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framework itself should be developed nationally, including customising the contexts and
conditions of both national and sectoral circumstances.
McCarthy (2004) documents impediments to the mobility of career guidance practitioners,
both between the labour market and education sectors, and from non-professional to
professional status. Action as suggested here will clarify for each country the specific nature
of those impediments and permit coherent planning to improve occupational mobility.

8.5. National coordination

Other uses of the competence framework are outlined in Section 7, along with the possible
roles that could be played by different groups such as practitioners, professional
associations, policy-makers and employers of career guidance practitioners. While each has
a part to play, a common need in many countries is for improved coordination; few examples
of good practice have been identified. Some that have the possibility to offer examples to
other countries are explored in the case study section (Section 4): Denmark, which has
coordinated training and delivery systems across all sectors except the public employment
service; Latvia, where a new master’s level training programme was designed through
cross-sectoral cooperation in support of a number of other service delivery initiatives; and
Scotland, where the devolved government, universities and the main employer worked
together to design a new training programme to meet identified service needs.
Consensus between government ministries, understanding and developing individual
career-management skills in a lifelong perspective, as advocated by the OECD review
(2004), will clarify the services and tasks required of career guidance practitioners. This, in
turn, will allow national customisation of the European competence framework to underpin
staff development from recruitment and selection, through initial, induction and in-service
training, and as a benchmark for evaluation and quality assurance.

8.6. Support at European level

The training and competence of career guidance practitioners are essential to developing the
quality and coordination of career guidance services. As such, they should receive
increasing attention at the European policy level to ensure that the career guidance systems
across Europe will play their necessary part in achieving the goals of the Lisbon strategy. In
more concrete terms, this policy interest may be demonstrated through funding large-scale
long-term development projects and comparative evaluation studies, and the dissemination
of their findings, both through publications and through peer learning events. This is clearly a
domain where Cedefop can continue taking politically and strategically innovative and
far-reaching guidance initiatives in the future, too.
Within its work programme, ELGPN could consider drafting common European principles
for career guidance practitioner competences and qualifications (see Section 8.1.) in
cooperation with key actors, such as Cedefop. Additionally, ELGPN, through its cooperation
with national guidance forums could initiate work on a common framework for professional
qualifications and training. ELGPN could also explore common evaluation methods and work
towards assembling, at European level, evidence that contributes to an understanding of

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