Driving Toward Excellence in Career Navigation for Gen Z

Career navigation practitioners are on the front lines of helping America’s nearly 70 million Gen Z learners and workers build thriving futures. These professionals—high school guidance counselors, youth workforce development professionals, mentors, postsecondary career counselors, and others—may have different job titles, but in communities across the nation, they are helping young people make some of the most important decisions of their lives.

In January and February of 2025, the ASA Center for Career Navigation at JFF surveyed nearly 350 career navigation practitioners to deepen our understanding of how the landscape of Gen Z, education, and work looks from their vantage point. In addition, we wanted to learn more about what strategies, solutions, and supports career navigation practitioners need to be more effective in guiding the workforce of tomorrow. The center conducted the survey through the Alchemer Survey Platform and reached nearly 350 Jobs for the Future and American Student Assistance contacts who identify as career navigation practitioners.

Read on for in-depth discussions of four key takeaways from the survey.

The survey respondents said that they see a youth population and a labor market that is more dynamic than ever.
According to Pew Research Center, Gen Z learners and workers come from a wide range of backgrounds, with 48% identifying as people of color. Reflecting on their own experiences, survey respondents highlighted the fact that many of the young people they work with (typically 16-to-24-year-olds) come from low-income households, identify as immigrants and English language learners, have been involved with the criminal justice system, or have had limited access to educational and employment opportunities.

The labor market these young people are entering is changing. The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce found that by 2031, 72% of jobs will require postsecondary education or training of some kind, with an increasing number of jobs requiring postsecondary training that’s more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree. Notably, it’s precisely these “nontraditional” career pathways (those that don’t follow the high-school-to-four-year-college-degree route) that survey respondents said they feel the least prepared to provide guidance on, with many (41.4%) reporting that they were not at all confident or only somewhat confident in helping learners navigate those pathways, compared to just 25.9% who reported feeling not at all confident or only somewhat confident about helping learners navigate college pathways (from high school to a four-year college degree).

Survey respondents said that they want user-friendly tech-enabled tools with relevant, real-time data, but they also said they recognize how important it is to provide personalized guidance and direct experiences that enable young people to explore careers and work
Many survey respondents (67.2%) reported using tech-enabled tools to help learners navigate education and career pathways, and they said they prioritize tools with features that provide young people with the information they need to make informed decisions and tools that had easy, user-friendly interfaces. While technology plays an important role in career navigation for young people, survey respondents also highlighted the importance of personalized guidance and also said there’s a strong need to create more work-based career exploration opportunities, including internships, opportunities to work on business-sponsored real-world projects, and access to industry professionals and mentorship.

Survey respondents said they invest in building their knowledge and skills but are navigating a landscape of training that varies significantly in intensity, delivery modality, relevance, and quality.
Most survey respondents (85.5%) reported receiving training and/or participating in professional development to build their skills as career navigation practitioners. Survey responses suggested that there’s a wide continuum of ways in which people strengthen their skills throughout the arc of their careers, with practitioners identifying strategies such as self-study, enrollment in specialized career coaching programs, learning from mentors, and pursuing formal degree programs that include dedicated, specialized coursework in career counseling.

Survey respondents said they see value in a network and connections but think more needs to be done to strengthen the reach and impact of these professional communities.
Nearly half of respondents (45.2%) reported participating in networks and professional communities focused on career navigation and reported seeing these networks as a place to access tools and resources, learn from peers and build professional connections, and contribute to innovation in their own work. Despite these benefits, some respondents (38.8%) reported that they did not know of any professional networks in this field, and even among those who were active participants in networks, half (50.9%) said the quality and relevance of the content should be strengthened.

Four Steps to Better Serve Gen Z

Career navigation practitioners are working across U.S. communities to help young people build promising futures and contribute to the economic vitality of our nation. These professionals see firsthand the rapid changes that are taking place among people, education pathways, and jobs. By listening to these frontline professionals, all stakeholders in this ecosystem—education and workforce systems, community-based organizations, policymakers, funders, employers, and more—can advance efforts to enable more young people to access career navigation support that leads to quality jobs—jobs that offer competitive pay, benefits, stability, opportunities for learning and career growth, and a safe, supportive, and engaging work environment.

Together, we can:

• Design and implement career navigation programs that work for learners pursuing all types of career pathways, especially pathways that don’t require a four-year degree
• Invest in both user-friendly tech-enabled tools and people-centered solutions that enable all young people to receive personal guidance and a chance for meaningful, real-world exposure to careers
• Invest in high-quality professional development for career navigation practitioners
• Strategize to ensure that networks focused on career navigation reach more professionals doing this work across systems, institutions, and communities and increase the value that these collective spaces can bring to practitioners