International experts and professionals nowadays pay considerable attention to the organisation of vocational guidance and career advice for students to promote their career development, prevent dropout rates and promote lifelong learning. The wrong choice of the training programme, wide gaps between the expectations and the actual training of students, and inconsistencies in the way the staff of the institution works on career development led to a lack of motivation among the students, and consequently to their expulsion from the institution or transfer to another programme.
Effective career advice and guidance services in educational institutions help students to unlock their potential, increase their own competence awareness and develop career management (lifelong learning) competences. Personalised, non-biased and relevant information from the career and education advice services enables students to make constructive decisions regarding their future career, its development, and the successful realisation of their potential in their future professional activities.
The organisation of vocational guidance and career advice for students will be active if the management and teachers/trainers of the educational institution cooperate with vocational guidance specialists (teachers/trainers) working in other educational institutions, representatives of career development services, state employment services, and public and volunteer organisations. In the context of such cooperation, the organisation of vocational guidance and career advice for students requires new forms of work to create flexible relationships between employers, management, teachers/trainers of educational institutions and students’ parents.
The successful organisation of vocational guidance and career advice for students is focused on cooperation with external organisations and educational institutions for further education, taking into account current trends in improving career and educational trajectories in educational institutions and includes a number of related activities that will promote career development; dissemination of career information; individual and group career guidance/counselling; interaction with employers; development of skills necessary for job search and self-employment.
The use of the suggested areas in the organisation of vocational guidance and career advice for students is necessary for the formation and development of the students' career competencies (lifelong learning) that meet national and regional needs, circumstances, and traditions. The suggested areas of organisation use the EQAVET cycle, indicators, and indicator descriptors to support national, regional, or local quality assurance processes.