Canadian Standards and Guidelines
for Career Development
Core Competencies
2001
Prepared by ATEC for the National Steering Committee
for Career Development Guidelines and Standards
The National Steering Committee wishes to thank the thousands of members of the Canadian Career Development
Community who donated their time to developing these Standards and Guidelines.
On behalf of the Canadian Career Development Community the National Steering Committee wishes to
acknowledge and thank Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) for their financial support of this
project.
Further information can be obtained from
National Steering Committee for Career Development Guidelines and Standards
P.O. Box 67007, Ottawa, Ontario, K2A 4E4
or
Download the documents from the National Steering Committee web site - http://www.career-dev-guidelines.org
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development
Core Competencies
Table of Contents
General Framework ...............................................................................................................................1
Purpose of Standards and Guidelines ...................................................................................................1
History of the Initiative..........................................................................................................................1
Scope of the Standards and Guidelines ................................................................................................2
Core Competencies ...............................................................................................................................3
Areas of Specialization ..........................................................................................................................4
Indirect Services to Clients (An Aside) .................................................................................................5
Potential Uses of the Standards and Guidelines ..................................................................................5
Practitioner Competencies and Client Outcomes ................................................................................6
How to Read the Standards and Guidelines .........................................................................................6
Sample Page ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
How to Read This Document .............................................................................................................................................................. 8
C1 Professional Behaviour ....................................................................................................................9
C1.1 Adhere to the Code of Ethics and the Ethical Decision-Making Model ................................................................................... 9
C1.1.1 follow the Code of Ethics and apply the Ethical Decision-Making Model ......................................................................... 9
Attitude Competency
C1.2.1 demonstrate professional attributes ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Skill Competencies
C1.3.1 develop relationships with other professionals.................................................................................................................. 10
C1.3.2 demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning ................................................................................................................ 11
C1.3.3 keep up to date with technology........................................................................................................................................ 12
C1.4 Use Analytical Skills ................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Skill Competencies
C1.4.1 apply a solution-focused framework ................................................................................................................................. 13
C1.4.2 collect, analyze and use information ................................................................................................................................. 14
C1.5 Manage Work .............................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Skill Competencies
C1.5.1 use planning and time management skills ......................................................................................................................... 15
C1.5.2 follow case and project management procedures .............................................................................................................. 16
C1.5.3 document client’s interactions and progress...................................................................................................................... 17
C1.5.4 evaluate the service provided to clients............................................................................................................................. 18
C2 Interpersonal Competence.............................................................................................................19
C2.1 Respect Diversity ......................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Knowledge Competencies
C2.1.1 recognize diversity ............................................................................................................................................................ 19
Skill Competencies
C2.1.2 respect diversity ................................................................................................................................................................ 20
C2.2 Communicate Effectively ........................................................................................................................................................... 21
Skill Competencies
C2.2.1 work with climate and context to enhance communication............................................................................................... 21
C2.2.2 use a framework for verbal communication ...................................................................................................................... 21
C2.2.3 use a framework for written communication..................................................................................................................... 22
C2.2.4 use effective listening skills .............................................................................................................................................. 23
C2.2.5 clarify and provide feedback ............................................................................................................................................. 24
C2.2.6 establish and maintain collaborative work relationships ................................................................................................... 24
C2.3 Develop Productive Interactions with Clients ........................................................................................................................... 25
Skill Competencies
C2.3.1 foster client self-reliance and self-management ................................................................................................................ 25
C2.3.2 deal with reluctant clients ................................................................................................................................................. 25
C3 Career Development Knowledge ...................................................................................................26
C3.1 Possess Career Development Knowledge ............................................................................................................................ 26
Knowledge Competencies
C3.1.1 describe how human development models relate to career development .......................................................................... 26
C3.1.2 describe major career development theories ..................................................................................................................... 26
C3.1.3 describe how change and transition affect clients moving through the career process ...................................................... 28
C3.1.4 identify how life roles impact career development ........................................................................................................... 29
C3.1.5 identify major components of the career planning process ............................................................................................... 29
C3.1.6 identify the major organizations, resources and community-based services for career development................................ 30
C3.1.7 explain components of labour market information ............................................................................................................ 31
C3.1.8 keep current about the labour market ................................................................................................................................ 32
C4 Needs Assessment and Referral ....................................................................................................33
C4.1 Refer Clients to the Appropriate Sources ............................................................................................................................ 33
Skill Competencies
C4.1.1 respond to clients’ needs ................................................................................................................................................... 33
C4.1.2 develop and maintain a referral network ........................................................................................................................... 33
C4.1.3 make appropriate referrals ................................................................................................................................................. 34
Appendix A - Code of Ethics ................................................................................................................35
Preamble ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 35
1. Ethical Principles for Professional Competency and Conduct .................................................................................................... 35
1.a. Knowledge/Skills/Competency ........................................................................................................................................... 35
1.b. Self-Improvement ............................................................................................................................................................... 35
1.c. Boundary of Competency ................................................................................................................................................... 35
1.d. Representation of Qualifications ......................................................................................................................................... 35
1.e. Marketing ............................................................................................................................................................................ 35
1.f. Relations with Institutions and Organizations ..................................................................................................................... 35
1.g. Respect for Persons ............................................................................................................................................................. 36
1.h. Abide by the Code of Ethics and Provincial and Federal Laws .......................................................................................... 36
1.i. Use of Information and Communication Technology ......................................................................................................... 36
2. Ethical Principles for Career Development Practitioner-Client Relationship ........................................................................... 36
2.a. Integrity/Honesty/Objectivity.............................................................................................................................................. 36
2.b. Confidentiality .................................................................................................................................................................... 36
2.c. Releasing Private Information ............................................................................................................................................. 36
2.d. Informed Consent................................................................................................................................................................ 37
2.e. Multiple Relations ............................................................................................................................................................... 37
2.f. Conflict of Interest .............................................................................................................................................................. 37
3. Ethical Principles for Professional Relationships ......................................................................................................................... 37
3.a. Consultation ........................................................................................................................................................................ 37
3.b. Respect for Other Professionals .......................................................................................................................................... 37
Ethical Decision-Making Model ....................................................................................................................................................... 38
Acknowledgments For Code Of Ethics................................................................................................40
Appendix B - Glossary of Terms ..........................................................................................................41
Appendix C - Professional Associations .............................................................................................44
Associations .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 44
Works Consulted ................................................................................................................................................................................. 45
Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................47
Core Competencies
General Framework
The main goal of the Canadian Standards and
Guidelines for Career Development initiative is to spell
out the competencies that service providers need in
order to deliver comprehensive career services to
clients across the lifespan. It is being undertaken in
partnership, making use of the expertise and
contributions of the full career development
community. The initiative is funded by Human
Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and matched
by in-kind and cash contributions from career
development partners. By working in partnership with
associations and practitioner groups, the
standards/guidelines have been built from within the
profession by the people who deliver career
development services and programs. Taken as a whole,
the standards and guidelines map out the knowledge,
skills, and attitudes that practitioners need in order to
deliver quality career development services to clients.
It is hoped that associations will use them, in
conjunction with their own professional codes, to
describe more clearly the career development aspect of
the work they do.
The competencies in this document are grouped into
two clusters:
1. Core Competencies (which all career development
practitioners should have)
2. Areas of Specialization (distinct competencies
needed for specialized areas of service)
The competencies in the areas of specialization are
further grouped into two types:
1. Areas of Specialization (which relate to a
specialized area of practice)
2. Common Skills and Knowledge (competencies
that are common to more than one area of
specialization, but not common to all). Initial field
testing of the standards document revealed that
some competencies were relevant to more than one
area of specialization. Rather than list these
competencies as part of each area of specialization,
they have been grouped together and called
Common Skills and Knowledge.
Purpose of Standards
and Guidelines
The purposes of developing national standards and
guidelines for career development practitioners are to:
 Define career development as a legitimate
specialization.
 Provide a foundation for designing career
development practitioner training.
 Provide quality assurance to the public.
 Recognize and validate the diverse skill sets of
practitioners working in the field.
 Create a common voice and vocabulary for career
development.
History of the Initiative
In the fall of 1996, a national Assembly on Career
Development Guidelines was convened. Stakeholders
drawn from a broad cross-section of sectors involved in
career development explored establishing a
collaborative process for creating national standards for
practitioners. The Assembly elected a National
Steering Committee to manage a process that included
the following:
 create a draft framework for guidelines and
standards;
 map out one model for conceptualizing the scope of
career development;
 identify some potential uses, benefits, risks, and
disadvantages of guidelines and standards.
The process followed these principles:
 build on consensus,
 focus on practitioners providing services directly to
clients,
 recognize existing best practices,
 include the diversity of roles and skill sets existing
in the field.
The Steering Committee operated according to a
stewardship model rather than a representative model.
In a stewardship model, members present their unique
perspectives as professionals in the field. They are not
official voices of the organizations or associations with
which they are involved. Members of the Steering
Committee were drawn from a wide variety of areas so
that multiple views would result.
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 1
Core Competencies
In the fall of 1997 a series of regional consultations
were held. Approximately 1,250 people participated. In
all, 70 consultation groups were conducted in eight
provinces and one territory. Almost 900 feedback
forms were returned, representing a return rate of about
70%. About 27% of the respondents were from
community-based agencies, 23% were from the
education sector, 15% were from mental health or
rehabilitation settings, 10% were in private practice,
and the rest were from a wide variety of sectors that
provide career development services as part of their
mandates.
Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly in
favour of proceeding to develop the guidelines and
standards. Key findings were:
 Over 80% of respondents thought that developing
guidelines and standards would be in the best
interests of themselves, their clients, the
organizations for which they worked, the profession,
and the general public.
 The proposed framework made sense.
 They supported the idea of a framework based on
what practitioners actually did, rather than the
training they took.
 They supported a code of ethics as the basis of the
framework.
 In response to the question, “Would you support the
next step, namely to develop, field-test, and validate
national guidelines and standards for career
development?”, 93% indicated they were in favour
of proceeding.
A full copy of the final report on the consultation is
available from the address listed in this document or
from the project Web site.
Scope of the Standards
and Guidelines
In this initiative, career development practitioner refers
to those who spend most of their time giving direct
services to clients in the areas of:
 Self-exploration and personal management
 Learning and work exploration
 Career building with individuals, groups, and
communities
These practitioners include, but are not limited to;
career advisors, counsellors, job marketers, teachers,
community trainers, psychologists, educational
planners, and social workers.
Career development is an umbrella term that may
include at least the following:
 Career education
 Career counselling
 Employment counselling
 Human resource development
 Training in employment skills
 Training in personal, but job-related areas, such as
job-search, interviewing, self-exploration, time
management and anger management,
entrepreneurship
 Community rehabilitation
Career development is provided in a variety of settings.
These settings include schools, post-secondary
institutions, private vocational colleges, communitybased agencies, private practitioners, federal and
provincial government departments, organizations like
Workers' Compensation, private agencies, human
resources departments in larger businesses, and joint
labour-business partnerships.
This brief overview is not exhaustive but it does
provide a flavour of what career development is and
mentions some of the more common places where
practitioners do career development work. It is
intended to help people locate themselves in the
standards document and to begin thinking about how
the standards can help them identify the knowledge and
skills they have.
In Phase 1 of the project, a framework for guidelines
and standards was developed, revised in consultation
with the field, and used in a national consultation in the
fall of 1997. Three decisions influenced the nature of
the framework.
1. Build the framework on the common points of
existing models.
2. Focus on competencies needed to provide direct
services to clients.
2 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
3. Concentrate on what service providers need to do
to offer quality services to clients. This approach
was chosen for several reasons:
 It identifies activities that professionals perform
and is therefore easily understood by both
practitioners and clients.
 It recognizes that people become skilled in
different ways and addresses what people can
do, rather than how they learned to do it.
 It lends itself readily to prior learning
assessment and recognition. In addition, it
allows for recognition that competency can be
gained through formal training.
 It is tied closely to competencies specific to
career development.
Based on these points, the following model was
developed. It contains three types of competencies and
uses a code of ethics as a foundation. See Figure 1.
specialization, but not in all. Initial field-testing of the
standards document revealed that some competencies
were relevant to more than one area of specialization
area. Rather than list these competencies as part of
each Area of Specialization, they are grouped together
and called Common Skills and Knowledge.
Core Competencies
Core Competencies are the skills, knowledge and
attitudes common to all career development
practitioners, regardless of their employment setting. In
some work settings core competencies may be
sufficient to deliver the range of services provided.
Other work settings may require service providers with
competency in one or more of the specialty areas. In a
setting offering comprehensive career development
services, each staff member would have the core
competencies. In addition, the staff as a whole would
likely possess all of the specialty competencies needed
to deliver comprehensive services. Individual staff
members could however differ in their specialty areas.
Some examples of the core competencies follow.
1. People working in career development practice
need to demonstrate certain attitudes. They need
to be:
 insightful
 honest
 open-minded
 results-oriented.
Core competencies consist of the skills, knowledge,
and attitudes that all career development professionals
require.
Areas of specialization, are additional skills,
knowledge, and attitudes that may be required
depending on the type of work setting and the client
groups that are being served.
Common skills and knowledge consist of
competencies that are used in more than one area of
2. People working in career development practice
need to have certain skills. They need to:
 document client interactions and progress
 accommodate diversity
 collect, analyze and use information
 convey information clearly when speaking and
writing.
3. People working in career development practice
need to have certain knowledge. They need to
know:
 career development models and theories
 the change process, transition stages, and career
cycles
 components of the career planning process
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 3
Core Competencies
 the major organizations and resources for career
development and community services.
4. People working in career development practice
need to be guided by a code of ethical behaviour:
 A Code of Ethics has been developed and is
located in Appendix A.
Areas of Specialization
The areas of specialization are competencies needed to
provide specific career development services that
clients may need. These competencies vary according
to the nature of the specific service. Service providers
may have the competencies and therefore meet the
standards in one, or more areas of specialization,
depending on the nature of their duties and the services
they provide.
The core and specialty areas are equally valued. There
is no hierarchy intended between core and specialty or
among the specializations. No area is seen as more or
less important than any others. All competency areas
are important in providing comprehensive career
development services.
Currently, six main areas of specialization have been
identified:
 Assessment
 Facilitated Individual and Group Learning
 Career Counselling
 Information and Resource Management
 Work Development
 Community Capacity Building
All career development practitioners will need to have
a certain number of basic competencies in all six areas
of specialization. These basic competencies appear in
the Core and are also included as basic competencies in
the appropriate area of specialization. Specializations
of course have many additional and advanced
competencies specific to each specialization. For
example, all career development practitioners will need
to have a certain amount of competence in the area of
assessment (Core). Assessment specialists have this
core as well as many additional and advanced
assessment competencies. Figure 2 illustrates how this
relationship might look.
The figure presents each specialization as identical in
size, to emphasize that they are all equally important in
providing comprehensive services. In practice
however, it is likely that the extent to which the areas
of specialization extend into the core will vary across
specializations. It is also likely that the different
specializations will require varying amounts of
competencies and likely different types and/or amounts
of training and experience to be able to demonstrate the
competencies. The boundaries between core and
specialty areas will be determined by consultation and
experimentation with the guidelines and standards.
4 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
Indirect Services to Clients
(An Aside)
Potential Uses of the
Standards and Guidelines
There are important areas of work associated with the
provision of quality career development services which
do not involve direct contact with clients. For example,
a person involved in gathering and analyzing labour
market information might never actually interact
directly with clients seeking career development
assistance. However, the information provided by such
a person will be vitally important to the service
provider. Similarly, a person who develops selfexploration tools for clients might not be involved in
providing services to clients, but the results of his or
her work will be used by service providers in meeting
client needs. These are “Indirect Services.”
Indirect Services could be organized into several
categories, such as:
1. Development of programs, services, and resources
2. Research and evaluation
3. Marketing
4. Administration of programs and services
5. Advocacy
Standards for those who provide indirect services are
beyond the scope of the current initiative. However,
these services play an indispensable role in the
provision of quality career development services to
clients. In many cases, the results of the work of those
who provide indirect services to clients are part of the
knowledge needed by those who provide direct
services. For example, a person who teaches job search
skills to clients may not need to know how to gather
and organize labour market information, but will need
to know how to access the finished product and how to
relay that information to clients.
The decision to focus this initiative on those who
provide direct services to clients is not intended to
undervalue the essential nature of those who provide
indirect services. It is simply the attempt to make sure
the initiative addresses a manageable goal.
Using standards and guidelines to regulate a profession
is a provincial/territorial matter. Making the
achievement of standards and guidelines a condition of
membership is a decision of a professional association.
This Standards and Guidelines initiative is a crossCanada partnership, not provincial. Many professional
associations are active in the initiative, but the
initiative has no identity as a professional association.
Neither the National Steering Committee nor the
National Stakeholder Group has any authority to
regulate, introduce a certification process, or invite
membership.
Once the standards and guidelines are available and
have been accepted by the career development
community, it is possible that a provincial movement
might be launched to regulate or license the practice of
career development using the standards and guidelines.
However, this would need to be an initiative coming
from the career development community within a
province and moved through appropriate provincial
channels.
Similarly, Regional Action Groups or Professional
Associations may decide to adopt the standards and
guidelines and use them to promote membership and/or
use them as a basis for membership. This again would
be a decision of the Executive and members of that
Action Group or Association. Both these scenarios are
beyond the mandate and the influence of this initiative.
The Guidelines and Standards, once developed, will
need a “custodian” so that they remain current, are
readily available, and are used by the field.
Consultations with the field suggest that the
standards/guidelines could be used in many ways: a
guide for practitioners to self-assess their knowledge
and skills; a means for identifying gaps in training or
service delivery; a template for curriculum
development; a model for performance appraisal; or a
method for planning professional development. After
extensive field consultation has been completed, a
paper will be prepared outlining options for
maintenance and implementation. The decision about
maintenance will be one made by the Stakeholders.
Implementation will depend on the career development
community.
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 5
Core Competencies
Practitioner Competencies
and Client Outcomes
How to Read the
Standards and Guidelines
In the consultations conducted to date, people have
asked about the role of clients in the Canadian
Standards and Guidelines project. A companion
initiative is focusing on defining more clearly the types
of outcomes that clients can expect to receive as a
result of services provided by career practitioners. The
initiative focusing on clients, the Blueprint for
Life/Work Designs, is simultaneously occurring using
wide national consultation networks as well. Both
initiatives represent significant advances for the career
development field and each initiative is compatible
with the other.
A bolded competency statement indicates a skill that a
career development practitioner should be able to
demonstrate. A competency statement that is not
bolded indicates knowledge that a career practitioner
needs. All competencies are introduced by the
statement: “To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:”. This
statement outlines the scope of knowledge and also
serves as the performance criteria, if the competency is
a demonstrable skill.
The Standards and Guidelines and Blueprint initiatives
are independent, but very complementary. The
Blueprint is a national effort to outline the outcomes of
quality career development programs and services. The
Blueprint specifies what individuals can expect to learn
from services at different developmental levels,
ranging from elementary school, to secondary and
adult populations. The Blueprint also has a strong
focus on implementing career development programs
and helping providers be clear about the outcomes
actually achieved by specific programs.
The Standards and Guidelines initiative is a national
effort to outline the competencies needed by career
development practitioners in order for them to help
people achieve personal career development outcomes.
The Standards and Guidelines have a strong
application to practitioner preparation and professional
training. They focus on the knowledge and skills
needed to deliver career development services which
facilitate meeting the outcomes needed by individuals.
Outside the career development profession people are
often unclear about what career development is, what it
achieves, and what career development practitioners
do. The Standards and Guidelines and Blueprint
initiatives are innovative leaps forward in becoming
more clear about the answers to these questions among
ourselves and with the public.
There is only one attitude competency in the standards,
as it is thought that the attitudes described in C1.2.1 are
comprehensive and apply to all of the skills and
knowledge a career development practitioner should
possess.
Glossary terms are in bolded italics the first time they
appear in the standards. The purpose of the glossary is
to define industry terms that readers would not find in a
dictionary.
Examples are used throughout the standards to clarify a
point or to indicate that a list is not exhaustive. The
examples are in italics.
An employer or client may have policies that affect the
way a skill is performed. The standards do NOT
replace internal policies. In the event that standards
contradict internal policies, the individual is expected
to follow the internal policy, but must be able to
identify how it differs from the standard.
The competencies in this document are grouped into
two Clusters:
 Core Competencies, which all career development
practitioners should have, designated by the letter
“C.”
 Advanced or unique competencies required for
specialized areas of service, designated by the letter
“S.”
Core (C)
Areas of Specialization (S)
6 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
In addition, the competencies in the Areas of
Specialization are of two types:
Clusters
1. Areas of Specialization (which pertain to a
specialized area of practice)
2. Common Skills and Knowledge, competencies that
are common to more than one area of
specialization, but not common to them all,
designated by the letters “CSK.”
Core (C)
Core (C)
Areas of Specialization (S)
Areas
C1 Professional Behaviour
C2 Interpersonal Competence
C3 Career Development Knowledge
C4 Needs Assessment and Referral
S1 Assessment
S2 Facilitated Individual and Group
Learning
Areas of
Specialization S3 Career Counselling
(S)
S4 Information and Resource
Management
S5 Work Development
Common Skills and Knowledge (CSK)
S6 Community Capacity Building
Within each cluster, there are several areas of
competency that career development practitioners
need. These are identified by a letter followed by a
number, e.g., C1, C2, S1.
Common
Skills and
Knowledge
(CSK)
CSK1
Work Search Strategies
CSK2
Group Facilitation
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 7
Core Competencies
Sample Page
How to Read this Document
S1.1.4 use standardized career
assessment instruments
Why is this competency important?
 to gather more information for the career
development process
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) explain steps of the chosen assessments
b) administer the selected instruments
c) follow the proper procedures
d) score the results
e) interpret the data from the results
f) communicate findings in a format suited to clients’
needs, e.g., create reports, discuss with clients
Notes
 Certification is necessary for individuals
administering some standardized instruments. If a
career development practitioner is not qualified to
administer an assessment, the client must be referred
to an appropriate individual or agency.
 Scoring of a standardized career assessment
instrument may be done externally. The instrument
may also be administered and scored by a certified
individual other than the career development
practitioner.
8 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Competency Statement
Bold: performance
Not bolded: knowledge
“Why Important?”
value of competency
“To demonstrate”
guidelines for how competency is demonstrated
“e.g. or for example”
examples to clarify main point;
are not required behaviours
“Notes”
Additional or “good to know” information
Core Competencies
C1
Professional Behaviour
C1
Professional Behaviour
C1.1
Adhere to the Code of Ethics
and the Ethical Decision-Making
Model
C1.2
Demonstrate Professional
Attributes
C1.2.1
demonstrate professional attributes
C1.1.1
follow the Code of Ethics and apply the
Ethical Decision-Making Model
Why is this competency important?
 to help practitioner protect the client and the public
 to provide a practical guide for professional
behaviour for those who provide direct service
 to inform the public about the competencies career
development practitioners should have
 to assist the career development practitioner in
making thoughtful decisions when resolving ethical
dilemmas
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
Follow the Code of Ethics and the Ethical DecisionMaking Model, Canadian Standards and Guidelines for
Career Development as presented in Appendix A.
Notes
 The Code of Ethics found in Appendix A is pertinent
to the Core Competencies. Detailed and focused
ethical guidelines would be useful for each of the
specialization areas. These specialized guidelines
would be considered as an adjunct to the Code of
Ethics, not a replacement.
Why is this competency important?
 to help practitioner create and maintain a high level
of credibility
 to help practitioner act as a role model
 to help practitioner ensure consistency of service to
all clients
 to enable one to work with a variety of people with
diverse needs and backgrounds
 to show respect to others
 to act responsibly
 to offer quality service to clients
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
be:
a) accurate, e.g., deliver information as dictated by
assessment instruments
b) adaptable, e.g., adjust to new ways of doing
things, react positively to change
c) attentive, e.g., listen to others
d) collaborative, e.g., work with clients and
colleagues to produce solutions
e) confident, e.g., be willing to take calculated risks
f) conscious of their own values, beliefs, strengths,
biases and limitations:
 make clear distinctions between own values and
those of others to avoid projection
g) consistent, e.g., maintain congruency between
practice and theory, provide high quality service
to all clients
h) curious, e.g., seek information
i) determined, e.g., work through difficult situations
j) empathetic, e.g., respond to the feelings, attitudes,
values and concerns of others
k) empowering, e.g., act as a facilitator, be nondirective
l) genuine, e.g., respond sincerely to others
m) honest, e.g., express their opinions truthfully and
appropriately
n) innovative, e.g., develop imaginative solutions,
present new ways of thinking and/or behaving
o) insightful, e.g., identify the relationship between
key issues, be aware of their own values
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 9
Core Competencies
p)
q)
r)
s)
t)
u)
v)
w)
x)
y)
z)
aa)
bb)
cc)
dd)
motivating, e.g. empower and encourage people
to believe in their own abilities to make changes
successfully
non-judgmental
open-minded, e.g., give due consideration to
different perspectives and new information,
examine new trends before making judgements,
value diversity
optimistic, e.g., promote hope and a positive
outlook, provide encouragement
outcome-focused, for example:
 facilitate problem solving
 generate options with clients and offer choices
patient
positive, e.g., present strengths of the situation
and people
proactive:
 anticipate the future, e.g., plan for future events,
trends, problems and opportunities
 act as an agent for productive change
 interpret trends and global thinking
respectful of the diversity of clients, colleagues
and communities
responsible:
 follow through with commitments
 recognize professional boundaries
self-motivated, for example:
 work without supervision
 take independent action within the parameters
of the workplace
 rise to challenges
self-reflective, e.g., evaluate their own beliefs,
philosophies and actions
sensitive to cultural, regional and geographical
differences
supportive, e.g., satisfy others’ need for
information, believe in people’s abilities to make
changes successfully
trustworthy
Notes
 It is important to recognize that career development
practitioners are human and have strengths in some
areas more than others.
 The development of these competencies is an ongoing process.
C1
Professional Behaviour
C1.3
Demonstrate a Commitment
to Professional Development
C1.3.1
develop relationships with other
professionals
Why is this competency important?
 to broaden experience
 to realize and respect the boundaries and limitations
of their roles
 to keep up to date in the field and share ideas and
techniques that positively impact clients
 to work co-operatively with:
 colleagues
 other agency staff
 partners
 employers
 funders
 the community
 to enhance the working environment
 to plan for own professional development
 to avoid duplication of services
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) create a climate of trust, for example:
 work to meet both their own needs and the needs
of others
 consult with colleagues on a regular basis,
formally or informally
 give others opportunities to participate in
decision making
b) share knowledge and skills, for example:
 act as or seek a mentor or coach
 take time to observe, discuss and share the work
of others
 exercise skill and care in providing guidance
and constructive feedback
c) network locally, provincially, nationally and
internationally, for example:
 attend agency open houses and information
sessions
 participate in professional conferences,
seminars, workshops and career fairs
 participate in professional associations and
community events
10 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
 develop relationships with other community
agencies
 share resources and information
 familiarize themselves with cultures and groups
in community
 participate in case conferencing
C1
Professional Behaviour
C1.3
Demonstrate a Commitment
to Professional Development
C1.3.2
demonstrate a commitment to lifelong
learning
Why is this competency important?
 to continue professional development
 to focus on own career path
 to act as a role model
 to maintain work/life balance
 to attend to self-care
 to retain current and relevant knowledge and skills
 to improve the service to clients
 to demonstrate alliance with the values of the career
development profession by continuing to develop as
individuals and professionals
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) pursue personal or professional development,
either formally or informally
b) establish a personal and/or professional plan:
 assess how practices, behaviours and areas could
be improved:
 engage in self-reflection/assessment
 request and accept colleagues’ feedback
 include specific career and personal
development activities, for example:
 read current books and journals
 learn from clients and colleagues in other
cultures
 use technological learning resources
 access career development web sites
 participate in formal training/inservices
 develop personal and professional portfolios
 join professional associations
 participate in professional conferences
 learn from colleagues
 act as or seek coaches or mentors
 include specific self-care activities
c) carry out their plans:
 apply learning
 evaluate progress
 monitor and update plans on a regular basis, e.g.,
quarterly, annually
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 11
Core Competencies
Notes
 It is not required that career development
practitioners produce a written plan, but that they
reflect upon desired learning and pursue it in an
effective manner.
C1
Professional Behaviour
C1.3
Demonstrate a Commitment
to Professional Development
C1.3.3
keep up to date with technology
Why is this competency important?
 to increase access for clients to services and
information
 to remain current and relevant in practice and
services offered
 to help clients use relevant computer resources and
tools
 to access and exchange information relevant to one’s
practice
 to recognize the impact that e-commerce and diverse
technologies are having on the world of work
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) access and use:
 various computer-based resources and tools,
e.g., job banks, online job searches, online
career planning and assessment instruments
 information about technology, e.g., books,
articles
 Internet and other available services, e.g.,
interactive television
b) review and select computer-based resources, tools
and Internet services:
 consider the clients’ needs
 determine how the systems and services can be
used to the clients’ advantage
c) offer input in the development of technology-based
tools, when possible
Notes
 Due to great innovations in the telecommunications
industry, it is impossible to predict what will happen
in the field in the near future. It is important for a
career development practitioner to keep up to date.
 It is important to be aware of other technologies
related to specialized client groups such as the
physically disabled.
 While it is the responsibility of the career
development practitioner to keep up to date with
technology to support their role, it is recognized that
access to technology may be dependent on the work
environment.
12 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
C1
Professional Behaviour
C1.4
Use Analytical Skills
C1.4.1
apply a solution-focused framework
 The examples presented in (b) reflect a traditional
approach. Other approaches focus more on taking
advantage of opportunities or risk-taking.
 Career development practitioners need to recognize
and choose the appropriate solution-focused
framework based on the client and the situation.
Why is this competency important?
 to assist self and clients in analyzing situations,
identifying and developing alternatives and setting
up a plan of action
 to develop collaborative relationship with client
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) develop a solution-focused orientation:
 frame problems as:
 opportunities for learning and growth
 having an historical, political, economic,
cultural, geographical and philosophical
context
 opportunities for personal growth, for selfimprovement and for using self-control
 understand that time, energy and commitment
are required to solve problems
 believe that the skills for problem solving can be
acquired
 use an approach that is broad, encompassing and
client-driven
 consider the differences between individual
styles for solving issues or concerns
b) use a solution-focused framework, for example:
 define the issue or concern
 analyze the issue or concern
 set goals
 generate a number of alternative(s)
 select the alternative(s) to be applied
 implement the alternative(s)
 evaluate the effectiveness of the alternative(s)
 repeat the steps in the solution-focused framework
as necessary
c) respect different cultural approaches to developing
solutions
Notes
 When working with a client, the client’s readiness and
ability to develop solutions must be assessed.
 It is critical to take the time to carefully analyze the
issues or concerns before jumping into a process of
generating solutions.
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 13
Core Competencies
C1
Professional Behaviour
C1.4
Use Analytical Skills
C1.4.2
collect, analyze and use information
Why is this competency important?
 to identify trends and opportunities
 to remain current in the career development field
 to be able to maintain and retrieve information
effectively
 to assist clients
 to develop information management strategies
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) identify the information needed, considering:
 services provided
 clients’ needs
 current events that impact the labour market,
community, and clients and their futures, e.g.,
politics, public policy, economics, demographics
b) identify sources of information in various formats,
for example:
 professional journals
 business publications
 community-based agencies/groups
 clients’ experiences
 newspapers
 employment services
 their own experiences
 consultations with experts, e.g., statisticians,
economists
 the Internet
 colleagues
 government databases
 chambers of commerce
 libraries
 Statistics Canada
c) collect and compile the information:
 ensure credit is given to sources of information:
 be aware of copyright laws
d) analyze the information:
 evaluate its:
 accuracy
 relevance
 quality, e.g., gender biases, promotion of
equal opportunities
 use statistical concepts to interpret data
e) organize the relevant data into a useful format for
further work:
 draw conclusions
 synthesize the information
f) take appropriate action, for example:
 provide clients with the findings
 make recommendations
 adjust programs
 critique career development concepts and
practices
Notes
 An understanding of basic statistics is particularly
important to effectively interpret labour market
information.
 A career development practitioner may need to
develop information management strategies to deal
with information overload and to filter questionable
and contradictory information.
14 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
C1
Professional Behaviour
C1.5
Manage Work
C1.5.1
use planning and time management
skills
g) review goals and objectives regularly:
 remain flexible
 make adjustments as required
Why is this competency important?
 to be efficient and effective in fulfilling
responsibilities to clients, colleagues, employers and
self
 to understand own limitations and boundaries
Notes
 The extent to which all tasks can be regularly
completed may be somewhat dependent on the work
environment.
 Planning and time management are not always
sequential processes.
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) establish goals:
 refer to the mission of an organization or the
purpose of a project
 consider the needs and values of individuals
involved
b) prioritize the goals, considering:
 their importance to the mission/purpose and
values
 each goal’s urgency
c) outline the objectives to be achieved for each goal
d) identify the tasks that need to be completed to
meet each objective:
 rank the tasks according to importance and
urgency
 identify tasks that can be carried out
simultaneously
 state the performance measures to be used to
assess task completion or success
 determine the amount of time each task will
take, considering:
 previous experience
 the resources available
 other projects that compete for time
 possible delays
e) create timelines:
 identify critical dates
 schedule tasks
f) monitor progress:
 review and update timelines regularly
 identify incomplete tasks and make adjustments
as required, e.g., adjust time lines, critical dates
and appointments
 ensure deadlines are met
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 15
Core Competencies
C1
Professional Behaviour
C1.5
Manage Work
C1.5.2
follow case and project management
procedures
Notes
 It is important to be aware of issues surrounding
confidentiality as described in the Code of Ethics,
and outlined in relevant legislation and policies.
 A professional career development practitioner is
required to report anyone who is in imminent danger,
e.g., child, as noted in the Code of Ethics
Why is this competency important?
 to allow for program evaluation and accountability
 to work as a team in the clients’ best interests
 to give the client feedback that is supportive and of
interest
 to co-ordinate services that may enhance the
employability of the client, where more than one
service provider is involved
 to follow the client’s progress
 to assist in ensuring accountability
 to identify how co-ordination and co-operation may
be further enhanced due to program/service interrelatedness and inter-dependence at the intra- and
inter-agency levels
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) follow organizational procedures adapted to the
context of work
b) review case files and project management files
involved in cases as per legislation and policy
protocol:
 make files comprehensible and accessible to
other professionals involved in cases
 update as required
c) assist clients in understanding services provided by
agencies
d) consult with other agencies to define case
management responsibilities for each agency
e) consult with staff in their own agencies to clarify
case management responsibilities
f) case conference with peers:
 present and integrate information
 receive and assess information from peers for
the benefit of clients
g) terminate funding when appropriate and work on
alternative action plans with clients
16 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
C1
Professional Behaviour
C1.5
Manage Work
C1.5.3
document client’s interactions and
progress
Why is this competency important?
 to monitor client’s situation and progress
 to have information that can be easily retrieved for
decisions or future needs
 to maintain client confidentiality
 to highlight the importance of record keeping in case
management documentation
 to be aware of implications of record-keeping
Notes
 It is a good idea to keep recorded information in
chronological order.
 Clients should be made aware of the record-keeping
process and be advised about their own ability to
access records.
 Systems need to be in place in order to facilitate this
competency.
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) identify types of records required, for example:
 client tests
 case notes
 client meetings
 identification forms
 authorizations
 résumés/portfolios
b) complete records and notes/logs as required, e.g.,
daily, monthly, annually
c) ensure the recorded information is accurate,
complete and objective, e.g., date, calculations,
counts:
 ensure information is protected and secure, when
necessary
 information should be non-judgmental and
behaviour-based
d) file copies and backup data
e) keep the records current, e.g., store or delete old
information as per legislation, policy or guidelines
f) close the files upon service completion
g) be aware of legal issues associated with record
keeping, e.g., freedom of information,
confidentiality, protection of privacy, how long
records need to be kept:
 follow laws or guidelines relevant to issues
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 17
Core Competencies
C1
Professional Behaviour
C1.5
Manage Work
C1.5.4
evaluate the service provided to
clients
Notes
 This may be implemented differently in different
situations and organizations, e.g., a supervisor may
be responsible for this competency.
 Specific information about gathering information
and determining information needs is available in S4.
Why is this competency important?
 to improve practice and accountability
 to improve client satisfaction
 to identify new services
 to measure client satisfaction
 to provide evidence to assist in service promotion
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) promote the use of quality indicators and service
standards:
 develop evaluation criteria for all stakeholder
groups, if necessary and appropriate
b) review services, considering:
 context
 objectives:
 compare current service objectives to feedback
from clients
 process:
 reflect on their own service-provision process
and outcomes
c) conduct ongoing evaluations:
 use appropriate evaluation methods, i.e.,
qualitative, quantitative or a combination
 use appropriate data collection methods, e.g.,
questionnaire
d) collect the data
e) compile the data
f) analyze the data, for example:
 distinguish qualitative and quantitative
information
 apply statistical analysis to quantitative data
 promote value and application of qualitative
data
g) draw conclusions:
 reflect on evaluation results
 follow up as necessary, e.g., revise approach,
seek professional development
18 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
C2
Interpersonal Competence
C2.1
Respect Diversity
C2.1.1 recognize diversity
Why is this competency important?
 to be able to work effectively, appropriately and
ethically with a diverse client group
 to be able to work with an unbiased attitude
 to foster an empathetic relationship
 to understand that clients are unique individuals
and to accept and respect each individual for
who they are
 to provide an inclusive environment
 to provide effective service to clients
c) how combinations of these characteristics create
diversity with regard to:
 values and beliefs about work and productive
roles
 career exploration needs
 employment expectations
 economic, social and political issues
 learning styles
Notes
 The continuous acquisition of knowledge and selfawareness is necessary to work with diverse clients.
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
recognize diversity, including:
a) client’s characteristics, for example:
 physical ability
 mental ability
 emotional ability
 disabilities
 self-image/concept
 educational background
 language
 social barriers
 spirituality/religion
 motivations
 aspirations
 race
 age
 ethnicity
 gender
 sexual orientation/preference
 socioeconomic status
 culture
b) work and environment context, for example:
 roles
 expectations
 physical environment
 employment history
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 19
Core Competencies
C2
Interpersonal Competence
C2.1
Respect Diversity
C2.1.2
respect diversity
Notes
 It may not be practical or realistic to work effectively
with all clients, e.g., those with language barriers or
emotional barriers. Some individuals need to be
referred to an agency that can assist them more
effectively.
Why is this competency important?
 to work responsibly and respectfully with all people
by accepting, understanding and respecting
individual uniqueness
 to ensure pre-judgment and biases are not affecting
service delivery
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) be sensitive to the intra- and interpersonal
dynamics of people from diverse populations:
 accept and seek to understand responses that
may occur, e.g., body language cues
b) respond to the career development needs unique to
individuals of diverse populations:
 recognize and consider the issues unique to
diverse populations
 recognize and consider the various
physical/mental/emotional conditions that may
present barriers:
 determine any assistance or solutions
necessary based on individual needs, e.g.,
adaptive technology
c) access appropriate methods or resources to
communicate with clients with specific needs, e.g.,
interpreter for client with limited proficiency in
local language
d) work with colleagues, other professionals and
community members to:
 facilitate understanding of the needs of clients
with diverse characteristics in the areas of:
 career exploration and education
 employment expectations
 economic and social issues
 eliminate discriminatory practices in
employment, education and training as per
legislation, e.g. Human Rights
 promote open and honest feedback
 contribute to the elimination of prejudices
 clearly distinguish between individual and
systemic barriers
20 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
C2
Interpersonal Competence
C2
Interpersonal Competence
C2.2
Communicate Effectively
C2.2
Communicate Effectively
C2.2.1
work with climate and context to
enhance communication
C2.2.2
use a framework for verbal
communication
Why is this competency important?
 to identify and overcome barriers to communication
 to build rapport and relationships with the audience
 to encourage effective communication
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) consider themselves:
 self-reflect about perceptions of the audience
b) consider the audience’s needs and expectations
c) consider the level of language required to suit the
audience, e.g., vocabulary, sentence structure
d) consider the impact of the environment
e) consider the medium to be used, e.g. telephone,
face to face, written, electronic
f) adjust themselves, the environment and the
medium to promote comfort, safety, rapport and
access
Notes
 The word “audience” refers to the person or persons
receiving the message, e.g., client, employer, funder.
Why is this competency important?
 to facilitate an accurate assessment of clients’ needs
 to allow for the transfer of the required information
 to promote a co-operative and productive work
environment
 to save time and reduce confusion and error
 to validate clients’ own beliefs, values and opinions
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) arrange an appropriate space to facilitate open
communication
b) provide an overview:
 create a sense of common purpose
 describe:
 the agenda of the session
 why the session is important
c) state the goals and objectives:
 use them to clarify the purpose
d) provide a scenario:
 refer to a situation, (e.g., past experience, video,
newspaper clipping) to which the individual can
apply new information
e) summarize or review:
 incorporate summary or review during or at the
end of a session
f) provide transitions:
 signal a change of topic
 make transitions explicit to avoid confusing the
audience
g) provide verbal markers of importance:
 use words or phrases to highlight the most
important elements of the session, e.g., “The key
aspect of all of this is ”
h) attend to word use and different ways of
communicating that are specific to the cultural
context
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 21
Core Competencies
Notes
 This can apply to one-on-one or group situations and
can be done formally or informally.
 Career development practitioners need to be aware
of the vast number of skills necessary to facilitate
and communicate proactively. (See C2.2.4)
C2
Interpersonal Competence
C2.2
Communicate Effectively
C2.2.3
use a framework for written
communication
Why is this competency important?
 to facilitate an accurate assessment of clients’ needs
 to allow for the transfer of required information
 to save time and reduce confusion and error
 to reduce stress
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) identify the purpose of communication:
 set goals to promote effective and relevant
exchange of information
b) use the medium (e.g., e-mail, memo, report,
newsletters, web site) and style appropriate to the
audience:
 clarify the main idea of the communication
 show respect for varying literacy levels, e.g.,
provide material in written and alternative
formats
 break the information into parts that are precise
and clear
 give examples to illustrate points
c) organize the information into a meaningful
structure
d) use plain language that is easy to understand
e) check with the audience to ensure the message is
understood, if appropriate
Notes
 Maintaining clear notes and documentation is
important, as a career development practitioner must
often pass materials on to other professionals.
22 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
C2
Interpersonal Competence
C2.2
Communicate Effectively
C2.2.4
use effective listening skills
Why is this competency important?
 to create a climate of confidence, openness and
comfort
 to improve co-operation and teamwork
 to acquire relevant information to facilitate an
accurate assessment of clients’ needs
 to encourage clients to contribute to solutions
 to respect the pace and rhythm of the audience
 to demonstrate respect
d) use prompts and leads:
 help clients to find answers
 focus on both their requests and the client’s
responses
 seek consistency between questions and
responses
Notes
 Techniques need to be changed to adapt to the
audience’s learning style.
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) use listening skills, including:
 attending:
 note verbal and non-verbal behaviours
 paraphrasing:
 reflect basic messages
 clarifying:
 use self-disclosures, when appropriate
 focus discussions
 perception checking:
 determine the accuracy of understanding
 focusing:
 redirect clients
 questioning:
 ask open and closed questions
 use declarative probes
 reframing:
 help clients to see alternative perspectives
b) use reflecting skills:
 reflect feelings:
 let clients know that they understand how
clients feel about the situation
 reflect meaning:
 ensure that their perception of what is being
said is the same as what the client intends
c) use summarizing skills:
 pull themes together
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 23
Core Competencies
C2
Interpersonal Competence
C2
Interpersonal Competence
C2.2
Communicate Effectively
C2.2
Communicate Effectively
C2.2.5
clarify and provide feedback
C2.2.6
establish and maintain collaborative
work relationships
Why is this competency important?
 to develop clients’ abilities to self-assess and to
support them in growth and development
 to enhance clients’ awareness of their own
behaviours and their impacts on others
 to support clients’ abilities to understand their
situations, behaviours and subsequent needs
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) support clients in self-assessing performances and
behaviours
b) provide descriptive and specific feedback on
clients’ performances or behaviours, when
appropriate:
 describe clients’ behaviours without adding
value judgements
 discuss strengths and areas needing
improvement
c) describe inconsistencies and ask clients to clarify
them:
 use an “I” statement
Notes
 A career development practitioner cannot force a
client to change.
 Feedback should be provided to promote client selfadvocacy and self-efficacy.
Why is this competency important?
 to develop client, colleague, agency and community
relationships that facilitate gathering and sharing of
information
 to maximize trust and understanding so that further
communication can be clear, direct and effective
 to enable one to work effectively with others in order
to create a healthy and productive work environment
 to promote and market services to clients, employers
and other agencies
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) build rapport, e.g., introduce self
b) give other individuals their undivided attention
c) establish the purpose of a relationship:
 mutually determine expectations, needs and
goals
d) facilitate the exchange of information:
 encourage participation
 invite input from other individuals
 promote and market services
e) be sensitive to the needs and receptiveness of other
individuals:
 observe other individuals
 check perceptions
 respond to barriers and defenses in a respectful
manner
24 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
C2
Interpersonal Competence
C2
Interpersonal Competence
C2.3
Develop Productive Interactions
with Clients
C2.3
Develop Productive Interactions
with Clients
C2.3.1
foster client self-reliance and selfmanagement
C2.3.2
deal with reluctant clients
Why is this competency important?
 to promote clients’ independence
 to improve clients’ self-confidence
 to increase clients’ awareness of opportunities and
options
 to broaden clients’ ideas
 to understand and agree on possible outcomes
 to work out steps needed to implement a decision so
clients achieve goals
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) use a client-centred approach
b) establish rapport
c) educate clients about clients’ own roles,
responsibilities and choices in the career
development process
d) generate options with clients and offer choices
e) guide clients’ acquisition of the necessary
attitudes, knowledge and skills to enable them to:
 practice self-appraisals and introspection
 seek information, e.g., identify resources,
conduct information gathering interviews
 investigate information
 evaluate options
 select the most appropriate options
f) help clients to establish and commit to action plans
g) conduct periodic reviews of action plans, e.g., meet
one-on-one, telephone, e-mail
 update plans, as appropriate
Notes
 In some cases, it may be necessary for a career
development practitioner to provide direction to a
client when fostering self-reliance.
Why is this competency important?
 to assist clients in learning to manage change in their
lives
 to engage clients in the career planning process
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) listen to clients:
 encourage clients to voice their concerns
 validate clients’ concerns
b) determine sources of clients’ reluctance
c) inform clients of possible benefits of the process
d) let clients know the options and potential results
e) seek agreement on plans:
 ask for commitment to continue:
 if the client agrees, develop a plan
 if agreement cannot be reached, advise others
or refer client, as appropriate
Notes
 A career development practitioner must understand
the difference between a reluctant client and one who
is simply not yet ready to take the appropriate steps.
 It is crucial to realize that reluctance may stem from
a cultural perception of the role and value of career
development.
 Not all clients will be enthusiastic about engaging in
the career development process. Recognize that
reluctance may not be obvious and that roadblocks
may be placed by the client.
 Career development practitioners should realize that
inaction is sometimes seen as a benefit by the client,
and the career development practitioner will need to
help the client examine this.
 It is important to have buy-in on the part of the client
in order for the process to be successful. The career
development practitioner should not force a situation
when confronted with significant resistance.
 This competency does not apply to abusive clients. A
career development practitioner will not tolerate an
abusive situation. Organizations’ policies about how
to deal with abusive clients will vary.
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 25
Core Competencies
C3
Career Development
Knowledge
C3
Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1
Possess Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1
Possess Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1.1 describe how human development
models relate to career development
C3.1.2 describe major career development
theories
Why is this competency important?
 to establish a framework for practice
 to broaden the understanding of career development
Why is this competency important?
 to provide the context to work with clients
 to understand clients’ behaviours
 to provide a rationale for suggestions, approaches
and strategies
 to provide a meaningful framework for your
interactions with clients
 to understand theory embedded in various tests and
counselling approaches
 to use a number of theories (not just one) in order to
give clearer direction to the client
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) describe how common human development
models may relate to career development, which
include but are not limited to:
 Maslow:
 individuals’ basic needs must be met before
they can move on to higher levels, e.g.,
recognize that a client, who is the only income
source for a family, may need to be referred to
a job first, then to a career decision-making
group
 Skinner:
 use positive reinforcement to encourage
desirable behaviour, e.g., use verbal praise
such as “You have really been applying
yourself to your job search. Congratulations
on the efforts you are making.”
 Erickson:
 people go through various stages and each
stage has different issues to resolve, e.g.,
adolescents may not have a fully-developed
identity
 Frankl:
 individuals have a choice as to whether to take
ownership of and accept responsibility for
changing their situations or not
b) describe human development models as they relate
to your client groups, e.g., cognitive and emotional
development level of clients
Notes
 These theories are not absolute and serve only as
guidelines. Other interpretations and theories are also
valid.
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
describe major career development theories, which
include but are not limited to:
a) Trait-Factor Theory, e.g., True Colors:
 people have well defined patterns of traits, e.g.,
interests, values, abilities, personality
characteristics
 jobs can be analyzed and factors can be well
defined
 different jobs require different sets of traits
 the best career choices are made by matching
job factors to people’s traits
b) Holland’s Career Typology Theory:
 personalities tend to fall into six broad
categories:
 realistic
 investigative
 artistic
 social
 enterprising
 conventional
 work and social environments can also be
clustered into six similar populations:
 people are more satisfied in an environment
that is congruent with their own personality
type
26 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
 personalities tend to be characterized
predominately by three of the six personality
factors, e.g., RIA (realistic, investigative,
artistic)
 personalities can be matched with similar
combinations of work environments:
 the most satisfying work situations occur when
there is a close match between the personality
factors and the environmental characteristics
c) Super’s Theory of Life-Span/Life-Space Career
Developmental Theory:
 people have multiple talents and interests:
 jobs require multiple talents and abilities
 any individual is qualified for a number of
occupations
 people tend to impose their self-concepts onto
their work choices:
 typically, there is increased job satisfaction
when a person’s self view includes a view of
the working self as being integrated with the
other roles the person engages in
 career development tends to occur in
developmental stages:
 growth
 exploration
 establishment
 maintenance
 decline
 people tend to cycle through the stages when
they are involved in career transitions
d) Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory of Career
Choice:
 modelling creates a powerful influence on the
career choices that people make:
 observational learning stemming from
significant role models (e.g., parents, favourite
aunts or uncles, television stars) make some
occupations more attractive than others
 in the process of learning how to understand the
world, people develop various beliefs about the
nature of careers and their roles in life:
 these beliefs may or may not be founded in
reality
 Krumboltz refers to these beliefs as “selfobservational generalizations” (SOGs)
 for example, “Why bother to look for work,
there are no jobs available anyway.” or “I
never was much good at math and never will
be, so I better steer away from any career that
has anything to do with numbers.”
e) Constructivist Theory/Models of Career
Development:
 there are no fixed meanings in the world:
 people construct their own meanings from the
experiences they have
 two people may be in the same situation, yet
have very different perceptions of their
experiences:
 results from people attaching different
meaning to various elements of a situation
 career planning is about:
 creating meaning
 gaining clarity on one’s own personal vision
 taking steps to help make the vision a reality
Notes
 Career development practitioners can use a
combination of theories and philosophies (including
psychological, spiritual and vocational) to present a
holistic approach to clients.
 Most theories have more than one central
component. Any one of the bullets for each theory
would demonstrate some familiarity with the
constructs of the theory.
 No one theory is comprehensive.
 Theories need to be integrated into a practitioner’s
style and in accordance with the clients’ needs.
 It is important to recognize the bias inherent in many
theories, such as gender, class, culture, race, age and
religion.
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 27
Core Competencies
C3
Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1
Possess Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1.3 describe how change and transition
affect clients moving through the career
process
Why is this competency important?
 to help clients adapt to and manage change and
transition
 to help clients understand and accept that change and
transition are normal parts of life
d) describe how models and theories can:
 assist clients in identifying own change and
transition processes
 encourage clients
Notes
 Most adult workers will change occupations several
times in their career lives.
 Change is often why a client contacts a career
development practitioner.
 Some clients cannot move through the change
process until they understand it.
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) describe types of change and transition, for
example:
 school to work
 work to school
 public school to post-secondary
 immigration from one country to another
 employee to self-employed
 employment to unemployment or underemployment
 aging
 single to married
 married to single
 able-bodied person to a person with a disability
 long-term full time parenting to reintegration
into the workforce
 paid employment to other life roles, e.g.,
parenthood, volunteer
b) recognize that change and transition are parts of
life:
 identify that there are expected and unexpected
changes
 identify that some changes are planned and some
are forced
 identify that change occurs at many levels, e.g.,
personal, societal, economic, political, cultural
 identify that change and transition can have both
positive and negative components
c) recognize that the role of the career development
practitioner is to help clients to learn to manage
transitions and to guide clients through careerrelated changes
28 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
C3
Career Development
Knowledge
C3
Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1
Possess Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1
Possess Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1.4 identify how life roles impact career
development
C3.1.5 identify major components of the career
planning process
Why is this competency important?
 to understand and integrate into practice that making
a living is only one component of one’s identity
 to understand that individuals, their values and the
environment are interdependent
Why is this competency important?
 to help clients develop and implement personal
career plans that are clear, relevant and attainable
based on life roles and values
 to help clients understand that career planning is a
life-long process
 to help clients understand how societal trends play a
major role in career planning
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) identify life roles and responsibilities that affect
career development, e.g., child, spouse, community
leader
b) describe appropriate intervention options
c) assist clients with the integration of career
development within life roles
Notes
 While career development has an impact on work, it
also impacts other roles assumed by individuals.
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
identify the major components of the career planning
process, which include, but are not limited to:
a) needs assessment
b) self-assessment, e.g., interests, personality,
portfolio development, skills, values
c) opportunity awareness, e.g., training, education,
labour market, funding
d) planning techniques, e.g., research, decision
making, action planning, goal setting, work search
e) planned follow up, e.g., re-evaluation plan
Notes
 It is important for the career development
practitioner to have an understanding of the
implications of barriers and limitations.
 Although the career planning process is a life-long
process, clients should be made aware that this
process includes short-term and long-term goals.
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 29
Core Competencies
C3
Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1
Possess Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1.6 identify the major organizations,
resources and community-based
services for career development
Notes
 The role of the career development practitioner is to
identify resources available for career development
and to empower people to access and use them.
 It is important to be aware of sources of information
for all types of people, including people with
disabilities, aboriginal people, members of visible
minorities and women.
Why is this competency important?
 to promote life-long learning
 to address the needs of those clients with unique
needs
 to identify service gaps in the community
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) identify organizations, resources and communitybased services relevant to their client groups, for
example:
 boards of education
 corporate intra-organizational resources
 directories
 government programs
 immigrant centers
 mentorship programs
 private practitioners
 secondary and post-secondary institutions
 social services
 technology-based resources, e.g., Internet
 immigrant centers
b) know how to access information pertaining to
organizations, resources and services relevant to
their client groups
c) describe services offered by each organization and
resource:
 identify types of clients eligible for the services
offered
 describe how the services can be accessed:
 identify the referral process, if applicable
 identify the information available
30 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
C3
Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1
Possess Career Development
Knowledge
 rights, responsibilities and expectations of
employers and employees:
 identify relevant legislation
b) possess an understanding of primary, secondary
and tertiary economies
C3.1.7 explain components of labour market
information
Why is this competency important?
 to help clients understand and apply labour market
information to their work search and career
objectives
 to comprehend the local, regional, national and
international labour markets
 to access information on past and present labour
market needs and future labour trends
 to use career resource information
 to understand the labour market
 to be aware of others in this specialized field and to
provide referrals
Notes
 Accessing labour market information can be very
time consuming. Career development practitioners
can increase their efficiency by working with
colleagues to share this information.
 It is important to be able to use labour market
information in interactions with clients as well as in
program planning, priority setting, etc.
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) access and explain components affecting the
labour market, including:
 historical perspective of the labour market
 structure of the labour market, for example:
 types and sizes of organizations
 industrial classifications
 National Occupational Classifications (NOC)
 basic language of the labour market, for
example:
 employment rates
 participation rates
 statistics
 trends in, for example:
 business conditions, needs and practices
 changing job requirements
 education
 employment:
emerging and declining occupations
 marketable skills
 organizational development
 unpaid work
 work alternatives, e.g., work sharing,
contracting, entrepreneurship, consulting,
working out of the home
 the workforce
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 31
Core Competencies
C3
Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1
Possess Career Development
Knowledge
C3.1.8 keep current about the labour market
Why is this competency important?
 to understand how the current labour market relates
to clients’ skills and needs and vice versa
 to provide accurate labour market information to
clients
 to assist clients in using current labour market
information for career planning
 to assist clients in networking effectively in the
community
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
keep current about the community’s labour market by
being aware of:
a) job search resources, e.g., Internet, newspapers,
employment services
b) demographic data
c) employers and the skills they require:
 have an employer contact within a company
d) placement data
e) updates of local labour market surveys
f) funding sources
g) training opportunities
h) local government economic development plans
and forecasts
i) activities of companies and any diversification, for
example:
 openings
 closings
 relocations
 expansions
32 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Core Competencies
C4
Needs Assessment
and Referral
C4
Needs Assessment
and Referral
C4.1
Refer Clients to the Appropriate
Sources
C4.1
Refer Clients to the
Appropriate Sources
C4.1.1
respond to clients’ needs
C4.1.2
develop and maintain a referral
network
Why is this competency important?
 to assist clients in selecting services to meet their
needs
 to help clients to develop skills for research
 to assist clients in obtaining services outside the
boundaries of the practitioner’s expertise
Why is this competency important?
 to assist clients in connecting with appropriate
resources
 to send clients to the appropriate referral agency
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) use a variety of methods and/or models to help
clients identify their needs on an ongoing basis, for
example:
 ask questions, e.g., verbally, by questionnaire
 complete needs assessments with clients
b) collaborate with clients to determine the most
appropriate action to meet clients’ needs:
 access services, information and/or training to
help clients make informed decisions
c) initiate next steps with clients:
 refer clients to other resources when issues are
outside the boundaries of the practitioner’s
expertise, organizational mandate or boundaries
of career development
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) access or organize an information system for
referral sources, e.g., a database, a portfolio
b) liaise with others (e.g., job clubs, employers,
employer networks) to exchange referral
information about available and current resources
c) establish community linkages between clients with
special needs and community resources
Notes
 Even when the clients’ needs are within the career
development practitioner’s boundaries of expertise,
there may be situations where the practitioner will
refer the clients to other practitioners whose
approach would benefit the client more.
 As part of this process, a career development
practitioner may recognize client barriers that will
have a significant effect on the career development
process, for example, learning disabilities or
psychological/social/neurological difficulties. In
these cases, the practitioner may need to refer the
clients to recognized specialists.
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 33
Core Competencies
C4
Needs Assessment
and Referral
C4.1
Refer Clients to the
Appropriate Sources
C4.1.3
make appropriate referrals
Why is this competency important?
 to inform clients of services that are most relevant to
their needs
To demonstrate this competency, career
development practitioners will strive to:
a) collaborate with clients to choose the most
appropriate referrals
b) assist clients as needed and appropriate:
 follow the procedures of the referral sources, if
applicable
c) complete all necessary documentation, e.g., client
consent forms
d) confirm with other agencies that referrals are
appropriate:
 take corrective measures, if necessary
e) follow up on referrals:
 document outcomes
 refer clients to additional referral sources, if
required
Notes
 It is important to have knowledge of a program or
service’s requirements and mandate prior to
proceeding. For example, a social assistance
recipient should not proceed with training without
prior approval.
 It may be important to conduct ongoing follow-up to
ensure a client does not become stalled or lost within
the system.
34 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Appendix A
Appendix A - Code of Ethics
Preamble
Career development practitioners are engaged in a
wide spectrum of activities in many fields. They work
in a wide range of organizational settings and provide a
spectrum of services and programs to a diverse
population. This Code of Ethics is intended as a
platform for the Canadian Standards and Guidelines for
Career Development.
This Code of Ethics is designed to reflect the breadth
of the field as a companion to the core competencies
that are being developed nationally. Therefore this
Code of Ethics is purposely broad and quite general. It
is anticipated that further detailed and focused ethical
guidelines will be developed for each of the
specialization areas identified. These specialized
guidelines will then be considered as an adjunct to this
Code of Ethics, not a replacement for this Code. The
Code of Ethics does not supercede legislation and
regulations that you as a practitioner are required to
follow according to the jurisdiction you work in and
the services you provide.
The purpose of the Code of Ethics is to provide a
practical guide for professional behaviour and practice
for those who offer direct service in career
development and to inform the public which career
development practitioners serve. Ethical principles help
career development practitioners to make thoughtful
decisions to resolve ethical dilemmas. The Code of
Ethics when combined with the Canadian Standards
and Guidelines for Career Development will protect
the consumer and the public when receiving the
services of career development practitioners.
1.
Ethical Principles for Professional
Competency and Conduct
1.a.
Knowledge/Skills/Competency
Career development practitioners value high
standards of professional competence and ensure
they are able to offer high standards of
professional knowledge, skills and expertise.
1.b.
Career development practitioners are committed
to the principle of life-long learning to maintain
and improve both their professional growth and
the development of the field in areas of
knowledge, skills and competence.
1.c.
Customer: means the person(s) or organization that is
paying for the career development service. A customer
may or may not be the client.
Field: refers to practitioners involved in career
development services.
Boundary of Competency
Career development practitioners recognize the
boundaries of their competency and only provide
services for which they are qualified by training
and/or supervised experience. They are
knowledgeable of and arrange for appropriate
consultations and referrals based on the best
interests of their clients.
1.d.
Representation of Qualifications
Career development practitioners do not claim
nor imply professional qualifications or
professional affiliation that may imply
inaccurate expertise and/or endorsement. Career
development practitioners are responsible for
correcting any misrepresentations or
misunderstandings about their qualifications.
1.e.
Definitions for the purpose of this Code
Client: means the person(s) or organization to whom
the career development practitioner provides services.
This may include individuals, groups, classes,
organizations, employers and others.
Self-Improvement
Marketing
Career development practitioners maintain high
standards of integrity in all forms of advertising,
communications, and solicitation and conduct
business in a manner that enhances the field.
1.f.
Relations with Institutions and
Organizations
Career development practitioners assist
institutions or organizations to provide the
highest calibre of professional service by
adhering to this Code of Ethics. Career
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 35
Appendix A
development practitioners will encourage
organizations, institutions, customers and
employers to operate in a manner that allows the
career development practitioner to provide
service in accordance with the Code of Ethics.
1.g.
Respect for Persons
Career development practitioners respect and
stand up for the individual rights and personal
dignity of all clients. Career development
practitioners do not condone or engage in sexual
harassment. Career development practitioners
promote equality of opportunity and provide
non-discriminatory service. Clients who fall
outside the mandate of an organization should be
referred to appropriate services.
1.h.
Career development practitioners provide clients
with relevant information about themselves to
clients, as is appropriate for the type of
relationship and service offered.
2.
Ethical Principles for Career
Development Practitioner-Client
Relationship
2.a.
Integrity/Honesty/Objectivity
Career development practitioners promote the
welfare of clients by providing accurate, current
and relevant information.
Career development practitioners assist clients to
realize their potential and respect clients’ rights
to make their own informed and responsible
decisions.
Abide by the Code of Ethics and
Provincial and Federal Laws
Career development practitioners abide by all of
the by-laws outlined in this Code of Ethics and
furthermore comply with all relevant
provincial/territorial and federal legislation and
regulations.
Career development practitioners are aware of
their own personal values and issues and avoid
bringing and/or imposing these on their clients.
2.b.
Career development practitioners respect the
privacy of the individual or third party referral
source and maintain confidentiality of
information as is appropriate for the type of
relationship and service offered.
Career development practitioners inform others
(such as colleagues, clients, students, employers,
and third party sources) about the Code of Ethics
and relevant laws as appropriate and any
mechanisms available if violations of the Code
of Ethics or laws are perceived to have taken
place.
Career development practitioners will inform
clients and customers of the limits of
confidentiality.
Career development practitioners take
appropriate action to try to rectify a situation if
ethical, moral or legal violations are perceived to
have taken place by a colleague, whether a
career development practitioner or not.
1.i.
Career development practitioners offering
services in a group, family, class or open setting
(such as a Career Resource Center) take all
reasonable measures to respect privacy.
Use of Information and Communication
Technology
Career development practitioners using
information and communication technology,
which involves a client and service provider who
are in separate or remote locations, are aware
that all aspects of the Code of Ethics apply as in
other contexts of service provision.
Confidentiality
Career development practitioners are cautioned
that the issues of confidentiality apply to the use
of information and communication technology,
e.g., voice mail, faxes, e-mail
2.c.
36 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Releasing Private Information
Career development practitioners release
confidential information in the following
circumstances:
Appendix A
 with the express permission of the client
 where there is clear evidence of imminent
danger to the client*
 where there is clear evidence of imminent
danger to others*
 where required by law, such as in reporting
suspected child abuse or upon court order
involve the parents or guardians wherever
appropriate.
2.e.
Career development practitioners are aware of
the ethical issues involved in having personal
relationships with clients. Career development
practitioners avoid having conflicting
relationships whenever possible. If such a
relationship cannot be avoided the career
development practitioner is responsible to
monitor the relationship to prevent harm, ensure
that judgement is not impaired and avoid
exploitation. To this end career development
practitioners utilize informed consent,
consultation, supervision and full disclosure to
all parties involved.
(* When the situation allows, action should be
taken following careful deliberation and
consultation with the client and other
professionals. The client should be encouraged
to take personal responsibility as soon as
possible.)
Career development practitioners attend to
privacy and security in the maintenance and
release of all records, whether records are
written, on audiotape, or videotape,
computerized or electronically stored.
2.d.
Multiple Relations
2.f.
Career development practitioners avoid and/or
disclose any conflicts of interest which might
influence their professional decisions or
behaviours. Career development practitioners do
not exploit any relationship to further their
personal, social, professional, political, or
financial gains at the expense of their clients,
especially if the situation would impair the
career development practitioner’s objectivity.
Informed Consent
Career development practitioners honour the
right of individuals to consent to participate in
services offered, dependent upon the rights the
individual does have, such as in being legally
required to attend school.
Career development practitioners fully inform
clients as to the use of any information that is
collected during the offering of service. Career
development practitioners ensure that
information collected will only be used for its
intended purpose or obtain the consent of clients
for any other use of the information.
Career development practitioners inform clients
and customers about the types of service offered
and the limitations to service, as much as is
reasonably possible given the type of service
offered, including information about the limits to
confidentiality, legal obligations, and the right to
consult with other professionals.
Career development practitioners who work with
minors or dependent individuals who are unable
to give voluntary, informed consent, take special
care to respect the rights of the individual and
Conflict of Interest
Career development practitioners work to
resolve any conflicts of interest with all parties
involved giving priority to the best interests of
the client.
3.
Ethical Principles for Professional
Relationships
3.a.
Consultation
Career development practitioners reserve the
right to consult with other professionally
competent persons ensuring the confidentiality
of the client is protected.
3.b.
Respect for Other Professionals
Career development practitioners make full use
of the resources provided by other professionals
to best serve the needs of the client, including
professional, technical, or administrative
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 37
Appendix A
resources. This means understanding and
respecting the unique contributions of other
related professionals. Career development
practitioners seek to avoid duplicating the
services of other professionals.
action, the career development practitioner will
need to proceed further with this model.
3. Examine the risks and benefits of each alternative
action.
As career development practitioners have a
responsibility to clients, they also have a
responsibility to fellow service providers. When
a complaint is voiced about other service
providers, or inappropriate behaviour is
observed, the career development practitioner
will follow the appropriate channels to address
the concerns.
The examination should include short-term,
ongoing and long-term consequences for each
person involved, including the Practitioner, when
more than one Code of Ethics is relevant or
alternative courses of action seem to be suggested
by the Code of Ethics. In such situations gathering
additional information and consulting with a
trusted colleague is highly recommended.
Ethical Decision-Making Model
The career development practitioner can check
his/her own emotional reactions to each solution
and those of others involved in the decision. The
career development practitioner also needs to
determine if he/she has allowed enough time for
contemplation of the situation. Projecting the
various solutions into the future and envisioning
the possible scenarios as each decision is enacted
can be helpful.
This is a model of ethical decision making to
complement the Code of Ethics developed for the
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career
Development. This model is offered to assist career
development practitioners with a process to follow and
with cues, such as emotional reactions, which may
assist in making better ethical decisions and resolving
ethical dilemmas.
Steps in Ethical Decision-Making
4. Choose a solution, take action and evaluate the
results.
1. Recognize that an ethical dilemma exists.
The career development practitioner needs to act
with commitment to one of the solutions, checking
that the solution continues to feel the best that can
be done in the situation, for all involved. The
practitioner will need to assume responsibility for
the consequences of the decision and be willing to
correct for any negative consequences that might
occur as a result of the action taken. This means
determining that the outcome feels right and reengaging in the decision-making process if the
ethical dilemma remains unresolved.
An emotional response by a career development
practitioner is often a cue to the need to make an
ethical decision, such as feeling uneasy about a
situation, questioning one’s self or the actions of a
client, or feeling blocked or uncomfortable in a
situation with a client or colleague.
2. Identify the relevant ethical issues, all of the
parties involved, and the corresponding pertinent
ethical principles from the Code of Ethics.
The career development practitioner can check
his/her feelings of discomfort and what these may
tell about the situation. The feelings of the client or
a third party involved in the dilemma could also be
explored.
5. Learn from the situation.
In some situations following one of the Codes of
Ethics will offer enough guidance to resolve the
situation. In situations where more than one Code
is relevant or there is more than one course of
38 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
The career development practitioner will examine
each ethical situation to consider the factors that
were involved in the development of the dilemma
and to see if any future preventative measures
could be taken. Examining what he/she has learned
for the situation and how the experience might
affect future practice are also important activities
for the career development practitioner.
Appendix A
Ethical Decision-Making Models
Consulted
Canadian Psychological Association (1991).
Canadian code of ethics for psychologists. Ottawa,
ONT: Author.
Hill, M., Glaser, K., & Harden, K. (1995). A
feminist model for ethical decision-making. In E. J.
Rave, and C. C. Larsen (Eds.), Ethical decision making
in therapy: Feminist perspectives. New York, N.Y.:
Guilford Press.
Sheppard, G., Schulz, W., & McMahon, S. (1999).
Code of ethics for the Canadian Counselling
Association. Ottawa, ONT: Canadian Counselling
Association.
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 39
Appendix A
Acknowledgements for Code of
Ethics
The Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career
Development Ethics Subcommittee would like to
acknowledge the following resources that were
consulted in preparing the Code of Ethics:
Code of Ethics for:
Papers and Documents
Creed, K. (1999). Ethical Issues for Online
Counselling. Unpublished document.
Schultz, W. (1996). Career and employment
counsellors’ code of ethics. In J. Kotylak & D. Welch
(Eds.). Building Tomorrow Today: Proceedings from
the Third Annual Consultation for Career Development
in Alberta. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Career
Development Action Group.
Canada
 Alberta Teachers Association - Teacher’s Code of
Professional Conduct
 Canadian Association of Career Educators and
Employers
 Canadian Association of Pre-Retirement Planners
 Canadian Association of Rehabilitation Professionals
 Canadian Association of Social Workers
 Canadian Counselling Association
 Canadian Psychology Association
 Career Development Association of Alberta
 International Association of Career Management
Professional
 Ontario Alliance of Career Development
Practitioners Ethical Standards (DRAFT)
 Ontario Society of Psychotherapists
 Personnel Association of Ontario
 The Educational Association of Networking,
Education and Training for Workers in Employment,
Rehabilitation and Career Counselling (British
Columbia)
 The Professional Corporation of Guidance
Counsellors of Quebec
Schultz, W. (1998). An integrated approach to
ethical decision-making. Paper presented to the annual
conference of the Canadian Guidance and Counselling
Annual Conference, Montreal, Quebec.
Schultz, W. (1998). Some ethical guidelines for
group counsellors. Paper presented to the annual
conference of the Canadian Guidance and Counselling
Annual Conference, Montreal, Quebec.
Simard, S. (1996). A guide to criterion-based
assessment of employability skills including sample
performance criteria. Paper presented to the 3rd
International Partnership Conference of the Conference
Board of Canada. Toronto, Ontario.
Stewart, J. (1999). Ethical issues in career
counselling. Guidance and Counselling, 14(2), 18-21.
Ward, V. (1998). Training career development
facilitators in ethical decision-making. In M. Van
Norman (Ed.). Natcon Papers 1998. Toronto, ON:
University of Toronto Guidance Centre.
United States





American Counseling Association
Career Development Facilitator
National Association of Colleges and Employers
National Career Development Association
National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. Standards for the Ethical Practice of Web
Counseling
International
 Institute of Careers Guidance (Britain)
40 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Appendix A
Appendix B - Glossary of Terms
Assessment
Consists of procedures and processes used to collect information about some attribute, characteristic, or
phenomenon. Assessment can be used with respect to an individual or a system and includes
measurement, diagnosis and a plan which results in positive and predictable outcomes. The information
can be obtained through a variety of formal and informal techniques including standardized and nonstandardized instruments, interviews, personality measures, questionnaires, checklists, behavioural
observations and reports by significant others.
Career
It is a lifestyle concept that involves a sequence of work or leisure activities in which one engages
throughout a lifetime. Careers are unique to each person and are dynamic, unfolding throughout life
(Herr and Cramer, 1984)
The sequence of occupations, jobs, and positions engaged in or occupied throughout the lifetime of a
person. (Super and Bohn, 1970 from Srebalus, Marinelli and Messing, 1982, p. 97)
The sequence of major positions occupied by a person throughout his or her pre-occupational,
occupational, and post-occupational life. It includes work-related roles such as those of student,
employee and pensioner, together with complementary vocational, familial and civic roles.
A summation of one's life experiences including work, leisure, and education.
Career
Counselling
An interpersonal process focused on facilitating career development that involves choosing, entering,
adjusting to, and advancing in a career and integrating the work role with other life roles. The process
seeks to enhance personal development, as well as facilitate personal awareness about occupations,
life/career decision making, career planning, career pathing, or other career development related issues.
Career
Development
The process of managing learning, training, and work throughout one’s life span. This is an umbrella
term that includes many activities, some formal, others informal. Career development can be planned
and organized, or random and haphazard.
The process of integrating work, leisure, training, learning and relationships throughout one’s lifespan.
Self-development over one’s lifespan through the interaction and integration of the roles, settings and
events of a person’s life. (Gysber 1996, p. 1; Gysbers, Norman (1996). Beyond Career Development Life Career Development Revisited. (ERIC/CASS Document)
The total constellation of pyschological, sociological, educational, physical, economic and change
factors that combine to influence the nature and significance of work in the total life span of any given
individual. (Zunker, 1998)
Career
Development
Practitioner
Facilitates the ability of clients to take charge of their own career development by assisting them in the
process of planning, managing and identifying resources for their career-life.
Career
Exploration
Researching various aspects of a career, such as required education, duties, working conditions and
outlooks.
Community
Capacity
Building
The discovery of the existing resources of an individual within the context of the local community,
prior to the development of new training or education.
Counsellor
An individual with special training who advises and assists students, employees, disabled persons and
substance abusers.
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 41
Appendix B
Efficacy
Expectations
Refers to people’s beliefs about the consequences associated with performing certain tasks. (See
also self-efficacy.)
Job
A paid position requiring a group of specific attributes that enable a person to perform a
configuration of tasks in an organization.
A specific set of tasks that take place in a particular environment for a particular employer.
Labour Force
That part of the working-age population participating in work or actively job searching. (Retired
people, students, people not actively seeking work or unavailable for work for other reasons are
not part of the labour force.)
Labour Market
The arena where those who are in need of labour and those who can supply the labour come
together.
Labour Market
Information
Information that relates to the labour market ,such as data on employment, wages, standards,
qualifications, job openings and working conditions.
Natural Helper
A person who is active in a community, or who has potential to be active, and who endorses
career development in that community.
Non-verbal
Communication
Messages sent by body language, e.g., distance between speaker and listener, promptness,
gestures.
Occupation
A group of similar jobs found in different industries or organizations. (Herr and Cramer, 1984)
The main work of an individual in order to earn a living. (Dictionary of Occupational Terms)
Personal Agency
Refers to people’s beliefs about the extent to which they are active agents in their own life
events, in contrast to passive recipients of the events one experiences. See also self-efficacy.
Prior Learning
Assessment
An evaluation of skills or knowledge acquired, and which may be credited towards an
established educational program.
Self-Assessment
The process of evaluating one’s abilities, talents and personality traits (Dictionary of
Occupational Terms).
Self-Efficacy
Refers to people’s estimates of their own abilities to perform certain tasks. It is closely
connected to efficacy expectations, which refers to people’s beliefs about the consequences
associated with performing certain tasks. Self-efficacy and efficacy expectations are
components of the term personal agency, which refers to people’s beliefs about the extent to
which they are active agents in their own life events, in contrast to passive recipients of the
events one experiences.
Talent Pooling
Bringing together individuals who have skills and knowledge that complement and/or amplify
others
Training
Facilitating the acquisition of specific knowledge and skills to meet clearly defined outcomes.
Verbal
Communication
Messages sent by choice of words, e.g., vocabulary
Work
A set of activities with an intended set of outcomes, from which it is hoped that a person will
derive personal satisfaction and then will contribute to some greater goal. Work is not
necessarily tied to paid employment, but to meaningful and satisfying activities, e.g., volunteer
work.
42 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Appendix B
Glossary Definitions Adapted From:
Alberta Advanced Education and Career
Development. (1993) Understanding the Labour
Market. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Human Resources and
Employment.
Ettinger, J. (Ed.). (1991). Improved Career
Decision Making in a Changing World. Ottawa, ON:
Human Resources Development Canada.
Herr, , E. L., & Cramer, S. H. (1988). Career
Guidance and Counselling Through the Life Span:
Systematic Approaches. Boston: Little, Brown.
Occupational Standards and Certification Branch.
(1990). LMI Handbook: a guide to local labour market
information analysis (2nd Edition). Ottawa, ON:
Human Resources Development Canada.
For a more detailed definition of labour market
terms and issues, see Understanding the Labour
Market published by the Information Development and
Marketing Branch of Alberta Advanced Education and
Career Development (ISBN 07732-06167).
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 43
Appendix C
Appendix C - Professional
Associations
The following is a list of professional associations
providing a range of services - professional
development, advocacy, networking, etc.- to
practitioners involved in career development.
Some of these associations have a broad-based
membership drawn from diverse groups of service
providers. Others concentrate on a particular specialty
area.
International Associations
 International Association of Career Management
Professionals
 American Counseling Association (USA)
 National Career Development Association (USA)
National Associations
 Canadian Career Information Association (CCIA)
 Association of Career Centres in Educational
Settings
 Canadian Association of Career Educators and
Employers (CACEE)
 Canadian Association of Pre-Retirement Planners
 Canadian Association of Rehabilitation Professionals
(CARP)
 Canadian Association of Social Workers
 Canadian Coalition of Community-Based Training
 Canadian Counselling Association - Career
Development Chapter (CCA-CDC)
 Canadian Psychology Association
 Human Resources Management Development
Association
 National Association of Friendship Centres
Regional Associations
Alberta
 Alberta Association of Community-Based Training
 Alberta Career Development Action Group
 Alberta Society for Human Resource and
Organizational Development (ASHROD), Calgary
 Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA)
 Alberta Vocational Colleges Association
 Career Development Association of Alberta
 Provincial Guidance Counsellors’ Association - a
branch of the ATA
British Columbia
 Labour Market and Career Information Association
(LMCIA) of British Columbia
 Networking, Education and Training for Workers in
Employment, Rehabilitation and Career Counselling
(NETWERCC)
 Association of Service Providers for Employability
and Career Training (ASPECT)
 BC School Counsellors Association (BCSCA)
 Career Education Society (CES)
 College and Institute Counsellors Association
(CICA) of BC
 Victoria Employment Agencies Network (VEAN)
Manitoba
 Manitoba Association of Community-Based
Educators and Trainers
New Brunswick
 Association francophone des conseillers et
conseilleres du Nouveau Brunswick
 Association francophone des conseillers
d’orientation du Nouveau Brunswick
Nova Scotia
 Nova Scotia Career Development Association
 Nova Scotia Association of Professional Counsellors
Ontario
 Ontario Alliance of Career Development
Practitioners
 Ontario Association of Consultants, Counsellors,
Psychometrists and Psychotherapists
 Ontario Association of Youth Employment Centres
 Ontario School Counsellors’ Association
 Ontario Society of Psychotherapists
 Human Resource Professional Association of
Ontario
Québec
 L’Ordre professionelles des conseillers et
conseilleres d’orientation du Québec
 RQUODE
44 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Appendix C
Works Consulted
Commission on Rehabilition Counselor
Certification. Rehabilitation counseling: the profession
and standards of practice.
Alberta Advanced Education and Career
Development. (1996). Creating a career resource
centre. Edmonton, Alberta: Alberta Advanced
Education and Career Development.
Alberta Advanced Education and Career
Development. (1996). Job search: The product is you.
Edmonton, Alberta: Alberta Advanced Education and
Career Development.
Alberta Advanced Education and Career
Development. (1998). Job seeker’s handbook: An
introductory guide to finding work. Edmonton, Alberta:
Alberta Advanced Education and Career Development.
Alberta Career Development Action Group.
(1995). Competency Working Group. (January, 1996).
Report on career development competencies.
Edmonton, AB: Alberta Career Development Action
Group.
Alberta Career Development Action Group,
Competency Working Group. (Sept. 1996). Sample
breakdown of career development competencies.
Edmonton, AB: Alberta Career Development Action
Group.
Alberta Career Development Action Group,
Competency Working Group. (1997) Building
tomorrow today: validation of career development
competencies. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Career
Development Action Group.
Babbie, E. & Wagenaar, T. (1986). Practicing
social research. Belmont, California: Wadsworth
Publishing Company, Inc.
Brammer, L. (1979). The helping relationship:
Process and skills. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council.
(1997). Tourism Trainer. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian
Tourism Human Resource Council.
Career Development Association of Alberta
(CDAA). Portfolio of the careerdevelopment
professional.
Cormier, W. H. & Cormier, L. S. (1991).
Interviewing strategies for helpers: fundamental skills
and cognitive behavioral interventions. Pacific Grove,
California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
Counsellor Education Advisory Council. (April,
1995) A framework for change: school guidance
counsellor education in Ontario. Ontario School
Counsellors’ Association.
Engels, D. W. (Ed.) (1994) The professional
practice of career counseling and consultation: A
resource document (2nd ed.). Alexandria, Virginia:
National Career Development Association.
Frank, F, & Smith, A. Ready, Willing and Able
Grappo, Gary Joseph. (1997). Get the job you want
in thirty days. New York: The Berkley Publishing
Group.
Hiebert, B. Generic interpersonal skills involved in
creating a working alliance - a skill supplement.
Athabasca, AB: Athabasca University.
Hiebert, B. Problem solving and decision making.
Landine, Jl, Stead, B., & Stewart, J. (1995). The
training needs of career and employment counsellors
and their employers in New Brunswick. Fredricton,
NB: New Brunswick Career Development Action
Group.
L’Ordre professionelles des conseillers et
conseilleres d’orientation du Québec. (1994). Le code
des professions. Québec: L’editeur official du Québec.
National Association of Friendship Centres.
(1994). Training plan: Friendship centre employment
unit staff. Ottawa, ON: National Association of
Friendship Centres.
National Career Development Association. (1997).
Career counseling competencies (revised edition).
National Life/Work Centre. (April, 1999).
Blueprint for life/work designs: Demonstration edition.
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 45
Appendix C
National Steering Committee for Canadian
Standards and Guidelines for Career Development.
(April, 1999). Uses and benefits.
National Steering Committee for Canadian
Standards and Guidelines for Career Development.
(August, 1998). National consultation report.
National Steering Committee for Canadian
Standards and Guidelines for Career Development.
(June, 1998). Phase 1 summary and phase 2
introduction.
National Steering Committee for Canadian
Standards and Guidelines for Career Development.
Requests for proposals.
National Steering Committee for Canadian
Standards and Guidelines for Career Development.
(September, 1997). Working papers.
National Steering Committee for Canadian
Standards and Guidelines for Career Development.
Working group #3. A developing framework for
national career development guidelines and standards.
NICEC. The Careers guidance interview. Sheraton
House, Castle Rock, Cambridge: Careers Research and
Advisory Centre.
Ontario Alliance of Career Development
Practitioners. (November, 1995). Generic competency
model. (Draft).
Ontario School Counsellors’ Association. (1995).
A framework for change: A report of the Counsellor
Education Advisory Committee. Toronto, ON: Ontario
School Counsellors’ Association.
Workforce development professional
competencies. (Draft). U.S.A.
46 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners
Appendix C
Acknowledgements
The National Steering Committee would like to
acknowledge the many people who have participated in
the process that resulted in this document. Specifically,
we would like to thank:
 The 65 participants in the first Assembly on
Guidelines and Standards.
 The 9 people on the framework working group who
produced the initial framework that formed the basis
for the document used in the Phase 1 consultations.
 The 1250 people who participated in the first
national consultation.
 Members of the Steering Committee for Phase 1 of
the initiative.
 The 60 participants in the second Assembly on
Guidelines and Standards.
 The 48 participants, representing 60 stakeholder
groups, who participated in the first meeting of the
Stakeholder Liaison and Advisory Council.
 The 15 practitioners who participated in the initial
profile meeting, to flesh out the standards.
 The 40 practitioners who participated in the regional
focus groups to produce this draft of the standards.
 The 750 practitioners who participated in the 42
focus groups during the national consultation on this
document.
 Delegates from more than 30 countries who have
provided enthusiastic support and encouragement for
the Canadian Standards and Guidelines Initiative.
 Human Resources Development Canada for their
financial support for this project
 The career development community who provided
more than their share of the 50-50 in-kind and
financial contributions to this project
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners 47
Appendix C
Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development
Steering Committee for Phase 2
Name
Province
Name
Province
Lynne Bezanson
Ontario
Gillian Johnston
Ontario
Mary Cawley
Saskatchewan
Vicki Mason
Northwest Territories
Sharon Crozier
Alberta
Barb MacCallum
Ontario
Clarence DeSchiffart
Nova Scotia
John Stewart
New Brunswick
Nicole Galarneau
Quebec
Valerie Ward
British Columbia
Bryan Hiebert
Alberta
Michel Doiron
Ontario
48 Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners