Supporting better outcomes – Insights report, Te tautoko putanga pai ake - te pūrongo Māramatanga

The supporting better outcomes – professional career guidance for all New Zealanders report draws on the voices and survey data from:

• 240 clients of the Direct Career Service
• 55 Career Development Association of New Zealand (CDANZ) career practitioners
• anonymised booking data from over 1,000 clients.

It showcases real-life stories highlighting the early success of the Direct Career Service. This service was started by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and CDANZ in 2020 to support New Zealanders who were displaced from their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The service now sits with the Ministry for Social Development.

“The career practitioner pulled together all my skills and reflected back to me what I could do. This built my confidence to apply for work and get qualified. She connected the dots in my life and made it a cohesive story.”

Early survey results showed even short careers interventions with a professional career practitioner made a significant difference to people. This included building the knowledge, skills and confidence to take their next work and learning steps.

Career practitioners had the greatest impact when they:

• engaged in guided, strength-based conversations to get to the heart of the matter
• improved job-seeking knowledge and skills to support self-management
• supported confidence and motivation for clients to take the next steps.

Only 10% of all clients who met with career practitioners through the Direct Career Service had previously engaged with career services.

At first, they were unsure what to expect but the results were visible. After meeting with career practitioners, clients noted they had clear guidance to take the next steps, confidence and positivity about their future, and were able to understand their transferable skills and write a great CV.

“So many of the clients coming in have no CV at all, so it is extremely difficult for them applying for jobs in the online world. They are very grateful and full of renewed hope that they will now have a CV and the opportunity to apply for jobs online.”

Insights from career practitioners showed that although digital tools are hugely beneficial, the greatest value was a combination of digital and face-to-face support.

In addition, career practitioners also benefited from the diversity of clients they came in contact with during this period. Over 70% found the experience beneficial to their own practice, broadening their skills to engage with a range of clients and building their regional expertise.

Working with government agencies, such as the Ministry for Social Development, also highlighted important collaboration skills required by career practitioners. These included:

• having a shared vision for community success
• building strength-based, respectful relationships
• valuing the deep community connections across all services
• having a willingness to learn from each other.

Insights from this report reflect the value and breadth of skills that career practitioners have to support New Zealanders to make informed and confident work and learning decisions.

However, there is still work to do to raise the visibility and connectedness of the system. For almost 90% of clients this was their first interaction with professional career practitioners.

The National Careers System Strategy is New Zealand’s strategic approach to building a connected, high quality and responsive careers system. TEC is leading the implementation of the strategy to benefit all New Zealanders.

National Careers System Strategy

Supporting better outcomes – professional career guidance for all New Zealanders (PDF 1.2 MB)

National Careers System Strategy