A nationwide campaign has been launched in the UK with the aim of uniting Career Development Practitioners (CDP’s) to tell the world about who we are and what we do. In this post Bella Doswell and Katherine Jennick explain what it is all about.

Earlier in January, a leading UK university placed a job posting on LinkedIn for a Careers Adviser that had no requirement for applicants to hold any careers-related qualifications.  A lively debate on LinkedIn was started about why it was key to have qualified CDP’s doing the job of providing careers advice and guidance.  It generated a huge response from the CDP community.

This, along with evidence of CDP advocacy internationally from Canada and Australia, prompted us (Bella Doswell and Katherine Jennick) to create an opportunity to get a message out to people about who CDP’s are and what we do, to raise awareness of the breadth and value of career guidance for young people and adults.

It comes at a time when careers services for young people and adults are struggling to recruit and retain qualified careers practitioners and, in too many cases, diluting requirements for qualifications that guarantee the level of knowledge necessary to support clients with a wide variety of needs.

This started as a grassroots campaign, in response to three main issues:

• a lack of understanding by the public about what we do;
• a lack of confidence and common language by careers professionals to describe what we do; and
• the apparent acceptance by some leading employers in the UK that our careers and coaching qualifications are not a mandatory requirement to do our job.

Using Katherine’s hashtag #SoMuchMoreThanTalkingAboutJobs, this campaign was designed to bring careers colleagues together, giving them a narrative to invite curiosity and discussion from the public, family, and friends about who we are and what we do. Our hope is that it also acts as a strong message to employers, to say that together, CDP’s are a body of trained professionals who are best placed to deliver quality careers services – career development practitioners offer #SoMuchMoreThanTalkingAboutJobs.”

The campaign is a professional dream come true for us. It’s a celebration of the incredible careers’ community which We’re immensely proud to be part of.  We have always tried to cheerlead the profession from within because there is often a misunderstanding of what we do by wider society, and there are assumptions that Careers Advisers just talk about jobs and ‘tell people what to do.’ The reality of career guidance could not be more different. And I want people to know that. I’m determined to change the narrative and this campaign is one way of creating positive change.

Flash mob

On the morning of Wednesday, 1^st February from 9am until 12 noon, CDP’s up and down the UK from all sectors will be taking part in a flash mob post on LinkedIn.  All CDP’s are invited to upload posts of themselves on LinkedIn, wearing t-shirts and holding signs with the slogan #SoMuchMoreThanTalkingAboutJobs.  The posts will be shared, liked, commented on and reposted by the CDP community for maximum impact. 

As the professional body for career development across the UK, the Career Development Institute (CDI) will be fully supporting Bella and Katherine’s flash mob campaign to raise awareness of the breadth and value of career guidance for young people and adults. It comes at a time when careers services for young people and adults are struggling to recruit and retain qualified careers practitioners and, in too many cases, diluting requirements for qualifications that guarantee the level of knowledge necessary to support clients with a wide variety of needs.

A skills shortage

Recent research by the CDI and Careers England shows these challenges are particularly acute in England with pay levels that fail to reflect the required degree or masters level qualifications, for example with salaries in many English schools of around £26,000 – £28,000 for a qualified and experienced practitioner, less than the starting salary for most teachers.

CDI research also shows that, while those working in the profession are immensely proud of the work they do (84% of 317 respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing to the statement), only 12% feel the profession is recognised and valued, and fewer than 8% feel the Government makes sufficient investment in career development for either young people or adults.

This is leading to a potential crisis in career development, with nearly 23% of those surveyed saying they are likely or very likely to leave the profession within the next two years, mostly through retirement or poor levels of pay and benefits.

David Morgan, Chief Executive of the CDI, voiced his support for the campaign:

It’s vital that people understand the value that career development professionals add to the individuals they support. It’s not just talking about jobs, it’s helping individuals define career goals, identify their strengths and skill needs, help them navigate the sometimes-complex paths to gain those skills, and put them to good use in work. It’s also about building career management skills so young people and adults can continue to thrive throughout their career and is particularly important for those who face disadvantage of any form, and who benefit massively from this support.

The cumulative effect of the millions of individual interactions that careers professionals have each year also benefits the economy and society, ensuring we are developing the skills required for the future economy, building a productive workforce, and enabling individuals to make a positive contribution to their communities. I’ll be proudly wearing my t-shirt on 1^st February to support Bella, Katherine and all my colleagues in this amazing profession.”

For further information, please contact Bella at bella@bdcms.co or Katherine at katherine@whatsyourstrength.co.uk