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Career advising does not just happen in scheduled meetings or planned activities with students. It happens organically in classrooms, during extra-curricular activities, in conversations with coaches and mentors, and even through the bulletin boards in school hallways. Students absorb messages about their future from nearly every adult around them, whether they realize it or not. That reality creates a significant risk.

When trusted adults provide inconsistent, incomplete, or biased information, the consequences can shape the trajectory of a student’s life. Students may be unknowingly steered away from certain careers, discouraged from pursuing postsecondary education, or left without accurate information about their available options. To protect students and ensure equitable access to opportunity, school districts should ensure that everyone in a position of influence–whether hired staff or external partners providing services–understands their impact and is equipped with the knowledge and skills to navigate these interactions responsibly. But local systems cannot do it alone. States play an important role in creating the conditions for success by establishing shared expectations, providing universal training and resources, and promoting quality and consistency in career advising across schools and communities. Colorado and Massachusetts provide two strong examples of how states are working to expand the role of advising to reach all students with quality in mind.

Training everyone to be a “career conversationalist” in Colorado

Colorado is widely recognized as a national leader in the advising space. For more than a decade, the state has pushed thinking beyond four-year graduation plans, promoting as a continuous process that begins early and extends through high school and into postsecondary education. Through this evolution, state leaders recognized two important realities: school counselors alone cannot meet every student’s advising needs, and meaningful conversations about the future can happen with any trusted adult–not just designated advisors. Teachers, coaches, mentors, and community members all play a role in shaping how students think about their futures and this role carries great responsibility.

This realization led to the development of , an initiative designed to equip all adults in positions of influence to support students in exploring what comes next. In partnership with the Colorado Education Initiative, the Colorado Department of Education created a free, open-access, module to help anyone become a “meaningful career conversationalist.” The training covers topics such as unconscious bias, active listening, open-ended questioning, empathy-building, and the the core components of individual career and academic planning, including self-awareness, career awareness, personal and social development, and postsecondary planning. Though it is not a state requirement to complete the training, completing it does provide continuing education credit and has become a popular option for many educators to maintain their certifications.

This training approach reflects an important shift in thinking about career advising. Rather than viewing advising as a sole responsibility of school counselors and advisors, Colorado recognizes that every interaction with a student has the potential to influence their aspirations and decision-making. Furthermore, training all adults who work directly with students to engage in career conversations helps mitigate the risk that students receive inaccurate or inequitable guidance.

Colorado’s approach has gained national attention. The concept of having meaningful career conversations was eventually adopted by the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) to support school counselors in leading career development with students. ASCA developed to serve as a national resource within ASCA’s to equip educators with open-ended questions aligned to career development standards. 

MyCAP for all in Massachusetts

Another prominent leader in advising is Massachusetts. In 2016, the state released to strengthen its approach to individual learning plans, including building capacity for six-year plans, creating a no-cost planning tool for students, and expanding professional development to support effective implementation. From this work, Massachusetts adopted My Career and Academic Plan (MyCAP), a designed to ensure all students have the knowledge and skills needed to navigate their path to success. 

Importantly, MyCAP was not designed to sit solely within school counseling offices. Instead, it was developed as a whole-school initiative that trains all educators–not just school counselors and advisors–to support students in career and postsecondary planning. The framework recognizes that students benefit most when career development is integrated into the school experience rather than isolated meetings or activities.

Boston Public Schools (BPS) has fully embraced the with a simple philosophy: every student should have a trusted adult, and every adult, regardless of their role, should be prepared to support career awareness and postsecondary planning. Through interviews, educators across the district have described the model as collaborative and inclusive, reporting stronger student engagement, improved attendance, and changing perspectives about life after high school with more awareness of options and resources. 

In addition to campus-level support, BPS provides districtwide training and resources for staff and convenes an focused on topics such as changing labor market conditions, career connected learning, and effective use of MyCAP tools and resources. These investments reinforce the idea that high-quality career advising requires ongoing learning and shared responsibility across an entire system.

Massachusetts demonstrates that when states provide a clear framework, quality career advising can become embedded within a school culture rather than existing as a burden solely of school counselors. This approach creates a coordinated system that helps students explore possibilities, make informed decisions, and actively shape their own futures.

Conclusion

As states continue to define and refine the role of advisors within career pathways systems, one reality is clear: school counselors and advisors cannot carry the responsibility of career advising alone. School counselors and advisors remain essential, but growing student needs and competing demands make it unrealistic to expect a small group of professionals to guide every student through effective career exploration and postsecondary planning.

States can build capacity for career advising by ensuring all educators and trusted adults receive the foundational training, tools, and guidance needed to support meaningful career conversations with students. This is not only important for expanding access to support, but also critical for protecting students from bias and misinformation that can unintentionally limit opportunities or reinforce inequities. States that invest in building this shared capacity will be better positioned to reduce the risks of students receiving inconsistent or uninformed guidance and ensure every learner has access to the high-quality support needed to navigate a pathway toward a meaningful career.