Dr Val O'Reilly - Kāi Tahu

Val (Kāi Tahu) views career as a life story that unfolds in remarkable ways. She enjoys engaging with others on their journey to make meaning of their career story, to resolve indecision, and effect positive life change. As a qualified career professional, Val is trained to support organisations in their career service delivery and to help individuals explore and design who they want to become. Ko wai koe? You are always becoming.

Expertise/Specialisms

career counselling, career coaching, supervision, and mentoring
Māori career development blog writing Career Hub (ahujobs.maori.nz)
programme and project design, development, leadership, and delivery
workshop design, development, leadership, and delivery
resource design, development, and delivery
reviewing and leading change in organisational policies and procedures
development of professional standards and competencies
research, writing, and reviewing across a range of contexts and media
conference presenting: NZ and internationally

Leadership/Membership

FMCDANZ, Honorary Member CDAA, Member CATE
member TEC Tahatū advisory panel
member Women in AI (WAI), a nonprofit do-tank working towards gender-inclusive AI that benefits global society
current member AI Forum NZ AI Governance Working Group
past member AI Forum NZ Working Group 6 – Law, Ethics and Society
past President of CDANZ, a leading NZ professional career development association
member of the foundational careers sector Māori and Pasifika practitioner network
co-founder and past co-leader of CDANZ Professionalism Project
past member of the institutional advisory board for NZ career development course delivery

Publications

O’Reilly, V., McMahon, M., & Parker, P. (2020). Career Development: Profession or not? Australian Journal of Career Development, 29(2), 79-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416219898548

O’Reilly, V. (2019). Professional Identity: A storied lens. Paper presented at September CDAA Career Development Conference, Canberra, Australia.

O’Reilly, Valerie Nina (2018). Professional standards and professional identity: perspectives of career development practitioners in Australia and New Zealand. PhD Thesis, School of Education, The University of Queensland. https://doi.org/10.14264/uql.2018.659

O’Reilly, V. (2018). The professional identity of school career practitioners. Paper presented at October CDANZ Symposium, Wellington, NZ.

O’Reilly, V. (2017). New Zealand Country Paper. Paper presented at 2017 International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy (ICCDPP) Symposium, Seoul, Korea. http://iccdpp2017.org/download/Country_paper_New_Zealand_ENG.pdf

O’Reilly, V.N. (2015). Life-Story for life design: A career development activity for refugee students. In M. McMahon & W. Patton (Eds.), Ideas for Career Practitioners. (2nd edition pp. 220-223). Australia: Australian Academic Press.

Thomas, J., & O’Reilly, V. (2015). New Zealand Country Paper. Paper presented at 2015 International Centre for Career Development and Public Policy (ICCDPP) Symposium, Des Moines, US.

O’Reilly, V. (2011). The role of school websites in career development practice. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 11(3), 175-185. doi: 10.1007/s10775-011-9207-2

O’Reilly, V. (2011). The role of school websites in career development practice. Paper presented at April CDAA Career Development Conference, Cairns, Australia.

Qualifications/Awards

PhD in career development
Winner Alumni Section (Poetry). University of Otago Writer 2023 Creative Writing Competition. Poem: “Kōrero on the getting of wisdom”.
Certificate in Māori and Indigenous Art (Toi Ataata, Level 4). Te Wananga o Aotearoa
Certificate in Māori and Indigenous Art (Toi Maruata, Level 3). Te Wananga o Aotearoa
Te Pōkaitahi Reo (Reo Rua, Te Kaupae 2). Te Wananga o Aotearoa
Recipient 2019 CDANZ Research Dissemination Grant
Recipient 2018 Auckland Careers and Transition Education CATE Conference Scholarship
Certified Extended DISC (L1). Certifying authority Extended DISC Australasia
Certified Self-Directed Search (SDS). Certifying authority NZCER
Certified Occupational Testing. Certifying authority SHL
Certificate of Proficiency, Educational Research. AUT University, NZ
Master of Career Development. AUT University, NZ
Diploma of Teaching. Dunedin Teacher’s College, NZ
Bachelor of Arts. University of Otago, NZ