The principles on which the programme is based are aligned with contemporary career counselling practice. They are:

• A developmental approach where career counselling and guidance are seen as a process across the span of the year as students gather more information and gain increased insight. It is not seen as a once-off session where students complete psychometric tests and base their career decisions on the scores.
• A student-focused approach where the student is seen as an active agent who makes his/her own decisions based on thorough self- and vocational exploration. This is a constructivist approach where students take their past into account, carefully look at their present situation and circumstances and build upon it to author and design their own future life and career.
• A contextual approach where the student’s unique circumstances e.g. family, personal history, and socio-economic status are taken into consideration. This also includes the wider context, such as the economic outlook of South Africa and the world, career trends, labour market demands, scarce skills, and tertiary institution requirements.
• Reality testing where the individual student’s personality, interests, values, talents, abilities, academic school subjects and symbols, physical, mental, psychological and learning problems are taken into account in the career field they choose and the higher education institutions they qualify for.

Students who have successfully completed the Career Planning Programme and have passed Equilibria’s Career Readiness Test will qualify for a Career Readiness Certificate. This certificate indicates our stamp of approval on the student’s career choice and gives credit to the student for completing all the steps in the career guidance process successfully.