The Career Education Society (CES) wrapped up its 35th Annual Conference in Vancouver today.
The two day event hosted career professionals from across the province and beyond at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Vancouver. This year’s conference theme was Career Education: A Journey for Life and incorporated personalized learning to prepare youth for an early start at a lifetime of learning in our knowledge-based society.
Both days offered multiple sessions on various topics, from career development resources to updates on government funded programs. The first day began with a keynote address from Kris Magnusson, Dean of the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Dr. Magnusson emphasized the importance of mastering technology in order to help young people prepare for an uncertain future and described some of the major shifts in career development practice.
Following CES’s Annual General Meeting, which fittingly began bright at early at 7:30am, today’s morning keynote was delivered by Sean Aiken, founder of the One Week Job Project. Over the course of a year, he tried out a new job every week, traveling over 74,000 km and sleeping on 55 couches along the way, all while raising over $20,000 for charity. Because youth can easily be overwhelmed by the number and variety of available career options, Sean encouraged educators to welcome youth and students into their space by sharing their own personal story, commending the courage and passion they have for the work they do.
For today’s younger generation, where the average high school graduate can expect to navigate several different career paths, the important question to ask is no longer, “What do you want to be?” but “What makes you come alive?”