Page 139 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

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

(j) establishing a user-friendly system of validation for young people with user-
friendly language/tools/processes.

6.4.4. Extending access to Internet-based guidance
Internet-based career guidance helps young people in their career choices and
the necessary steps towards achieving them. The review has shown that most
services are orientated towards universal provision, accessible to all young
people and – in some cases – adults. However, some sites provide services
targeting young people at risk of dropping out and those who have dropped out
already (for example, the Lithuanian Internet portal AIKOS).
There is also evidence to suggest that improvements are being made in
relation to the fact that the education and training web portals have traditionally
had poor links to labour market data (Cedefop, Sultana, 2004). This has been a
concern, given that career guidance should develop individuals’ understanding
and realistic knowledge of the work of world and assist them to make suitable
choices. The brief review of services in four countries implies that the situation is
changing quite radically in a number of Member States and it is increasingly easy
for users of web-based career services to access information on employment
opportunities and prospects in different fields. Many web-based career services
offer information on job opportunities on completion of different qualifications,
including typical employers; typical work activities; general salary expectations
and working conditions in different fields; entry requirements; continuing training
opportunities and requirements; and career development.
Such information is available, for example, for the users of Finnish education
portal Opintoluotsi (www.opintoluotsi.fi). In Ireland, it is accompanied by photo
slideshows of typical days in selected professions (www.careerdirections.ie) and
the Finnish website offers short films to illustrate work in different professions.
A major concern in many EU countries has been that Internet-based career
information has been fragmented and unconnected, with different providers
collecting different information. This has made it difficult for most users –
hardtoreach groups in particular – to navigate through the information sources
and make sense of different education and training options and associated
career choices. The review of web-based services has shown that authorities in
many EU countries are taking steps to harmonise web-based information and
make the navigation process clearer and easier. One example is the AIKOS
portal in Lithuania, a joint effort that includes all of the key actors in education,
training and employment. A second example is Opintoluotsi, a Finnish online
information service that brings together information on educational opportunities
in Finland. This also links automatically to other key web-services, including the

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