What we do

Career Development Professional

Career Development Professionals (CDPs) help individuals navigate learning and employment transitions across the lifespan. Career Development Professionals help individuals to manage learning and employment, acquire and enhance skills, seek and create employment, and access community service that support personal and professional growth in an increasingly complex, interdependent, and changing world.

Career Development Professionals collaborate with employers, education and training providers, community-based services, and other private and public institutions to promote positive health, social and economic outcomes of individuals, institutions, and communities.

Canadian Career Development Foundations (CCDF) spearheaded the update of the Competency Framework and Profile in 2022. The material is available to the public at no charge. Their contribution to the Career Development field is enormous and SKCDA appreciates all the work that is accomplished by CCDF and their staff.

The Career Development Professional website also has information regarding updates, resources, and tools as well as a background of the project that created these important documents, Check it out!

Big News!

Career Development Professional has just been assigned its own Canadian National Occupation Classification- NOC 41321. Take the time to have a read about it here.

Competency Framework for Career Development Professionals

The Pan-Canadian Competency Framework for Career Development Professional details the skills, knowledge, and actions demonstrated by effective career development professionals, career influencers, career educators and thought leaders. The Competency framework is available in French or English

The competency framework can be used by:

  • The public to better understand the value of CDPs and the breath of service CDPs provide.
  • Employers to inform recruitment, selection, performance appraisal, and training.
  • Training providers to develop and design course curriculum and professional programs, tools, or training for CDPs.
  • Current CDPs to validate their knowledge, skills and abilities, and plan for career growth.
  • Future CDPs to help them understand the knowledge, skills, and abilities, and plan for career growth.
  • International CDPs, organizational, and governments to compare their competency standards to that of Canada’s.

The Competency Framework is organized into 4 main categories of competencies:

  1. Professional Practice competencies are foundational to CDP practice and are competencies we share with other human service professionals.
  2. CDP Characteristic competencies are distinct to CDPs and apply to all practicing CDPs.
  3. CDP Extended competencies are specialized competencies that may be needed by some CDPs depending on their role and setting.
  4. Leadership and Outreach competencies support leadership and growth in our profession.

Read the Full Competency Work here.

National Competency Profile for Career Development Professionals (National Profile)

The National Competency Profile for Career Development Professionals is curation of the competencies from the Competency Framework that details and describes effective performance, knowledge, understanding, and abilities for ALL Career Development Professionals regardless of their role or setting. The National Profile delineates the competencies of a client facing generalist, delivering service to diverse clientele in a variety of environments.

Download the National Profile here.

A self-assessment tool is available to assess your own mastery of the National Profile Competencies.

Career Development Professionals Code of Ethics

The purpose of the Code of Ethics is to provide professional boundaries and practical directives for professional behaviour and practice for those who offer services in career development.

The Code of Ethics also informs the public of the standards of ethical conduct that Career Development Professionals (CDPs) are responsible to uphold and for which they are held accountable. Ethical principles are essential standards of professional practice for CDPs to make mindful, considerate decisions in their practice and to resolve ethical dilemmas.

The Code of Ethic is intended to be actively used by all CDPs to underpin their practice. It is written in principle-based values-based and virtue-based language and contains a model of ethical decision-making that provides a process with cues to support ethical decisions and resolve ethical dilemmas.

Download the Code of Ethics here.

 

Career Development Professional Centre

At long last, Career Development Professionals have a virtual HOME! Career Development Professional Centre focus is on six main objectives:

  1. Provide a home for the Competency Framework, National Profile, Code of Ethics and associated resources and a hub to promote the integration and application.
  2. Support CDPs to access basic, fundamental training, at no to low cost, on the career development process, helping to ensure a common language and an understanding of the full scope of career development practice.
  3. Create and nurture a community of practice, where CDPs can exchange and grow with respect to their practice, application of learning, and further development needs.
  4. Establish a central hub as a one stop for CDPs to find out about the full range of existing training available to them, as well as professional supports/associations and national/international developments that matter to our profession.
  5. Build a strong evidence base for our sector to inform policy and practice.
  6. Being a unified voice to advocate for our sector and our critical contributions to the socio-economic health of individuals. Communities and our nation.

SKCDA encourages all CDPs to join the Community of Practice! Register Here.

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