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Re: HE Guidance |
depends on the area they live in- if they're in London or another major city there's probably some type of activity/centre/support group, possibly with a small fee. There's always online Graduate Prospects of course.
see www.prospects.ac.uk
I used to see loads of unemployed/underemployed graduates when I worked in public adult guidance- fortunately for them I'd also worked in a university careers service so knew what types of info/activities might be available to them. Now of course, NextStep has restrictions of the clients it can offer a service too.
On the whole, there probably isn't much free face-to-face from qualified careers advisers. |
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Re: Re: HE Guidance |
| Thanks for your response. The Graduate Prospects website looks very useful to me. Have you found in your experience that this type of web information and linked support from the careers experts at Prospects is well used and sufficiently in depth to cover new graduates' needs? |
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| Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:04 am |
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Re: Re: Re: HE Guidance |
Hard to say- best to look at evaluative reports from
Graduate Prospects. I would say they are well used as they provide email guidance.
Don't forget that the LearnDirect also provides phone & email guidance, so clients must like non-face-to-face interaction.
In my experience, many clients are very unsure of what it is they want to know about/explore so traditional counselling techniques are still necessary. |
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Re: HE Guidance |
You can use this quicklink to access the details for the regional directory pages for university careers services on Prospects.ac.uk http://www.prospects.ac.uk/links/gradreg
Details of the services they provide for their own graduates and those from other HEI's are shown for each institution. Having checked the details online it is always a good idea for the graduate to phone the institution before visiting to confirm they can be seen. |
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Re: HE Guidance |
| I suppose the assumption is that many more graduates are rationalising their decision to go into HE (and therin considerable debt) by equating the strategy with known returns. i.e. choosing courses that have a distinct vocational element rather than courses that are purely academic. In doing so, perhaps it is the case that access to a 'careers service' is not required? This, of course, is nonesense as we all know that with appropriate and professional support, people can make succesful tranistions at whatever point they choose (& whatever age). Although I know that we all feel the same, I have to say that an all-age guidance service is a simple and much needed service. But its not complicated enough so it doesn't help a civil servant or junior minister up the career ladder - times we live in eh? |
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HE Guidance |
Steve
Thanks for your response. I agree a seamless all age career service makes much sense. I assume associated and timely group work delivery for newly unemployed graduates would be part of such a service on areas like personal skills identification, jobsearch techniques, alternative options etc so wider interactions and mutual support systems could be developed. |
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Re: HE Guidance |
| the key to this is the expertise & knowledge of the person(s) delivering the group work/guidance. In community guidance settings, there sometimes aren't appropriately experienced guidance staff to really help underemployed/unemployed graduates/professional career changers. This is because there is a supposition that 'one size fits all'. Not the case |
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Re: Re: HE Guidance |
| Whilst I do agree that expertise and knowledge come with experience, the skill set of a guidance worker remains pretty much the same whether you are working with a young person or a graduate. My argument is that it wouldn't take a huge policy shift and a massive amount of further training or money to re-create an all-age guidance service? The intrastructure and skills are already there, its just (re) aquaiting oneself with the particular isues relating to a graduate that require a little time and exposure. |
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Re: HE Guidance |
| An example of very good practice is in Cornwall -'Unlocking Cornish Potential' part-funded by the Euro Social Fund - www.cornwall.ac.uk, |
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Re: Re: HE Guidance |
| An interesting question! As a Careers Adviser working in HE, I am only too aware of the problems graduates face. Too often, undergraduates don't even look for work until they graduate - hopefully, that is changing, as more HEI's buy into the "employability agenda" but it is becoming more and more difficult for the graduate returning to their home area to access quality careers advice. Some Universities still operate the "mutual - aid" scheme, but the length of time since graduation that applies does vary - and some Institutions make a charge for some services. During my time at Oxford University Careers Service I noticed that some of our graduates would make a special journey back to Oxford to use our service rather than use the nearest HE service to where they were working or living - and in any event, there is an increasing trend for students to study at their "home" University rather than go away - this was very apparent both at Newport and Coventry, where I have also worked. At my present University, where we are setting up a service from scratch, one of the things we are talking about is just what level of service we can provide to graduates returning home to Suffolk. i think this is something that AGCAS and ICG should be looking at jointly. |
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Re: HE Guidance |
I am a Personal Development Coach, who specialises in career coaching. Firstly coaching is a facilitative approach to self awareness and development so therefore the coach assists the individual to identify and explore career opportunities whilst be there to discuss options and identify action plans to help individuals achieve their career goals.
Therefore a unique and flexible framework such as 'My Dream Career' by Life's a Breeze can be used to help individuals from all ages and all backgrounds identify future career prospects. I suggest it then fits well with a careers advisors knowledge and skills concerning job searching strategies and practical application form and C.V. advice and support. |
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