3.4 Career guidance and counselling
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Career guidance and counselling services
Since 2009 İŞKUR is the National representative of the Euroguideance network which interconnects the Vocational Guidance systems throughout the EU by the EU Commission. İŞKUR provides services relating to vocational counselling for young people who will start vocational training and who are about to select a job or profession and services relating to vocational counselling services for who will start working life, long-term unemployed people, unemployed people receiving unemployment insurance allowance and adults wishing to have a job, change job and get advanced in their professions through its Vocational Information Centres organized throughout the country. It assists young people in terms of awareness rising relating to important of profession and job selection, workplaces, professions and training opportunities and in knowing themselves. In addition, training on development of job search skills is provided in order to assist unemployed people seeking job and applying to the Agency, students of vocational training centre, vocational high school, vocational schools and universities and rank and files about to complete their military service in job search, job finding, interview with employer and development of resume.
İŞKUR provides “job and vocational counselling” services for young and adult people wishing to change job/profession, improve their vocational skills and those with problems in vocational inconformity, problems in job finding/selection or profession selection who are about to select a profession. Since whether personal characteristics and skills of those wishing to change their profession or unemployed people are compatible with the labour market and the professions they are incline to is assessed by the counsellors through the job and vocational counselling services it is possible “to guide the right unemployed to the right job and to guide the right trainee to the right training”. In this sense, the job and vocational counselling services are the most effective method in active employment policy tools in terms of costs.
The Lifelong Learning Strategy Document (Hayat Boyu Öğrenme Strateji Dokümanı) has been designed to provide lifelong guidance and counselling services which will assist employees in improvement in their careers and thinking of alternative job opportunities in addition to vocational guidance services provided to job seekers. The vocational guidance and counselling services is one of the basic components of the lifelong learning system.
The VQI (Vocational Qualifications Institution) has guaranteed provision of guidance and counselling services to individual under its responsibility by means of institutional legislative arrangements and international documents. The VQI as the EQF (European Qualifications Framework) National Coordination Point (NCP) of Turkey, qualifications and the TQF (Turkish Qualifications Framework) provide stakeholders with technical knowledge and guidance in many subjects such as common and free learning. The VQI which is also the National Europass Centre carries out activities such as management of Europass documents, promotion of Europass and Europass documents and effectively informing the information and guidance centres of Europass and Europass documents. In the VQI institutional legislation it is an obligation to provide guidance services to applicants and candidates by Certification Bodies authorized to carry out measurement, assessment and certification activities in line with the elements defined in UYs (National Qualifications).
University Career Centres have been established in many universities in Turkey based on Article 7 of the Law on Higher Education. Basic purpose of these centres is to ensure improvement of competencies of candidate students, students and graduated people in terms of career planning and improvements relating to their skills, knowledge and qualifications and to contribute in improvement of human resources potential and performance of Turkey.
Besides, as the part of awareness-raising activities, within the framework of Job and Vocational Counseling Services, a magazine titled "Support for Profession Choice" is printed in large numbers (one million) and dissemintaed at schools and conferences.
Funding
The Turkish Employment Agency meets costs of its vocational guidance services from its own budget.
Incomes of the Turkish Employment Agency are as follows:
a) Allocation provided in the Ministry’s budget for the Agency each year.
b) Price of training and counselling services provided by the Agency and fees collected from private employment offices as well as employers and agricultural agents.
c) Incomes from movable and immovable properties of the Agency.
d) Donations given and wills made by real or legal persons and income from sale of standard forms, etc. developed by the Agency and other incomes.
The Vocational Qualifications Institution (Mesleki Yeterlilik Kurumu) is a public institution with special budget. The activities relating to improvement of National Vocational Standards and National Qualifications are, in general, carried out under cooperation protocols made between the Vocational Qualifications Institution and establishments which are able to represent industries and on voluntary basis. Costs of services measurement, assessment and certification and related audit activities and guidance services arising out of such activities as well as, when necessary, development of National Vocational Standards and National Qualifications are met from the Agency’s budget and such services are under the field of activity of the Agency.
Quality assurance
The Authorized Certifications Bodies are subject to regular qualification and quality monitoring activities by the Turkish Accreditation Agency (TURKAK-Türk Akkreditasyon Kurumu) and the Vocational Qualifications Institution (VQI). The surveillance audits made by the VQI are carried out at least once every two year and during the surveillance audits fulfilment of requirements given under the title “Requirements for Authorization” is assessed. The items assessed during the audits also cover provision of guidance and counselling services for individuals making applications to establishments through a certification application. During the surveillance audits compliance of establishments to relevant requirements and procedures is assessed and the audits are based on the assessments, processes employed and the records obtained after such processes. Results of such audits are reported to establishments and establishments are informed of any inconsistency identified in the report. Establishments should conduct corrective and prevention actions for the inconsistencies and inform the body (TURKAK or the VQI) making the audit of the actions taken and their results.