"Your Euroguidance - Passion in Practice" – Polish contest in career counselling

Author: Viktoriia Khyzhniak, National Europass & Euroguidance Center in Poland

Career counsellors are making a great effort delivering knowledge and active presence every day on the labour market. Many of them would be happy to stand out of the crowd.
In 2023 the National Europass & Euroguidance Centre in Poland gave them a solid basis to gain such a position and increase their influence.

Contests for career counsellors play a significant role in the European guidance and education systems by providing attractive opportunities to identify good practices, stories of successes, promote talents and share the experience with stake holding professionals. By participating in contests, career guidance counsellors have the opportunity to present their skills and achievements, which is a significant contribution in building their personal position on the education and labour market.

One of the good case studies of such a contest is "Your Euroguidance - Passion in Practice", organised by the National Europass & Euroguidance Center in Poland. The contest took place from March 13 to April 28, 2023, . addressing several valuable needs, such as selecting the most valuable activities of career counsellors working with children, youths and students, to promoting best activities in the context of a significantly changing social environment in the scope of career counselling and building the exchange of experiences among the community of career counsellors in Poland. Contest participants were selected for three major categories:

1) the use of digital technologies in career counselling;

2) interactive scenario for career counselling classes;

3) success story of a person who changed his/her profession as a part of the European Year of Skills 2023.

Nine winners

22 contest submissions qualified for the jury evaluation. The jury selected nine winners in the three above mentioned categories.

The winners were presented to a wider audience during an Awards Gala which was a part of the 3rd Vocational Education Forum Europass and Euroguidance and a part of a national conference that gathered an impressive number of 400 participants from all over Poland. The Forum was also transmitted online and is still available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzTLpbSPRmg&list=PL4uAT93s-jT3sB3RPBAZIZ1bUFsXKUt8M&pp=iAQB. The conference programme can be found here: https://forumedukacjizawodowej.pl/program2022/program2023/.

Another positive result from this experience was a greater networking of career guidance counsellors with other relevant target groups representatives. Valuable exchanges with other experts resulted in further cooperation and common activities in the frame of Erasmus+ and other European projects. Thanks to such initiatives, counsellors can learn new working methods and get familiar with new tools useful in their everyday business, which usually results in pure profits for their clients. This initiative is an example of important support, skills development of career counsellors and a solid answer to the needs described in Euroguidance priorities.