Career Planning Careers: Do you want to be a career planner / career advisor?

Career Planners or Advisors need to have a special blend of theory, knowledge and skills. They offer information, advice and guidance on career options, training opportunities, educational choices and career direction in general.

The work of a career planner / advisor can involve elements of youth work, careers work, welfare rights, mentoring and one-to-one advice, with the blend varying depending on the age group and area worked in. You can work in the following groups:

• Under 16s.
• 16 to 19s.
• College or Postgraduate level students.
• Adults.
• Special groups, eg. probationers, ‘at risk’ young people, disabled individuals, people with special needs, etc.

Daily Tasks within career planning careers

Day to day activities will vary according to the location the Career Planner / Advisor is working in. In general, duties will include some of the following:

• Holding one-to-one sessions with clients, exploring goals and options.
• Facilitating assessment exercises to reveal client strengths and weaknesses.
• Providing information and printed literature about different career options.
• Providing information about education subject areas and related career opportunities.
• Conducting psychometric tests.
• Helping clients to draw up action plans for employment, education and training.
• Helping clients to prepare for job applications and interviews.
• Assisting clients with job search tactics.
• Referring clients to different professional agencies.
• Referring clients to different local professional networks.
• Liaising with clients’ parents and carers.
• Liaising with other career related agencies, including trainers, mentors, etc.
• Running database job searches.
• Updating and filing electronic client records.

Would This Career Suit You?

Much of the work is one-to-one support and guidance. You need to be comfortable working closely and informally with a wide range of people, while providing a large amount of accurate information.

Communication skills are vital, particularly as you will often be working with young or at-risk people. You also need to be able to cope with challenging situations that may arise with difficult clients.

Your analytical skills need to be strong, as you’ll be assessing an individual and responding with appropriate information. You also need to be able to work alone and without supervision.

Given the reliance on digital technology for information retrieval, you need to be computer literate.

Administration and record-keeping needs to be good and accurate, as you will be seeing many people more than once, with some months or even years between appointments.

Working hours are normally standard office hours in an office environment. You may need to travel to other locations, depending on the organization worked for.

Management roles frequently include elements of team leadership, training and development, human resource management, budgeting and marketing.

Salary and Prospects for career planning careers

Most career advisors hold degrees, although it is possible to enter the profession without a degree if you have relevant experience. Extra vocational training or qualifications are usually needed for this work.

In public service, planners usually start with general cases, then gain promotion to a specialist case area, or to a management role. Specialist roles usually involve people with additional or special needs, students in further education, etc.

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