Paying for careers advice - is it worth it?

El_Rey

Does anyone have any experience of paying for careers advice via a careers coach? In your experience was it worth it?

I have used the National Careers Service for free, but didn't find it much use. Would a careers coach be more suitable?

Comms69

What career stage are you at?
How much are they charging?

Ozzuk

Sometimes it can be good to get an external perspective - it really depends on what you want to get out of it. If it is just routes to certain employment then there may be better ways (your own research, linked in, talk to people in those roles, look at job adverts for requirements) before parting with money.

El_Rey

Comms69 - I am in my early 30s and would like to change careers, but I have no idea what I really want to do.

The going rate for coaching seems to be £70 - £100 per 1 hour session.

bugslet

I went to a careers coach, feeling much the same as you, not sure what I wanted to do. It was a one off deal, I completed a comprehensive online test then saw the coach for a breakdown of the results. I found it very helpful to know where my strengths and weaknesses lay and how that translated to different careers.

El_Rey

Bugslet - I'm glad you had a positive experience. Are you now in a job that you enjoy?

Comms69

El_Rey wrote: »

Comms69 - I am in my early 30s and would like to change careers, but I have no idea what I really want to do.

The going rate for coaching seems to be £70 - £100 per 1 hour session.

I think if you put your skills and interests in a list here; you’d get some good ideas.

The cost isn’t as bad as I thought; which actually raises the question of what they’d want to achieve in an hour - or would they stretch it out.

( not suggesting that 1 hour is enough; just that you might find progress is slow ).

If you decide to change careers you need to consider salary implications and how this fits with commitments

tacpot12

If I was paying for this, I would want to receive evidence that the service had the ability to comprehensively assess my skills and evidence that the service can match a range of different scores to different careers in a sensible manner. You need to see evidence that you are getting something worthwhile.

There are books that will do the same thing, for much less than the cost of a counsellor. You really want the counsellor to demonstrate what they can offer over and above what a book can.

Bear in mind that even if they identify certain careers as being ideal for you, you need there to be vacancies in that field, and to be able to afford to complete the training to move into that field. Training to be an Airline Pilot costs at least £80,000 these days.

bugslet

El_Rey wrote: »

Bugslet - I'm glad you had a positive experience. Are you now in a job that you enjoy?

Long story short, I was running my own business and there were quite a few things that weren't gelling for me, hence looking at other options. In the end I didn't change and I still run my business, but it did explain why I wasn't happy and it meant rather than looking for a new job, I could change enough of the things that I didn't like to make my job enjoyable.

I'll drop you a PM with details of who I used.

bugslet

tacpot12 wrote: »

If I was paying for this, I would want to receive evidence that the service had the ability to comprehensively assess my skills and evidence that the service can match a range of different scores to different careers in a sensible manner. You need to see evidence that you are getting something worthwhile.

There are books that will do the same thing, for much less than the cost of a counsellor. You really want the counsellor to demonstrate what they can offer over and above what a book can.

Bear in mind that even if they identify certain careers as being ideal for you, you need there to be vacancies in that field, and to be able to afford to complete the training to move into that field. Training to be an Airline Pilot costs at least £80,000 these days.

When I used one, it was a one off fee that I thought was reasonable, a comprehensive evaluation of my strengths and weaknesses, a discussion to explain the results of the evaluation and how that translated into jobs that would play to those strengths. It certainly wasn't a one job list and there was a discussion about the type of jobs that would suit, why and how logical it would be to pursue a career in x.

I think I got lucky with the person I visited, I'm sure there are some less able shall I say, people out there!

rajput17

If you decide to change careers you need to consider salary implications and how this fits with commitments