Career services in Estonia
Career guidance has been practiced in Estonia for about 90 years. The service has been called in different ways – the latest version being career services. Later development of this field has taken place due to the changes in expectations and requirements of the labour marketas well as due to the advanced concept of lifelong learning.
The former staircase-image of one’s career has gradually been replaced by the one of a road passing through life and encompassing all contexts that people operate in and all roles that they take.
Career services contain career education, career information and career counselling – its development and provision. These may include services in schools, universities, colleges, training institutions, public employment services, and companies, in the community sector and in the private sector.
The services in Estonia are mainly provided by the public sector within the education and labour market structures. Provision in the education sector tends to be more complex and divided across many institutions compared to the labour market sector.
In 2008, a contractual agreement to develop career services was signed between
Ministry of Educationd and Research in Estonia (MoER) and
Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) stating the areas of responsibility in providing high quality career services to the whole population. The agreement is aimed at developing of methodology, training system, service provision, quality and co-operation in the field. The
National Resource Centre for Guidance (NRCG, established in 1998) is the main partner of MoER and MoSA in developing career services in Estonia.
In cooperation with the members of the
Euroguidance network NRCG
supports guidance practitioners in promoting mobility and the European dimension in the field of guidance. Long term cooperation with the network Academia has enabled NRCG to offer international study visits for Estonian career specialists and introduce national experience to the practitioners from other European countries. As an Estonian representative of the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network, NRCG takes part in developing lifelong guidance in education and employment sectors. Since 2010, NRCG is a member of the University Network for Innovation in Guidance. The main focus of the network is professionalization of career guidance specialists.
To assure the accessibility of career services, the national forum for career services has been established. The forum consists of a wide range of stakeholders, including practitioners, client representatives, employers, institutions from both education and labour sector.
The provision and development of career services is financed from the state and local government budget; a significant support comes from the European Lifelong Learning Programme and Structural Funds.
