What do you when the main professional body for career development in New Zealand (yes, that would be CDANZ) celebrates their 20th birthday?

Well… you think about the chef who bakes the cake, the event planner who organises the party, the emcee who facilitates and hosts the event, the writers who construct the speeches, the facilities manager who ensures the venue is safe, the printers who produce the programmes and cards, the security guards who monitor the building, the computer technicians who monitor web access… You also consider their work conditions and hope they are thriving and satisfied in their roles!

Okay, enough with the silliness.  As a career practitioner in Aotearoa, I am proud to celebrate CDANZ’s anniversary.  I have been a member of CDANZ for about 7 years and I like how my membership provides me with a strong identity, allowing me to affiliate with like-minds.  Career practitioners are a really great bunch of people.  We are caring to the core, we support, we develop, we go out of our way to help others thrive.  We are pretty creative and optimistic too (well most of the time!).  We are also humble about what we do.

You can read about CDANZ’s history here.  I first got introduced to CDANZ as a career development student at AUT and I marvelled at the calibre of people involved – the likes of Dr Dale Furbish, Dr Lynette Reid, Hana Seumanu-Ikenasio, Astrid van Holten, Hana Lambert, Catherine Stephens, Pat Cody… these people are so approachable and typified the nature of who we are as career practitioners.

I have been involved in various committees within CDANZ and have fond memories of organise events, managing social media channels, contributing to Executive meetings, to presenting to my peers.  I am so grateful for all the development opportunities.

The career practitioner of 2017 is fast-evolving.  My practice and knowledge from 7 years ago is different compared to how it is now.  The significant changes have been the rise of digital technologies in practice, changes in Government direction and policies, a move towards briefer interventions, to exponential change in the jobs of tomorrow.

Careers are fast evolving and so must we.  

I do sometimes worry about my industry and how we are perceived and received by  industries and the general public.  Are are modes of practice still relevant and can we keep up with the fast-paced world of work?

Like Madonna, I feel we need to reinvent ourselves to appeal to future generations.  We can continue to inspire and make a difference in the career development of others, but we also need to at the cutting edge and appeal to new audiences.

CDANZ – you are 21 next year, and like a typical 21st birthday you are heading into ‘adulthood’.  I look forward to seeing how you decide to grow and adapt over the coming years as we immerse ourselves in the changing world.

CDANZ will formally celebrate their twentieth anniversary at the CDANZ Gala Dinner held at the Fale Pasifika on Tuesday 31 October.