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The new economy demands a new approach to career development. People need to identify broad industry sector destinations and learn employability and transferable skills to equip them for multiple roles within these sectors. Mastery of career management skills, which include transferable employability and personal management skills, needs be part of mainstream primary, secondary and post-secondary education programs, employee training and development programs and remedial programs for adults in career transitions. Acquisition of these skills increases likelihood of workplace success, but also increases likelihood of success in relationships, family and community. Therefore, an investment in helping more citizens master these skills provides a multi-faceted return on investment, and benefits both for individuals and for society.

The traditional vocational guidance paradigm expected young people to make an informed, long-term career choice before graduating from high school. Yet, when any group of adults is asked if they are now doing what they expected to be doing when they left high school fewer than 10 percent (except educators and nurses) will raise their hands. Are you now doing what you expected to be doing at this age when you were in high school?

The old vocational guidance model was about helping people make informed career decisions, and went as follows:

1. Explore one's interests, aptitudes, values, etc. (often with tests and professional help)
2. Explore the world of work using comprehensive, current information
3. Determine a "best fit" occupational goal by matching personal traits to job factors
4. Develop a plan to obtain the prerequisite education and training
5. Graduate, obtain secure employment, work hard, climb the ladder
6. Retire as young as possible on full pension

The new career management model is about helping people become healthy, self-reliant citizens, able to cope with constant change in rapidly changing labour markets and maintain balance between life and work roles. For some, this means reclaiming their lives from the onslaught of "labour-saving" technologies in the workplace.

Cornerstones of the career management paradigm are the "high five" principles:

1. Know yourself, believe in yourself and follow your heart.
2. Focus on the journey, not the destination. Become a good traveler.
3. You're not alone. Access your allies, and be a good ally.
4. Change is constant, and brings with it new opportunities.
5. Learning is lifelong, and that's good. We're most alive when we're learning.

Those who master the Blueprint career management skills and follow the high five principles are more likely to secure fulfilling work and life roles in the knowledge age economy, and prosper. Regrettably, most educators, corporate executives, legislators and policy makers, community leaders, parents and others are still encumbered by the old vocational guidance mindset.

The catch phrase of the old paradigm, "What do you want to be when …?" loses relevance in labour markets where new workforce entrants can anticipate having 12 to 25 jobs in up to 5 industry sectors.(11) It is now unrealistic, even self-defeating, to expect anyone to choose an occupation for life. Through no fault of their own many educators, spouses and parents do not fully comprehend the new work world. Inadvertently they create additional pressures for those they are trying to help. For example, many parents feel their children are doing something wrong or failing somehow when they cannot secure a "permanent" job soon after finishing school.

In the career building paradigm the question, "What do you want to be when … ?" is replaced by questions like:

"Not what, but who are you now, and what do you love to do?"

"What are your specials gifts and skills?"

"What types of organizations need what you can offer better than others?"

"What innovative work arrangements might work for you and potential employers?"

"People don't succeed by migrating to a "hot" industry. They thrive by focusing on who they really are - and connecting that to work that they truly love (and, by doing so, unleashing a productive and creative power that they never imagined). Companies win when they engage the hearts and minds of individuals who are dedicated to answering their life question."(12)

Tests won't answer people's life questions, and certified professionals are not needed to ask them. The career management paradigm puts control in the hands of individual career managers, not tests, computer systems or specialists. Yet to be in control, people need to learn a set of career management skills the same way they learn math, science, communications or technical skills.

The workplace of the knowledge era is a radically different place at the beginning of the 21st century than that of the 20th century. 97 percent of Canadian businesses have fewer than 50 employees. 750,000 have fewer than 5 employees.(13) Self-employment, particularly among aging baby boomers, is growing. Even in larger organizations, the notions of self-employment and working for customers and clients have replaced working for a boss. Doing what you are told and following established procedures is now balanced with encouragement to invent new solutions to getting the job done and better serving customers and clients. Just being responsible for your job has been replaced by pressure to be a good team player and help the team continuously learn and improve. Respect used to be accorded to position. It is now earned by people, at any level in the organization, on the basis of their contribution, commitment to learning and growing and their willingness to help others improve.

The following terms(14) represent concept shifts, not just "vernacular du jour." They are occurring at different rates in different regions and sectors of society, but they are indicative of a global career management paradigm shift.

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As technologies and skill requirements change, demand for workers changes. Workers need to be able to follow occupational and industrial trends, observe where job growth or decline is likely to happen and position themselves to adjust to the trends. The fastest growing category of companies is the smallest ones, which have the greatest failure rate. Larger companies are being merged, downsized, split up, re-engineered, or bought out. Job security is no longer a given for anyone at any level in any organization, and it has become an individual matter. Workers need to prepare themselves for periodic job loss and the inevitable loss of income.(15)

The very notion of "job" is shifting dramatically. In most contemporary settings those who say "That's not my job!" won't have a job for long! Workers are increasingly seeking meaning, purpose and fulfillment from their work roles, not just pay cheques. Career is increasingly being viewed as something every human has, for a lifetime.(16) The concept "occupation" is an anachronism in many industry sectors, yet it remains the cornerstone of career information systems and databases, guidance processes and post-secondary education and training offerings. "Work is now defined not by occupational titles or categories, but by skills and values. Effective career builders know how to shape and build their careers project by project. This is a new competency, still largely unrecognized by most adults in the workforce."(17)

Increasingly it's okay, even desirable, to have one's "eggs in more than one basket." More and more people are getting more satisfaction, stimulation, respect, money and freedom by brokering portions of their time and skills to multiple organizations in creative new work "packages." Security derives from the knowledge that if one "job" ends abruptly, others are still in place. As companies do not pay benefits and can initiate and terminate contracts easily, they are willing to pay more. ("We can pay you $500 per day for 10 days every three months, but we can't offer you a full-time job"). If they deliver reliable, high quality service, self-employed people often find more and more employers want more and more of their time. To succeed, self-employed workers in atypical, contract work arrangements need to have specialized skills, be aware of their value to specific employers, and be capable of marketing themselves effectively. This demands a high level of self-knowledge and self-confidence, both of which are career management skills.

The more education and skills a person has, the greater the likelihood of securing work, earning a good income, and remaining employed. High school dropouts have an unemployment rate of more than 18 percent, compared with 7 percent for those with a university degree.(18) Over the next five years, occupations that require less than high school education will account for less than 6 percent of new job opportunities. More than 70 percent of new jobs will require at least some postsecondary education.(19) The main activity of 61 percent of respondents in a recent British Columbia survey in their first year after high school was attending school full time or part time.(20) Thus, 39 percent were rejecting advice from "the system," or from their parents. Nearly half of the students who go to post-secondary programs after high school either change programs or drop out by the end of their first year.

Society expects people to select an occupational goal then pursue the prerequisite education and training. While preparing to enter the workforce they are graded on acquisition of academic and technical skills, not career management skills, despite constant pleas from employers to teach "employability skills." While academic and technical qualifications open doors, life and career management skills largely determine selection, success and advancement.(21) (22) Job seekers who market themselves as skilled in narrow occupational specialties do themselves a disservice. Those who can describe the skills they bring to an organization to help it achieve long-term success, in whatever combination of roles, are in greater demand.(23) The key in the workplace as in life is not just finding the right job, friend or life partner, it's becoming the right worker, friend or life partner.

"Increasingly, career development is about leadership. It's about the personal leadership required to take action, take risks and learn new skills. It's also about the leadership required to help others develop, grow and learn. Creating things that don't yet exist is now part of career development, not just choosing among existing options. Preparedness for an environment that does not yet exist is key to adaptability, and leadership - therefore, it's key to career management."(24)

Over the past quarter century disparities in earnings from employment have widened. The well paid have experienced earnings gains, while market incomes at the low end of the spectrum have stagnated or even declined. Almost two million adult Canadians work for less that $10 an hour - about one in six employed people. These jobs do not pay enough to support a family, yet workers face barriers to advancing their incomes. Workplace barriers occur because employers concentrate more on controlling payroll costs than on productivity growth and development of skills.(25) The prevalent assumption that money is the shortest route to freedom and happiness is flawed, as so many stressed professionals have discovered. In fact "the shortest route to the good life involves building the confidence that you can live happily within your means"(26) while doing work you truly love - whatever it pays.

The new career management paradigm recognizes that career development is a life-long process of skill acquisition and building through a continuum of learning, development and mastery. This process enables people to be in charge of their own careers, having enough focus and direction for stability and enough flexibility and adaptability to allow for change along the way. Career management does not seek to help people make the "right" choice the first time. It equips them to make good choices, time after time, year after year, for the rest of their lives. The aim is to help people become self-reliant, allowing them to provide for themselves and their families, and to contribute positively to our ever-changing workforce. Failure to meet these changing needs for more Canadians will be costly. In fact, it already is.