Abstract
Several employment challenges may be overcome with career services, among other actions provided by higher education institutions. The chapter analyzes the diversity of career services that are usually delivered by the career guidance centers organized within higher education institutions. Many examples of career services are provided, based on the professional expertise of the authors, involved in developing career services with their university as well as at the regional level. The analysis is conducted using different service characteristics such as the following: novelty, duration, format, communication, feedback, digitalized degree, and requiring specialists' supervision. Based on this analysis, several conclusions are drawn, including recommendations for efficient organization of the career guidance centers within higher education institutions.
Prioritizing Skills Development for Student Employability
Top2. The Role Of Career Guidance In Enhancing The Graduates’ Employability
The biggest challenge that individuals face is defining their identity and self-discovery (Haxhihyseni et al., 2021). Unless they are still clear about their likes, dislikes, desires, dreams, fears, abilities, and personal qualities they will not be capable of determining what they can achieve in the future. The whole guidance process should be led by the question “What will I become based on who I am?” If an individual is not aware of the personality traits, interests and what is significant for them, they risk choosing the wrong academic discipline and consequently looking for the wrong job (Yao & Li, 2021). Such a risk implies dissatisfaction for the rest of their life. Only being fully aware of our potentials and desires leads us towards productive use of energy and work with more convenience and efficiency.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Career Guidance Centers: It represents an organization unit organized inside university to provide information and services to youths (enrolled students and candidates) for increasing their employability. The range of provided information is wide, from informing youths about the delivered educational programs, specializations, courses, required competences as prerequisites when a person is interested to enrolled, and going to providing information how the academic community is organized. Regarding the provided services, there is a large variety of counseling services, based on assessment of some competences and persons’ interests. Opportunities of meeting employers for identifying labor market opportunities and advises about adequate career paths are also offered.
Intelligent Profiling Systems: They are specialized software that create personal profiles for candidates by integrating multiple data sources and using machine learning. The exponential growth of data has made obtaining relevant information more complicated, so there was a shift from filtering mechanisms to creating the personal profile. A personal profile is a presentation of a person through a series of characteristics such as demographics, knowledge, technical skills, software skills, language skills, personal background, goals, hobbies, personality traits, interaction patterns, and others.
Career Path Recommendation Systems: They represent service systems that supports users to choose a career field that matches their preferences and interest. Relevant recommendations will be made using the following techniques: collaborative filtering, content-based recommendation algorithm and hybrid filtering.
Career Counselling and Guidance: It refers to the totality of services and activities that assist people of any age and at any time of their existence to make choices in the educational, training or work sphere and to manage their career.
Higher Education Institutions: They are organizations that provide higher, postsecondary, tertiary, and/or third-level education. Under this label, there are included a diversity of legal entities, such as: universities, colleges, professional schools, etc.
Graduate Employability: It represents the graduates’ capability to get a job, to be able to develop and succeed in their occupation, and to prove active civic involvement, lifelong learning, and individual fulfillment.
Digital/Information Technologies: They include several components, such as: digital devices, systems, and resources that allow automated data management and processing. Business adopted and are currently use digital technologies to manage business processes to enhance the business performance.