1. Counselling services in Slovak public employment services
Lifelong Guidance for Job Seekers
Third Project Partners´ Meeting Bratislava,
Sept. 25 – 26, 2008

2. Counselling services
Provided by offices of labour, social affairs and family to:
unemployed job seekers as well to employed job seekers (employees)
individually or in group counselling.
Counselling services are focusing on:
solving problems associated with job seeker's employability,
harmonizing his/her personal characteristics with requirements of a certain job,
improving his/her decision making, job search and other skills needed for successful personal and social adaptation to the labour market

3. Individual action plan
Office guarantees to develop an individual action plan to each job seeker who is registered for no more than six months.
Individual action plan is defined as a written
document which, based on evaluation of the personality conditions, abilities and professional
skills of a job seeker, determines the type and scope of assistance required for facilitating
his/her occupational assertion and delimits specific procedural steps for the purpose. .

5. Counselling services activities
Individual counselling services
individual interview
individual action plan
assessment and “bilans de compétences“
Group counselling services
Socio-psychological and communication skills trainings
Counselling courses, motivation and re-socialisation programmes...
Psychological counselling

6. Counselling services providers
within offices of labour, social affairs and family
Job Clubs
Counselling and Information Centres (for people with disabilities)
guidance and counselling provided by private institutions
Agencies of supported employment

7. National Project „Modernisation, increasing the effectiveness and variety of counselling services“
Duration of the project: December 2005 – December 2007
Geographical scope of the project:
Bratislava region (GDP per capita higher than EU average)
Other regions (GDP per capita lower than EU average)
The main aim of the project:
modernisation, increasing the effectiveness, variety and quality of complex counselling services for unemployed job seekers with focus on individualised approach and the purpose to increase their activity and employability and help them to find a job
Regional projects are divided to:
external (realised by external organisations)
internal (realised by OLSAF´s counselling services staff)

8. Regional projects activities (1)
Training of key skills and competencies required for finding a job and retaining in employment, especially: development of social and psychological skills, intensive counselling courses, refreshment and development of employment skills, preparation for interviews and selection procedures
Improving the quality of employment services through strengthening individual approach to clients (individual action plan)
Improving the quality of employment services also through group counselling
Assessment of job seekers´ abilities and skills helping them to find a job and retain in employment

9. Regional projects activities (2)
Create and develop methods of providing counselling services, which support re-socialisation of socially excluded persons and those in risk of social exclusion, as well as persons distant from the labour market, organise re-socialisation courses for them
Create and develop counselling methods, including ICT, focused on counselling services provision
Provide complex counselling services for disadvantaged job seekers focusing on those with disabilities, with support of specialised private services (as e. g. agencies of supported employment)
Establish new and support existing facilities of labour offices providing counselling services and develop new capacities needed for counselling services provision internally, as well as externally (e. g. counselling and information centres, job clubs, etc.)

12. Vision and main tasks since 2007
Introduction of profiling system of clients according to their possibilities to find a job on the labour market
Improve the quality of provided services
Individualisation of provided services – according to different categories of clients and their needs
Standardisation – providing service of the same quality and in the same way in all offices, development of quality assurance system
Improve the technical equipment and variety of tools and instruments of guidance and counselling practitioners; especially in the area of personal assessment
Better co-operation of different organisational units and their employees within labour offices (changes in organisational structure of employment services are necessary)
Realisation of projects in new EU programming period , active participation in international projects focusing on counselling services