Some have an idealized version of the kind of mentor they would like to have giving them at-the-ready expert career advice. In this article, the author offers some examples of career wisdom and professional guidance that have shaped him over the course of his career. They are from supervisors who would never claim to have mentored him, but whom…

In the current climate, the launch of the new National Careers Service in England is a cheering ray of light in a gloomy world. Despite fierce constraints on public spending, the government has secured the resources, and political will, and the Skills Funding Agency is now funding a service, which provides online and phone guidance to adults and…

This paper argues that the current articulation of the lifelong career guidance paradigm stands in danger of uncritically reflecting core agendas underpinning neo-liberalism as well as New Public Management principles. It highlights the distinctions that ought to be drawn between seeing the user of career guidance services as a "customer",…

Increased state intervention regarding the objectives and outcomes of career guidance leaves some practitioners deeply unhappy at the increased control this exerts over their work. In this article, I argue that practitioners are subject to the power and influence of the state's economic and welfare agendas that are contrary to their preferred…

In April 2013, "NEJHE" launched its "New Directions for Higher Education" series to examine emerging issues, trends and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs and practices. In this installment, DiSalvio interviews Matthew Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass Technologies, a Boston-based labor market…

High on any Top 10 list of the most frequent advice offered to young faculty members is this: No good deed goes unpunished. The aphorism at first seems cynical, pessimistic, dysfunctional. Doing good, as members of a higher-education community, is their job. What if everyone just looked out for No. 1? The entire promotion-and-tenure system--which…

The National Career Development Strategy Green Paper is a discussion paper issued by the Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations. It is aimed at the formulation of a coherent and structured career development strategy throughout Australia. The Green Paper seeks to lay the foundation for policy change through establishing the…

There is a lot new in career guidance. Technology is a driving force in the workplace, and it has changed how educators teach and what they teach. The digital age has provided new depth to career awareness and exploration and new responsibilities for career guidance professionals. As career and technical teachers must be current with software and…

In this article, the author describes her experience with her daughter, Grace, who always had an interest in art. She states that being the parent of a child who has talent in an area that is not one's own can be daunting. Here, she stresses the importance of understanding the unique developmental path of each child. Some students show their…

As editors of the recently published "Vocational psychological and organisational perspectives on career: Towards a multidisciplinary dialogue" (Collin & Patton, 2009a), the authors have considerable interest in this particular issue of the "Australian Journal of Career Development." This short piece will first present the…

This article discusses the disconnect between industrial-organizational (I-O) and vocational psychology in the context of Donald Paterson's career, an applied psychologist who bridged both disciplines. Paterson's interests in "both" vocational guidance and personnel selection suggest that these fields are interwoven, despite the prevailing gap…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers in this special issue and some issues surrounding choosing management as a career. A jointly developed questionnaire is also presented. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is descriptive in nature. Findings: It is crucial for researchers and practitioners to expand their perspectives…

Students who are at high risk of dropping out of high school encounter serious difficulties and challenges in their school-to-work and school-to-school transitions. While acknowledging that the prevention of high school dropout requires a comprehensive and systematic helping approach, this article attempts to take a close look at one of the…

The case for more attention to productivity in career guidance delivery is related to the pressures both for greater public accountability and for increasing access to services without massive increases in resources. The term "productivity" is defined and its applications in a career guidance context are explored. Possible strategies for enhancing…

In June 2005, 50 graduate school deans gathered at Princeton to address the fact that the number of new PhDs conferred each year far exceeds the number of tenure-track academic jobs on offer. Under the auspices of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation's Responsive PhD Project, these deans spoke passionately about how American…