Career Buttons – A Resource for Career Learning in Context

Part of the National Quality Framework for Career Guidance

The Career Buttons were developed as part of the National Quality Framework for Career Guidance in Norway to address the growing need for a more holistic and context-sensitive approach to career learning. While earlier models such as the DOTS framework (Decision learning, Opportunity awareness, Transition learning and Self-awareness) emphasised the skills individuals need to navigate education and work, the Career Buttons extend this perspective by highlighting the social, emotional and contextual factors that shape people’s choices and opportunities. The model provides a reflective and exploratory lens that acknowledges uncertainty, identity, chance and agency—key dimensions of modern career development, particularly in dynamic and unpredictable labour markets.

The Career Buttons serve as a practical tool within the Career Learning in Context Model, designed to help individuals reflect on their lives, choices and opportunities. Each button represents a pair of concepts that opens a doorway to dialogue about how people navigate their past, present and future.

Beyond supporting reflection, the Career Buttons also function as a flexible framework for designing career learning activities, initiating meaningful conversations, and facilitating collegial reflection among practitioners. They offer a shared language that can be used to:

• design structured activities that encourage exploration and critical reflection,
• offer clear and accessible entry points for conversations in both one-to-one and group guidance, and
• foster professional dialogue among colleagues about practice, dilemmas and learner needs.

By integrating the Career Buttons into teaching, guidance and team collaboration, practitioners can strengthen both individual career competence and collective pedagogical practice before moving into the specific themes represented by each button.

The Five Career Buttons

Me in Context

Explores how the individual is shaped by, and interacts with, their surroundings—such as family, culture, community, expectations, and personal identity.

Guiding questions:

• Who am I in the situations and communities I am part of?
• What influences how I view myself and my opportunities?

Opportunities and Limitations

Encourages awareness of what is possible – and what may stand in the way. Both internal and external factors are explored.

Guiding questions:

• What opportunities are available to me?
• What limitations do I experience, and which of them can be changed?

Choice and Chance

Highlights the interplay between planned actions and unexpected events. People make choices, but chance also shapes careers.

Guiding questions:

• Which choices have I made deliberately?
• What unexpected events have influenced my path?

Change and Stability

Examines how individuals navigate transitions while seeking safety, belonging, or predictability.

Guiding questions:

• What changes am I facing?
• Where do I need stability – and how can I balance the two?

Adaptation and Resistance

Explores how individuals respond to expectations, norms, and external demands—and when they choose to adapt or stand firm. 

Guiding questions:

• When is it useful to adapt to expectations?
• When do I need to resist to protect my values or needs?