Valuing Careers - some thoughts...💡
All in all, a brilliant day out at the Career Development Institute National Conference yesterday (and I hear Day 1 wasn't too shabby either!) - the theme for this year's conference was 'Valuing Careers' and there were some core messages that resonated with me from speakers and delegates throughout the day 👇
💡 Increasing the recognition for career development work and raising the profile of our sector is a multi-faceted challenge/opportunity, not least because we struggle with a common vernacular for who we are and what we do - a compelling case made by Bella Doswell CCDP, RCDP for framing ourselves as 'Career Development Professional, working in the area of secondary education / FE / HE / Adult Guidance / Organisational Career Development etc.' as a way to present a simple, unified front.
💡 Just because this issue is complex and multi-faceted, it doesn't mean there aren't things we can do RIGHT NOW to affect change, at an individual level, in the way we work with different stakeholders (including policy makers) and the way we communicate our message in public forums (inc. social media) - I was fortunate to chair a fantastic panel of experts (Clare Viney, Bella Doswell CCDP, RCDP, Iffat Ahmad and Sandra Cheyne) on this topic and there were a litany of valuable, actionable tips shared, from tapping up MPs in the recently rejigged select committees to considering the ROI for the different stakeholders who might engage with our expertise as career development professionals.
💡 Career development work is a broad church - we need to find a way of helping ALL stakeholders involved in this work (employers, policy makers, employability professionals, alumni, educators, parents/carers etc.) feel valued and listened to, while never forgetting the unique expertise we bring as careers professionals (a huge amount of which was on display yesterday in talks/workshops/panels I attended from Antony Adams, Dr Gill Frigerio, David Hodgson, Rosemary McLean, Valerie Rowles, Sammy Everard FIOEE, FIEP, FRSA, Chris Targett RCDP, Jules Benton and more! 👏)
A massive shout out to the Career Development Institute team (David Morgan, Susan Alder, Jen Ellin, Georgia Clarke, Wei Li, Kim Newman and all of the other CDI colleagues and Board members!) for putting the conference together - I couldn't attend last year's event so tough to compare directly but the venue this year (thestudio in Birmingham) was excellent and it felt like there was a really positive energy amongst attendees, which was lovely to be a part of! 🙌
Did you attend #CDICONF24 this year and if so, what were your key takeaways? 🤔
P.s. Wonderful to meet so many careers colleagues in person who I'd previously only spoken with online (and those who I see more regularly but it's always a pleasure to chat with - Chris Targett RCDP, Dave Cordle - The Career Mountaineer, Liz Reece John Ambrose and more!) - and a big thank you to Beth Urquhart for the photo!
