Second Edition
                                   Career development
                                   understandings
                                   informing myfuture
                                   Career
                                   More than just a job
                                   Mary McMahon 
                                   Peter Tatham 
             Published 2008 by
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                                                                                                                                       A joint initiative of Australian, state and territory governments
                                    Contents
                              1     Foreword
                              1     Acknowledgments                                                                               
                              1 Authors         
                              2     Introduction                                                                                  
                              3     Career and Career Development                                                                 
                              5     Career Theory                                                                                 
                              7     The Changing World of Work                                                         
                              8     Learning Across the Lifespan                                                       
                              9     Career Decision-Making                                                             
                              10    Career Management                                                                  
                              11    Career Development with Individuals                                                
                              13    Career Development and Social Justice                                                         
                              14    The Provision of Career Information in Career Development                          
                              15    The Place of Career Development in the Broader Community                           
                              16    Career Development and Public Policy                                               
                              17    Conclusion                                        
                              18 References        
                                                                                                                                  Career More than just a job             i
                                                                                                  Career development understandings informing myfuture
                  Foreword
            About this Publication                           ongoing commitment to accurate, up to 
                                                             date and reliable data will hold it in good 
            In March 2000 the Ministerial Council            stead as it adapts to new technology. 
            for Education, Employment, Training 
            and Youth Affairs resolved to fund the           Acknowledgements
            development of an online National Career 
            Information System (NCIS) to provide a           The revision of this document was comm-
            single comprehensive and effective internet      issioned by education.au limited and 
            based career exploration service for all         funded through the Australian Government 
            Australians. This NCIS, myfuture, has now        Department of Education, Employment 
            been operating since 2002 and is the             and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). This 
            most important career information site           revision attests to an ongoing commitment 
            in Australia, with a very broad audience.        to ensure that myfuture remains consistent 
            To assist in the design and development          with current thinking about career devel-
            of this service the original edition of this     opment and the world of work.
            publication was commissioned by the NCIS 
            Steering Committee to provide a theoretical      Authors
            understanding of the current philosophies 
            underpinning career development.                 Mary McMahon is a senior lecturer in 
                                                             the School of Education at The University 
            A strength of myfuture is its recognition of     of Queensland where she teaches in the 
            the complex, holistic nature of career           guidance and counselling specialisation of 
            development. In its next stage of devel-         the Master of Educational Studies program. 
            opment, myfuture faces the further               Mary researches, writes and publishes in 
            challenge of informing an Australian             the field of career development. 
            population that is the most casualised 
            labour market across all OECD countries,         Peter Tatham is Head of the University 
            and is in a demographic transition both          of Tasmania Career Development and 
            in terms of a decline in the growth of           Employment Service. He is a former 
            the labour market, an ageing workforce,          President of the Career Industry Council 
            increasing diversity and a shift in where        of Australia, a fellow of the Career 
            the population is living.                        Development Association of Australia 
                                                             (CDAA) and a current member of the 
            In addition, the competition to provide          Australian Government’s National Youth 
            career information is greater. New products      and Career Transitions Advisory Group 
            are available that offer opportunities for       and the Ministerial Council on Education, 
            interactivity. These range from online           Employment, Training and Youth Affairs 
            interactive sites such as myspace, second        Advisory Group on Career Development 
            -life, facebook, and youtube to significant      and Employment. He has represented 
            commercial job sites that offer career           Australia at three international symposia 
            information of varying standards. At this        on Career Development and Public Policy.
            stage none can compete with the accuracy 
            of the data provided by myfuture, and 
            none have the support of all education 
            and training ministries. Indeed, myfuture’s 
           1        Career More than just a job 
                    Career development understandings informing myfuture