In Sweden as well as in many European countries, increased pressure is put on individuals to manage their own careers. EU Council Resolutions (2004, 2008), stresses the development of citizens lifelong and life-wide learning and also management skills. The importance of citizen-focused, impartial counselling is pointed out (CEDEFOP, 2005). Lifelong guidance is expected to improve the matching of both individuals´ interests, abilities and competencies with learning opportunities for educational and labor market efficiency. Furthermore guidance is considered to support their lifelong career transitions. In Sweden, there has been an extensive political focus the past year, concerning companies abilities of adapting to societal changes in an innovative manner, in order to serve them with future requested competencies. The need for utilizing competence, transition and adjustment abilities for adapting to constantly changes, is intensively discussed among different political areas, but mostly from the perspective of the companies, with economical efficiency aspect as the main one. From an adult career development and counselling perspective, the main focus is the individual in transition and change. Thus, societal changes and changing working life conditions indicates a need for working preventive (Plant, 2005) and preparatory in career counselling practice, in the meaning of preparing for change. Although educational and vocational choices still are important issues for career counselling practice, there is an increasing need for supporting also employed adults in dealing with other career-related issues concerning substantial change of work-conditions, responsibilities and work-roles.

Adult career development can be understood from several different perspectives and theoretical approaches. The provision of career support for adult career development can be offered, organized and expressed in different ways and settings, also differing between countries and within countries. European Union employ guidance as an umbrella concept for several activities concerning career development in their publications. In Sweden, career counselling for adults has a tradition of being offered within municipal adult education, often connected to educational/vocational choice and decisions. For many years, vocational counselling has been offered in employment services. During the past decade, there has been an increased development of organizing career counselling/guidance in specific career centres or guidance centers and the last years, different coaching practices, organized both in private and public sector, has developed.  Nevertheless, they are all a part of our changing society, dealing with different career-related issues, brought into light by adults with different dilemmas and stories to tell, different goals to reach.

This theoretical paper, is concerned with the conjunctions between the societal changes as they are expressed in EU Policy goals concerning lifelong learning and guidance and theoretical approaches concerning change and transition. The main focus will be put on the work of Nicholson (1990) and his transition cycle model, aiming at analyzing the model as an analytical framework for adult career counselling practice, according to the demands put on individuals to self-manage their careers and develop career management skills.