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(a) a tool for self-assessment;
(b) a basis for peer development activities with colleagues.

7.3.4. Policy-makers
The OECD review (2004) identified a number of different policy goals which countries were
addressing through their provision of career guidance services. These ranged from broad
support for lifelong learning policies and human resource development, to more specific
goals such as helping people to find pathways though increasingly individualised and
diversified education programmes. Some countries identified specific target groups, such as
people with low levels of qualification and skills, while all countries made some provision to
address the career guidance needs of unemployed people. Career guidance can be seen as
a tool to reduce drop-out rates from learning programmes, and as a way to improve the
interface and progression pathways between learning provision and the labour market. In
line with European policy goals, some countries saw the potential for career guidance
services to increase mobility: geographically between regions and Member States; through
advancement and progression through hierarchies; or laterally, particularly when structural
change in the labour market creates a need for the redeployment of skills from shrinking
employment sectors to those with labour needs.
Policy-makers need to ensure that appropriate career guidance services are available to
meet strategic goals, and that they have access to suitable resources and networks. In
pursuing their strategic goals, policy-makers can use the competence framework:
(a) to plan and review the range of career guidance activities that are offered, and to ensure
that there is suitable provision to meet specific strategic goals;
(b) in mapping which existing career guidance organisations offer which services, and
encouraging networking between organisations to meet the needs of specific sectors of
the population;
(c) to frame their evaluation plans for assessing the overall effectiveness of services;
(d) in planning the provision of training routes for career guidance practitioners;
(e) in discussions with educators, trainers and employers of career guidance practitioners,
to agree shared goals for practitioner competence.

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