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 |
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 3 credentials targeted at the career professionals in different roles; namely Certified Career Advisor (CCA), Certified Career Practitioner (CCP) and Certified Career Clinical Supervisor (CCCS). The three 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 three 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.
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
Required Initial Training
To meet the credentialing requirements, applicants must complete the following initial training. You will need to submit a softcopy of the training certificate of completion/statement of attainment (SOA) as part your credential application.
Credential | Required Initial Training |
Certified Career Advisor (CCA) | Career Advisory Programme (CAP) by WSG / Basic Career Training & Advisory Programme (BCTA) |
Certified Career Practitioner (CCP) | Career Facilitation Programme (CFP) by WSG / Advanced Certificate in Career Development Facilitation (ACCDF) |
Certified Career Clinical Supervisor (CCCS) | Career Supervision Programme (CSP) by WSG |
(A) For First-Time Applicants
Specifically, for first-time applicants, you are required to:
Fulfil the required practice hours in the last 3 years prior to your credential application, in accordance with Table 1 below, further broken down by contact and non-contact hours (as defined in Table 2); and
Deliver career interventions to the required no. of clients in the last 3 years prior to your credential application, in accordance with Table 1 below.
Table 1
| Certified Career Advisor (CCA) | Certified Career Practitioner (CCP) | Certified Career Clinical Supervisor (CCCS) |
Practice hours required over 3 years | 400 | 1,400 | 1,800 |
Contact hours over 3 years | 360 (90%) | 1,120 (80%) | 1,350 (75%) |
Non-contact hours over 3 years | 40 (10%) | 280 (20%) | 450 (25%)* |
No. of unique clients required (group + individual) over 3 years | 100 | 100 | 80 |
*For CCCS 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 |
Contact hours | Physical face-to-face, or virtual (phone, skype, video conferencing, IM, email) correspondence with clients/individuals, including group facilitation.
For group facilitation/workshop, contact hours should be based on hours per session. E.g. A workshop lasting 3 hours will be counted as 3 hours whether there are 10 clients or 100 clients.
|
Non-contact hours | 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 |
Please note that credential applications will be randomly selected for audit. Audit details will be shared only when you have been selected. No sensitive client details will be required.
WSG recognises that applicants may be rendering their services as an employee of an organisation/a self-employed or on a pro bono basis with a hosting organisation. For verification purposes, endorsement may come from a supervisor, employer or hosting organisation, depending on whether services were rendered as an employee, a self-employed or on a pro bono basis. (Annex: Endorsement Form)
One completed endorsement form is required from each supervisor, employer or hosting organisation, for your practice in the past 3 years that led to your fulfilment of the credentialing requirements. If you had multiple supervisors, employers or hosting organisations, please complete multiple copies.
(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 no. of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours;
Completed the required no. of practice hours; and
Delivered career interventions to the required no. of clients.
Specifically, you are required to:
Fulfil the required practice hours in the last 3 years in accordance with Table 3 below, further broken down by contact and non-contact hours (as defined in Table 2 above); and
Deliver career interventions to the required no. of clients, in accordance with Table 3 below.
Table 3
| Certified Career Advisor (CCA) | Certified Career Practitioner (CCP) | Certified Career Clinical Supervisor (CCCS) |
Practice hours required over 3 years | 100 | 300 | 300 |
Contact hours over 3 years | 90 (90%) | 240 (80%) | 225 (75%) |
Non-contact hours over 3 years | 10 (10%) | 60 (20%) | 75 (25%)* |
Min number of unique clients required (group + individual) over 3 years | 25 | 50 | 40 |
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours over 3 years | 50 | 75 | 75 |
Verifiable# hours | 45 (90%) | 67.5 (90%) | 67.5 (90%) |
Non-verifiable Hours | 5 (10%) | 7.5 (10%) | 7.5 (10%) |
* For CCCS applicants, at least 50% of the non-contact hours must be time spent on mentoring career practitioners.
# Verifiable hours refer to CPD hours which can be verified when selected for audit. Examples of verifiable hours include being a trainer/speaker/presenter at or participating in conference, webinar, seminars, workshops etc. Examples of non-verifiable hours include writing case study articles, reading e-book/e-periodical.
Please note that credential applications will be randomly selected for audit. Audit details will be shared only when you have been selected. No sensitive client details will be required.
WSG recognises that applicants may be rendering their services as an employee of an organisation/a self-employed or on a pro bono basis with a hosting organisation. For verification purposes, endorsement may come from a supervisor, employer or hosting organisation, depending on whether services were rendered as an employee, a self-employed or on a pro bono basis. (Annex: Endorsement Form)
One completed endorsement form is required from each supervisor, employer or hosting organisation, for your practice in the past 3 years that led to your fulfilment of the credentialing requirements. If you had multiple supervisors, employers or hosting organisations, please complete multiple copies.
Fee (inc GST) | |
New/Renewal Application | $141.70 |
Appeal | $239.80 |
All prices are inclusive of GST. Fees are non-refundable and applicants are to ensure that they meet the credentialing criteria before applying. Payment details can be found in Annex D of checklist.
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 pcd@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 is payable for any appeal, regardless of the outcome of the appeal, and is non-refundable.
Applications are accepted twice a year, in March and October.
The next credential application will open from 1st to 31st March 2025
Steps to apply/renew CDF credential:
Download the checklist to prepare the required for your credential application submission.
Download and complete the Endorsement form(s)
One completed endorsement form is required from each supervisor, employer or hosting organisation, for your practice in the past 3 years that led to your fulfilment of the credentialing requirements. If you had multiple supervisors, employers or hosting organisations, please complete multiple copies.Submit your credential application with all the required attachments here (This link will only be accessible during the application window)
To facilitate your preparation for the application/renewal of credential, click here to download the Tracking Sheet which is meant to support your internal review and application. The Tracking Sheet is for personal use and will not be reviewed as part of the application.
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/.