 | |
Online Career Development and Vocational Guidance Services - Canada
Source: Human Resoruces Development Canada
Counsellor Resource Centre (CRC)
The Counsellor Resource Centre (CRC) is an on-line national and international resource for career development and employment counselling specialists.
The CRC Website was developed to provide a forum for career development and employment counselling specialists throughout Canada to share best practices and exchange information. This site is maintained in partnership by HRDC and the International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG).
Development of the CRC in CanadaIn 1996, HRDC put together a team of counselors to
create a reference site for practitioners in the field of career development and
employment counseling. The process began with an analysis of the needs of the
potential users of the site. The needs analysis covered most geographic areas in
Canada through focus group meetings and interviews with key informants,
organized by HRDC. More than 100 people were consulted to ascertain the needs of
the professional community. At the same time, the development team conducted a
survey of Web sites in Canada and abroad related to the themes of career
development and employment counseling. The Canada
Workinfonet site (the largest Canadian library in career development) was
used as the starting point for this task. The aim of this first step in
developing the CRC was to identify what already was available on the Web that
related to career development and employment counseling and to see how closely
the existing information matched the needs that were being identified by the
professional community.
Once the needs analysis was complete and the survey of existing web sites was
finished, the development team designed two draft architectures for the site.
The vision was to create a web site developed by counselors for counselors.
Pooling our Resources was used as the main theme for the site. In the fall of
1996, HRDC assembled an advisory group (or consulting committee) to provide a
reaction to the results of the needs analysis and the draft plans for the
development of the site. The consulting committee consisted of academics, career
development practitioners from national and provincial organizations, and public
sector stakeholders across the country. The final product that resulted from the
consulting committee was in actual fact a starting point. It is hoped that
professionals in the sector concerned will nourish the Web site so that there is
a genuine pooling of resources that results in a one-stop site for conveying and
exchanging the information that is essential to our profession.
Background of the IAEVG and HRDC partnership
The International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG)
and Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC)agreed in 1999 to create a working
partnership to expand and maintain the CRC for the benefit of career development
practitioners. What has been agreed up to now:
- HRDC will develop in association with IAEVG an international version of the
CRC :
- English , French , German and Spanish languages will be the official
navigation languages of the site. However, as a result of a partnership with
Finland, the Finnish language was added
- The current architecture (table of contents) of the CRC site would be used
as the template to add new resources, that is, links to websites provided by
other countries. As new material is submitted, HRDC would add their country name
to indicate to users the country of origin for each resource. Participating
countries would have to assign one coordinator to be in charge to identify and
collate sites according to the architecture. The web administrator of the CRC
(Michel Turcotte) will then upload the information on the CRC site.
Career Circuit's Virtual Resource Centre (VRC) is a Database on current programs, tools, and services related to youth career/future-building. Accessed online and through CD-ROM technology, the VRC Database is designed to jumpstart councellors knowledge of Youth Service Agencies’ resources and then connect them with the people and information spaces that can make a substantial difference in their work.
Job FuturesJob Futures is a comprehensive, up-to-date national Web reference tool designed to provide Canadians with information on current and future labour market conditions to help them make informed education, skills and career planning decisions. The site provides labour market information on key labour market trends and determinants affecting labour market conditions. It also presents information on current and future labour market outlooks for 226 occupational groups and 155 post-secondary fields of study.
Job Futures has been available on the internet since 1997-1998. Feedback and evaluations indicated there was a need to present the information in a more flexible and user-friendly format. The Government of Canada has responded by revamping the Job Futures site to present trend information in a more realistic and user-specific manner. A "Tips" section has been added to explain how to use the information on the site. Visitors can even take a quiz to help them determine what careers best suit their interests.
[Top]