Career Guidance/Advice for adults!

Bob_dole

Hi All,

Would anyone have any recommendations for a person/company that provides career advice and suitable career options for adults?

I’ve been working in financial services the past 15 years and although I have talked about changing career for some time, I feel now is the right time for me to look at other options... as to what those other options are I would very much value some expert advice, as opposed to making any rash decisions and jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Think I should have paid more heed to the career advice giving in school all those years back!

I have googled to see what’s out there around the country, however there appears to be a vast range of individuals and companies providing such services, many of which differ in their approach (workshops, personality tests, or more discussion based assessments).
I know they can be a little pricey, however I’m more than happy to pay for this investment as such, would be great if anyone out there has perhaps used a similar service and would highly recommend someone that could help me.

Thanks in advance!

Quadrivium

Bob_dole wrote: »

Hi All,

Would anyone have any recommendations for a person/company that provides career advice and suitable career options for adults?

I’ve been working in financial services the past 15 years and although I have talked about changing career for some time, I feel now is the right time for me to look at other options... as to what those other options are I would very much value some expert advice, as opposed to making any rash decisions and jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Think I should have paid more heed to the career advice giving in school all those years back!

I have googled to see what’s out there around the country, however there appears to be a vast range of individuals and companies providing such services, many of which differ in their approach (workshops, personality tests, or more discussion based assessments).
I know they can be a little pricey, however I’m more than happy to pay for this investment as such, would be great if anyone out there has perhaps used a similar service and would highly recommend someone that could help me.

Thanks in advance!

Hi, I'm not a career advisor and don't know of any but I am in the process of changing career so I'll share the thought process that helped me.

I think the starting point would be knowing with a level of certainty what you don't want to do and what you would like to do, this might appear obvious but a lot of careers have overlapping skills and demands. What was it that made you want to change career? was it the work environment, the company culture, the practicalities of your job, salary, location?

What subjects or careers interest you and would they be worth the time and effort needed to make the change?

If you're looking for a total change in direction you might have to do a conversion course, degree or Masters, many of these can be completed part time or through distance learning.

Bob_dole

Quadrivium wrote: »

Hi, I'm not a career advisor and don't know of any but I am in the process of changing career so I'll share the thought process that helped me.

I think the starting point would be knowing with a level of certainty what you don't want to do and what you would like to do, this might appear obvious but a lot of careers have overlapping skills and demands. What was it that made you want to change career? was it the work environment, the company culture, the practicalities of your job, salary, location?

What subjects or careers interest you and would they be worth the time and effort needed to make the change?

If you're looking for a total change in direction you might have to do a conversion course, degree or Masters, many of these can be completed part time or through distance learning.

Thank you Quadrivium, very helpful!
Primarily it is due to work life balance, young family requiring more time. My current company is fantastic to work for, amazing company culture and great upper management team plus I manage an excellent and progressive team Just the particular team I am involved with can be very demanding with long hours Mon to Fri and regular additional requirements to log on at weekends, the lines become blurred at times.
That being said, I've regularly been advised by friends and family I would be better suited to a career in primary school teaching, for which over the past 10 years I have regularly volunteered with Junior Achievement and have always thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. Now with a young family I feel now is the time to look at options, even if it means back to study for a period to make it happen and find something that ticks more of the boxes.

Where are you at currently? Did you seek the assistance of a career advisor, or did you perhaps know exactly what career you aspire to change to?

CBear1993

16 personalities is a good starting point OP. Ok, it's a bit airy fairy but the career section and what it says you are suited to is fairly accurate. the Myers Briggs Test is another which can be done online, debate about how accurate it is but I found it yielding similar results.

DO NOT spend money on one of these "career" coaches or life coaches. They are just the same as the "self-help" books you see on Amazon and all over the place, like tony Robbins, a complete gimmick that targets a certain market.

I've been to one and they're a waste of money, charging extortionate fees. Theyre essentially HR people, will come up with some sort of plan for you and then toss you off again.

Take a look on springboard as there are still courses open for applications, maybe something there based on the results you get in the above tests could work?

A PME take 2 years as far as I know?