02/01/2026
Engaging Future Career Educators Through Writing: A Call for Intentional Career Conversations
By Michael J. Stebleton
A new year is upon us – and the turn of the calendar allows career development educators and clients to reflect on the past and plan ahead. The start of a new year also allows for what psychologist Katy Milkman and colleagues call the fresh start effect (Dai et al., 2014). A quick scan of the headlines portrays a blighted 2025, suggesting that career educators and clients are overdue for a significant reboot in 2026.
“College grads’ job-finding advantage shrinks to new lows”
“Are young college graduates losing their edge in the job market?”
“Why employers don’t want to hire older job seekers”
Life-Career as a Timely Framework
Despite these daunting yet realistic headlines, I retain my optimism. Additionally, I suggest that career development practitioners, including counseling educators, explore innovative strategies, such as writing projects, to engage, challenge, and support students. This process begins by acknowledging that educators and clients embrace a shifting and uncertain world of work (Carstensen, 2022; Michel, 2024).
Individuals will develop their own new maps of life which will be comprised of a constellation of life roles, both paid and unpaid, across a lifetime (Hansen, 2011). I adhere to the concept of life-career proposed by Thomsen and Hooley (2025), highlighting the thesis that many workers will need to plan for regular shifts in this constellation, despite the desire for stability and predictability. In this article, I will: (1) advocate for more career conversations; (2) share a new writing project in a career course as an example to engage students, and (3) encourage other counselor educators to consider adopting similar written projects.
Engaging in Career Conversations; Serving as a Career Influencer
Hooley (2023) outlined changes in work post-COVID 19 and once defined career as how we spend our time. Increasingly in the future, individuals who have the privilege to access more choices and resources will decide on what (and where) they want to spend that time. Career development (CD) educators will occupy important roles in supporting students and clients to make those decisions over the course of a lifetime.
Perhaps more importantly, educators can act as career influencers and teach students and new workers how to develop the skills to make frequent career and life decisions. Career educators can assist individuals to develop these skills by having regular career conversations with students and new graduates, as well as employees across their lifespan (e.g., older workers). When career is viewed holistically, many interactions have the potential to be career-related conversations (Ho & Stebleton, 2024; Stebleton & Ho, 2023).
Reaching Young Students and New Workers
Many college students and Gen Z employees seek out career related information and guidance. Yet many young workers are reticent about engaging in real-life career conversations with managers and supervisors. It is well-documented that some Gen Z individuals hold different values and perceptions of work, including the role of AI and technology in their jobs (Katz et al., 2021). Approximately 47% of Gen Z respondents reported that they receive better advice from ChatGPT rather than a manager according to a Gallup (2024) poll. Only one in five have any type of career conversation with a manager, even though employees value career-focused discussions (Intoo, 2025). A significant increase in the frequency of career-related conversations in the workplace will likely lead to greater retention, engagement, and the overall satisfaction of employees (Bernstein et al., 2024; Deloitte Global, 2025).
My point of view on this survey data is twofold. First, I found these statistics deeply troubling (especially as a long-time career development educator). Second, the findings represent a call to action to reduce these gaps and discover new strategies to engage and reach students and young workers.
I contend that all of us need to feel comfortable having frequent career conversations, whether we are on the receiving or giving end of these interactions. For counseling educators, an opportunity exists through writing assignments. Emerging students of career development theory and practice serve as leaders for engagement. It is in this spirit of initiating and inspiring new career conversations that I offered OLPD 5033: Foundations of Individual and Organizational Career Development in Spring semester, 2025 at the University of Minnesota -Twin Cities. My objective was to nudge students to engage in these career conversations through an active writing and research process (Stebleton, 2025).
Example of Writing Project: Purpose and Overview
The purpose of the course was to learn and examine career development theory and practice from both individual and organizational perspectives. Furthermore, we explored workplace trends and demographics. A primary objective was to re-envision and raise writing expectations. I wanted the students to have the opportunity to write for a greater purpose (i.e., beyond a letter grade), and to share their contributions with a larger audience.
Working with the editors at NCDA, students received feedback and made revisions until “accepted.” The goal simulated a professional manuscript writing experience (without the dreaded reviewer #2 comments). The monograph resulted in a collection of 14 student contributions that served as their final project in OLPD 5033. The free link to the completed project can be found here: https://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/workforce-issues
The Writing Project:
The students were provided instructions, summarized here, about midway through the semester.
Objectives: 1) To explore a topic of your choice and to learn more about the varying perspectives on this issue as it relates to work and career development; 2) to apply CD concepts to a specific population; 3) to produce a polished piece of writing that will be published.
Topics: There are two main sections to the monograph. I) Exploring Workplace Issues and Career Development, and II) Supporting Specific Populations Using Career Development. The overall objectives for the monograph included expecting students to address: (a) the integration of career development theory with a specific issue or problem impacting the workplace and/or the future of work; (b) the application of career development concepts and themes to support clients. Students were able to select the topic and category based on their own interests.
Integrating Writing Initiatives; Looking Forward
Overall, the monograph project was a success. In addition to the diligent revision efforts by students and editors, students felt positive about their contributions. To hear from several of the students, tune into NCDA’s Career Conversations podcast, Analyzing Current and Future Workforce Issues: A New Publication of Student Perspectives.
Counseling educators might consider versions of their own writing projects. For example, journalling and self-assessment reflections may serve to meet similar goals. In the future, I will explore other ideas that extend beyond the traditional final research paper. Ideally, students will be more engaged in self-selected career development topics, and subsequently, they will become career influencers themselves as they transition into their own future life-career roles.
References
Bernstein, E., Horn, M., & Moesta, B. (2024). Why employees quit. Harvard Business Review, 102(6), 44-54. https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=ce1dbc89-7a47-3432-b0f8-d326b661e549
Carstensen, L. (2022, April). The new map of life: A report from the Stanford Center on Longevity. Stanford University. https://longevity.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/new-map-of-life-full-report.pdf
Dai, H., Milkman, K. L., & Riis, J. (2014). The fresh start effect: Temporal landmarks motivate aspirational behavior. Management Science, 60(10), 2563-2582. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1901
Deloitte Global. (2025). 2025 Gen Z and millennial survey. https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/issues/work/genz-millennial-survey.html
Gallup. (2024). Gen Z. https://news.gallup.com/topic/generation-z.aspx
Hansen, S. S. (2011). Integrative life planning: A holistic approach. Journal of Employment Counseling, 48(4), 167-169. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1920.2011.tb01105.x
Ho, C., & Stebleton, M. J. (2024). Not all who wander are lost: Redefining career exploration and indecision in undergraduate students. Journal of College and Character, 25(2), 196-204. https://doi.org/10.1080/2194587X.2024.2326220
Hooley, T. (2023). The future isn't what it is used to be! Revisiting the changing world of work after Covid-19. In M. Buford, M. J. Sharp, & M. J. Stebleton (Eds.), Mapping the future of undergraduate career education: Equitable career learning, development, and preparation for a new world of work. (pp. 38-51). Routledge.
Itoo. (2025). Unlocking organizational success by supporting employee growth and development. https://go.intoo.com/employee-growth-development-report.html?utm_source=website-blog&utm_medium=direct&utm_campaign=2024-workplace-intelligence-press-release
Katz, R., Ogilvie, S., Shaw, J., & Woodhead, L. (2021). Gen Z, explained: The art of living in a digital age. The University of Chicago Press.
Michel, J. P. (2024). The world needs you: A new mindset for student career exploration. JP Michel.
Stebleton, M. J. (ed.). (2025). Analyzing current and future workforce issues: Student perspectives on career development. National Career Development Association. https://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/workforce-issues
Stebleton, M. J., & Ho, C. (2023). Career development is everyone’s responsibility: Envisioning educators as career influencers. Journal of College and Character, 24(3), 189-196. https://doi.org/10.1080/2194587X.2023.2224577
Thomsen, R., & Hooley, T. (2025). Careers (reflections). Aarhus University Press.
Author Note: Some of the content in this article initially appeared in a slightly different format in the introduction to the monograph.
Michael J. Stebleton, PhD, is a Professor of Higher Education at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. He teaches both undergraduates and graduate students in the Department of Organizational, Leadership, Policy, and Development. Contact Dr. Stebleton at: steb0004@umn.edu.