The “My Career” project aimed to strengthen partners’ capacity and that of their networks to support migrants’ labour market integration through career guidance. Its main objective was to increase staff competences in using methods and tools that help migrants recognise their skills while remaining feasible in daily work with limited time and resources. At a broader level, the project contributed to the Erasmus+ priority “Inclusion and Diversity” by improving adult education and guidance professionals’ ability to overcome cultural and linguistic barriers to employment. It also aligned with the sector-specific priority of enhancing educators’ competences, focusing on inclusive, culturally sensitive guidance that fosters migrants’ self-awareness and motivation. Practically, the project aimed to: identify and exchange effective, easy-to-implement guidance methods; strengthen staff competences through accessible training materials and peer learning; and disseminate results widely for transferability and sustainability. By the project’s end, staff capacity to integrate career guidance into existing services improved, understanding of migrants’ skill-building increased, and resources were developed to support other organisations.
We applied for this project to tackle a shared challenge: the persistent gap in labour market integration between migrants and nationals, often due to migrants’ difficulty in recognising and communicating their skills in a new cultural and professional context. Our work in adult education and integration showed many migrants have valuable competences but lack the language and self-awareness to present them to employers and institutions. The project also met organisational needs. ACLI and LoPe sought to strengthen staff competences in supporting migrants’ skill recognition through practical, time-efficient tools. Full career guidance is often too resource-intensive, so we aimed to identify and test simplified methods that can be integrated into regular support activities. Additionally, the project fostered international learning. Both ACLI and LoPe aimed to refine guidance methods through cross-country comparison.