careers
Human Resources &
Career Development
BRIDGING THE DISCIPLINES
By Alyson Nyiri, CHRP
Do What You Are; Who Are You Meant to Be?; Do What
You Love and the Money Will Follow.
You’ve heard the titles and perhaps secretly worked
through the books just to make sure HR was really for
you. In large part, these career investigations happen on our own
time and most likely rely on online information and colleagues’ or
family members’ recommendations. The business of finding what
we really want to do is largely left up to us and not typically to
one’s employer. In an online survey on public perceptions about ca-reer
development and the workplace, about half of Canadians have
only some idea of what they need to do to advance their careers.
Career counselling – or vocational guidance, as it is also known
– began around 1880 as industrialization, urbanization and im-migration
shifted the Canadian landscape from a largely agrarian
to increasingly urban society. The rise of factories brought new
Photo by donskarpo
systems of production. Specialized machines required workers to
have specific skills and employers began demanding those skills.
As specialization and overcrowding rose, so did labour abuses and
poverty. Educators and social activists developed programs to help
individuals learn the skills needed to fit into the new workforce by
analyzing the job and matching the individual.
NATURAL COLLABORATORS
Today, career development is no longer simply job matching. The
world of work is rapidly changing, with jobs becoming increasingly
complex, demanding specific skills while at the same time forcing
individuals to adapt rapidly and effectively in order to remain in
the workforce.
Rob Straby, professor and curriculum developer in the Career
Development Practitioner Program at Conestoga College for 19
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ MAY/JUNE 2014 ❚ 69