Careers Guidance Service - How can it help you?

Careers advice and guidance can help people navigate their way through the myriad of increasingly complex and confusing choices available to them and help them to understand how their abilities and interests can be used to greatest effect. Learning how to understand your own abilities, values, motivators and personality and seeing how this fits in with the range of learning and work opportunities is a lifelong journey. Ideally , careers guidance will help you to learn career management skills, so that you are able to manage your own career journey, whatever the external economic situation may be. A Careers Adviser will not "tell you what to do", but will help you to review and recognise your career direction and develop strategies to achieve your goals.  To benefit you could be a:

• Year 10 or 11 student  thinking about your post 16 options - should you consider an academic, vocational or occupational route?   Do you know what these routes are ?What ideas do you have about your long term career plans ? Do you know how to research the courses available in your local area, or could you use some help finding out about what apprenticeships are available  locally ?  Where could they lead ?  Which path suits your preferred learning style ?  High quality, independent,  individualised guidance is vital to support young people make informed decisions that will shape their future.   In addition to a 1:1 careers guidance appointment, the Morrisby Profile Online Psychometric Test can help you to understand where your abilities lie - at this age it can be incredibly hard to find this out as you haven't yet had the opportunity to be "tested" in a work environment and often don't have a great amount of work related self awareness.  
• In addition, I'm also happy to see parents for more "information based sessions", outlining and explaining the range of options available to school leavers and highlighting useful websites to help support their teenager's career planning.

• Year 12 or 13 student thinking about your post 18 options - is University the right option for you, what course should you do ? Have you considered employment with work based training or a higher or degree level apprenticeship such as the new trailblazer solicitor apprenticeship ?  What about a gap year that enables you to get some experience of the world of work and to travel ?   The current debate raging about the number of young people going to University and the needs of the economy, combined with the huge levels of graduate debt with fees in excess of £9000 per year means that young people really need to be sure about why they are considering Higher Eduation, what value will it add to their career, is there another option ?  If you are considering University, it's worth really exploring the range of HE courses that are available and examining the graduate destinations carefully.  A 1:1 careers guidance appointment can help to clarify your thinking about the route which suits you best.  Also, the Morrisby Profile Online Psychometric Test can support your post 18 decision making - the financial commitment of undergoing the psychometric test  is a sensible investment bearing in mind the cost implication of undertaking an expensive inappropriate HE course.  

• An adult career changer - perhaps you are  feeling unhappy or frustrated in your current job, but you are not sure what to do to change your situation?  Maybe you are considering a return to work after a career break or illness and are unsure of what you have to offer or feel lacking in confidence ?  Perhaps you have been made redundant or are looking for a different career path to suit your changed circumstances or outlook ? You could be a recent graduate who is unemployed or underemployed ?   A career review involves undertaking a thorough audit of your previous employment and life experiences and considering carefuly the elements where you found fulfilment, enjoyment and rewards and also understanding the skills and abilities you have developed. A 1:1 careers guidance appointment can help you to clarify your career thinking, review your situation and set new goals.  Tools such as the Morrisby Profile Online Psychometric Test are excellent at helping adults to see where their abilities truly lie, and gaining an insight into aspects of their personalities which may fit with certain career areas.   I can also support clients wishing to write or update/overhaul their CVs/job applications, improve their interview technique and those submitting UCAS/college applications.   

• Contact me to discuss your situation and see how I can help.

• 1:1 Careers Guidance appointments are available at times/ days to suit you.  Clients may prefer early evening or weekend appointments. 
• I tend to work virtually using Microsoft Teams but I can accommodate other platforms such as Zoom or Skype. 
• Fees for Careers Guidance appointments are £45 per hour.  Depending on each individual client's needs, a package of appointments may be more appropriate, for example, 2 or 3 appointments  with time for research/reflection in between.    I aim to be as flexible as possible in order to meet clients' needs.