The Influence of Professional Standards on New Zealand Career Development Practice

Abstract

This study used professional standards developed by the Career Industry Council of Australia and the Career Development Association of New Zealand to create a questionnaire that was distributed to New Zealand career practitioners. The questionnaire asked respondents to rate the relevance of each standard to their career practice and also to rate their ability to apply the standard in their practice. Results indicated that the relevance of most standards was accepted, but that respondents felt less able to apply the standards. Practice setting was identified as an influence on the ratings. The findings have implications for the use of standards by career practitioners and career industry stakeholders.

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