Career guidance and counselling services

In BiH, career guidance and counselling services are organized through various public institutions and programs, with the aim of supporting young people in career planning and employment.

Career counselling in FBiH has been carried out by the FBiH Ministry of Education and Science which has developed Strategic Directions of Career Orientation Development in FBiH 2015 – 2020.

Policies adopted in the previous period in BiH are an important basis and provide a framework for the development of career guidance activities in BiH. The most important policies include:

1. Improving the Quality and Relevance of Vocational Education and Training in BiH – Based on the Riga Conclusions (2021–2030),

2. Policy Recommendation with a Roadmap on Quality Education for All in BiH (2020),

3. Strategic Platform for the Development of Adult Education in the Context of Lifelong Learning in BiH 2014–2020,

4. Priorities for the Development of Higher Education in BiH 2016–2026,

5. Priorities in integrating entrepreneurial learning and entrepreneurial key competencies into the educational systems in BiH 2021-2030,

6. FBiH Employment Strategy 2023–2030,

7. RS Employment Strategy 2021-2027.

Legislative framework in BiH for the development of career guidance activities consists of the following documents:

1. Convention on Human Resources Development, International Labour Organization 1975 (No. 142); (BiH ratification: 1993);

2. Framework Law on Primary and Secondary Education in BiH, adopted in 2003;

3. Framework Law on Secondary Vocational Education and Training in BiH, adopted in 2008;

4. Framework Law on Higher Education in BiH, adopted in 2007;

5. Principles and standards in the field of adult education in BiH, adopted in 2014.

In November 2023, BiH officially joined the Europass and Euroguidance networks. Membership in Europass enables youth in BiH to create standardized digital CVs, mobility documents, and track their learning achievements from formal, non-formal, or informal environments. National coordinators nominated by the BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs are set to support these tools.

As an Euroguidance partner, BiH now benefits from best practices in career development, including methodologies for self-assessment, guidance tools, workshops, and peer learning, especially valuable within youth centres and educational institutions.

Career guidance and counselling services in FBiH are provided through a combination of education institutions, public employment services, and specialized programs initiated by relevant ministries. These services target a wide range of users including students, unemployed youth, and vulnerable groups, and are designed to support lifelong career development, improve employability, and foster better alignment between education and labour market needs.

Concrete services currently available include:

• Career counselling within public employment services (Employment Bureaus at cantonal level), which offer one-on-one career counselling, job matching, skills assessment, and guidance on job search strategies.

• Career orientation programs in secondary schools, primarily provided by school psychologists and pedagogues, including activities such as interest inventories, individual consultations, and information sessions about occupations and education pathways.

• University-based Career Development Centers (e.g., at the University of Sarajevo and University of Tuzla), which provide career counselling, workshops, employer networking events, internship facilitation, and job fairs for students and graduates.

• Pilot programs and EU-supported projects that have included mobile career counselling teams, online platforms for career information, and targeted support for NEETs (youth Not in Employment, Education, or Training).

Main providers include:

• Cantonal ministries of education and labour,

• Public employment services,

• Educational institutions (schools and universities),

• Non-governmental organizations implementing donor-funded youth employability projects.

Target groups include:

• Students in primary, secondary, and higher education,

• Unemployed youth registered with employment services,

• NEETs and youth at risk of social exclusion,

• Persons with disabilities and long-term unemployed youth.

The system is guided by strategic documents such as:

• Strategy for Strengthening the Mediation Function at Public Employment Services in FBiH (2014);

• Strategic Directions for the Development of Higher Education in FBiH 2012–2022;

• Strategic Guidelines for the Development of Career Guidance in FBiH 2015–2020 (2014);

• Operational plan of activities for the implementation of measures and recommendations contained in the Analysis with the situation in the field of secondary education with a proposal for harmonization of education measures with the needs of the economy (2011).

These documents recognize the importance of integrating career guidance into all levels of education and employment systems and have influenced the development of policies and pilot services. For example, the 2014 Strategy aimed to professionalize counselling services at employment bureaus and improve intersectoral coordination.

Efforts are ongoing to establish a comprehensive and accessible career guidance system that supports citizens throughout life, with an emphasis on cross-sectoral cooperation, digitalization of services, and capacity building for guidance professionals. These goals are aligned with the broader vision of enhancing employment outcomes, social inclusion, and individual empowerment through career development.

The RS Government has not adopted career counselling policy, but it has a career counselling measure included in the Employment Policy 2021-2027 (3.2.3): Improving career guidance and counselling – with the aim to provide long-term unemployed people with access to counselling, information and vocational training services in order to find a job, mainly through information, counselling and training centres.

In addition to the General Development Policy, the BD Government has developed a Draft Employment Strategy 2024-2027 in 2023. The strategic objectives of the Draft Employment Strategy 2024-2027 are:

1. Strategic Objective 1: Increase employment through workforce activation and promotion of self-employment for groups in disadvantaged positions in the labor market.

2. Strategic Objective 2: Align supply and demand in the BD labor market through the enhancement of knowledge and skills.

3. Strategic Objective 3: Implement institutional and legislative reforms in the labor market to facilitate the implementation of labor market programs and services.

The Vision of the BD Employment Strategy 2024-2027: A developed labor market in BD with a high supply of jobs that provide good working conditions and a decent standard of living for all citizens, along with a productive and educated workforce.

The Mission of the BD Employment Strategy 2024-2027 is the application of a partnership approach in building and activities of a multisectoral stakeholder network for the development of a dynamic labor market in BD through the enhancement of employment promotion programs, career counseling programs, and capacity building of stakeholders in the labor market.

Funding

Public funding for career guidance and counselling services in BiH is primarily provided through several key channels. The Public Employment Services (PES) at the entity and BD levels, including the FBiH Employment Institute, RS Employment Institute, and BD Employment Institute, allocate a portion of their annual budgets to deliver career counselling, job placement, and guidance services. These programmes especially target young people and vulnerable groups.

At the state level, the BiH Agency for Labour and Employment oversees the coordination of these activities and channels funding from the state budget through the BiH Council of Ministers.

Additional funding is frequently provided through international donor-supported projects. Initiatives such as the EU-funded Education for Employment project, UNDP programmes, Caritas "Your Job" initiative, and the Swiss-supported Youth Employment Project (YEP) co-finance training for career guidance counsellors and support the development of pilot guidance programmes in schools and youth centres, particularly targeting young people aged 18 to 35.

In terms of financial scale, in 2018 the FBiH Employment Institute allocated approximately 28 million BAM to active labour market measures, which included career guidance and professional mediation services. In the same year, the RS Employment Institute dedicated around 8.7 million BAM for similar activities.

The FBiH Ministry of Culture and Sports allocated 40,000 BAM annually between 2022 and 2024 to support youth policy activities, including career guidance, monitoring, and related initiatives.

The BD BiH also provides public funding for career guidance services through its Employment Bureau and supports local career development programmes, including pilot projects aimed at improving career counselling services.

Quality assurance

Quality Assurance of Career Guidance Services in BiH

Public career guidance services are delivered primarily through Public Employment Services (PES) in FBiH, RS, and BD BiH. Additionally, career guidance in education (mainly in vocational schools) is provided by psychologists and pedagogues, although these professionals often deal with large caseloads and have limited training in career guidance frameworks.

A strategic document in FBiH, Strategic Directions for the Development of Career Orientation in FBiH 2015–2020, mandates embedding quality principles into career guidance. These include using evidence-based methods, continuous improvement informed by user feedback, qualified staff, user complaints mechanisms, and empathetic service delivery.

Criteria and Evaluation Standards

Although structured quality frameworks exist in documentation, there is no nationwide system that tracks satisfaction levels of career guidance users, service outcomes (such as employment results or user progression), or programmatic adjustments based on collected data.

Instead, quality assurance primarily occurs at the institutional level, relying on self-evaluation, periodic accreditation (especially for adult education), and informal feedback without standardized national monitoring or enforcement.