What is it?
The WSG Career Development Framework (“CDF”) is a competency-based credentialing framework for career advisors and career practitioners. It is developed by WSG with inputs from the Ministry of Education (“MOE”) and the Employment and Employability Institute Pte. Ltd. (“e2i”) who are key stakeholders in the provision of education and career advisory services for students and adults respectively. The CDF is also aligned to international practices and emphasizes the practice component in a career advisor’s or a career practitioner’s role. The credentialing will allow WSG, MOE, e2i and other stakeholders in the career development community to uphold professional standards and ethics in the community.
The CDF offers 4 credentials targeted at the career professionals in different roles; namely Certified Career Advisor (CCA), Certified Career Practitioner (CCP), Certified Career Clinical Supervisor (CCCS) and Certified Career Services Manager (CCSM). The four credentials are defined by a set of competencies which are packaged into recommended training courses, of which applicants will need to complete as an initial training to testify that they have the body of knowledge for the respective credential. Subsequently, they must fulfil practice hours as a demonstration of application of skills.
The four credentials and their descriptions are as follows:
Certified Career Advisor (CCA) - A CCA is able to provide basic education and career advisory (including details on government initiatives e.g. SkillsFuture, etc.) to clients using simple profiling tools in a one-to-one or group setting. This role may also include SkillsFuture Advisors and Industry Mentors.
Certified Career Practitioner (CCP) - A CCP is able to apply career development theories and tools to help clients make education, career and training choices through effective one-to-one and group facilitation. This role includes the career coaches at WSG and e2i, the Education and Career Guidance (ECG) counsellors in MOE, and those at the Institutes of Higher Learning.
Certified Career Clinical Supervisor (CCCS) - A CCCS is able to supervise and guide career practitioners to provide and implement effective interventions for clients on a one-to-one or group basis.
Who Is It For?
Career Professionals who help clients identify their work-related values, interests, personality, and skills, and to use this understanding in planning and managing their education & training, career and job search advisory. They must be able to apply career development theories and tools to help clients make education, career and training choices through effective one-to-one and group facilitation.
Services and interventions rendered includes but are not limited to education and career guidance, managing career transition, creation of CVs and resumes, professional branding and marketing, job search, job interview preparation and engaging employers for job vacancies.
Role of Credential Holders
The WSG CDF is not for any legislative purposes. Career practitioners who hold the CDF credentials may be working at career centres, schools, Institutes of Higher Learning, centres that cater to niche segments (e.g. persons with disabilities), or within companies that have strong career practices. The decision to hire, designate, and deploy credential holders is up to the organisation. WSG does not make any recommendations as to the role that they should play in an organisation. The credentials are also not tied to any specific job titles or roles.
Why Should You Apply Professionalise Your Career Development Practice On top of enhancing your professional portfolio, here are more reasons to become a certified credential holder:
* Not applicable to credential holders who are foreigners |
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To apply for the credentials, applicants must fulfil the following criteria:
Completed the recommended training course or undergone the assessment stipulated by WSG if they have completed other career development courses;
Completed the required number of practice hours; and
Delivered career interventions to the required number of clients.
Training
Applicants are required to complete the following initial training for each track. You will need to submit a scanned copy of the training certificate of completion / statement of attainment (SOA) with your application.
Credential | Required Initial Training |
Certified Career Advisor (CCA) | Career Advisory Programme (CAP) / Basic Career Training & Advisory Programme (BCTA) |
Certified Career Practitioner (CCP) | Career Facilitation Programme (CFP) / Advanced Certificate in Career Development Facilitation (ACCDF) |
Certified Career Clinical Supervisor (CCCS) | Career Supervision Programme (CSP) by WSG |
Certified Career Services Manager (CCSM) | Career Management Programme (CMP) (work-in-progress) |
Applicants who have attended other similar training course(s) will be required to complete the assessment stipulated by WSG and abide by the Code of Ethics. WSG will neither carry out nor accept any mapping of the stipulated courses against the training course(s) that such applicants have completed. The submission of the training certificate and course outline / modules of the programme that such applicants attended is voluntary but will not be considered as part of the evaluation.
(A)For First-Time Applicants
Specifically, for first-time applicants, you are required to:
Fulfill the required practice hours (as defined in Table 2 below) for a period of 3 years, further broken down by contact and non-contact hours; and
Deliver career interventions to the required number of clients, in accordance with Table 1 below.
Table 1
| Certified Career Advisor (CCA) | Certified Career Practitioner (CCP) | Certified Career Clinical Supervisor (CCCS) | Certified Career Services Manager (CCSM) |
Practice hours* required over 3 years | 400 | 1,400 | 1,800 | 2,000 |
- Contact hours over 3 years | 360 (90%) | 1,120 (80%) | 1,350 (75%) | 1,400 (70%) |
- Non-contact hours over 3 years | 40 (10%) | 280 (20%) | 450 (25%)* | 600 (30%)* |
Min number of unique clients required (group + individual) over 3 years | 100 | 100 | 80 | 50 |
*For CCCS and CCCM applicants, at least 50% of the non-contact hours must be time spent on mentoring career practitioners.
Table 2
*Breakdown of Practice Hours: Contact vs Non-Contact Hours
Type | Examples | Verification |
Contact | Physical face-to-face, or virtual (telephone, skype, video conferencing, Instant Messaging) servicing / correspondence with clients, including group facilitation with clients |
For employees of organisation: Annex A (see sample here &
here) |
Non-Contact | Drafting email / escalation of cases / related meetings (internal / external) pertaining to career issues | |
Team management / facilitation / work preparation related to a case | ||
Administration of education and career advisory services such as writing case notes pertaining to case | ||
Reading articles to get insights to support development of solutions for clients | ||
Discussion with supervisor on best practices to improve clients’ career situations | ||
Observation of career practitioners assisting clients in 1-1 or group sessions | ||
Participating (trainer/speaker) in career-related conferences, talks, forums and meetings |
(B) For Renewal of Credentials
For credential holders renewing their credentials, the credentials are renewable every three years upon fulfilling the following criteria:
Completed the required number of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours;
Completed the required number of practice hours; and
Delivered career interventions to the required number of clients.
Specifically, you are required to:
Fulfil the required practice hours (as defined in Table 2 above) for a period of 3 years, further broken down by contact and non-contact hours; and
Deliver career interventions to the required number of clients, in accordance with Table 3 below.
Table 3
| Certified Career Advisor (CCA) | Certified Career Practitioner (CCP) | Certified Career Clinical Supervisor (CCCS) | Certified Career Services Manager (CCSM) |
Practice hours* required over 3 years | 100 | 300 | 300 | 300 |
- Contact hours over 3 years | 90 (90%) | 240 (80%) | 225 (75%) | 210 (70%) |
- Non-contact hours over 3 years | 10 (10%) | 60 (20%) | 75 (25%) | 90 (30%) |
Min number of unique clients required (group + individual) over 3 years | 25 | 50 | 40 | 30 |
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours over 3 years | 50 | 75 | 75 | 75 |
- Verifiable* Hours | 45 (90%) | 67.5 (90%) | 67.5 (90%) | 67.5 (90%) |
- Non-verifiable Hours | 5 (10%) | 7.5 (10%) | 7.5 (10%) | 7.5 (10%) |
* Verifiable hours refer to CPD hours which can be verified when selected for audit. Examples of verifiable hours include conference, webinar, seminars, workshops etc. Examples of non-verifiable hours include e-learning, books, journals, researches etc.
Please note that, with effect from 01 Oct 2021, credential applications will be randomly selected for audit. Audit details will be shared only when you are selected. No sensitive client details will be required.
WSG recognises that applicants may be rendering their services as an employee of an organisation or on a voluntary / pro bono, or self-employed basis with a hosting organisation. The required verification is summarised below:
[Notice]
The Ministry of Finance has announced in Budget 2022 that the Goods & Services Tax (GST) will be increased from 7% to 8% with effect from 1 Jan 2023. We would like to inform that there will be NO CHANGE to our course and administration fees from 1 Jan – 31 Dec 2023. The 1% GST increase for our fees during this period will be absorbed by WSG.
The fee per application is $139.10 (inclusive of GST). It is non-refundable fee and applicants are to ensure that they meet the credentialing criteria (which are primarily quantitative factors) before applying.
Note: Appeal fee for each rejected application is $235.40 (inclusive of GST). Subjected to review by the panel.
APPEAL PROCESS
All applications for credentials are carefully evaluated and deliberated by the Credential Approval Panel. Hence, any appeal will unlikely be successful unless there is new information that addresses the gaps highlighted in the rejection notification and advisory. If the appeal does not have any new information to support the original application, there will be no change in the outcome. Instead of appeal, most applicants would address the gaps and file a new application at the next application window. If you believe that you have new information that addresses the gaps in your original application, you may complete the self-assessment checklist and email your request for the appeals form to cpd@wsg.gov.sg. You will need to complete the appeals form, attach the appeal fee, and mail it to us at the same email address. Please note that the appeal fee of $235.40 (inclusive of GST) is payable for any appeal, regardless of the outcome of the appeal, and is non-refundable.
The credential application will open from 1 to 31 October 2023.
Steps to applying:
Download and fill up Form 1 (including Annex A/B).
Prepare the soft-copies of the following documents.
• Certificate of Initial Training Courses Attended;
• 1-page curriculum vitae;
• Signed letter of confirmation (Annex A/Annex B) and;
• Payment Reference Number for Online Funds TransferSubmit your credential applications with all the attachments here: https://bit.ly/2KOD6LX
• Please ensure that Form 1 and Annex A/B are duly signed.You will receive an email acknowledging the receipt of your application.
For First-time Applications
Credential Application Form 1 | Click here to download Form 1. |
Annex For employees of organisation | Click here to download Annex A. |
Annex for self-employed/ freelancers | Click here to download Annex B. |
For Renewal Applications
Re-credential Application Form 1 | Click here to download Form 1. |
Annex for employees of organisation | Click here to download Annex A. |
Annex for self-employed/ freelancers | Click here to download Annex B. |
For Annex A (employees of organisation), the Letter of confirmation needs to be signed by supervisor or employer.
For Annex B (self-employed/ freelancers), the Letter of confirmation needs to be signed by hosting organisation
Applicants and credential holders are expected to abide by the People and Career Development Association’s (PCDA) and the Career Development Association of Singapore (CDAS) Code of Ethics for Career Practitioners, failing which, their credentials will be withdrawn.
If their credentials are withdrawn, they will need to show evidence of having complied with the Code of Ethics in order to be reinstated. The decision to reinstate the credentials of any applicant will be at the sole discretion of WSG, whose decision
shall be final and conclusive on the applicant. The Code of Ethics can be found at https://www.pcda.co/codeofethics and http://cdas.org.sg/code-of-ethics (or such other website that operates in lieu thereof). WSG is entitled to deny eligibility of any applicant based on an ethics review (which shall be conducted in such format and manner
as may be stipulated by WSG). Application fees are not refundable when an application is rejected.
Click here to view the list of credential holders.
Career practitioners who wish to find out more about the WSG Career Development Framework and credentialing may contact 6883 5885 or submit their enquiry to WSG feedback portal at https://service-portal.skillsfuture.gov.sg/s/feedback/.