For three days this Spring, two fearless CACEE members (Tony Botelho, UBC and Kimberly Matheson, USask) made the trek to Washington, DC to participate in the Global Career Services Summit (GCSS), hosted at George Washington University.   

The GCSS is an annual gathering of global post-secondary career leaders that provides a forum to share observations and insights into the world of career support and to help participants better understand and appreciate the similarities and differences of how this work is done in a variety of global contexts.  

Tony, a veteran Summiteer and Kim, a first-time attendee both approached the experience through a lens of curiosity, relationship building, and willingness to see where and how ideas landed. We then created space to reflect on them in relation to our own unique institutional contexts.  

 What follows are some of the topics and key points that most stood out for us: 

• Situational practices vs best practices. The concept of “best practices” was challenged based on the concept that everyone’s context is different and what might be best in one environment or institution may not work in another (thus nothing could really be best). Instead, it was argued that we all require a deeper understanding of our own situational contexts and ecosystems so that we can develop approaches and practices that make the most sense for us. This was a helpful lens to start this kind of summit. 

• Career Service offices are an integral part of others’ ecosystems. When imagining our role within our respective institutions, it is important to note those units and areas that we are highly reliant on and those that are reliant on us. This could lead to deeper relationships with key colleagues and stakeholders that are less transactional and more symbiotic. Mutual trust and common philosophical approaches are critical. 

• Faculty and staff from outside our office are key contributors to career education and student career success. Similar to the concept of career influencers, this acknowledges that many people on our campuses impact student career readiness. The question for us is how do we support and nurture this. Some models focused on a low barrier approach to developing “career champions” where learning/training elements were minimal, but engagement was very high. Others had a higher standard for training, but engagement was much lower. 

• Integration of career education into other institutional priorities. Career education does not exist in a vacuum and often links directly with other priorities for students and our institutions. Examples discussed include student mental health, supporting international students, and supporting historically marginalized students. Our job is to highlight these linkages, provide the evidence to back this up, and, where possible, create strategic, collaborative alignment. 

• Generational impacts of successful career launch. For students from historically marginalized communities, a successful transition to the world of work will not only impact their own lives but will likely positively impact their children and the generations that follow. This can be used to highlight the impact of our work and the value of our institutions in times where these values are increasingly questioned. 

• Career offices as partners with Advancement. For many corporate bodies that donate to post-secondary institutions, part of their rationale for donating is to be seen positively by students, for both their products and services but also as a possible workplace destination. Given this, some career offices have “trained” their Advancement colleagues to engage or consult with them when interacting with possible donors for whom student hiring is a priority. 

Beyond these topics and key points, we also both felt that the opportunity to develop and nurture relationships with other career leaders and the chance to spend time immersed in topics that occupy our mental space as leaders was invaluable. In a nutshell, 5 out of 5. Would attend again.  

For anyone interested in knowing more about the Summit or engaging in a deeper discussion on any of the above points, you are invited to connect with us directly.