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.

Areas of Interest and Expertise

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

Leadership/Membership

Board member Mairangi Arts Centre
Member Institute of Directors New Zealand
FMCDANZ, Honorary Member CDAA, Member CATE
member AI Forum NZ AI Governance Working Group
member TEC Tahatū advisory panel
past co-founder and co-leader of CDANZ Professionalism Project
past member AI Forum NZ Working Group 6 – Law, Ethics and Society
past member of NMIT institutional advisory board for NZ career development course delivery
past member Women in AI (WAI), a nonprofit do-tank working towards gender-inclusive AI that benefits global society
past President of CDANZ, a leading NZ professional career development association

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.

Awards and Qualifications

PhD in career development. UQ, Australia
Winner Alumni Section (Poetry). University of Otago Writer 2023 Creative Writing Competition. Poem: “Kōrero on the getting of wisdom”. https://www.otago.ac.nz/english-linguistics/programmes/writing/competition/writer-2023-winning-entries#alumni-poetry
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
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

Certifications

AI Security & Governance – Introduction to AI and Generative AI. Certifying authority Securiti
Self-Directed Search (SDS). Certifying authority NZCER
Extended DISC (L1). Certifying authority Extended DISC Australasia
Occupational Testing. Certifying authority SHL