CDAA – Leading the way

By Paula Wischoff Yerama, CCDP, Executive Director, Career Development Association of Alberta

Did you know the Canadian Standards and Guidelines for Career Development Practitioners (https://career-dev-guidelines.org/) are almost 20 years old? Formally launched in early 2001, after extensive consultation with a broad cross-section of career development practitioners across Canada, the Standards and Guidelines mapped out the knowledge and skills required to work within the career development sector. In the past several years CDPs across Canada have identified the need to update and renew the Standards and Guidelines to reflect the evolving nature of work and the diversity of contexts in which career development services are provided. Specifically, they said the Standards and Guidelines need to be more inclusive of the diversity of CDPs and the clients they serve.

Career professionals from across Canada are currently collaborating to set a new standard for practice in the field. This exercise not only highlights the pride and professionalism of the field but the diversity of service providers delivering these services. In a February 4, 2020 CERIC article entitled “NEVER BEEN MORE NEEDED: DEVELOPING A NEW COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR CAREER PROFESSIONALS” Kathy McDonald and Philip Mondor provide an update on the project. The article highlights that validation of the new CDP Competency Framework will take place between January and March 2020 and that over the next 16 months the Canadian Career Development Foundation (CCDF), Canadian Council for Career Development (3CD), provincial and territorial partners, and the network of existing certifying bodies and others will work together to create a new Pan- Canadian Voluntary Certification Program for Career Development Professionals. One of the hallmarks of the multi-phased process is broad stakeholder review with formal ratification and endorsement by the project’s National Stakeholder Committee. “Ultimately, the designation evolving from this professional certification will be recognized as the pre-eminent credential of CDPs across Canada and their essential role in promoting positive health, social and economic outcomes of individuals, institutions and communities.” The new CDP Competency Framework will underpin targeted training and professional development, promote clarity of role and scope of practice, and promote awareness and professional recognition. If you are interested in reviewing and validating segments of the new CDP Competency Framework, please visit: https://bit.ly/cdpcanada.

This year’s annual Alberta Career Development Conference (ACDC) will feature concurrent sessions and expert panel presentations related to the new CDP Competency Framework and the Pan- Canadian Voluntary Certification Program for Career Development Professionals. As Alberta’s professional association for career development and related practitioners we are proud to support these national initiatives and to engage the diverse career development community in quality and leading edge professional development!

2020 marks the 7th anniversary of ACDC. This year’s conference will be held at the Best Western Premier Calgary Plaza Hotel & Conference Centre in Calgary, Alberta on May 5 and 6, 2020. ACDC 2020: Leading the Way will bring together 300 career development and related professionals for two full days of learning, laughing, and leading featuring:

• World-class keynote speakers

• Multiple streams of concurrent sessions

• Industry recognized exhibitors

• Expert panel presentations

• Opportunities to connect and reflect

• and much more!

In addition to our exciting conference program we are pleased to make “STRENGTHENING MENTAL HEALTH THROUGH EFFECTIVE CAREER DEVELOPMENT: A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE” by Dave E. Redekopp and Michael Huston available for purchase and signing. The CDAA is proud to have been involved in the early work for this book through a series of professional development events offered throughout Alberta in 2018. This book makes the case that career development practice is a mental health intervention and provides skills and strategies to support career development practitioners in their work. It explores how practitioners do far more than help people prepare for, enter and navigate career pathways – they change people’s lives in ways that improve mental health and overall well-being. The authors also emphasize their focus is mental health, not mental illness, and address this distinction in the book.

Copies of “CAREER THEORIES AND MODELS AT WORK: IDEAS FOR PRACTICE” by Nancy Arthur, Roberta Neault, and Mary McMahon will also be available. Both Nancy and Roberta will be presenting at ACDC 2020 and will be available for signing as well. This edited international collection of contemporary and emerging career development theories and models aims to inform the practice of career development professionals around the globe. It is also intended to be used as a text for undergraduate and graduate career counselling courses.

Over the past several years we have welcomed an increasing number of Guidance Counsellors and Teachers to ACDC. Your participation has added to the richness of discussions and strengthened the foundational understanding of the necessity of early career development interventions. We know that you are delivering valuable career development services as part of your day to day work with students and that the quality of services you deliver has an impact on students well beyond their school years. Interested in joining us? Visit: www.careerdevelopment.ab.ca/ACDC- 2020 for conference details and registration information. •