So, you’ve decided you want help with your career. You are stuck in a rut or fed up. You can’t get a job or a promotion, you don’t enjoy what you do, you’re constantly tired, and you need to do something about it. Now what?
Most people are unsure who they can turn to for help. Friends can give advice (friends always do, don’t they?), but you sense that they are fed up with listening to your grumbles. But where do you go next? You might think first of all that you are entitled to free support from government supported careers services. However, these are not available to all adults. They are currently set up to support 13-19 year olds, the unemployed, and those with few qualifications. The services available as at April 2007 are listed below:-
Next Step is for adults over 20, and can provide free information through publications and the internet. However, you only qualify to talk to an adviser if you have less than 5 GCSE’s (or equivalent), or if you don’t hold an NVQ level 2 or above qualification.
Learn Direct also offer lots of advice and information online, and they also have a hotline that you can call for advice on jobs, courses, paying for training or finding childcare.
Connexions is only available to 13-19 year olds.
Jobseekers is a government website offering advice on jobs, training and careers. But you can’t talk to an adviser.
Jobcentreplus personal advisers can help if you are out of work and receiving benefits.
Then there are university and college careers services. These tend only to be available to current or recent students. If you are currently studying, or have recently graduated, it might be worth contacting your university or college careers service. They normally offer an appointment with a careers adviser, and have lots of useful information which they can help you to use. They will definitely be able to help you to find out what types of careers are available and what qualifications you may need.
Other places that you might think to go for help include Recruitment Agencies. Often these can offer advice with writing CVs. However, any Recruitment Agency will expect you to know exactly what type of job you want to go for. They are working on behalf of their paying clients i.e. the companies who they are recruiting for. They are interested in getting quality candidates for their paying clients, and therefore not necessarily interested in helping you to get a job that you will love. If you are unsure what you want to do, they will certainly not have the time to help you become clearer. The danger for you can be that a visit to a recruitment agency could severely knock your confidence unless you are already clear about what type of job you want. You will need to stick to your guns as well, particularly if you are looking to change career. You will probably come under pressure to stick with a job or industry that you already have in abundance on your CV, as this will make you the best candidate for a recruitment consultant to put forward to their client.
So – who do you turn to if you are not sure what it is that you want to do, or how you can make a difficult transition to a better quality working life? Your next option is paid services. There are a number of different types of service that you could consider.
Executive career coaching and development
These services tend to be based in cities, and are aimed at executives i.e. high earners who want to progress their career. They tend to offer a premium service with associated high costs. Their services can include career development coaching as well as career move support.
Outplacement Consultants
Outplacement is a service offered by organisations (normally via outplacement specialist consultancies) to individuals who have been made redundant. You can sometimes pay for these services as an individual, but again, cost tends to be high. Services are primarily focused on helping you to find another job.
Work/career psychologists
These services are offered by qualified psychologists, and tend to offer products such as psychometric testing, followed up by a feedback report and a session (or series of sessions) with a psychologist. The way they work tends to be based on testing, but they may also offer coaching. Again, the cost of services tends to be high.
CV Writing Services
There are some organisations who will offer to write your CV for you. As we believe that your CV needs to be tailored for each opportunity you apply for, you will still need to revise it yourself anyway.
Life coaches
Life coaching is becoming increasingly popular. Many life coaches will help with career issues. However, if they don’t specialise in career issues, they will not have the same experience and expertise as those who do. Most life coaches will specialise in one area for this reason. See ‘Career Coaching’ below for advice on choosing a coach.
There are now literally hundreds of organisations and individuals on the internet stating that they offer career coaching. However, they all differ slightly in what they actually offer. Some provide mainly careers advice i.e. CVs, cover letters, applications etc. Others offer a testing-based service. And many will offer coaching. But with such an overwhelming number of them, how do you choose? What should you look for?
- First, make sure they are qualified to coach. Although there is currently no governing body for coaching, there are professional bodies who will only allow membership to coaches who meet their criteria in terms of qualifications. The Association for Coaching is the main UK body.
- Secondly, what sort of help do you want? If you know what type of job that you want and you just need help getting it, then you might need careers advice i.e. feedback on your CV and interview skills. However, if you are unclear about what you want or how to get it, then you need someone who is a skilled and experienced coach.
- Third, ask for a free consultation so that you can find out whether you get on with the coach. Coaching is about developing an effective relationship, so you need to know that you can get on with their working style. Most (but not all) coaches will offer some sort of introductory consultation. If they don’t, ask how you can find out more about how they are likely to work with you.
Costs vary considerably depending on the location, experience, and way of working. Face to face sessions will tend to be more expensive, as you are also paying for the cost of premises. Telephone coaching can therefore be more cost-effective, and has the added benefit of convenience (you don’t have to travel). It is most common to be charged for a package of sessions, as you normally need a series of appointments to achieve your goals. Prices tend to start from £50-60 per hour, which is roughly comparable to any other professional service such as psychotherapy, osteopathy or chiropody.
Our career coach will be happy to talk to you to discuss more about how career coaching can benefit you. Contact us to arrange a free consultation.