Four environments you can work in as a Career Development Practitioner

Four environments you can work in as a Career Development Practitioner

Education jobs don’t just involve teaching. Career Development Practitioners, also known as career counsellors or career advisers, work across many industries from schools to sporting organisations.

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Automation, globalisation and collaboration are rapidly changing the nature of work. Career paths no longer follow the straight line they once did, with young people now expected to hold 17 jobs across 5 different careers in their lifetime.1 

As our jobs become increasingly complex, we need experts to help us navigate and manage our career development, create professional development plans, make study decisions, and find opportunities, which is where Career Development Practitioners come in.

Kathleen Gregory, Program Manager of the Graduate Certificate in Career Education and Development at RMIT, says that, “Career Development Practitioners are a necessity in the 21st century, as they enable people of all ages to make informed decisions about their education, training and career choices.” And their expertise is in demand, with many seeking guidance on career planning. 

In a 2019 report, the Victorian State Government outlined its plan to invest $109 million in transforming career education over the four years to 2023 and an additional $26.7 million to continue this momentum further into the future. Victoria also has the highest percentage of career practitioners of any state in Australia, with 33.8% employed in the aptly named ‘Education State’. 

So as their occupation continues to grow, what settings do Career Development Practitioners find themselves working in?

RMIT academic and student

#1: Shape the lives of the next generation in schools

An important step in secondary education is exploring and understanding what comes next. This creates a need for career development professionals who can guide young minds. 

“In Australian high schools, there’s usually an integrated careers program that includes one-on-one career counselling, work placements, job fairs and much more,” says Gregory. 

“To be a career practitioner in a school, you need to have a graduate certificate, so many of our students are teachers who are looking to move into the careers development space. Most of them are still working, so our program is fully online, and we’ve made it as flexible, adaptable and manageable as possible." 

Megan Fritsch, President of the Career Industry Council of Australia, says it’s important to set the stage for our children’s career expectations. 

Fritsch says our working lives are shaped to a large degree by the positive and negative experiences we have as young children. 

“In research, 36% of children from as young as seven said they based their career aspirations on people they know, while 45% said that TV, film, and radio were [their biggest influences]. But the ripple effects of early interventions run deeper than choice of career — they can build biases, open doors and close us off from opportunities.”2

#2: Find rewarding education jobs in universities and TAFEs

Counsellors, including ‘career counsellors’, rank among the top five roles with the highest job satisfaction levels in Australia3. Career planning is described as a fulfilling way to help others achieve their goals and make the most out of their career.

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Michelle Brown, an alumnus of RMIT’s Graduate Certificate in Career Education and Development, found her passion for career coaching in the tertiary sector while working in an operations role at another university.  

“A big part of my old job was talking about and promoting the courses that we offered. At one point, my team and I were talking about what our favourite part of work was, and mine was actually helping students make choices about where they want to go in life, and that’s when I had my ‘aha’ moment.” 

Brown went on to study RMIT’s Graduate Certificate in Careers Education and Development, and now works as a Career Development Consultant at RMIT’s Job Shop. 

“We do everything from one-on-one counselling with students, through to running workshops, creating resources, running employability programs and attending seminars to stay up to date with what’s going on in the workforce.” 

“One of the things I found really helpful while studying was a subject called Narrative Approach for Career Counselling, where we learnt the skills and processes needed to facilitate meaningful career discussions with clients. The narrative counselling approach moves away from being a ‘scientific’ methodology, where you would match the static personality traits of your client with job attributes. Narrative counselling is really person-centred and follows the client's story — drawing on their values, looking at the past, present and future. It has the key components of counselling, such as reframing and active listening. It’s our job to pick up the right cues and follow them into a positive, useful space.”

#3: Work with talented clients in sporting and community organisations

Cameron Yorke, a graduate of the Graduate Certificate in Career Education and Development, worked as a lecturer in sports management for 10 years before investigating education jobs, eventually pursuing career planning in professional sport. 

“I was employed by the Rugby Union Players Association, but I was specifically working at the Melbourne Rebels,” says Yorke.  

“The job description was really around career development and general welfare of the players. This meant making sure they had a plan for life after sport — making sure they had a plan B if they were injured or once they retired. 

“These kinds of roles exist in every professional sporting club and there are similar roles in ‘amateur’ sporting organisations, like the Institute of Sport.”

Yorke says that studying the Graduate Certificate in Careers Education and Development gave him the right tools to use alongside his specialty and interest in sports management. 

“The skills you learn help you to create a framework for discussion with your client, because often a careers conversation can be very open-ended, but if you’ve gotten them to do some initial assessments, it gives you an anchoring point to chat to them further and dig in deeper.”

#4: Take hold of your future with your own private practice

Those with the professional development skills and passion to forge their own path can create a private practice. Gregory says there are a multitude of forms this could take. 

“We have quite a lot of students who come from an HR background, or another specialist background, and they’re looking to consolidate their professional expertise and move into private practise. They may be working with individuals, or they might provide consultancy services, offer programs that organisations can sign up to, or focus on a particular population or demographic.”

These populations can be wide-ranging, from people with physical or learning disabilities, those who are long-term unemployed, refugees, asylum seekers, and more.

Yorke says he’s still in touch with many of the people he studied with, and many of them have gone on to run their own practises specialising in working with particular groups.  

“There’s a woman I studied with whose focus is people in the military, and not just a person who’s leaving the military, but their spouses as well, so there’s a whole field of work for her in just that one area.”

Story: Sophie MacGillivray and Jacob Johnston

 

1Foundation for Young Australians (FYA). “The New Work Reality”, report 2018.  

2Career Industry Council of Australia (CICA). “Turning little ripples into positive choices for our children’s future”. November 24, 2021. https://cica.org.au/turning-little-ripples-into-positive-choices-for-our-childrens-future/  

3Alonsagay, A. “Top 7 most enjoyable jobs in Australia”, Upskilled, 24 February 2022. https://www.upskilled.edu.au/skillstalk/most-enjoyable-jobs-in-australia

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aboriginal flag
torres strait flag

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.

More information