Traditionally, career guidance has been thought of as a high school activity and responsibility. The ultimate goal of a career guidance program is to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to develop realistic career plans and to make the appropriate decisions to carry out those plans. The terms career development, career guidance, and career counseling are often used interchangeably. Students develop and identify their career knowledge through a continuum of career awareness, career exploration, and work exposure activities that help them to discern their own career path. Career development encompasses an individual's education and career related choices, and the outcome of those choices.
Career guidance is different, yet related to the concept of career development.
Career guidance is a systematic program of coordinated information and experiences. The ultimate goal of a career guidance program is to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to develop realistic career plans and make the appropriate decisions to carry out these plans. In summary, career guidance programs help individuals become lifelong learners who can access and understand information about self and the world of work, and can use it to make wise and timely decisions about their lives. A key ingredient in any career guidance program is competencies and indicators established as standards that define what needs to be learned or achieved through participation in the program. The National Career Development Guidelines is one example of a set of developmental competencies and indicators for individual growth in self-knowledge, educational and occupational exploration, and career planning.