I Want to Work In .... Careers Guidance

 

PROFILE: Careers Adviser - Schools

INVOLVES: Interviewing young people (aged 14 -21), filling in forms (such as Action Plans), making presentations to groups of young people, organising & planning work, visiting local employers & education institutions, negotiating service-level contracts with schools, meeting targets regarding numbers of action plans, interviews etc.
EMPLOYERS: Local authorities, private consortia, Colleges of F.E, schools (although opportunities are limited).
RELATED JOBS: Connexions Personal Adviser, Careers Teacher in Secondary School (State & Independent Schools), Careers Adviser in Higher Education, Teacher (Secondary School), Personnel Manager, Training Officer.
SATISFACTIONS: variety, independence, working with many different people, helping people make decisions, travelling to different locations each day.
NEGATIVES: Insecurity of employment (due to Government changes), poor pay, low morale within the occupation. Hard to satisfy all expectations.
SKILLS: written & spoken communication, cooperating, organising, listening.
ADVANCEMENT: Trainee Careers Adviser - Qualified - Team Manager - Centre Manager - Strategy Manager - Director.
DEGREE: Any Degree subject is acceptable. Psychology is particularly relevant. Some work experience (in any field) is also helpful.
POSTGRADUATE STUDY: Postgraduate Diploma course leading to the Qualification in Career Guidance (QCG). This can be “topped up” to a Masters degree by producing a dissertation.
VACANCY SOURCES: Portico (published by the Institute of Careers Guidance), The Guardian (Tuesday), Local Press.

 

The 13-19 sector, previously Connexions, is in a state of real change at the moment due to the policy changes and also funding cuts. It means that there have been redundancies and also an increase in the number of guidance practitioners going freelance. On the other hand some vacancies are being posted e.g. in Further Education Colleges.

There are also a lot of vacancies coming up in Higher Education e.g. Employability Adviser roles: many ex-Connexions Advisers are going for these roles.

The QCG (Qualification in Careers Guidance) is a good qualification and can lead to other related roles outside of careers guidance e.g. Placement Officer etc.

It has become more difficult to follow a vocational route into careers guidance – you used to be able to do the NVQ route whilst working for Connexions but this qualification is no longer recognised and there is a new qualification that has been set up by the ICG. Some providers might train people and pay for them to do the QCG but this is unlikely at the moment when there are so many qualified Careers Advisers available.

In a couple of years things could have settled down and providers may start recruiting again. There may be options with the new National Careers Service.

PROFILE: Careers Adviser - University

INVOLVES:
  • Interviewing students and advising them on career choice,
  • giving lecturers and presentations on employability issues,
  • liaising with and visiting employers of graduates,
  • maintaining and developing careers materials for students,
  • developing careers education programmes

EMPLOYERS: Universities and colleges
RELATED JOBS: Connexions Personal Adviser, Careers Teacher in Secondary School (State & Independent Schools), Careers Adviser in Higher Education, University lecturer, University administrator, Personnel Manager, Training Officer.
SATISFACTIONS: huge amount of variety, independence, autonomy, working with many different people, helping people make decisions, the chance to develop new ideas and concepts.
NEGATIVES: Hard to satisfy all expectations. Increasingly difficult to find out what graduates are doing for the DHLE return!
SKILLS: written & spoken communication, cooperating, organising, listening, adaptability, presenting skills, the ability to manage your own time effectively, an interest in business and the world of work.
ADVANCEMENT: Senior Careers adviser, Director of Careers
DEGREE: Any Degree subject is acceptable. Psychology is particularly relevant. Most people enter after a few years work experience in schools careers, graduate recruitment, HR or university administration.
POSTGRADUATE STUDY: Postgraduate Diploma course leading to the Qualification in Career Guidance (QCG). This can be “topped up” to a Masters degree by producing a dissertation or AGCAS course whilst working in the job.
VACANCY SOURCES: www.jobs.ac.uk

See also the following job profiles

Further Information

How many counsellors does it take to change a light bulb? Just one, but the bulb must want to change.

Career: a job that takes about twenty hours longer per week.

You want to be a tree?

 

 

 

Last fully updated 2012