Page 131 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

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

Career catching counsellors project, Austria
The Career catching counsellors project has two main aims:
• to provide guidance and support to young people (aged 14-16) looking for an apprenticeship,
and/or young people deciding their future study or career plans;
• to establish a network of all key partners in the region.
Although the focus is on supporting young people to access apprenticeships, the counsellors will also
support young people to access employment or further training, if this is what they want to do. The
emphasis is on providing a solution to individual needs, which relies heavily on close collaboration with
relevant partners (Interview, Marion Höllbacher, 2009).

The network involves a variety of different organisations and individuals across multiple sectors: the
Styrian provincial government; schools and other educational institutions; employer organisations;
individual companies; trade unions; and the labour market service. It is run by the Styrian Economic
Society (Steirische Volkswirtschaftliche Gesellschaft) in cooperation with the Federal State of Styria
and is cofinanced by the Federal Ministry of Education, Art and Culture and the European Social Fund
(ESF).

The network delivers a range of initiatives, working with young people, parents, schools, companies
and institutions in the region. For instance, they maintain databases of apprenticeship opportunities,
coordinate work experience placements, hold information evenings for young people and parents and
provide support and resources for student advisors and teachers in schools (OECD, 2003a).

The project also runs drop-in centres for young people who are in need of information and support. At
the centres, counsellors guide young people making decisions about their future, both through
individual guidance sessions and through longer-term one-to-one support::
(www.stvg.at/stvg/index.html).

The project aims to help young people to choose the right apprenticeship/traineeship for their needs
and interests and to access appropriate support in their local area. The activities undertaken by the
project also help the counsellors to place the right young people with the right company for their
apprenticeship; therefore it is important to build good working relationships between schools, young
people and the companies offering traineeships and apprenticeships. Intensive contact with parents
and cooperation with regional institutions are also seen as important elements of the project, as they
maximise the support and opportunities available to young people.

In relation to practical support for young people, a fundamental part of the project is individual
information interviews. They encourage young people to make practical and proactive decisions about
their future and to avoid potential uncertainty. Intensive contact with parents and cooperation with
companies and regional institutions are also seen as important elements of the project, as they
maximise the support and opportunities available to young people. The first contact with young people
is often achieved through public relations activity targeted at schools, for example, through regional
media, or referrals.

Career catching counsellors also give presentations in schools to explain what the service offers;
following this, young people access the service on a voluntary basis. The counsellors also support in-
school vocational guidance teachers and deliver their own lessons as well on specialist subjects, such
as interviews. By contacting young people while they are still at school, the project helps to identify
and support young people who are at risk of dropping out (Interview, Marion Höllbacher, 2009).

The project has developed a number of activities and tools to help motivate and prepare young people
for the labour and apprenticeship market. It also offers activities that seek to improve access to
guidance and information. Specific initiatives include the creation of a database of apprenticeship
opportunities and coordination of work experience placements. The project has also created networks
of employers willing to speak at schools, information evenings for young people and their parents, and
support and resources for school student advisers and careers teachers (OECD, 2003b).

The Career catching counsellor project is a model in Austria for further development of guidance
projects intending to ease transitions from school into the labour market and it has been chosen as a
best practice model by the OECD. The impact of the project has been positive and, according to the
Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, the percentage of young people searching unsuccessfully for an
apprentice position has decreased since the introduction of the project.

125