For the second consecutive year, Qatar Career Development Centre (QCDC), a member of Qatar Foundation, has participated in the Asia Pacific Career Development Association’s (APCDA) conference – an international forum for sharing career development ideas and expertise in the Asia Pacific region.

The 2019 edition of the annual conference, titled ‘Navigating Career Development in the Age of Industry 4.0’, was hosted by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University from May 21 to 25 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The conference brought together human resource professionals, school counsellors and career development practitioners from government agencies, public schools, universities, and private educational institutions. It featured discussions on best practice guidelines for career guidance and professional development in complex cultural contexts.

QCDC was represented by Mohamed Tagrida, senior content specialist, and Abdulrahman al-Malki, marketing and communication officer. During the conference, QCDC presented a paper showcasing the centre’s efforts in contributing to the development of an effective career guidance system in Qatar by identifying and addressing the existing challenges and shortcomings, and proposing the necessary solutions.

The paper, titled ‘A Stakeholder-based Operational Innovations Approach to Developing Qatar’s Career Guidance System’, outlined how QCDC devised the Career Guidance Stakeholders Platform – an informal cross-sector network that brings together career guidance stakeholders to advance its objectives.

The platform engaged policy and decision-makers, career guidance organisations and practitioners, educational institutions, researchers and clients, such as students and job seekers, in reflective processes for collaboration, innovation, knowledge-sharing, as well as the exchange of best practices to advance career guidance as a powerful means for the personal, educational and socio-economic success of Qatar and its people.

Tagrida explained how the platform participants utilised operational innovation activities as a means for addressing relevant career guidance challenges and developing action-oriented recommendations. One of these recommendations, according to Tagrida, focused on how the integration of Information and Communication Technology into career development programmes and services is a powerful tool for the delivery of employment, education, and guidance services under one electronic platform.

“Through its participation in the APCDA conference, QCDC seeks to showcase how the center is successfully contributing to the development of a national career guidance system in Qatar, while exchanging expertise with the various participants on how to further advance their shared objectives,” said al-Malki.

On the sidelines of the conference, QCDC’s delegation met with many international career experts and practitioners to discuss best practices and exchange expertise on career development strategies, exploring different career development experiences in many of the Asia Pacific countries, such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

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