Career Guidance in Austria and Lithuania: A Closer Look at Best Practices and Success Stories

Moving from educational pursuits to the workforce or simply changing career paths can be very nerve-racking. This is where career guidance services can help. To look at the best examples of such services the EU-funded programme EU4Youth Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship within the European Year of Skills, created a podcast “EU good practices on standards for career guidance and career education programmes”. The first episode focuses on career guidance systems in Austria and Lithuania.

Education is the first step towards successful career

In Austria compulsory education is nine years of school. However, Gerlinde Wieser-Böhm, a representative of Public Employment Service (PES) Austria points out the importance of education until the age of 18.

“Young people who have only completed compulsory school are three times more likely to be affected by unemployment later and compared to those young people who have completed secondary education, they are four times more likely to be unemployed, to be employed in unskilled and low paid jobs,” states Gerlinde Wieser-Böhm.

To avoid such problems, youth coaching was set up to support and motivate young people at the risk of dropping out while they are still at school. The volunteers youth coaches help youth who have problems at school or even social struggles directly on site of educational institutions.

Counsellors must be well-trained to help

Sabina Putz, a representative of PES Austria, head of the Department of Labour Market Research and Career Information is responsible for more than 17 vocational information centres. When talking about successful career guidance services emphasizes the necessary training for the counsellors.

“All new advisors in the pits must complete the training course which takes about a year and consists of 8 modules. In between there are self-study tasks as well as homework exercises to be completed together with learning partners. At the beginning of the course, the basics are thought. This starts with the legal basics and the PES internal guideline. At the end of the course there is an examination,” explains Sabina Putz.

Regional career centres: exclusive opportunity to try out the profession of interest

In the beginning of 2022 14 regional career centres (RCC) were established by Public Employment Service of Lithuania together with the Centre for Informal Education of Lithuanian Students and the Agency for Youth Affairs.

RCC works with students from the age of 14, students of vocational training institutions, registered unemployed under the age of 29, and inactive young people (NEET). However, older people registered with the Employment Service or people with disabilities can also receive help. The provision of vocational guidance services encourages individuals to continuously learn and improve, and to be interested in changes in the labour market. In this way, the idea of lifelong learning is implemented and nurtured as stated by Inga Balnanosienė, the Head of the Public Employment Service of Lithuania.

“Experienced and qualified career consultants provide individual and group counselling in their practice and inform clients about the services provided and opportunities how to integrate into the labour market successfully. During the individual interview, the person’s capabilities, abilities, and inclinations are clarified. When providing group counselling, other methodologies can be used such as methodological games: JUMP cards, value cards, feedback cards, developing job search skills through group consultations,” explains Inga Balnanosienė.

The full podcast episode can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3JRGtFKCWyvWPrlLupjqxj or https://feeds.transistor.fm/eu4youth-good-practices-on-standards-for-career-guidance-and-career-education-programmes-from-austria-and-lithuania

About the project

The EU4Youth Phase III Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship programme is co-financed by the European Union and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. The initiative is implemented by the Central Project Management Agency (CPMA) in Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine) until the end of 2024 and comprises technical assistance activities to support organisational structures and institutions (governmental and non-governmental) addressing youth employment and employability.