In Switzerland, career guidance is regulated by federal law: the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), in cooperation with the Swiss Conference of Managers of Career Guidance Centers (KBSB), developed a skills profile which everyone must fulfill to achieve a diploma in career counseling. Since 2012, the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW University) has offered multi-disciplinary training for career counseling following the method of an apprenticeship, which consists of both a theoretical and a practical component. With regard to the former, lecturers from different departments of FHNW University (e.g., economics, applied psychology, social work, pedagogy), economic specialists and professionals from the fields of career counseling and reintegration counseling teach theoretical concepts and approaches and offer the possibility to practice in small groups. Simultaneously, the practical component takes place at a career guidance center where students are supervised and assessed by experienced, qualified career counselors. The skills for career counseling, as defined in the SERI skills profile, are assessed at FHNW University and at the career guidance center where the student is doing their apprenticeship. The university not only admits students with a university degree (in psychology or other), but also those with a higher vocational education and several years of professional experience in various fields. Our initial experiences with this MAS program show that career guidance centers benefit from their cooperation with FHNW University as a possibility to train new employees near to the needs of the workplace and actively participate in advancing the profession of career counseling.
The goal of the oral paper is to show the competence frame developed and used in Switzerland, and to present our MAS programme as an example to train and educate students with multi-disciplinary backgrounds in an inter-disciplinary setting at FHNW University in cooperation with career guidance centers.
