job placement and change. Some EU countries do not have a
commonly-agreed definition (e.g. Slovenia and Austria).
Despite the different interpretations of the meaning of CMS, there is
significant common ground. Most EU members agree that CMS relates to a wider
view of a person’s development, moving the focus from skills to ‘meta-
competences’ that are not occupation–specific but are transferable, thus helping
young people better to manage their learning and work (Sultana, 2009a).
Observers also recognise that career management skills roughly correspond to
‘personal management’, ‘exploring learning and work’ and ‘life/work building’
(Haché et al., 2006). Career management skills also fit easily into the four
learning categories specified by the well-known Canadian DOTS framework:
decision-learning (D), opportunity awareness (O), transition learning (T) and self-
awareness (S). Another common point is that career guidance incorporating CMS
moves from informing short-term employment decisions to enabling longer-term
career development and career management (OECD, 2003a).
Drawing on these commonalities, the following definition of CMS was
proposed by the European lifelong guidance policy network: ‘Career
management skills refer to a whole range of competences which provide
structured ways for individuals and groups to gather, analyse, synthesise and
organise self, educational and occupational information, as well as the skills to
make and implement decisions and transitions’ (Sultana, 2009a).
The growing interest in CMS stems from national and EU policy objectives to
improve employability and promote social equity and inclusion (Sultana, 2009a).
These objectives are particularly relevant to young people, who have been
affected by a sharp increase in unemployment since the first quarter of 2008
(Eurostat, 2009). Further, at a time of economic crisis, traditional career guidance
services that provide information and carry out one-to-one interviews when
students leave school are not able to achieve success in the job market (OECD,
2003a). There is growing concern that traditional services cannot adequately
address the specific needs of many young people, particularly those at risk of
leaving school early due to psychological and socioeconomic factors – such as,
low self-esteem, poor performance at school, and certain prejudices embedded
into the local community. The use of career management skills would enable
young people to analyse their own strengths and weaknesses with regards to the
labour market, thereby helping to increase their employability and promoting
equality.

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