Continuous process that enables an individual, at any age and at any stage of life, to identify his/her capacities, competences and interests, to make well-informed educational, training and occupational decisions, and to manage his/her life path in learning, work and other settings in which those capacities and competences are learned and used.
Comment
- Lifelong guidance covers a range of individual and collective, formal or non-formal career development activities such as information-giving, counselling, competence assessment / skills audit / competence profiling, support, and the development of decision-making and career management skills through career education;
- it can be undertaken throughout life, from school and throughout both working and non-working life;
- lifelong guidance services can be provided face-to-face, remotely (e-mail, chat) or in a blended mode in a wide range of settings:
- schools and VET centres;
- tertiary and higher education institutions;
- public and private employment services;
- public and private career guidance centres;
- enterprises, trade unions, NGOs and professional bodies as well as in local communities;
- lifelong guidance guidance can be seen as occurring at specific transition points, as a subset of lifelong guidance that involves capacity building; it enables an individual to reflect on his/her ambitions, interests, qualifications, skills and talents through learning – and to relate this knowledge about who s/he is to who s/he might become in life and work;
- lifelong guidance includes provision of:
- careers education;
- careers information;
- individual and group guidance/counselling;
- skills audit / competence profiling and psychometric testing;
- engagement with employers;
- development of skills needed for job seeking and self-employment.
Source
Cedefop; Council of the European Union, 2008; ELGPN, 2014.