Creation of the Slovak quality standard for career guidance

Objective:

The initiative aims to develop a cross-sectoral, nationally relevant quality standard for career guidance in Slovakia. The standard seeks to ensure consistent, transparent, and developmental quality of services across education, employment, private, and non-profit sectors. It is designed to support the professionalisation of career guidance, foster trust among clients and funders, and provide counsellors and organisations with a tool for self-evaluation, continuous improvement, and recognition.

Target group:

• Career counsellors across all sectors (schools, public employment services, NGOs, private providers, HR)
• Career guidance providers (institutions, organisations, centres)
• Policymakers, ministries, and funders – indirectly (the goal was to increase the credibility of career guidance)
• Indirectly: end-users of guidance services (students, jobseekers, employees, adults in transition)

Duration:

The process started in 2016 as a participatory, multi-year initiative. The first phase (2016–2018) focused on designing a draft standard for career counsellors; the second phase (2019–2020) on piloting, collecting feedback, and refining the standard. It is conceived as a long-term, evolving framework, with periodic revisions based on practice and evaluation. The COVID 19 hindered the bottom-up adoption of the standard that was foreseen, but finally the content of the standard was to a large extent adopted for the national occupational standard and evaluation standard for obtaining the qualification of career counsellor (2025).

Description:

The Slovak Quality Standard was initiated by the Slovak Association for Career Guidance and Career Development (ZKPRK) in response to a need expressed by the practitioner community. It is intended as a voluntary, cross-sectoral framework, not as a regulatory barrier, but as a developmental tool.

The standard is structured into three main parts:

• Entry requirements (minimum qualifications, continuing education, and practical experience).
• Service quality criteria (18 criteria grouped into five domains: ethical service with clear goals; service using multidisciplinary resources; client-oriented service; service benefiting both clients and society; continuous improvement). Each criterion has four levels, from minimum compliance to exemplary practice.
• Transversal competencies of counsellors (establishing effective counselling relationships, identifying client needs, applying theoretical knowledge in practice, counselling skills, self-reflection).

Assessment is based on a self-evaluation tool, case studies, and optional mentoring. The process is developmental: counsellors and providers identify their current level and areas for growth, rather than pass/fail certification (each criteria has descriptors for 4 levels of achievement). A quality label may be introduced, awarded for three years, extendable to five years upon re-evaluation.

Implementation steps:

• Initiation and needs identification (2016): Strategic meeting of ZKPRK, consultation with 25+ practitioners, stakeholders, recognition of need for a quality standard.
• International benchmarking (2017): Analysis of 22 existing standards (e.g. Matrix Standard UK, BeQu Germany, NOLOC Netherlands, IBOBB Austria). Partnerships with organisations in Czech Republic, Austria, Netherlands, Norway, UK through an Erasmus+ project.
• Participatory process: Creation of a working group, expert seminars, online surveys (70+ counsellors and stakeholders), regional practitioner clubs, workshops at Summer School of Career Guidance.
• Drafting and piloting (2018–2019): Development of draft standard with criteria, indicators, and levels. Pilot testing with practitioners from various sectors, supported by mentoring.
• Evaluation and refinement (2020+): Feedback collection, adaptation, and implementation of a certification/quality label system with independent evaluation.
• Transformation into the national occupational standard and evaluation standard to obtain the qualification of a career practitioner (2024-2025).

Necessary conditions:

• Leadership and coordination: A core expert team within the Slovak Association for Career Guidance and Career Development (ZKPRK) was essential to steer the process, maintain continuity, and coordinate the participatory work across sectors. This team provided methodological guidance, organised consultations, and drafted the standard. Also, during the process, articles were published on the Association website about different approaches to quality assurance in different countries, which increased the community’s knowledge around this issue.
• Resources: Main research work was covered by an Erasmus+ grant. Core team of 5–10 experts from ZKPRK and associated institutions with expertise in career guidance, quality assurance, and evaluation. Time investment: Multi-year process, with approx. 200–300 staff hours annually during the development phase; counsellors need approx. 10–20 hours for self-evaluation, documentation, and case study preparation. Cooperation with experts with knowledge of international quality frameworks (ISO, EFQM), facilitation of participatory processes, mentoring, evaluation, and sector-specific expertise.
• Staff and expertise: Core team of 5–10 experts from ZKPRK and associated institutions with expertise in career guidance, quality assurance, and evaluation.
• Time investment: Multi-year process, with approx. 200–300 staff hours annually during the development phase; counsellors need approx. 10–20 hours for self-evaluation, documentation, and case study preparation.
• Practitioner engagement: The quality standard was built through strong practitioner involvement. Counsellors from schools, employment services, NGOs, and the private sector contributed via surveys, regional practitioner clubs, and workshops. Their willingness to share cases and reflect critically on their practice was crucial for making the standard credible and applicable.
• Knowledge base and benchmarking: Access to international examples (Matrix UK, BeQu Germany, NOLOC Netherlands, etc.) and exchange with partner organisations abroad provided concrete models and comparative insights.
• Testing and feedback loops: Piloting the draft criteria with practitioners, collecting feedback, and integrating it into revised versions ensured that the standard remained developmental rather than bureaucratic. A culture of trust and openness to experimentation was indispensable, and the standard was simplified and adapted in several iterations.
• Tools and documentation: Simple, user-friendly self-evaluation tools and case study templates were developed to operationalise the standard. These had to be clear and accessible so that practitioners could realistically complete them within their workload. The most innovative one was the self-evaluation tool, but it turned out to be rather complex and discouraged the candidates. A simples approach could be more operational, focusing on fewer key areas that determine quality of the service (using the 80:20 principle), rather than a comprehensive checklist of all the facets of the service (16 criteria each with descriptors of 4 levels)
• Sustainability framework: To give the standard long-term impact, the association explored options for recognition mechanisms such as a quality label, supported by periodic reassessment. This required envisioning not only the technical content of the standard, but also the institutional framework to sustain it – this proved to be a challenge, partly due to the COVID 19 crisis, partly also due to the complexity of the standard.

Photos, videos, further resources:

Website to apply for the standard (separate standard for organization and individual): https://rozvojkariery.sk/kvalita/

Article in Slovak describing the standard and the process: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tomas-Sprlak/publication/333842945_Slovenske_karierove_poradenstvo_dozrievame_ku_kvalite_Career_guidance_in_Slovakia_Maturing_towards_quality_Karierove_poradenstvo_v_teorii_a_praxi_2018_cislo_14/links/5d087ec7299bf1f539cb9ddd/Slovenske-karierove-poradenstvo-dozrievame-ku-kvalite-Career-guidance-in-Slovakia-Maturing-towards-quality-Karierove-poradenstvo-v-teorii-a-praxi-2018-cislo-14.pdf

Contact person: info(at)zkprk.sk