Create new opportunities for
yourself.
By: Malka Edelman- Director – Career Development Center,
Farmingdale State University, Master Trainer – National Career Development
Association, Career Development Facilitator Certification
Those of us
involved in career development will remember the SCANS (the Secretary’s
Commission on Necessary Skills) report. Do you recall the workshops and
conferences many of us attended back in the early 1990s? We learned then that
the world of work, in the
We learned that
during the early 1900’s 85% of American workers were in agriculture and by the
early 1990s agriculture involved less than 3% of the
What are these
skills? We called them simply the SCANS skills.
They told us that
not only do American workers now need to have sophisticated reading, writing,
and math skills, but they also need very strong:
q
Communication skills
q
Critical thinking and
problem-solving skills
q
Decision-making skills
q
Team-work skills geared toward
projects
q
Technical specific occupational
skills that are marketable in the current and future labor markets.
How are
counselors, career coaches, human resources professionals expected to keep up?
How are we supposed to have all the knowledge, skills and abilities to counsel,
advise, direct, provide information, assess someone’s ability for any and all
of these changes in the workplace? We find ourselves challenged to help our
constituencies.
Out of this tremendous flux in the American workplace, the
National Career Development Association (NCDA) was compelled to develop a
curriculum and a certification program to provide training for those involved
in workforce development, K-12 education, higher education, business and
industry. The counseling professionals also responded with requests for more
opportunities to learn all the necessary new skills to advise and counsel their
constituencies (adults and students alike).
This rapidly changing workplace demands new skills of us to provide
career-counseling services. Out of the new and demanding workplace in the
Who is a Global
Career Development Facilitator (GCDF)?
A GCDF is someone
who works in or would you like to work in:
q School to
Work programs
q Guidance /
Advisement
q Career
Preparation Programs
q Career
Centers
q Coop
Education
q Workforce
Development Agencies/One Stop Delivery
q Employment
Services
q Human
Resources
q Vocational
Rehabilitation Counseling
q Other
locations (business/industry) where career development services are provided
Why get trained?
The NCDA is committed to the professional development of all those professionals working in this vital field. Many people who perform career development functions do not have any or may have very limited formal career counseling or career development training when they enter the field. Career development work requires many highly specialized skills, such as knowledge of assessment methodologies, coaching skills, and the ability to deal with many challenging ethical issues. The GCDF program provides solid training in the field of career development, and was designed specifically for individuals who do this work without necessarily having a Master’s degree in counseling. The leadership of NCDA has devoted years of curriculum development and enhancement so that this project would result in a systemic change in the skills of the career counseling professional and para-professionals globally.
What will you
learn? The
GCDF training covers twelve core competencies:
1.
Helping Skills
2.
Labor Market Information and
Resources
3.
Working with Diverse Populations
4.
Technology and Career Development
5.
Ethical and Legal Issues
6.
Employability Skills
7.
Consultation/Supervision
8.
Training Clients and Peers
9.
Career Development Theories and
Models
10.
Program Management and
Implementation
11.
Assessment
12.
Promotion and Public Relations
Consider the
value of additional training.
Many individuals
providing career development services are doing so without the benefit
of much formal career development training. Consider earning this credential,
the GCDF Certification.
NCDA endorses the
Global Career Development Facilitator GCDF) Certificate Program as an essential
tool in the acquisition and teaching of lifelong career development skills.
The GCDF
credential is well established and highly regarded in both the public and
private sectors; since the program’s inception in 1997, thousands of
professionals across the globe have obtained certification. As of September
2005, the total number of applicants is 5,489 and the number certified is
4,356. There are states in the country that are committed to have a career
center in each high school and middle school supervised by a GCDF. That is
exciting! GCDF training is happening all over the world.
Center for Credentialing
and Education (CCE) has approved the program for CEUs.
For more
information visit the NCDA website at www.ncda.org
or email Mary Ann Powell at NCDA directly at mpowell@ncda.org or Malka Edelman at malka.edelman@gmail.com