What is a Career Development Facilitator (CDF)?

A Career Development Facilitator (CDF) is a person who works in any career development setting or who incorporates career development information or skills in their work with students, adults, clients, employees, or the public. A CDF has received in-depth training in the areas of career development in the form of up to 120+ class/instructional hours, provided by a nationally trained and qualified instructor.

This occupational title designates individuals working in a variety of career development settings. A CDF may serve as a career group facilitator, job search trainer, career resource center coordinator, career coach, career development case manager, intake interviewer, occupational and labor market information resource person, human resource career development coordinator, employment/placement specialist, or workforce development staff person.

The counseling profession has made great progress in defining professional counseling and career counseling. However, several professional groups recognized that many individuals who are currently providing career assistance are not professional counselors. The CDF credential was developed to provide standards, training specifications, and credentialing for these career providers. The goal was to define and differentiate two levels of career practice.

What Will I Learn?

 Career resources and labor market information

 Career planning processes

 Basic helping and facilitation skills

 Career development models and theories

 Informal and formal assessment approaches

 Diversity and specific population needs

 Development and maintenance of an effective career resource center

 Training others and program promotion

 Case management and referral skills

 Ethical and scope-of-practice issues

 Professional and resource portfolios

 Cutting-edge job searching

 and more . . .!

ELearning Participant Survey

Success in this training requires that you be self-directed, self-motivated, and self-confident. It requires that you have the appropriate equipment and computer abilities.

The assessment tool below will help provide you with the insight you need to determine whether taking the NCDA CDF eLearning training is for you or if you would be better suited to the NCDA CDF Training in a classroom setting. It is important that you be honest with yourself. There is no right or wrong answers -- only different learners with different learning needs. COMPUTER EQUIPMENT

I own (or have regular access to):

 A DVD drive on my computer

 Internet browser

 28,800 bps or faster modem, or direct connection to the Internet

 My own Email account

 Audio capability

 Printer

 Adobe Acrobat Reader (free download)

 Windows Media or Real Player

 Word processing program (MS Word preferred)

 Sufficient memory (256MB Ram of more)

 MS Windows version 98 or higher

*Please note: this eLearning version is not compatible with Macintosh/Apple platforms. If you have not checked all of the items above, you will need to have regular access to them or postpone your application for the CDF eLearning training or consider a CDF Training in a traditional classroom setting.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Check only those items below in which you are competent. I can:

 Logically navigate the Internet

 Understand terms such as mouse, drag, open, select, file, choose, double click, download, upload, send etc.

 Send, open, reply to, forward and attach an e-mail message

 Word process documents

 Demonstrate confidence in my technology troubleshooting abilities or I have access to technology support

If you have not checked all of the items indicated above, please contact your local community college, adult education center, or Internet sites for additional training.

PERSONAL SKILLS AND LEARNING STYLE

I am a learner who:

 Can problem-solve and work independently

 Is comfortable in a class that involves a significant amount of independent reading, writing, viewing, and Internet research

 Can typically complete homework and other assignments on time or before the due date

 Is willing to set aside several hours per week to work regularly toward completion of the curriculum

 Can share life, work, and educational experiences with an instructor

 Is willing to take responsibility for my own learning

 Will make succeeding in this training a priority in my busy life

 Can attend the required face-to-face training

 Can you progress sequentially through a curriculum

 Can wait for instructor responses

 Will contact my instructor when I feel overwhelmed with course work

I understand that some of the challenges I may face include

 Having my server or system go off-line and not be able to communicate with the instructor or submit assignments

 Not having an instructor by my side

 Feedback is seldom immediate

 It may be harder to get motivated to stay on top of assignments

 Unexpected interruptions

 At home, it may be hard to set time aside for class work

If you are confident that you have the skills and resources necessary for this course, you are ready to become a successful NCDA CDF eLearner.

The weekly facilitation sheets and syllabus are organized by week number to keep us organized for the next 15 weeks. Every week begins on Monday and ends Sunday at midnight. Post your responses to the assignments, forums, discussions, etc. by Friday of each week. Keep in mind others in the class will be reading and responding to your posts.

Career Development Facilitator Competencies

Addressed by the NCDA CDF Curriculum:

1. Helping Skills - Be proficient in the basic career facilitating process while including productive interpersonal relationships.

2. Labor Market Information and Resources - Understand labor market and occupational information and trends. Be able to use current resources.

3. Assessment - Comprehend and use (under supervision) both formal and informal career development assessments with emphasis on relating appropriate ones to the population served.

4. Diverse Populations - Recognize special needs of various groups and adapt services to meet their needs.

5. Ethical and Legal Issues - Follow the CDF code of ethics and know current legislative regulations.

6. Career Development Models - Understand career development theories, models, and techniques as they apply to lifelong development, gender, age, and ethnic background.

7. Employability Skills - Know job search strategies and placement techniques, especially in working with specific groups.

8. Training Clients and Peers - Prepare and develop materials for training programs and presentations.

9. Program Management/Implementation - Understand career development programs and their implementation, and work as a liaison in collaborative relationships.

10. Promotion and Public Relations - Market and promote career development programs with staff and supervisors.

11. Technology - Comprehend and use career development computer applications.

12. Consultation - Accept suggestions for performance improvement from consultants or supervisors

Career Development Facilitator Training (Required Course for CDF Certification)

Course: The Career Development Facilitator (CDF) program is an internationally recognized certification program for people working with clients/participants in career development or job counseling. This 15-week course is for individuals working in the career development field or who wish to enter it. The CDF title designates individuals working in a variety of career development settings who have met the requirements set forth by the Council on Credentialing & Education, Inc. (CCE) and the National Career Development Association (NCDA).

Course Dates: August 26 – December 8, 2013 (online)

Instructor: Mary Hunt, CDFI

Email:

Phone: (W) 501.296.1674

Total Hours: 120 hours

Face‐to‐Face Meeting: September 24-26, 2013

Location: ACE/ARS, 525 W. Capitol Ave., Little Rock

Starting Time: 8:30 am – 4:30 pm

Each week begins on a Monday morning and ends on the following Sunday night. Throughout you will have assignments, projects, Forum Discussions (telephone conferences), papers, and reading assignments. All assignments and course work must be completed to get the certification.

A Facilitation Sheet will be provided for each week of the Course (PDF document) that lists readings, assignments, and discussions. These sheets provide the detail needed to complete each assignment.

IMPORTANT: Only complete the assignments listed on the Facilitation Sheets – not all the ones in the book and on the DVD will be required. The other assignments are helpful in understanding the CDF material, but are not required.

Required Books and Materials:

 Facilitating Career Development Participant Manual

 E‐CDF Curriculum (DVD)

Required Hours

 120 hours

Attendance: The CDF training is individual and group based. Avoid absenteeism for the entire group to benefit. The CDF program mandates that online participants must meet for a minimum of three face‐to‐face classes. To maintain the quality & integrity of the program, we urge you to arrive on time and attend for the planned 3 day face‐to‐face meetings. For extreme circumstances, the fall back would be to attend the missed class during the next offered training.

Grading Policy: Participants will be assigned a variety of assignments and projects that will be graded over the 15 weeks. Participants will be graded by the instructors using the following scale of 100 = Pass, and NG (no grade) = the assignment is not up to par and needs to redone. All assignments, forum discussions, papers and projects must be completed and receive a 100 grade. Assignments and Projects that are late will be marked harder and required greater insight and analysis and will ONLY be 10 days after the due date. Participants who continually abuse this privilege may be asked to leave the course. We understand that circumstances arise that cause an assignment or two to be late and we will take this into consideration. Please let the instructor know ahead of time if you are unable to get in an assignment or project in on time.

Special Needs: If you are a participant with special needs or a disability, please contact us as soon as possible to discuss what accommodations will aid you in the learning process.

Drop Policy: Participants who drop the course for any reason MUST return the Participant Manual (unmarked) and DVD. Materials HAVE TO BE RETURNED until you take the course again.

Course Requirements for All Participants Enrolled in the CDF Online Class. Completion of all assignments is required. All assignments need to be submitted on time. All assignments must be submitted on time. Attendance at the face‐to‐face portion of the class is required in order to be eligible for certification. All participants will be expected to complete all readings and be prepared to discuss them both online and for class meetings. Assignments are included on the Facilitation Sheets for each week on the Moodle web site. Selected assignments that require more of an explanation are briefly described below. Additional information on these assignments as well as other assignments will be passed out in class or posted on the Moodle Class page.

Additional Information on Assignments:

Weekly Expectations:

Begin by accessing the weekly Facilitation Sheet. It will contain all the information you need to complete that week’s assignments. The Sheet will list related readings, assignments from the DVD, readings from the Facilitating Career Development Participant Manual and work that needs to be completed on the Forum Discussion. The Sheets are PDF documents that be found on the Moodle site for each week. The assignments will be uploaded a few weeks at a time.

Assignments and Forum Discussions (telephone conferences) statements will post on Monday of each week. The Facilitation Sheets and Resources will be posted under each week on the site.

Complete all projects and papers and submit them as directed. Some of your work will be placed on the Forum Discussion (telephone conference) and some will be sent to your instructor as an attachment in each week related to that assignment.

Forum Discussion Assignments:

Being in a Face‐to‐Face class allows many of us a chance to network and meet other professionals who share our similar interests, values, passions, challenges, and concerns. An online course does not allow us this experience, but the Forum Discussions (telephone conferences) allow us an opportunity to build a community and experiences with other participants. Participate in the assigned Forum Discussions (telephone conferences) complete your forum discussion assignments, you will first, want to participate in the forum discussion, post your summary of the discussion topic.

Grade Sheets:

Each participant will receive a grade sheet once a month. Your grade sheet is the official grading of your work for the CDF class. When you receive a grade sheet, please review it, and make sure all assignments you have completed have been marked. If an assignment is missed, please inform the instructor and they will make the correction. With number of people in the class and the number of assignments to complete, it can get confusing and occasionally an assignment is missed so please be understanding if it happens to you.

Major Course Assignments:

Reading Assignments – you will be required to read the assignments in the Career Development Course Book, periodicals, books, and other related materials. The reading assignments are a major portion of the course work.

Case Study ‐ the case study is a profile of a typical client or participant. Case studies will be used to apply concepts learned in class. It will enable you to give a “Name” to the strategies and activities on which we will be working. Participants seem to benefit more from case study work if they use a real person. Preferably this person will be available to complete several assessments but that is not absolutely necessary. I would

suggest selecting the person you do the intake interview with and ask to work with them for a few weeks.

Not all information below will be relevant for your client/participant. You will be discussing these challenges with other classmates.

 Name (first only)

 Age

 Gender

 Grade Level (if in school)

 Educational History

 Special Concerns (geographic flexibility, family obligations, financial resources available)

 At‐Risk for any reason?

 Assessment Results

 Relevant Background Issues

 Work Experiences

 Personal Appearance

 Behaviors Worth Noting

 Presenting Concerns

 Career Development Needs

 Additional Information

Throughout the course, you will be instructed to go to the Case Study Assignment to continue your documentation as noted on the Facilitation Sheets. At the end of the course, you will need to summarize how the participant/client was/could be helped with your new knowledge. Everyone is expected to write at least a 1-page summary of their case study (typed and single‐spaced).