Career planning resources when funding gets tight

As an investment in the future of our young people, good career planning is at least as worthy as swimming pools, excursions, and footballs.

It is also highly valued by parents, tertiary institutions and employers.

Sometimes financial decision-makers have a misunderstanding about the difference between career information and career planning.
Career information is freely available from a variety of sources. However, most young people struggle to make good career choices when engulfed in large amounts of data. Realistic career planning is a complex process involving:
(i) learning about self (including occupational interests, abilities, potentials, talents, ambitions, family circumstances, etc);
(ii) learning about the world of work;
(iii) effective decision-making to make realistic career plans, and
(iv) development of action plans to achieve career goals.

Career Advisers need comprehensive and effective tools to support the career development process. Even more so when time available with individual students/clients is limited.

Effective Ideas & Funding Solutions

• Become part of your organisation’s budgetary process. Career development is worth fighting for, and parents will support you. Start by finding out how and when budget setting processes work.
• Present costs on a per client/student basis (rather than as a total figure). In schools per student cost can often be included in the fee system given forward planning.
• Educate stakeholders about the importance of career guidance, effective processes, and why proven tools are necessary for delivering effective and efficient career outcomes.
• Enlist the support of parents who are likely to be keenly interested and anxious to see their children provided with high quality career planning resources.
• Distribute relevant information to parents (including example Career Voyage PDF reports).
• Most organisations are keen to market themselves. Features in Career Voyage can make a major contribution to marketing. For example the software can be configured with your organisation’s logo, corporate colours, and introductory messages. Individual PDF career planning reports can be shown to families.
• Appeal to outside community and philanthropic groups.

It might happen that despite of all your efforts you don’t get any budget for career planning this year.
Don’t give up!
You still can help your students plan for life beyond school, unhappy workplaces and unemployment!

Career Voyage is a comprehensive mobile friendly career planning software system suitable for all ability levels. It can be accessed over the Internet, or embedded in your school website. One of many options is to make it available for individuals and their families to purchase (rather than come out of the school budget).

Advantages of Student Purchased Career Voyage embedded in your website:

1. a high quality career planning resource is available for you students 24/7, whenever they need it
2. students can access the system from anywhere
3. the school can choose to give class time to access the system, or leave it to students to work in their own time
4. students can, if they wish, involve family and/or other significant people in their lives
5. those students who are already very clear (and realistic) about their career plans can choose not to do it, leaving those who really need the program to work through the program at their own pace
6. those accessing the system can come back to their secure logins as often as they like
7. the school career adviser(s) can log in to Adviser mode to manage student records, configure the software, see which students are in greatest need of attention, create Adviser reports, customise the software with the school’s logo and colours, create Introductory messages for students as soon as they log in
8. when Career Voyage is deployed in this way we are able to offer a discount to students at your school
9. no cost to the school. On the other hand, with high quality career planning software on the website the school is clearly demonstrating that it cares about career development and is doing useful things about it.

Your students will get a reliable career support for a discounted price.

Career Voyage has been continually improving for more than twenty five years. It is backed by  comprehensive international research, and is thoroughly customized to Australian conditions.