Focus on career guidance

Career guidance is a comprehensive, developmental program designed to assist individuals in making and implementing informed educational and occupational decisions. For success, this must be an ongoing process, built upon providing support and guidance, paving the way for people to discover themselves and evaluate alternatives. 

Who is involved?

This service must be provided by certified individuals who may carry titles such as career counselors, coaches or facilitators. Irrespective of industry or sector, career guidance must be provided.  

Despite popular misconception, career guidance is not reserved only for school graduates or fresh faces entering the labour market. On the contrary, this is a universal service. From students to employees, migrant workers to locals, and from minorities to the differently abled. If done properly, this guidance assists individuals to help them acquire the knowledge, information, skills and experience necessary to evaluate options at any point in their careers, and narrow them down to make decisions. Such decisions have impacts on their social, financial, and emotional well-being.

What is involved?

Career guidance has evolved to now include many creative interventions, as described here. Employees can be given one intervention or a mix of these, depending on the context. 

1. Educational intervention

This area concentrates on giving tools to make appropriate decisions regarding studies and to support individuals during academic challenges that may create barriers to completion. 

2. Vocational intervention

This area directs its efforts towards professional/career guidance, based on knowledge of one's abilities, interests and skills, as well as the context and job market

3. Psychosocial intervention

This area focuses on helping individuals get to know themselves, discover their potential, and make decisions that positively contribute to their life plan.

The importance of career guidance

Career guidance is an important service that must be provided to employees, and concurrently, employees must also be encouraged to take this up, irrespective of their rank, tenure, age, education or experience.  

Rapid developments in the external environment, conjointly with technological advances, are driving massive changes in the labour market. According to a May 2021 article published by Forbes, many countries are going to enter the goldilocks economic state, and are predicting a jobs boom. It is expected to see some jobs and skills becoming obsolete while novel jobs will be created, based on new in-demand skills and knowledge. Therefore, employees must brace themselves for such drastic changes, and see how they can develop their portfolios, and continue to remain employable. This is especially true for individuals with lower levels of qualifications because their jobs are at greater risk of automation.   

Additionally, unlearning, relearning, reskilling and upskilling are increasingly seen as integral parts of working life. Relying on a formal education in dreams of career growth and development irrefutably is going to fall short. With the ever-evolving work, workplace and workers, employees must augment and frequently update their portfolio, through services such as career guidance. 

The Maldivian perspective

Hussain Ibrahim, Assistant Human Resource Manager of Male’ Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) stresses on the importance of this. Hussain reported that in his experience in the field of HR, he has seen many individuals who start their career in a job just for the experience, albeit with no clear career path in mind. As a result, without guidance, he has seen ‘the unfortunate ones get stuck in that career, never realizing their true calling and potential.'  Therefore, Hussain strongly believes that HR professionals must provide opportunities that allow new recruits to experience different aspects and functions of their organization. Otherwise, the organization will likely lose a potential superstar.

Hawwa Shaheena Mohamed, Life and Executive Leadership Coach echoes this sentiment. She theorizes that in order to succeed in life, individuals must be compelled to make a conscious decision to do whatever it takes despite the challenges upfront. To never give up, and keep building a pathway with the identification of the individual’s strengths and weaknesses. Shaheena stresses that career guidance is the medium for the aforementioned self-discovery, and without such a service, individuals will lean the life ladder on the wrong wall.

Hassan Saeed, Resort Manager of Dhigali Maldives has a similar outlook, but from a much broader perspective. Hassan prescribes that career guidance essentially must begin with young adults. He has witnessed many individuals who join the work force with a set mindset coupled with high expectations. Unfortunately, there is a mismatch between these preconceived notions and the reality of work. The result is the creation of hurdles when employees find it difficult to accept the reality. Thus, Hassan deems that, had these employees known about the realities of work through career guidance, they would have been able to draw a much realistic picture. 

Another reason Hassan noted relates to the career of an individual. Leaders are expected to acquire acceptance, respect and appreciation from their colleagues. In order to harness this potential, it takes time and the need to begin from entry level positions and move up the career ladder. Hassan anticipates that career guidance can support and guide employees in this expedition of growth in being a leader that is not only successful, but also accepted. 

Furthermore, he also deduces that the idea of a linear career is quickly becoming antiquated. Work is evolving swiftly. Not all employees are working on a full time basis, but there are plenty of gig workers, who are on a spectrum of learning and changing. This particular learning and changing can be facilitated through career guidance, consequently preparing employees to make a courageous decision even mid-career. 

The fourth reason Hassan highlighted is quite contemporary. Following closely with the notion of nonlinear careers, he sees a rise in the demand for generalists as opposed to specialists. Leadership skills, knowledge and creativity is what makes an employee efficient in their role. Therefore, career guidance can bridge this demand as growth is now linked to the merger of multiple synthesized areas. 

Why is career guidance not prominent in the Maldives?

Hussain, AHRM of MWSC believes that the main reason for this is that most of those who join the workforce are thrust into it, rather than being eased into it. This happens because a career only becomes an end to surviving. Poor societal support systems force young people to forgo those pivotal years that they need to explore their interests and to realize their full potential.

The HR Manager in a prominent public company who wished to remain anonymous has an eerily similar take. During his seven years of experience in HR, he has discovered that survival is the central reason for people taking up jobs, with many imagining their dream jobs. This leaves the current job as a simple place holder, which has no place or need for career guidance. Regrettably, security outstrips ambition, and the day-to-day burden of personal and professional life leaves little time for career guidance.  

Hassan, Resort Manager of Dhigali Maldives finds that there are different stakeholders who needs to take accountability for this outcome. He has seen that employees do not ask for guidance. As many individuals work on this linear career trajectory, they are bounded by preconceived expectations from society’s script. They simply go with the flow. There is little planning, if any. On the other hand, organizations are also not proactively offering and marketing this service, hence, the low demand. 

Moving forward

Shaheena, Life and Executive Leadership Coach remains optimistic. She believes that in the recent past, strategic decision makers have identified the importance of career guidance, and she expects that what has been planned will be implemented soon. In this regard she noted some promising changes, such as how some schools already have a full-time career guidance counselor, as in the case of Ghiyaasuddeen International School in Male’. 

The anonymous source quoted in this article predicts a rather different change. He is observing a drastic change in how young people get career counselling, outside conventional norms. He expressed that the younger generation is now more tech savvy, and hence rely on social media and other web-based resources for guidance and inspiration, and that this trend is likely to keep growing. 

Nevertheless, what is undeniable is that career guidance is important, and it is going to take the many stakeholders to come together to revive this ebbing service.