The aim of this paper is to describe the experience of career-oriented activities carried out with students of schools in developed and developing countries. Career Guidance in Russia, despite the vast experience of its implementation, is experiencing serious difficulties. In this regard, it is important to take into account the international experience career-oriented activities, such as in the developed countries of North America and the European Union as well as in several Asian countries with rapidly growing economies and a large demographic potential, taking into account the best variants for the Russian education system.

Methods. The experience of career-oriented work undertaken with pupils of the USA, Canada, Israel, France, UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Japan, Singapore, China and India is shown on the basis of the comparative analysis of different publications and information sources. The author has made an attempt to generalize the principles of psycho-pedagogical and administrative assistance in professional self-determination of senior pupils abroad.

Scientific novelty. The approaches to career-oriented activities in countries with different levels of economic development are compared for the first time. Some principles are revealed. Firstly, the higher the income level per capita in the country, the greater attention is given to vocational guidance. The politics in the developed countries is based on interests of the individual: children’s acquaintance with the world of professions begins already at younger school and the moment of definitive self-determination is postponed till the end of their senior stage of education; the possibility of direction change of professional preparation in case of detection of discrepancy of qualities of the pupil to originally selected profile is provided. Career-oriented activity in developing countries, on the contrary, is rigidly coordinated to requirements of economy and a labour market; earlier fixing of professional preferences and less flexible relation to an unsuccessful choice of a speciality or profession of the youth is marked there. The most typical characteristics of foreign career-oriented schemes are the following: the organisation of continuous training lasting throughout all school; supervision over students’ achievements, propensities and hobbies; portfolio or cumulative files drafting and recording data of all pupil’s results while professional consulting and selection of entrants for vocational training continuation in colleges or high schools. The author points out the general characteristic: the economy requirement for high quality experts on the basis of selection of the pupils who are able to master high-end technologies and have an obvious potential of professional growth and personal development.

Practical significance. The research materials and implementations can be useful to Russian career-and professional specialists, and the experts who are engaged in education management.

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