- APCDA Committee Council February Update
- Career Development Trends across APCDA – February
- Beyond Inclusion: Reimagining Career Development in a World of Difference
- Spotlight – Malaysia Career Educators
- Thriving in Change: Why Career Resilience Matters in Global Career Transitions
- Rethinking Career Development in an Age of AI, Disruption, and Meaning
- Useful Insights from the APCDA Member/Friend Survey
- The Value of the APCDA Website to Career Practitioners
- Why Join an APCDA Committee?
- Dr. Poh Li Lau: APCDA President-Elect
- Using Your APCDA Member Benefits
- IAEVG Membership – A Benefit of APCDA Membership
- APCDA Logos for Members
By Natalie Kauffman
APCDA’s nine (9) currently active committee volunteer staff along with journal volunteer staff total almost 130 association members and span the following 25 countries and 2 SARs: Australia, Cambodia, Canada, China, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, KSA, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, S. Korea, Taiwan, United States, Vietnam, and Yemen
Awards & Scholarships Committee Awards Co-Chair (& former APCDA President), Prof. Dr. Narender K Chadha, shared the deadline for our 2025 APCDA Awards is fast approaching, Sunday, March 15th. The three (3) possible awards include: Outstanding Career Practitioner Award, Outstanding Educator of Career Professionals Award, and Lifetime Achievement Award. For further details on our association’s 2026 Awards Nomination Process, pease see: https://asiapacificcda.org/awards/
Scholarship Committee Co-Chairs Tuan Anh Le and Dr. Ma. Leonila V. Urrea (& current APCDA Treasurer) determined the selection criteria by which over 140 scholarship applications were evaluated and 123 scholarships were awarded. The Resilience Scholarship team have been virtually meeting with conflict-zone scholarship applicants. The committee will provide a Scholar Meetup in April to prepare scholars to take advantage of the conference and a video of the selected scholarship recipients which will be shown during the Awards Ceremony at our upcoming Malaysia conference.
Bylaws Committee Co-Chairs Allan Gatenby (also immediate past APCDA President, Accreditation Committee Chair, & Nominations & Elections Committee Chair) and Natalie Kauffman (also Committee Council Chair & Membership Committee Co-Chair) and the Bylaws team have met to discuss possibly adding five (5) additional components to APCDA’s Policy and Procedures (P&P) Manual. They cordially invite all interested association members to join them on Sunday evening, March 22/Monday morning, March 23 to begin to update APCDA’s P&P Manual. Whether you have previous nonprofit bylaws writing/editing experience or are interested in building your experience, your participation is warmly welcomed. If interested in attending, please email the Co-Chairs at Bylaws@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Ethics and Standards Committee Chair, Dr. Vandana Gambhir Chopra and the committee team are gearing up for their Malaysia Conference presentation; an interactive session inviting career development professionals to collaboratively reflect on existing standards and ethical practices in the field. Participants will have the opportunity to share perspectives, identify emerging ethical challenges, and help strengthen a shared, values-driven professional framework.
News Committee Chair, Momoko Asaka, (& former APCDA President) invites submissions to APCDA’s Weekly News. Please link to the following and scroll down for the HOW To guidelines:
https://asiapacificcda.org/news/
Natalie Kauffman and Kunimitsu Kuki, Membership Committee Co-Chairs, and the Membership Committee have been enjoying meeting with NEW and potential APCDA members through individual and
group Orientations and Meetups. They are delighted to share that association membership is on the rise! Kudos to team members Alicia Ch’ng (also Awards & Scholarships Committee member), Ayza Figuro (also Philippines Area Representative), and Sarah McKinna for crafting and facilitating the recent Community of Practice gathering. Through small group discussions, more than 35 APCDA members were able showcase their respective Career Development AI CAPABILITIES & KNOWLEDGE. It also was a Gift that kept on Giving, multiple ongoing LinkedIn connections were forged.
Nominations & Elections Committee Chair (&), Allan Gatenby wants to remind us all, “it’s not too early to be thinking about running or nominating an association member for President!” You will begin to hear more about our association’s Nominations & Elections Process during the upcoming conference in Malaysia. Allan looks forward to virtually introducing some of the nominees during our annual June Membership Meeting.
Co-Chairs, Dr. Sujata Ives, Muhammad Basit Rana, and the Program Committee have been enjoying programming and providing podcasts and webinars. Webinars between now & the end of May are currently being marketed in our APCDA Weekly News, in our website’s Member Portal Calendar, and/or our website’s Upcoming Webinar page, https://asiapacificcda.org/live-webinars/.
Ani Titus and Gaini Yessembekova (also Committee Council Representative) Public Relations Co-Chairs, and the Public Relations Committee have been sharing as well as building their skills across three subcommittees formed late last year,
- Social Media & Design
- Advocacy
- Capacity Development
Research Chair, Dr. Serene Lin-Stephens, and the Research team continue to discuss research collaboration and how to categorize APCDA Conference topics to identify popular trends. Perhaps this is the time to join the team? Please email the Chair at Research@AsiaPacificCDA.org.
Dr. Poh Li Lau is editor of our APCD Journal (as well as our APCDA President Elect). Our Associate Editors include:
- Amberyce Ang, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore
- Sang Min Lee, Korea University, South Korea
- Serene Lin-Stephens, RMIT University, Australia
- Hsiu-Lan (Shelley) Tien, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan
Our Journal leadership kindly invite you to submit your article for the next Journal issue. To find out more regarding the guidelines for submitting articles, please connect to the following APCDA web page & scroll down to click and find out more.
In closing, our committees and journal warmly thank all their volunteer staff and cordially invite you, yes you, to attend their next virtual committee and/or journal gathering. Remember, the date of the next Bylaws Committee Meeting is Sunday evening, March 22/Monday morning, March 23.
By Baktiar Hasnan
Recent country and area reports across APCDA regions reveal a labour-market landscape characterised by moderate recovery, technological disruption, and persistent employability challenges. While unemployment remains relatively stable in many economies, deeper structural shifts are redefining workforce participation, skills demand, and career development systems.
Economic Conditions and Labour Market Stability
Economic performance varies significantly across regions. Vietnam recorded strong GDP growth of 8.02%, driven by manufacturing expansion and foreign investment, alongside low unemployment but high labour informality and mobility.
In contrast, Canada and the United States report slower and more uncertain hiring environments, with layoffs, cautious recruitment, and intensified competition despite relatively low headline unemployment rates. Australia’s labour market appears comparatively resilient, with stable unemployment, increasing full-time employment, and sector-specific adjustments influenced by artificial intelligence and regional hiring differences.
Skills Mismatch and Youth Employability
Across the region, skills mismatch and youth employment pressures remain central concerns. Nepal faces high graduate unemployment, significant outward migration, and the absence of coordinated national career guidance infrastructure.
The Philippines similarly reports rising youth unemployment, declining foundational learning outcomes, and urgent reforms toward work-integrated learning, micro-credentialing, and industry-aligned curricula.
Kazakhstan highlights weak soft-skills readiness and fragmented university–industry collaboration, while North India reports persistent employer difficulty in finding job-ready candidates despite expanding enrolment and digital career-guidance initiatives.
Technology, AI, and Green Transitions
Digital transformation is accelerating across regions. Demand for AI, cybersecurity, fintech, sustainability, and advanced manufacturing skills is evident in Hong Kong, South China, the Philippines, and the United States, signalling a structural shift toward knowledge-intensive and technology-enabled employment. Vietnam’s emerging green-jobs sector, currently a small share of employment, illustrates the early stages of climate-aligned workforce transition.
These trends are also associated with hybrid work, portfolio careers, and continuous reskilling expectations across labour markets.
Evolving Career Development Systems
Governments and institutions are expanding career-development infrastructure, though progress is uneven. Sri Lanka, Macau, and North India are strengthening TVET systems, digital career-guidance platforms, and international skills initiatives, yet resource limitations, awareness gaps, and coordination challenges persist. New Zealand illustrates policy tension, where renewed emphasis on literacy and numeracy risks sidelining career development despite economic pressures and ongoing migration concerns.
Closing Notes
Collectively, APCDA member regions are navigating a transition from employment quantity toward employment quality and adaptability. The evidence underscores the growing importance of lifelong learning, work-integrated education, digital and green skills, and—critically—systemic career guidance infrastructure. Strengthening these foundations will be essential for improving youth employability, supporting workforce resilience, and ensuring inclusive economic development across the Asia-Pacific and global community.
Countries/Areas reflected in the report: Vietnam; Canada; United States; Australia; Nepal; Philippines; Kazakhstan; India; Hong Kong; South China; Sri Lanka; Macau; New Zealand.
By Dr. Roberta Borgen*
The upcoming Asia Pacific Career Development Association (APCDA) conference in Malaysia is focused on “Inclusive Career Development in Global Transitions.” This fits APCDA’s mission, which is, in part, “to advocate for workforce policies and practices that foster inclusion and access to decent work for all.”
The conference offers a rich opportunity to stretch our thinking and professional practice. What if inclusion in career development wasn’t about adding accommodations to systems that no longer work — but about reimagining the systems themselves? Across education, employment, and policy, career development professionals are encountering clients whose lives, identities, and transitions do not fit traditional career models. Neurodivergent adults navigating employment, migrants rebuilding professional identities, young women seeking belonging in STEM, mid-career workers adapting to volatile labor markets — these are not “edge cases.” They are the new center of career practice.
This conference brings together practitioners, researchers, policy makers, and educators who are asking harder, more human questions about diversity and inclusion. How do power, bias, culture, health, age, and ability shape whose careers are valued — and whose are constrained? What does meaningful inclusion look like when differences are invisible, intersecting, or constantly shifting? Through
workshops, discussions, and keynotes grounded in lived experience and evidence-based practice, participants will explore strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming, culturally responsive, and disability-informed approaches that move beyond awareness into action.
Across sessions, attendees will encounter innovative tools and perspectives: visual storytelling and photovoice, self-determination and narrative career models, Universal Design for Learning, community-driven career ecosystems, AI-enabled coaching, and whole-system frameworks that link individuals to schools, employers, and policy. Whether working with students, adults, migrants, or professionals in transition, these workshops offer practical strategies for supporting agency, adaptability, and dignity — while also challenging the structures that create exclusion in the first place.
Ultimately, this conference is an invitation: to reflect on our own assumptions, to learn alongside others navigating complexity, and to become part of a broader “village” shaping more sustainable and inclusive career futures. If you believe career development can be a force for equity, belonging, and hope — especially in times of global transition — these workshops are designed for you.
As one of the keynote speakers and co-facilitator of the Professional Development Institute preceding the conference, I’m excited about learning alongside you. I hope you’re planning to attend, either online or in-person in Malaysia!
* written with AI assistance
by Elisabeth Montgomery, PhD
“Unity in diversity is our way of life…let us celebrate together with an open heart.” ~Nga Kor Ming
The 2026 APCDA Hybrid Conference in Malaysia includes presentations from 14 of our Malaya colleagues that highlight a powerful, integrated view of career development: inclusion as design, career as care, and practices grounded in lived realities. This approach aims to inspire confidence in attendees’ ability to foster meaningful change in their communities.
Reinforced by a keynote from Dr. Ahmad Shamsuri Muhamad, Head of the Universiti Malaya Faculty of Education, the emphasis is on a caring and equitable society in a traditionally hierarchical country. The various presenters provide research and activities to connect visiting career development practitioners to a range of collective concepts, such as social protection, health capital, and holistic human development.
The Malaysian scholar-practitioners’ topics span research-informed strategies for single mothers and supports for women rebuilding work lives after cancer; they also focus on neurodivergent students and disability-forward frameworks such as “post-barrier” inclusion and Transitional Intelligence (TQ).
The shared, culturally unique tools and coaching approaches from Malaysia are at the forefront of identity, meaning, and “who we are becoming.” This focus on acceptance encourages attendees to feel appreciated for their diverse perspectives, which connects to Kuala Lumpur’s broader societal goals.
The grounded, welcoming Malaysian spirit and variety of career topics aim to engage attendees in wide-ranging experiences to inspire hope and a shared sense of purpose.
I look forward to seeing you in Malaysia in April!
By Dian Ratna Sawitri, Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Diponegoro, Indonesia, APCDA Area Representative for Indonesia
Across the Asia-Pacific region, careers are being reshaped by rapid technological change, global mobility, demographic shifts, and growing uncertainty in labor markets. In this context, the APCDA 2026 Hybrid Conference, Inclusive Career Development in Global Transitions, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, 20 – 30 April 2026, invites scholars and practitioners to rethink how career systems can better support individuals not only to survive change, but to thrive through it. One concept sits at the heart of this mission: career resilience.
Career resilience reflects a lifelong capacity to sustain motivation, confidence, and adaptability across shifting work contexts. Recent research from Indonesia offers timely insights into how this capacity develops among early-career talents, a group particularly vulnerable during periods of global transition. Surveying 456 young professionals, the study highlights resilience as a conscious process of building self-belief, competencies, hope, and supportive networks—foundations that align closely with APCDA’s vision of inclusive and future-ready career development.
A key finding centers on learning goal orientation—the mindset that views career growth as an ongoing journey rather than a fixed destination. Individuals who embrace learning are better prepared to navigate disruption, reskill for emerging industries, and remain engaged despite uncertainty. In an era of global transitions, this growth-oriented perspective becomes a powerful driver of inclusion, ensuring that diverse talents are not left behind as work evolves.
Equally significant is the role of person–job fit. When individuals feel aligned with their roles, they experience stronger professional identity and motivation. The study shows that this sense of fit strengthens occupational self-efficacy, which in turn builds career resilience. These findings reinforce APCDA’s message that inclusive career development must go beyond access. It must create environments where people truly belong and can perform at their best.
At the psychological core of resilience lies occupational self-efficacy, the belief in one’s ability to succeed at work. This research demonstrates that self-efficacy acts as a bridge between supportive environments and long-term adaptability. For career counselors, educators, and HR leaders, the implication is clear: empowering individuals is just as critical as designing pathways. Confidence fuels continuity in times of change.
These insights resonate strongly with APCDA’s commitment to evidence-based practice. The 2026 Conference will provide a platform where research such as this can inform policy, shape counseling interventions, and inspire organizational strategies, ensuring that career development remains responsive to global transitions while grounded in human experience.
From a broader perspective, strengthening career resilience contributes directly to the Sustainable Development Goals. It advances:
• SDG 4 (Quality Education): lifelong learning
• SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): sustainable employability
• SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being): reducing career stress
With women representing 67.5% of the participants, the study also strongly supports SDG 5 (Gender Equality). Ensuring resilience among early-career women is essential for inclusive growth and representation in future industries.
As the Asia-Pacific region navigates digital transformation and workforce realignment, inclusive career systems must become a collective priority. Universities, employers, governments, and professional associations all play a role in cultivating learning cultures, psychological safety, and meaningful work alignment. The APCDA 2026 Conference serves as a vital regional forum for these cross-sector collaborations to take shape.
We invite you to join APCDA 2026 – Inclusive Career Development in Global Transitions and engage in conversations that matter for the future of work. Together, let us translate research into action—building career ecosystems that empower individuals, strengthen communities, and advance sustainable development across the Asia-Pacific region.
By Dr. Brian A. Schwartz
Why Career Development Must Now Address the Whole Life
Across the Asia–Pacific region — and increasingly across the globe — career professionals are encountering a paradox.
We have more data, more assessments, more pathways, and more technological tools than ever before. And yet, anxiety, disengagement, identity diffusion, and burnout are rising — not only among students and young adults, but among parents, educators, and midlife professionals themselves.
This is not a failure of technique.
It is a signal that career development can no longer be separated from life development.
The coming APCDA conference arrives at a pivotal moment: one in which artificial intelligence, global mobility, social fragmentation, and economic uncertainty are reshaping not only how people work — but how they understand themselves.
The Shift Beneath the Surface: From Work to Meaning
Many of the conference themes — AI integration, youth development, resilience, decision-making, adaptability — point toward a deeper convergence.
The central question shifting from:
“What should I do?”
to
“Who am I becoming — and how does my work express that?”
Career development is quietly transforming from a transactional function into a developmental accompaniment — one that must engage identity, values, family history, social context, and moral imagination.
This does not abandon employability.
It grounds employability in coherence.
AI Changes the Question — Not the Human Need
Artificial intelligence can now:
- Generate career options
- Analyze skill gaps
- Predict labor market trends
- Simulate decision pathways
But AI cannot answer:
- What matters enough to commit to?
- What am I willing to sacrifice — and what am I not?
- How do I live with the consequences of my choices?
AI has not replaced the career professional — it has clarified our role.
We are no longer primarily information brokers.
We are context holders, meaning translators, and developmental companions.
From Individual Choice to Communitarian Context
Careers do not unfold in isolation.
Family expectations, cultural narratives, migration histories, educational inequities, and collective trauma all shape vocational identity — particularly in Asia–Pacific societies where autonomy and responsibility coexist.
Career development must therefore operate within a communitarian lens.
This means:
- Attending to intergenerational stories
- Recognizing invisible constraints
- Designing guidance that honors both autonomy and belonging
Not careers against community — but careers within community.
The New Order Question: What Now Orients Us?
A deeper question underlies discussions of AI, employability, resilience, and adaptability:
What replaces dominance as the organizing principle of work and society?
Industrial-era assumptions:
- Employers over employees
- Institutions over individuals
- Credentialing over capability
- Extraction over regeneration
This order is now destabilizing.
Automation exposes the fragility of systems based on scarcity, hierarchy, and control. When knowledge is abundant and coordination decentralized, dominance loses coherence.
What replaces it is not chaos — but the search for new organizing principles.
Communitarianism as Necessity, Not Ideology
Communitarian approaches are structural responses to complexity.
Emerging models across Asia and beyond include:
- Cooperative enterprise systems
- Distributed leadership
- Learning communities over credential hierarchies
- Hybrid livelihoods integrating meaning, flexibility, and contribution
These are not nostalgic returns.
They are adaptive responses to a future where no institution guarantees stability.
Career development shifts from:
- Helping people compete
to - Helping people participate with agency, dignity, and shared responsibility.
Across Different Cultural Contexts
Examples are emerging globally:
Spain — Mondragón
Cooperative ownership sustaining innovation, skill, and dignity.
Latin America (including Venezuela)
Local resilience through mutual aid networks where systems fail.
East Asia
Learning communities and enterprise ecosystems that blur boundaries between education, work, and civic life.
Shared qualities:
- Distributed responsibility
- Regeneration of capability
- Preservation of agency
Career development becomes less about placing individuals and more about cultivating participation within living systems.
BOXED SIDEBAR:
From Dominance to Partnership — What Changes in Career Development?
(Riane Eisler Lens)
Dominance-Based Systems → Partnership-Oriented Systems
Control and hierarchy → Shared leadership and stewardship
Scarcity thinking → Regenerative capacity
Competition as default → Collaboration as competence
Credentials over contribution → Capability demonstrated in context
Compliance and dependency → Agency and mutual accountability
Career as ladder → Career as evolving life ecology
Agency in a Post-Scarcity, Post-Predictability Landscape
AI and robotics surface a truth:
Many people were not well-served by narrow job definitions.
As automation rises, human contribution shifts to:
- Judgment
- Ethical discernment
- Relational intelligence
- Creativity grounded in lived experience
- Stewardship, not control
The future is plural but unequal — unless individuals are supported to develop:
- Self-knowledge
- Adaptability
- Context awareness
Without support, technological abundance amplifies inequality.
The Quiet Task Before Us
Career professionals now work at a threshold.
Our responsibility:
Not just guiding choices within systems
But helping people navigate transitions between systems.
This requires:
- Recognizing collapsing dominance assumptions
- Cultivating partnership mindsets
- Helping individuals locate agency in evolving communities
- Holding meaning steady amid uncertainty
Career development becomes stabilizing — not by predicting the future but by strengthening capacity to meet it.
2025 APCDA Hybrid Conference
This conference arrives at a moment of integration.
The core question becomes:
How do we help people design lives — not just secure jobs — in a world outpacing assessment frameworks?
The conference is:
- Not just a venue for tools
- A field for collective reflection
Where educators, counselors, researchers, and practitioners recalibrate for the decade ahead.
From Reflection to Dialogue
Key questions emerge:
- How do career professionals support agency without reinforcing dependence?
- What does guidance look like when paths are nonlinear and systems unstable?
- How do we prepare people for participation in emerging social ecologies, not just employment?
- What skills matter when certainty is no longer the organizing principle?
These themes will be explored further in Kuala Lumpur — focusing on the shift from dominance-oriented systems to partnership-oriented futures.
An Invitation
As we gather, the task before us is not to defend old models or chase disruption.
It is to listen deeply — to clients, students, societies, and the future pressing upon us.
Career development has always been about possibility.
Today, it is also about wisdom.
Join us in Kuala Lumpur to explore how our work can evolve into a practice worthy of the complexity — and dignity — of human becoming.
By Dr. Marilyn E. Maze and Grace Koamesah
Demographics
A total of 88 Members and 61 Friends completed our 2025 survey (149 total). Respondents represented a wide variety of countries and regions, with the largest numbers from the USA, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, and other ASEAN nations. Significant representation also came from India, Australia, China, Malaysia, and Japan, reflecting the international nature of our association. As in previous years, a notable portion of our community comes from a diversity of other countries and regions, showing that APCDA’s reach continues to expand throughout Asia Pacific and beyond.
Members and Friends work in a broad range of settings. Respondents were allowed to choose multiple settings because we know that many career practitioners work in more than one setting. As in 2024, about 60% of respondents work in higher education (University/College), while over a third are engaged in career services, often as small businesses or private practices. Government agencies and private not-for-profit organizations or social enterprises continue to be important work settings (26%), with additional representation from K-12 education, corporate HR, and other roles.
Skills and Modalities
This year, we focused on the skills that practitioners most want to enhance and the modalities they value most for their own growth.
The most important growth areas for our respondents this year are:
- Tech usage, especially AI, in career services
- Career counselling/coaching skills
- Organizational & management skills
- Insights into future labor market trends
- Enhancing employability in a dynamic job market
- Networking with like-minded professionals
- Designing career services programs
- Career development theories and applying them in practice
Both Members and Friends indicated strong preferences for interactive and accessible formats. Webinars and workshops remain the highest-rated modalities (average 4.4 out of 5), closely followed by online or face-to-face meetings and participation in research. Mentoring, University courses, and professional social media (such as LinkedIn) also remain popular, with newsletters and podcasts providing valued supplemental learning. Instant messaging platforms (WhatsApp, WeChat) and online community boards ranked lower.
- fication in Career Education
- Engaging Clients with Digital Tools
- The Challenge Mindset
- Integrating Technology into Career Development
Mental health and career development was the most popular topic this year. A wide range of other topics can also be seen on the Top Ten list and will be used to select webinar speakers for the coming year.
Open-text responses provided even more ideas. These topics will inspire new and emerging ideas for future speakers and conference presentations. Anyone who is unsure which topic to offer at the 2026 conference would find guidance by reviewing the ideas in the Full Report.
Speaker Recommendations
As always, our community provided a wealth of suggestions for engaging speakers. We are very grateful for these recommendations, and the Program Committee will seek to engage them for our upcoming webinars.
Request for Committee Volunteers
On the Member Survey, we asked for volunteers for committees. These names were immediately sent to the chairs of the relevant committee. We are very grateful for the many volunteers. Your assistance breathes fresh life into the committees each year.
How We Heard You
Your feedback is invaluable and drives APCDA’s ongoing development. We heard your call for:
- More interactive learning and networking opportunities, both online and in-person,
- Continued emphasis on mental health, digital transformation, and ethical practice,
- Practical, innovative topics that address the realities of diverse client needs,
- Greater representation of voices from across Asia Pacific and global perspectives,
- Increased mentoring, supervision, and professional learning communities,
- Accessible and affordable professional development for all.
We are committed to acting on your suggestions—whether by curating new webinar topics, seeking out diverse expert speakers, or piloting new modalities for engagement and learning. As always, we value the input of both Members and Friends equally. Anyone who takes the time to share their views with us helps shape the future of APCDA.
Looking Forward
Thank you for your continued engagement, your ideas, and your commitment to advancing career development across Asia Pacific. We look forward to growing together, learning from one another, and making a positive impact in our region and beyond.
If you have further suggestions or wish to get more involved, please reach out. Together, we make APCDA a vibrant, responsive, and inclusive professional community.
Full Report
This article is a short summary. You can obtain the 2025 APCDA Member/Friend Survey Full Report here.
By Marilyn Maze, PhD
As career practitioners, we know that staying informed, connected, and equipped with the latest resources is essential to our professional growth and the success of those we serve. The Asia Pacific Career Development Association (APCDA) website—https://asiapacificcda.org—is designed with these needs in mind, serving as a dynamic hub for career development professionals across the region and beyond. Recent Google Analytics data from are last Fiscal Year (Oct 2024–Sept 2025) offers compelling evidence of the website’s value, highlighting the sections and resources that resonate most with our community.
A Hub Built for Career Practitioners
The APCDA website is structured to provide easy access to high-value content, including:
- News: Timely updates and industry trends
- Conference and Webinars: Access to APCDA upcoming and past events
- Resources: Practical tools unique to our profession, incorporating cultural differences within our region
- Area Information: Labor market and career development events happening in each of the countries in our region
- Membership: Details on joining and member benefits
- Welcome: Information about APCDA’s mission and ways to connect
These resources and structure ensure that, whether you are seeking the latest trends, professional development opportunities, or a supportive community, you will find what you need.
What Practitioners Value Most: Insights from Google Analytics
- News: Your Go-To Source for Industry Updates
The News section accounts for 25% of all page views and attracted the highest number of active users (those who engage for at least 10 seconds. This reflects a strong demand among career practitioners for up-to-date information, policy changes, and best practices. Regularly updated news content not only keeps you informed but also reinforces the website’s credibility as a trusted source
- Conference: Deep Engagement and Professional Growth
Professional development is at the heart of our work, and the annual conference attracts large numbers of viewers around the world. While many countries offer in-person conferences (and we all love to network with others in our field), travel costs leave these in-person events out of reach for many career practitioners. Few career development associations offer a Virtual option that is as full-featured and interactive as the APCDA Hybrid Conference. This section records the highest number of user interactions (events such as clicks and downloads) and boasts the longest average engagement time—77 seconds per visit. Here, you can find details about APCDA’s upcoming hybrid conference, speaker profiles, session topics, and post-event resources. The high level of interaction demonstrates the value practitioners place on networking, learning, and staying at the forefront of the field.
- Area Information: Local information about Your Community
The Area Information pages contain fascinating information about each member country or area in the Asia Pacific region. They contain labor market information, employment trends, recaps of local events, and other facts about member countries that help career practitioners understand the similarities and differences among parts of our region, connect to valuable information resources and tools for clients moving to another country, and connect to active groups within their own country or area. Often, career practitioners find APCDA first by accessing these pages – they are looking for local information for their own community and find APCDA in the process.
- Welcome: A Gateway to Resources and Community
First impressions matter, and the Welcome page serves as a vital entry point for both new and returning users. With the highest ratio of views per user (1.6) and events per user (5), this page is not just a starting point — it’s a springboard to deeper engagement with the site’s offerings. Its user-friendly design and clear navigation help practitioners quickly find the resources and information they need.
How do Readers Find Our Website?
Looking at the source of our readers, we see search engines like Google, Yahoo, etc. and AI as the two largest sources. In addition to search engines, social media and other association websites also lead a few people to our website. We might expect these external sources to send viewers to our Welcome page, but in fact our News and Conference pages are more often the starting point, and Area Information, Resources, and Webinars also attract new readers to our website.
Meeting the Needs of Career Practitioners
The website’s most popular sections align closely with the core needs of career practitioners:
- Staying Informed: The News section ensures you are always up to date with the latest developments in the field.
- Professional Development: Conferences and events provide opportunities for learning, networking, and growth.
- Practical Tools: Resource libraries and research summaries offer actionable insights and frameworks for your daily practice.
- Community and Networking: Area information and membership features foster a sense of belonging and peer support.
Data-Driven Value: Why Practitioners Keep Coming Back
The Google Analytics data reveals not just high traffic, but deep and repeated engagement. Metrics such as user stickiness (measured by daily, weekly, and monthly active users) indicate strong retention and ongoing value for visitors. Practitioners return to the site for its timely news, interactive conference content, and accessible resources—demonstrating that the APCDA website is more than just an information portal; it is a living, evolving community resource.
Location of Viewers
This map shows the location of the people viewing the APCDA website. While most live in the Asia Pacific region, significant numbers of viewers live in other parts of the world.
Looking Ahead: Continuous Improvement
By regularly analyzing engagement data, APCDA ensures that the website evolves to meet the changing needs of career practitioners. This commitment to data-driven improvement means that the content you value most—news, professional development, and community resources—will continue to be prioritized and enhanced.
At APCDA, much of the work is done by our Standing Committees (groups that continue year after year). All members are welcome to join.
Joining a committee is a great way to get to know other members personally and build global relationships, in addition to providing a really valuable contribution to the field of career development. Below are comments from the chairs of our standing committees about the unique benefits each committee offers.
Natalie Kauffman, Membership Committee Co-Chair
“APCDA offers a lot of services, more than most members know about. Members of the Membership Committee help others learn how to use these services and connects you to the new members and potential new members. You can build worldwide connections and help others to take full advantage of what APCDA has to offer.”
Kunimitsu Kuki, Membership Committee Co-Chair, Membership@AsiaPacificCDA.org
“Joining the Program Committee offers a unique opportunity to shape impactful professional development for APCDA members by identifying relevant topics, connecting with expert speakers, and facilitating engaging webinars. As a committee member, you’ll contribute to the continuous professional development of career professionals across the Asia-Pacific region, while also expanding your network and enhancing your professional skills.”
Syed Hassan Abdullah, Program Committee Co-Chair, Program@AsiaPacificCDA.org
“We invite you to join the Research Committee, where your experience can play a pivotal role in advancing the field of Career Development and driving impactful change. Collaborate with dedicated professionals to shape innovative research initiatives that enhance career pathways and empower individuals to achieve their goals. Together, we can inspire new ideas and foster a culture of research and innovation!”
Dr. Poh Li Lau, Research Committee Co-Chair, Research@AsiaPacificCDA.org
“PR Committee plays a key role in developing strategies to enhance APCDA’s visibility both in our region and globally. Additionally, you will have the chance to enhance your skills in virtual presentations, team-building, and project management—skills that are highly transferable and beneficial across various professional contexts. Most importantly, you will be making a meaningful contribution to raising APCDA’s profile.”
Gaini Yessembekova, Public Relations Co-Chair, PublicRelations@AsiaPacificCDA.org
“Our Ethics and Standards Committee is where your voice can truly shape the future! Imagine contributing to the very principles that guide our profession globally—standards that empower trust, integrity, and professional growth. Join us, and let’s set the gold standard together while building a network of passionate professionals dedicated to making an impact.”
Vandana Gambhir, Ethics and Standards Committee Chair, Ethics@AsiaPacificCDA.org We couldn’t be more excited to share that Dr. Poh Li Lau- our very own APCDA Journal Editor and longtime champion of career development – has been elected as the next President-Elect of the Asia Pacific Career Development Association!
If you’ve ever flipped through the APCDA Journal, you’ve already seen the thoughtful leadership and academic rigor Dr. Lau brings to our field. But her contributions don’t stop there. For over a decade, she has been an active member of APCDA, serving in various roles- from area representative to committee powerhouse—always with warmth, vision, and a heart for service.
And here’s the cherry on top: Poh Li will also be the host of our 2026 Annual Conference in Malaysia! Her dual role as host and President-Elect makes this moment even more meaningful, symbolizing not only her personal commitment but also the growing impact of Malaysia in the global career development conversation. We can already feel the energy building for an unforgettable conference!
Professionally, Dr. Lau is a seasoned academic and career development expert with years of experience in higher education. Her work has empowered students and professionals alike, helping them navigate their futures with confidence.
Dr. Lau’s three-year leadership journey will begin on October 1, 2025. She will first serve as President-Elect, followed by one-year terms as President and then Past President.
With her at the helm, APCDA is poised for growth and innovation. Please join us in giving a warm (virtual) round of applause to Dr. Lau. We are excitied to have her leading the way – and can’t wait to see where this exciting journey takes us next!
APCDA is an association of people who love their work and are eager to share their expertise with others. It is our goal to make that sharing as easy as possible.
In November 2023, we moved to a new website and new member database software which offers a “Member Portal” to facilitate communication among members and displays our other member services. Your Member Portal is a vital part of the services offered by APCDA. The new software offers several valuable features that were previously scattered over 2 software systems.
Unfortunately, networking with each other became more difficult when we switched because we were not able to copy the photo and bio of our members to the new system. Have you updated your Member Profile in the Member Portal? If not, we urge to do this now. Another vital piece of information is the Country where you live. Unfortunately, our new software hides that information under Address. Since we do not communicate by mail, “Address” does not seem very important. But your Country is important (and your city). December is a month for giving. We hope all of our members will make it easier for other members in need of your advice and assistance to find you by adding a photo of your face, a bio describing your areas of focus, and your country. Please help us to make member networking easier.
Have you looked closely at your Member Portal? When we moved our website, we offered a Basic video to introduce the features to you. We have just added an Advanced video to explain in detail the many features which are unique to this new software and help you connect to each other. Special features of the Member Portal include:
- Member Discussion Space: You can find this under “Workspaces” in the Portal. We invite you to share any issue you may be facing at work. Ask for advice, and others who have experience in that area will join the discussion.
- If you prefer a more targeted approach, try searching the “Directory” for members who work in a similar setting. The Directory displays names, emails, and organizations for all of our members. One click takes you to the photo and bio for any member. Please feel free to reach out to other members who you think might have similar interests. We are all separated by large distances, but the member directory can bring us closer together.
- The Store lists past webinars. Most are free to members, and many of the presenters are famous in our field. It is a treasure chest filled with valuable information.
- My Account is the place to update your own information. Look for “My Profile” -> “Member Profile”, and don’t forget to make sure your Country is listed under “Contact Info.” My Account also contains certification of the webinars you attended and many other pieces of information about you and your membership.
Did you know that you automatically become a member of the International Association of Educational and Vocation Guidance (IAEVG) when you join APCDA? Each year, APCDA pays dues to IAEVG for all of our members.
IAEVG has a 75-year history of providing global leadership in and advocating for guidance by promoting ethical, socially just, and best practices throughout the world so that career, educational and vocational guidance and counselling is available to all citizens from competent and qualified practitioners.
Behind the scenes, IAEVG and many of its members have helped in the development of APCDA. When we want to develop resources for our members, such as our Ethical Guidelines, we turn first to IAEVG for guidance. As the oldest career development association that is truly international, the materials provided by IAEVG are very relevant and helpful in jump-starting our development.
Members are invited to download a copy of the Member Logo from the APCDA Website. The legal agreement published on our website makes it possible for our members to use this logo on your website, signature, or letterhead. We currently have five kinds of member logos:
- Individual Members
- Organization Members
- Lifetime Members
- Legacy Partner Lifetime
- Professional associations which offer Joint Membership with APCDA (Affiliates)
If you fall into groups 1 to 4, please go to our website at AsiaPacificCDA.org and click “Member Portal.” Choose Workspaces, and your member logos (as JPG or PNG files) should be waiting there for you to download. If you fall into the fifth group, you should have received the logo from us by email.
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