The Role of Digital Technology in Career Development

This chapter analyses the role of digital technologies in career development. It argues that digital technologies change the context for individuals’ careers and the opportunities that exist for the provision of career support. The implications of digital technologies for career are dependent, in part, on how technologies are believed to interact with society. They may be thought of as tools, as shapers of society, or as social practices. For individuals, digital technologies can be understood through six metaphors: (1) library, (2) media channel, (3) surveillance camera, (4) marketplace, (5) meeting place, and (6) arena. For career development professionals, the choice is using them to provide information, automated interactions, or communication. The chapter concludes by arguing that there are three main pedagogic stances (instrumental, connectivist, or critical) that can guide career development professionals in the combination of different technologies and in the resolution of the opportunities and challenges that are presented to individuals in their career building.