News from the Careers Information front has emerged that the jobs4u database, which has not been updated since June, has effectively been archived. A Direct.gov site (see http://ow.ly/4srBP) points users instead to the Next Step database.
For non careers-techies who may be wondering about the implications of this, Next Step was originally a careers information system targetted at adult learners developed via Learndirect, whereas jobs4u was the system used by the connexions service and was specifically for young people.
The Next Step articles are perfectly adequate introductions to the careers covered and written in a slightly less formal style than the parallel jobs4u. However, the jobs4u articles contained more sophisticated information and the open question is whether the Next Step article format will be adjusted to cover the same scope.
Dinosaur careers advisers such as myself can also recall that jobs4u was derived from the "Careers Officers' Handbook" (COH) by the former organisation COIC, after it became part of the former Manpower Services Commission. As the title suggests, COH, originally developed by Careers Advisers in the London area for their own use, was the national information handbook used by Careers Advisers everywhere as a basic research resource when working with young people.
The cynics among us might wonder where Careers Advisers will now get their information from. Or maybe all they need to do is refer everyone to careers websites?
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