This paper argues that the current articulation of the lifelong career guidance paradigm stands in danger of uncritically reflecting core agendas underpinning neo-liberalism as well as New Public Management principles. It highlights the distinctions that ought to be drawn between seeing the user of career guidance services as a "customer",…

The case for more attention to productivity in career guidance delivery is related to the pressures both for greater public accountability and for increasing access to services without massive increases in resources. The term "productivity" is defined and its applications in a career guidance context are explored. Possible strategies for enhancing…

Examines the prolonging of young people's transitions, the individualization of their lives, and the greater uncertainty of their futures. Argues that youth's new condition is being normalized throughout Europe and that this process is aided by appropriate careers guidance, which must be recurrent, customized, and couched in terms of…

Examines the industrialized concept of career and analyzes ways in which this concept is breaking down. Explores the emerging significance of alternative concepts and identifies some of their implications for career guidance. Argues for the social significance of career guidance in its relation to the importance of individual experiences. (RJM)

In the 1950s, vocational guidance was dominated by the aim of helping clients find fulfillment through work. This "vocational aim" has since been diluted by a flood of developments in vocational theory and research, counseling practices, and particularly the nature of work and the patterns of careers. The impact of these changes over a…